LAST ASSAULT ON OAK ISLAND 23

Chapter 23

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"I just stopped by to tell you Lucy's dynamiting Smith's Cove in an hour," Miles said hastily, meeting Lauren halfway down the cottage porch steps. "Can you let Doc Geiger know?"

"Sure. I'll call him." She frowned. "Hasn't that been done already?"

"I went by there, but no one was home. I thought . . ." He studied her expression for a moment. "Oh, you mean the dynamiting." He nodded, looking beyond her into the house. "A couple times. Never plugged the flood tunnel before. I don't see why it would now. But you can't tell Lucy that. Or anything else. Doc's back door was open, so I doubt he went too far." His attention dropped to her hand. "Sorry to hear about your accident."

She shrugged. "Thanks. It could have been worse."

". . . Yeah." His gaze flitted over her for a moment. After an awkward silence, he nodded and then got back in the truck and drove off with a brief goodbye.

Lauren went back into the house to find Carlos looking through the kitchen window, scowling.

"What did he want?"

"Just dropping off information."

She told him the details as she brought out preparations for supper, hoping it would not lead to another phone call to the museum about her possible recall.

Rudy joined them in the kitchen, and both he and Carlos shared Miles' opinion about Lucy's plans. Rudy called to the doctor's house as Lauren peeled potatoes for a roast—sans anything too spicy or doused with anything more toxic than a rosemary marinade.

By the time the oven had reached roasting temperature, the whole kitchen was too hot for comfort. Lauren persuaded Carlos and Rudy to take their game of chess into the parlor. She had just delivered their iced tea when Maruso knocked on the back door.

"I thought you had a fishing party," she said as he stepped in.

"I did. They caught their limit by four o'clock." He put a small, wired device on the table. "It's hot in here. Chicken smells good."

"It's a roast. That's why you're here. For dinner. Tea?"

"Sure." He went into the parlor for several moments to speak with Carlos and Rudy. She was about to join them, but Maruso took her back into the kitchen. "I didn't come for dinner. I brought the door for the lighthouse and that." He nodded to the contraption on the table.

She eyed it with misgivings. "A bomb?"

"It's not a bomb; it's a timer."

He started to explain further, but she was already debating it. "Rudy won't like it, Lewis. It's too automatic. He'll be offended."

"It's only temporary. It has to be set every twenty-four hours," he told her. "I'll hook it up tonight. Then Clemens won't be able to use the excuse of another keeper to come visiting."

She nodded, giving the timer a quick study.

"Besides," he continued, "it's Little NATO night at the French Connection. That's a restaurant on the bay in Indian Point. They're bound to have something you like. And," he said as she started to object, "if you're not here when the light comes on, Saul will think Rudy's made arrangements for a keeper."

She nodded, then looked to the parlor.

He saw her hesitation. "You'll be stuck here all week doing tours again—and the weather's supposed to really warm up. Hot, like hell."

She looked at him sharply. "What are you getting out of all this?"

He committed a careful chuckle. "Nothing. Just the grace of your company."

"You've got that here," she said with a mischievous smile.

"All right," he relented. "I've been trying to take as few fares as possible because I'm on call for Carlos and Rudy—and you, too, I guess—but that's not easy. With all the publicity of the pit's anniversary, the fishing contests, and lighthouse circuits, it's almost impossible to dodge customers. I get up in the morning and there're tourists all over the docks. Some of the traffic goes to the causeway, but not enough."

"Too much work?"

He nodded. "Normally I wouldn't complain, but this isn't a normal summer. A lot of the other skippers have boats too light or small, legally, to do the fishing contest charters or Sable Island tours. They have to take bay jobs, which are quick, but don't pay as well."

She nodded slowly.

"And since you're here," he said pointedly, "I'm easy to locate."

"I'd rather not leave them alone," she said, glancing to the sitting room again.

"That's why I brought the timer. We can see the light from the Connection." He studied her. "Why are you playing so hard to get? Is Miles coming over tonight?"

"He was already here." She checked the roast in the oven and poured in more hot water from the kettle on the stove. She had just shut the oven door when a sudden explosion shook the small house, followed by echoes of rumbles.