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Trouble in Germaine Bay

Bonnie Matthews let out a sigh as she sat in the Old Salt.  The barroom smelled stale, smoke driving away the smell of lilacs and roses in the air.

"Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay I'll dance your cares away....To see me hootchie-coo you'll have to pay and pay..."  The kids were singing up on stage.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sick of this song and unfortunately it's the only really old one we know."  Laughter erupted again and Carolyn Danvers tried to strangle her cousin David Germaine with her feather boa.  The tourists always laughed, year after year.

That was it?  Bonnie thought as she slipped out the back into the sultry day.  The water was already dotted with sailboats as they struggled to escape the heat.  300 years of history in Germaine Bay and some kids singing in a bar was the most historical part of Old Whaling Days. Germaine Bay was after all one of the earliest ports on the coast in several hundred miles.  Bonnie ignored the “gypsy” that read tarot cards as she made her way down the narrow cobblestoned streets in the "old" part of town.  Ever since she had told her she would find love within a year and it had now been 20 she’d not put much stock in her predictions.

Okay so maybe she was reading too much into it, after all she was the historian that ran the local museum she should know how much history went into the festival.  Old Whaling Days had been around for less time than she had been alive.  It was a tourist ploy by the tourism board not the historical society and frankly, they made a heck of a lot more money off it than anything the historical society came up with. 

“Let’s go to your office and do something historic.”  A deep voice rumbled in her ear as she waited to cross the street.

Everyone went around calling him Mr. Firmin, but he was always Jack to her.  Had been since they grew up next door to each other, even when he went to law school he could come back and they would talk as of no time at all had passed.  “Jack Firmin what am I going to do with you?”  She would never admit he was the one she thought the gypsy talked of and it never came true.  He had married someone else within the year the gypsy gave her.  Two years before he had divorced and nothing ever changed.

“A client brought in something I think you might enjoy.  Let’s go do something historic.”

She shouldn’t say it but damn if she was tired of lost chances, she was 43, Jack a few years older.  “Get a girls’ hopes up and then mention some musty piece of paper most likely, for shame Jack.”

His mouth curled into a devilish grin.  “Solve my little mystery and you never know how I’ll pay back the favor.”

“Come on then.”  Bonnie plunged across the street leaving Jack to follow, but then he was held up talking to Butch Warren as the sheriff sat at the four way stop.

“And here I thought I’d get to see you arrested.”  Bonnie commented as Jack caught up to her at the historical society door.

“Would you like to see me in handcuffs Bonnie Belle?”

Bonnie narrowed her eyes.  “Don’t call me that!”

“Why not?  I seem to remember you never minding when we were in high school and it is your name.”

“I seem to remember that you only called me that when you were kissing me under the bleachers in college and that was before. . .”  That he had broken her heart by marrying someone else never came out as his mouth was suddenly covering hers.  His breath teased the hair on her neck as Jack slid his hands slowly under her shirt. When her front hook bra was undone, she spilled out of its confines allowing his fingers access but he only rubbed the undersides gently as he pulled away.

“I only called you that in retaliation for that joke of yours joining the firm of Firman, Ready and Willing when I got out of school.  Calling you by your given name always made your breasts blush the nicest shade.”  Her eyes lowered to find it still caused the same reaction. 

“You broke my heart Jack.”

Jack rested his forehead against hers, his breath slow and deliberate.  “You were talking about going on that year abroad didn’t sound much like you included me in those plans.  Dad convinced me Rachel would perfect for a career in law.  Her dad owned the damned law firm.”

“You were always talking about how much debt you had from school I wasn’t going to push you into more to come with me.  When I got back you were married when I was ready to settle down . . . with you.”

“And you never got married.”

“Almost did once but before I made that mistake I realized it was to get back at you and it would have made us miserable.  So show me what you found.”

“We’re over here spilling our guts and you want me to . . .” Her finger over his mouth stop the rest.

“You promised if I figured out your mystery you’d pay me back the favor.  I have 20 years of ideas to suggest if the fact you still haven’t taken your hands off me is any indication of starting things where we left off.”

He moved his mouth back near her ear.  “My divorce was only final a week ago.  Her father’s a lawyer I wasn’t going to give him any thing at all to use against me.  Bonnie watching you for two years since I came back just about drove me crazy.”

“Then what’s your mystery or are you just teasing me?”  Lips hot against her neck made thoughts of anything else leave her head.  He was damn sure teasing her too, his hands were still at work under her shirt.  One hand broke loose and traveled down to part her legs and Bonnie bit her lip so Carol the woman working that day wouldn’t hear her gasp.  Wearing a skirt Jack didn’t have much trouble with the task.

“The son of a former resident of Germaine Bay brought a box of papers to me.  He’s not quite sure how his dad got them but he wants to return them where they belong.”

“So why didn’t he bring them in and just drop them off?”  Bonnie got out before Jack pulled aside her panties.  “Oh god.”

