The Curse Keepers (Curse Keepers series) Read online

  “Again, trying to save your life.”

  “And I’m a lousy fuck? What the fuck was that?”

  Collin grinned.

  “What the fuck are you smiling about?”

  He smirked. “Before a minute ago, I probably heard you say fuck less than a handful of times. In the past thirty seconds, I’ve lost count.”

  “How often I say fuck is none of your fucking business.”

  He lifted a shoulder with a sheepish grin. “True. I’m a fan of the word myself.” He smirked. “In more ways than one.”

  I punched him in the arm. “You do not get to laugh at me when I’m pissed at you.”

  He smiled. “I can’t help it. You’re kind of cute like this.”

  Cute was the last word I expected Collin Dailey to use, especially regarding me.

  He held up his hands in surrender. “Go ahead and cry if you want to. I’m not stopping you.”

  “Shut up!” I yelled and hit his arm again.

  He reached over his chest and covered my hand with his left one, probably to avoid our marks touching. “You’ve got quite the temper.” He looked over with something in his eyes I hadn’t seen before. Appreciation? Respect?

  I snatched my hand from his and turned my back to him.

  “So are you going to cry or not? I’ve got to warn you that I don’t have any tissues.”

  “I don’t feel like crying anymore.” It was true. My anger had dried up my tears.

  “For the record, I officially retract my first comment about your ass. However, to make a final judgment, I’d really need to see it again.” His hand lifted the edge of my skirt.

  I slapped his hand. “Not a chance.”

  His hand covered mine again. “I’m sorry.”

  My jaw dropped, and I turned around to face him. I never, ever expected to hear Collin Dailey apologize for anything. Ever.

  “You’ve been through a lot this morning and you’ve handled it so well, I never questioned how you were really handling it.” He shrugged. “I’ve had my fair share of incidents and this morning set me on edge. I can’t imagine what it’s done to little Ellie Lancaster of Roanoke Island, whose life goal is to be a waitress and get married.”

  I could have taken offense at his statement, but it was obvious he meant no malice. This was Collin’s way of apologizing. I was flabbergasted. “Thanks.”

  His face turned serious. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

  I nodded. I’d figured that out already.

  He swallowed, clearly uncomfortable. This was probably as honest as Collin got with someone. “Look, I’ll help you the best I can with this, but I’m not really… that kind of guy.”

  “I know. I don’t expect you to be.”

  His eyebrows rose in surprise.

  “I’m not blind, Collin. I know who you are, or rather what you are. I don’t expect anything from you other than information, and to do your part in the ceremony. You don’t owe me anything, and it’s not your fault if I’ve forgotten everything about being the Dare Keeper.”

  He seemed to accept my answer. “So how about we start again?”

  “And how many times would that be that we started again?”

  “Does it matter?”

  I shook my head. Collin was making an effort. Who was I to argue? “How did you get involved with Marino anyway?”

  Collin shifted in his seat, looking out the windshield. “It’s a long and sordid tale all revolving around a boat.”

  “Your boat?”

  “Yep. The Lucky Star. It was my father’s. My family have been commercial fishermen for generations. The Croatan were fishermen. We like to follow tradition.”

  “Is your brother a fisherman too?”

  His face hardened. “No, he turned his back on his family and our tradition.”

  “You mean he doesn’t believe in the curse?”

  He sighed. “No.”

  I supposed if his brother was younger, it didn’t matter if he believed or not. Collin was the Keeper. But I could see how it must have hurt Collin. Just like I’d hurt my father.

  “You went to Marino for money?”

  “My father knew Marino. My father up and left one day, fifteen years ago. We never saw him again. There were bills and I was a kid, barely ten, but I was the man of the family. I felt a responsibility to take care of my mother and my little brother. On weekends I worked on a boat with my uncle, and he’d pay me.”

  “You were a kid, Collin. It wasn’t your responsibility.”

