Treasure Tides (The Coins) Read Online Free PDF Page B

markings on the lid, hoping to find something
he could interpret, Becki suddenly moved in for a closer look.
“I don’t remember seeing those yesterday,” she said with a frown,
“but then again, it is hard to think straight with Natie and Jonah around.”
Abruptly turning to make her way back inside, she called, “I need
caffeine; do you want a cup of coffee?”
“Huh?” Kurt responded, still concentrating on the crate.
“ Coffee , do you want coffee?”
“No thanks. I’m trying to quit,” he answered quickly.
Becki liked her coffee strong and sweet.
Her favorite recipe consisted
of one part coffee, strong enough to stand a spoon in, added to an equal
part of cinnamon creamer. As if that were not enough to eat the lining of
a person’s stomach, she topped it off with whipped cream, from a can.
“What the hell is going on?” he muttered, as he pulled a cell phone
from his pocket. Kurt’s stomach was already churning, and the last thing
he needed was a cup of her coffee.
He had seen designs like this only
once before during a top-secret mission in the Middle East.
As he
punched in Landon’s number, he wondered how the crate had ended up here , of all places. Good Witch? Bad Witch? It was hard to tell, but
most definitely the work of a Witch.
The call went straight to Landon’s voice mail. “Landon, we’ve got
trouble. It’s about that damn box you brought to Becki’s last night.
Didn’t you sense anything? Find me as soon as you get this message. We
may need to call in some markers.”
Pressing the ‘end call’ button, he mentally rearranged his day.
He
would call Roger to meet him at the job site, hand off the punch list,
then find Landon. They had to move this crate as soon as possible if
they were to protect Becki from whatever might be inside.
“Can you get it opened?” Becki startled him as she spoke.
“Not now. I don’t have the right tools with me,” Kurt lied without
hesitation. “I’ll get things started at the jobsite and then come back to
pick it up. I have something at home I think might work to pry the lid
off.”
“Ok, sounds good. I’m going to drink my coffee and work up the
courage to face the day,” she said with a grimace.
“Go back to bed,” he urged forcing a grin. “You know you want to.
I’ll walk around through the gate and grab it a little later.”
“Ok, but don’t go through it without me,” Becki stipulated.
“I wouldn’t dream of leaving you out of it,” Kurt promised as he
opened the patio door, motioning for her to precede him into the house.
There was no way in hell Becki would be allowed anywhere near that
crate once it had been opened. Kurt would simply tell her the crate had
been empty and it had fallen apart from being sea-logged. The dumpster
was being emptied tomorrow so he had disposed of it at the job site. He
only hoped it would be that simple.
As Royce listened to their conversation, he surmised that Becki’s
visitor knew more than the average civilian. As their voices drifted away,
he pushed against the top of the crate once more hoping to force it
open. Sean said the moon would trigger an unlock sequence, since it was
now daylight, he assumed the crate should be opening soon. He only
hoped it was soon enough .
“Sean! We have a problem,” Royce whispered urgently.
“I’m on it boss,” came the immediate reply.
#
    Kurt wracked his brain, as he drove toward Charleston trying to
remember what the symbols on the crate stood for. Most of them he
could not decipher, but one appeared to resemble the moon. He had
tried to pick the crate up, hoping to take it with him, but there was no
possible way of moving it himself. Regardless of what Becki said, that
damn thing was heavy.
    Pulling his cell out to dial again, he waited for Landon to answer.
Voice mail, again ! Where the hell was Landon, and why was his phone
going to voice mail?
    “Call me as soon as you get this message,” Kurt barked into the
phone, after dialing for the