Page 317 of The Romance Adventure

“Don’t mind me, guys. Just having a sandwich.”

We whip around, and Ryan flicks on the light.

CJ sits at the kitchen island, eating a sandwich.

“We really need to get our own place,” Ryan mutters.

“The others should be along any moment.”

“The others? We were together all day.” Ryan flops back onto the couch.

“There has been a development.” CJ wipes his mouth and slides something across the marble countertop.

Ryan picks up a postcard. He blinks slowly and I’m concerned he can’t read it, like the spidery script in the journal.

When I peer over his shoulder, I see that it’s to Chip from Lorena. “Dated somewhat recently.”

We turn to each other, eyes filled with questions.

“She needs you? What does that mean?”

CJ shakes his head slowly.

“This is like the postcard she sent him when Captain J was still a kid. To be honest, I’m kind of surprised she’s still alive. But she must not know that her brother passed.”

“Do you suppose Captain J would know where she is?”

“There are a lot of unknowns,” CJ says.

“Aren’t you in the business of finding out what we don’t know?”

CJ lets out a breath. “Yeah. I think we’ll have to use some leverage, though. Maybe Captain J would be willing to help us if we made introductions to Glandman, ensuring he provides his son with additional funding for his hunt.”

“Isn’t Captain J our competition?”

“Keep your enemies close,” Magnus says, having entered silently.

“A full security system. Top of the line,” Ryan says, tossing up his hands at our revolving door.

“All of you lived here at some point, so it makes sense that they have keys, honey,” I whisper.

In the next five minutes, everyone arrives, we pass the postcard around, and ideas bandy about regarding what to do.

CJ reviews what we know.

“And let me guess, you’re going to tell us what we don’t know.” Ryan’s tone is wry.

“For starters, we still don’t know what the Salty Skeleton is.” Royal stares at his brother accusingly.

“And you had a golden key, what was that all about?” Magnus follows up.

CJ exhales as if dealing with a bunch of low-IQ students who’ve been sitting in the back row all semester. “The golden key belongs to the treasure chest. Mom and Dad were looking for it. That’s not to be confused with a skeleton key or the Salty Skeleton, though it is a key.”

The shared confusion is real.

“Let me lay this out for you. We have all three stones, but no crown. The barque, aka the Crimson Tide, isn’t where it’s supposed to be, but after a treacherous climb up the lighthouse, we have another place to look.”

I bite my lip. “Ryan, this might not be the best time to tell you this, but I almost fell that night.”