“Bonnie is that you?”  Carol called out from the front desk.  Her footsteps grew louder as she came to investigate.  Jack stepped away quickly and her skirt fell back in place.  “What are you doing here it’s your day off.”

“I have some things I wanted to show her.”  Jack announced as Bonnie looked at him through half open lids. 

Bonnie finally was able to find her voice.  “I’ll be in my office Carol the lights better there.”  Unabashed Jack held out his hand in invitation for her to go first.

“Sure.”  The other woman replied, but Bonnie was certain she looked at her as if she knew exactly what they were doing only a moment before.

“You always attack a woman in her place of work when anyone might walk in the door?”  Bonnie hissed sitting behind her desk keeping him at a safe distance.  Yes, she wanted the man, but she wasn’t going to risk having the sheriff called for indecent exposure.  “What do you have to show me?”  When did the man have a briefcase?  Bonnie hadn’t heard one hit the ground as he had felt her up, but then would she have heard a freight train after 20 years of longing was suddenly coming true.  The papers that emerged looked ancient.

“He didn’t bring them in because he’s certain they are stolen.  Only we can’t figure out who they belonged to.  Some of the dates are from the 1680’s but the writing is hard to make out.”

“A lawyer who can’t read bad hand writing maybe you should have taken them to a doctor instead of me.”

“Very funny.”  Jack handed them over with a grin.  Bad handwriting wasn’t the question, it was old fashioned with the crossed f looking letters for s and everything.  Bonnie forced herself to concentrate, with Jack watching her, the thoughts in her head too easily ran to getting him out of that silly lawyer’s suit.

“Why would he think they’re stolen?  They look like family papers to me.  We have a sale deed for land, an old marriage certificate, some shipping manifests for a ship called the Aurora can’t recall that name either.”  Bonnie flipped through them carefully due to their age but quickly.  There wasn’t much of a mystery to tell the truth.  Half way through the pile, her blood ran cold as she stared at one.  “Maybe they are stolen.”

“What, why?”  Jack rushed around the desk to look over her shoulder.  He’d seen all of them before and nothing had jumped out at him.

“15 years ago or so there was a break in at Germaine house.  Maxwell said some papers were missing.  He’d brought in some papers for me to look at a few weeks earlier.  This was one of them.  Unless your client is Maxwell Germaine and you’re just lying to me I think you’ve stumbled across the thief.”

“No my client is a 25 year old I can’t see a 10 year old finding anything fascinating in a bunch of old papers.  With all the valuables they have there he would haven’t take these and sure as hell wouldn’t have brought them back trying to return them.  He would have just left them on the steps if he was making amends.”

“What did he say about his father then?”

“I never asked much with not knowing how long ago they went missing for all we knew they were taken 50 years ago.  The boy claimed they were stolen and he wanted to give them back.”

Bonnie kept turning the pages slowly her eyes scanning every line.  “Jack . . .” She couldn’t bring it to words as she saw what was before her.  “Hell no wonder I never heard anything about the break in.  I only knew of it when I asked Maxwell if I could look at the papers again.”

“What you going to make me guess?” 

Bonnie started laughing, she couldn’t stop, Jack spun her chair around, and only him inches from her again tamed the laughter.

“What?”  He asked again.

“The original deed for the land that Maxwell Germaine owns, that has been in the family for generations upon generations, since the 1700’s at least is in the name of Eli Parker.”

“I’m the lawyer Bonnie not the historian why are you laughing?”

“Eli Parker was a pirate.  Sailed the Aurora, I knew that wasn’t a cargo ship.  I wonder if the manifests were loot disguised as legitimate goods.  Sandra and Maxwell are always rubbing it in everyone’s face about how illustrious the family is and they were nothing more than pirates.”

“But the name is Germaine and the town is named after the family?”

Bonnie rushed out of her office and came back quickly.  “Genealogy records.”  She announced as she spread them out all over the desk.  Despite the mess, she didn’t have to look far.  “There we are.  I knew he had a family tree for them.  And the very earliest name is Carolyn Germaine married to unknown.  I’ll bet you unknown is Eli Parker and he took her name.  It wasn’t too long before then that he was being hunted relentlessly.  The Germaine’s have always been known as being fine whalers, a pirate is a sailor just as much as anyone.”

“But why would any man break into the house and steal those papers young or old?”

“You’re his lawyer Maxwell ever been blackmailed?”

Jack grinned.  “Like he would ever tell me and I sure as hell don’t ask.  But you are talking a lot of years ago would it even matter anymore?”

“Probably not, but why else steal them?”  Bonnie was looking through the pile once more when Jack’s tongue touched the rim of her ear.  Hell the man hadn’t forgotten.

“Favor’s over, I know who they belong to, time for paybacks.”

Bonnie spun her chair around and he was kissing her again before she hardly realized what was going on. 

“My house is just around the corner.”  He whispered just before he walked out leaving her flushed and breathless and how in the hell was she going to walk that far when her legs had turned to jelly.