  He shook his head and glanced at me. “You don’t understand, Ellie. It’s the way of our family. I dropped out of high school my junior year and started fishing on my father’s boat. But it was old and hadn’t been used for several years. I needed money to fix it. Money I didn’t have. My dad used to deal with Marino. A couple of months after my dad disappeared, Marino stopped by and told me if there was anything my family needed to come seek his help. So I did.”

  I knew about that kind of responsibility and that kind of desperation. Collin and I were more alike than I realized.

  “It started as small jobs for him and then I branched out on my own. He’d buy whatever I had. Before I realized it I was too deep to get out. When you get caught up in Marino’s web, there’s really no getting out of it. Not permanently. I’ve tried before, and it doesn’t work.”

  “So why don’t you sell the boat and start over with something else?”

  A hardness covered his face. “Some of us want more than husbands and fancy houses.”

  “And who the hell says that’s what I want, Collin? You hear one thing out of context and think the worst of me.”

  “So what do you want?”

  I released a loud sigh. “Honestly, I have no idea. I’ve spent twenty-three years feeling like I didn’t fit in anywhere. Like I couldn’t find my place in the world. Something was always missing. Maybe this was it.”

  Collin was silent for a moment. “I know what you mean.”

  “So what happens when it’s over? When we close the gate? Do we just go back to our lives before?”

  Collin shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know.”

  He was lying. For a man who usually snowed women, he sucked at lying to me.

  “So we get my cup, then what?”

  “Hopefully, we get your cup this afternoon, then we’ll go mark you with the symbol.”

  “After I get off work.”

  “Ellie,” he grumbled.

  “Look, you have Marino for money. I have my job at the New Moon. And while you think I’m using my money to buy new shoes, I’m really helping keep my father’s bed and breakfast afloat. So you’re not the only one fighting to find money for family obligations.”

  He looked surprised. “I had no idea.”

  “I know. And now you do. I don’t tell many people. I’m not sure why I told you.”

  He turned to me. “I don’t tell anyone my story either. So I guess we’re even.”

  We were far from even, but I’d save that until later.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  After encountering Marino’s men at the convenience store, Collin had been in such a hurry he hadn’t gotten food. The last thing I’d eaten was the muffin at Myra’s around seven that morning. Collin must have realized the last thing he’d seen me consume was the coffee he brought me. After my earlier emotional outburst, he was probably worried I’d freak out again. He stopped in Avon and picked up sandwiches and bottles of water. I had to admit that I felt better after I ate something. I even felt hopeful. Collin and I had reached a new level in our partnership and for the first time, I let myself think that I was capable of helping Collin close the gate.

  It was after two o’clock when we reached Rodanthe. Collin parked in front of Mrs. Abernathy’s house. A car was parked in the carport.

  Collin turned off the engine and pointed to the car. “Okay, Ellie. Lesson one in the art of casing a place. Figure out as much as you can about your mark.”

>   “You mean victim.”

  He shrugged. “Semantics.” He turned to me. “Tell me what you know about Mrs. Evelyn Abernathy.”

  “She lives in a beach house.”

  He pursed his lips and gave a slight nod. “I was hoping for more than that. What does the fact that she lives in a beach house tell you?”

  “That she has money.”

  “Good, but not necessarily. It might have been a family property that she’s hanging onto by her fingernails. I suspect that’s not the case here. Why?”

  I remembered looking inside the house the night before. “The inside. The kitchen looked new and the furniture was nice.”

  “Good. What else?”

  I studied the house again. “Her car. It looks expensive.”

  “It is. It’s a Lexus. And not just a Lexus, an ES.”

  “Is that supposed to mean something?”

  He shook his head in mock disgust. “Any self-respecting gold digger would know her Lexus models.”

  “I’ll add that to my to-do list.”

  “Good girl. Nothing but the best luxury car for you.” He tapped my nose.

  I batted his hand away. “So why do we care about this?”

