LAST ASSAULT ON OAK ISLAND 14

Chapter 14

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The kitchen door suddenly opened and Carlos stepped in, surprising both Lauren and Maruso. Behind the curator was a middle-aged woman who looked well over her years dressed in thick construction pants and a t-shirt with a worn logo depicting a crane.

"Good. You're up," he said cheerfully, giving them each a nod.

Lauren was on her feet, nightgown forgotten. "Dad, you're back."

Carlos was looking at Maruso. "I trust you slept on the sofa, Lewis."

Maruso leaned back in his chair. "I did, sir."

"Come in, Ms. Yearbright. I trust you know Captain Maruso," Carlos was saying as he turned to the woman behind him. "This is my daughter, Lauren."

Lucy Yearbright extended a rough hand. "Lauren." She nodded to Maruso.

Lauren shook the woman's hand. "Thank you for helping last night, Ms. Yearbright."

"No one calls me Ms. It's Lucy to everyone," she corrected hastily. She took the seat Carlos pulled out at the table.

"How's Rudy?" Lauren asked Carlos as she moved to the counter and found more teacups.

He glanced at her attire. "Run upstairs and get dressed, dear."

"Oh, yes." Lauren excused herself and left.

"I think I've seen you around," Lucy said with another nod to Maruso. "You were doing fishing runs last summer."

"That was me," he agreed. "Doing them this year, too."

Carlos looked into the teapot on the counter. "Tea, Lucy?"

"None for me, thanks. Good thing you didn't try it last night, Captain," she said briskly. "That fog rolled in fast after midnight. I wouldn't want to be out in it, even with the light."

He nodded, but did not speak, instead looking at Lauren as she reappeared in a pair of Capri's and a tank top. She looked immediately to Carlos.

"He's much better," he said in answer to her unvoiced query.

She shooed him away from the counter and finished restocking the teapot.  "I got this. Sit down, Dad."

He took a seat at the table. "He was stable last night. He should be home in a few days." He waved away the tea Lauren tried to pour for Lucy. "Ms. Yearbright passed on tea."

She nodded and sat down with them, leaving the pot and a spare cup on the table. Maruso rested his arm across the back of her chair.

"He should let the light go automatic," Lucy opined. She slapped the table, making Lauren jump and the teapot top rattle. "He's too old for that nonsense. He'll just have another attack. You may not be here next time." She wagged a finger at Carlos.

"We plan to stay the summer," he said easily. "Maybe we can talk some sense into him."

"Sense is in short supply on this island," she said, grinning, the feature adding a touch of softness to her face. "Has been for 200 years."

It was natural for the topic to eventually come around to the course of the Money Pit. Carlos' lips twitched slightly at the veer in conversation, hidden mostly behind his teacup.

Lauren breathed easier that the subject did not seem as all encompassing for Lucy as it was for the Clemens'.

The brusque woman leaned a large arm on the table, her weather-weary eyes lighting up. "Guess the prospect of treasure does that to people."

"Indeed," Carlos said, setting down his cup. "It's quite a story."

Lucy seemed eager for a fresh audience. She monopolized the next ten minutes with facts. She did not cloud the issue with fantastical stories about pirate treasures or who had actually buried it; her goal was to get whatever it was out.

"I thought the original location was lost," Lauren said. She had found a comfortable spot against Maruso's arm and stayed there. "That's what Miles said."

"Don't listen to that fool boy," Lucy said with a wave of dismissal. "He's spent too much time in the shaft without enough ventilation. He's half deaf from the drills and Saul's bellowing." She looked to Maruso. "Why are you letting her waste her time with him?"

Maruso opened his mouth, but before he could answer, she continued.

"It was lost, but I've got it now. I'm not sure which one it is," she added with a shrug. "It was a toss-up between three old shafts. Doesn't matter anyway. My drills encompass all of them."