Page 49 of Hearts on the Line (The Maverick Key #1)
Elliot
The faint hum of fluorescent lights filled the dimly lit hospital hallway.
It’s a sound that goes unnoticed until everything else falls silent.
Elliot pushed the mop across the linoleum floor, his movements conscientious but automatic.
His shoulders hunched forward as he worked, carrying an invisible weight.
The name on his ID badge read Elliot.The name he answered to, even though he knew it wasn’t his.
“Hey, Elliot.” Karen’s cheerful voice sliced through the hum.
His grip on the mop loosened.Karen approached, waving a newspaper.She always found fun things to chat about during her rounds and treated him like more than a shadow lurking in the hospital corridors.
“Hi, Karen.” Karen was easy to like.
“You see this yet?” she asked, stopping beside him and tapping the paper with her manicured nails.“Big news out of Maverick Key.Some guy, Bob Clark, found that billionaire’s treasure everyone’s been hunting for months.It’s all anyone in the break room can talk about.”
Elliot frowned. The name Maverick Key sent a faint ripple of recognition through him, a stirring deep in his chest.“What treasure?” he asked, leaning the mop against the wall.
Karen unfolded the paper and shoved it into his hands.The bold headline jumped off the page. Treasure Found! Billionaire’s Secret Cache Hidden in Plain View at a Local Café.
“Turns out it was right under everyone’s noses the whole time at this ‘Coconut Café.’Can you believe that?
All those adventurers and treasure hunters were combing through the sand and underwater caves, spending months and millions of dollars in travel andlodging,and the crate was sitting as a centerpiece in the café in plain view allalong.
Turns out the owners were redecorating and wanted a pirate theme that included largecrates. Brilliant.”
Elliot’s gaze locked on the photo accompanying thearticle.
Maverick Key’s coastline was vast and lush beneath a bright bluesky.
It was a simple picture, yet it struck him with the force of ashockwave.
The fragment of a recollection stirred in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t recall any specificdetail.
It was the same thing when he watched the Discovery Channel.
He knew all the intellectual information shared on the National Geographic and science shows, but he couldn’t remember a damn thingfrom his own life. He knew MaverickKey.
Karen tilted her head and furrowed her brow as she studiedhim.“Hey, you look like you’ve seen aghost.You,ok?”
He blinked. “Maverick Key?”
She crossed her arms, leaning against thewall.“It’s a beautiful place. I’ve been to the beaches myself a fewtimes.It’s too expensive for me to stay there,though.Have you everbeen?”
Elliot hesitated. “I can’tremember.”
“Still nothing, huh?” She looked at him with the sympathy he was used toreceiving.He didn’t like it, he didn’t want anyone’s sympathy, he wanted toremember who he was.
He shook his head, the ache in his chestdeepening.“I felt something when you said Maverick Key, but I can’t rememberanything.”
Karen nodded thoughtfully, thengrinned.
“Maybe that’s your brain’s way of saying it’s time for a change ofscenery.
Who knows? Maybe Maverick Key is thekey.
Pun fully intended.” Her eyes flicked briefly to the pendant hung around his neck with a leather band, then opened the newspaper to anotherpage.
“Look here, Elliot. There are classified ads for jobs in MaverickKey.This one is for a cleaning company that services several rentals and bed and breakfasts across theisland.Lodging isincluded.”
He liked Karen’s enthusiasm. He dropped his gaze back to thenewspaper.The image of the island tugged at emotions buried deepinside.He knew there was someconnection.
Karen gave his shoulder a gentlesqueeze.“Hey, don’t you work too hard tonight,okay?You’re more than just the best-looking janitor this hospital has everhad.You’re my friend.” She gave him a quick peck on thecheek.
“Thanks, Karen.”
As she walked away, he folded the newspaper she’d left behind and slipped it into his backpocket.He returned to his work, but his thoughtswandered.Maverick Key echoed in his mind like a siren’s call, growing louder everyminute.
By the end of his shift, the yearning had burrowed deep, scratching at hiscore.There was something or someone important from his past on thatisland.
The early morning light painted the hospital parking lot in pale gold as he stood by his car, gripping thenewspaper.He didn’t know what awaited him, but he was confident about this decision.He got in the car and headednorthwest.
Elliot was going to MaverickKey.