  “She has money, and she bought the cup in a pawnshop. She’s a collector, and she knows her stuff. She knows the real steals aren’t in the antique malls but the grungy places. She’s not afraid to get her hands dirty to find just the right piece. But I don’t think she has an emotional attachment to it.”

  “How would you know that?”

  “The way she displayed her books and knickknacks. It was all very put together and organized. The displays of a collector with an emotional attachment have a more ‘lived with’ look. The collectors read the books. They use the bowls. They handle the pewter cups.” He looked at me. “But the serious collector displays for maximum exposure. They want people see the fruit of their search. It’s a game, and part of the game is displaying the trophy. We’re lucky. She’ll be more likely to sell it since she doesn’t have an emotional attachment, but that means money matters to her. It will cost more.”

  My eyes widened in disbelief. “Where did you learn that?”

  “Casing the Joint 101 at the school for Mischief and Shenaniganry, of course. I think I passed you in the hall on the way to Entrapping the Eligible Billionaire Bachelor.”

  I couldn’t help grinning. “Very funny. So what do we do with all of this?”

  “We use it to get what we want. We use everything at our disposal to get what we want. Always.”

  That came as no surprise. I’d learned that the day before, but I was surprised he admitted it.

  “Let me do all the talking.”

  “It’s my cup, Collin.”

  He turned to me in exasperation. “I have more experience with this, Ellie.”

  There was no arguing with that, but my gut reaction was that it would be best to go with the emotional ploy. Nevertheless I was glad we had money. “Are you going to pay for it? You still have the eighteen hundred dollars.”

  “More like sixteen hundred dollars.”

  “What?”

  “I had to get gas. And then food.”

  “Gas and food don’t cost two hundred dollars, Collin. Where did the rest go?”

  “I had to pay for the supplies for your henna tattoo.”

  I remembered him handing a bill to Rosalina, and my anger exploded. “You paid one hundred dollars for henna supplies? There’s no way on God’s green earth they cost that much.”

  He shrugged. “I gave Rosalina a tip.”

  “You paid her one hundred dollars. With my money?”

  “Consider it a finder’s fee.”

  “It’s my money, Collin.” Knowing he paid one of his many women with my money pissed me off more than I cared to admit. “Give it to me.”

  “Give you what?”

  “My money. Hand it over now. I only gave it to you before because I didn’t feel like holding that much cash when Marino felt me up.”

  Collin’s gaze turned murderous. “Marino felt you up?”

  I gave him a dirty look. “I’ll never kiss and tell. Now give me my money.”

  “You kissed him?”

  “Will you just give me my damned money already!”

  He reached into the glove compartment, pulled out a wad of bills, and handed it to me. I counted the stack. “Nice try. There’s only twelve hundred here. I want the rest.”

  “I took you to Marino. That has to count for something.”

  “Yeah, it means I owe you a swift kick in the nuts. I wanted to go to Oscar. I can guarantee you that I wouldn’t be in this trouble if I’d gone to him.”

  Collin didn’t protest, instead pulling out his wallet, then taking out three hundred dollars and handing it to me.

  I continued to hold out my hand. “The rest?”

  “What the hell, Ellie? Are you going to nickel and dime me over this?”

  “Yes.”

  He handed me another bill. “There.”

  I suspected there was more but decided to let it go for now. I stuffed the money into my purse and hopped out of the truck, walking toward Mrs. Abernathy’s house.

  Collin ran after me, moving in front of me and blocking my path. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “Getting my cup, now get out of my way.”

  His eyes widened in fear. “What’s your plan?”

  “Do you really think coming up with a plan to con this woman out of her cup should be discussed out here in the open?

  “No, it shouldn’t. Let’s go back to the truck.” He grabbed my bicep and started to drag me to the curb.

  He was never going to cave, and I wasn’t willing to make a scene.

  “Let go. I have to tie my shoe or I’m going to trip.”

  Grumbling, he released his hold. I bent down and pretended to mess with my shoestring, then bolted for the door. The look of surprise on Collin’s face when I looked over my shoulder was priceless. But it only took him a half second to catch up to me on the back deck. Just as I knocked on the door.

