Ghosts ⚔️ Blackbeard's Treasure

Chapter 13.

I step back from the chair. "Did you know him?"

Paco purses his lips. "Mmm..I mind my business, but the man liked to talk." He swivels his head to the open doorway as if to check for eavesdroppers. "He had his fingers in many pies and was working with Jack Keller."

"You mean the Mayor's Project Manager?" Jack Keller must have a twin. He seems to show up everywhere.

He hesitates, then adds. "And him." He points to the figure of Roy McGuilacuddy.

"Do you know what work he did for the other man?" I point to Roy.

"I don't know what he did for the Mayor's office." The corners of his mouth turn down. "I didn't hear much after Mr. Thache and Mr. Keller had a falling out." Paco says this with weary mocking gesture, as if to suggest the subject bores him, but I suspect he loves gossiping. "Nathaniel Mist worked with the marine salvage company as a shipwreck salvage expert." He scans the apartment's shelves. "There were valuable pieces from old ships he displayed on these shelves, but they're no longer here."

"Where did they go?" I ask. Paco shrugs.

Dylan's more interested in the furnishings than the deceased tenant's work history. My boyfriend walks over a thick moss-green rug to the other side of the room. "There's a lot of nice furniture here, Lizzie. Look at this table." He rubs his hand over the smooth wooden grain of a Swedish coffee table. A piece we could never afford on our minuscule budget. Next to the table is a vintage crate that looks quite old. The boxes' wooden slats are covered with grime and dust. The faint impression of a skull and crossbones are indented into the top.

Paco walks over and stands beside me. "Ah, Mr. Thache does want that crate. It's not part of the abandoned inventory. The tenant found it while they were clearing out the basement. It was in a hidden tunnel behind a wine cellar."

Alarm bells go off in my mind.

"Really. What's in it?" Dylan's eyes light up. "It must be vintage alcohol."

Paco shakes his head. "I don't know. I didn't open it, since it was next to human remains." He reaches under his short sleeved button down shirt and reflexively kisses a small gold crucifix.

"You mean a skeleton?"

"Not to worry, Miss Lizzie. That body was over two hundred years old. It's been removed by the city. This warehouse was built over property that dates back to the 1700's." He shrugs. "It's rumored that there were smuggler tunnels from here to the tip of Salem that were flush with illegal activity." Paco frowns, his brown eyes drifting towards the door. "I should be getting back to my carne mechada. What do you both think? Do you want the apartment?"

Dylan and I look at each other and I slowly nod. He's not in the least worried that we're standing over a graveyard. He thinks it's cool.

In the hallway, I take one more lingering look at the refurbished warehouse, glistening with wood and new fixtures. An inner voice, like a beady eyed cynical beast, yammers in my ears urging me to decline Roland's generous offer. I studiously ignore it—I want to live here with Dylan.

We return to his apartment and fill out the rental paperwork. "Monday is the first. If Mr. Thache approves the paperwork, I'll give you the keys on Sunday."

"That's sounds good." Dylan hands him the completed application. "When would you want us to start clearing out the vacant apartments?"

Paco smiles as he walks us to the door. "Would next Wednesday work for both of you? After you're both settled in."

I'm torn between wanting to move in and worrying about the strange connection between Jack and the deceased tenant. I saw the victim outside the Pirate Republic. Could his spirit be lingering here, one floor up, over our new apartment? What's to stop him from floating down into our bedroom in the middle of the night?

My phone vibrates with a text from Blair.

Stop by on your way home. I have something to show u.