  “Ellie, let me handle this,” he growled through gritted teeth.

  “Kiss my ass, Collin,” I muttered back.

  “You fuck this up, and I’ll do more than that to your ass.”

  Why did that send a shiver up my back? Focus, Ellie.

  An older woman made her way to the door and my stomach began to flip-flop. Damn. In my determination to beat Collin to the door, I hadn’t come up with a plan yet.

  She wore capri pants and a blouse that looked freshly pressed. Her white-gray hair was cut short and she wore makeup, but in a fresh sort of way. She opened the door and gave me an inquisitive perusal. I knew I looked like a hot mess. My shirt was still stained despite my effort to clean it in the restroom in Buxton and my legs were covered in scratches. Collin had said she was a serious collector, and I had no doubt about that, but the softness in her eyes when she took in the sight of me made me rethink our tactic.

  Her eyes shifted from me to Collin and back again as she held onto the door. “Can I help you?”

  “I hope so.” I paused. “Mrs. Abernathy?”

  She nodded, but looked nervous.

  “I’m so sorry to bother you and I know I really shouldn’t be here but…” My voice broke.

  Wariness filled her eyes and she took a step back.

  “You bought a pewter cup at the pawnshop in Kill Devil Hills. My boyfriend left me and he stole a bunch of my things and pawned them. I didn’t know until it was too late. I went to get my cup and I found out it had been sold.” This time I forced my voice to break. “I’m so sorry to show up at your door, and I’m not supposed to know who bought it, but I accidently found out who you were and I just had to see if there was any chance of getting it back.”

  She looked up at Collin. At least she hadn’t sent me packing. She looked him over and narrowed her eyes. “Your boyfriend pawned it?”

  I glanced over at Coll
in and looped my arm around his, leaning into him. “Oh, no! Enrique’s not my boyfriend,” I laughed. “Enrique’s gay.” I hugged his arm. “I don’t know what I’d do without him after Tony left and destroyed everything.”

  The woman frowned.

  She wasn’t going to talk to me. Maybe I should have done this Collin’s way. What would we do if we couldn’t get it back? I was tired and scared and started to cry, real tears. “Please, I know I have no right to be here. The cup doesn’t look like much, but it was my mother’s.” My voice broke again, and I wiped a tear from my face. “It’s one of the few things I have left of hers.”

  The tension eased from her body and she took a step back. “Come in, both of you come in.”

  We followed her into the living room. I still clung to Collin’s arm, and I looked up, giving him an evil grin. The glare he gave me said I’d pay for this later. Mrs. Abernathy motioned to the sofa, and I pulled Collin down next to me.

  “Why don’t you start from the beginning?” she said as she sat in an overstuffed chair next to us.

  I leaned my head into Collin’s shoulder and gave her a sad smile. “My ex-boyfriend Tony just swept me off my feet and before I knew it, he moved in with me. But it didn’t take long before he started staying out late, and things started going missing. Just little things at first, things I thought I’d misplaced, but Enrique here told me ‘Girl, he’s stealing your stuff.’ Didn’t you, Enrique?”

  Collin’s arm tensed, but he gave me a goofy grin, tilting his head. “I warned you.” He looked up at Mrs. Abernathy and raised his eyebrows in an exaggerated lift. “She’s stubborn. This girl won’t listen to a word I say.” His hand squeezed my arm in a painful grip.

  I had to stop myself from giggling. Collin was playing his role, digs at me and all.

  I took a deep breath to focus. “Tony was just so…”

  “Nerdy?” Collin supplied.

  “No.”

  “Lacking in the bedroom?”

  “No.”

  Collin’s eyes widened and he leaned toward the woman across from us. “Marianne was always complaining about how disappointing he was, and I was like, ‘You need to find you a real man.’” He tilted his head to the side, his eyes widening. “Like that Collin fellow that comes into the Short Stop I work at. That boy is fine.”