A thousand islands: the lost treasure of Bill Johnstone, Pirate…
Chapter 6:
A Revolution fic (No blackout Au): Sebastian (Bass) Monroe/Charlotte (Charlie) Matheson; Charloe. Jeremy Baker, Connor Bennet, Will Strausser, Scanlon, Bill and Rebecca O'Halloran.
Charlie is used to the limelight… as a daytime TV weather girl, she is sent all over the world talking about the weather in Chicago and the US while hugging Koalas in Australia or sky diving in Nepal. Then she fell in love with her bodyguard Sebastian Monroe and found a whole new kind of adventure. In this story, Charlie and Bass are just married and are off on a sailing trip to the Thousand Islands of the St Lawrence River between New York and Canada for their honeymoon – where they fall headlong into a new adventure and solve a mystery…
Rating M
Author's note: Thanks so much for reading (and for coming back lol!) This is still part of a birthday fic for LemonSupreme, a very extended birthday present really because this update has been a looong time coming due to muse going AWOL lol :D I hope you enjoy it Lemon, cheers, Magpie
A thousand islands: the lost treasure of Bill Johnstone, Pirate…
Chapter 6:
Set in the same AU universe as 'A thousand eyes', the story so far…
Bass and Charlie are on honeymoon, sailing their boat, the 'M' from their house in Egg Harbor on Lake Michigan up to the Thousand Islands in the St Lawrence River, a region straddling the border between the USA and Canada. They've been invited to a party on an island owned by Drexel, an old acquaintance from Bass and Miles' wilder days but Drexel doesn't exactly impress Charlie or Bass, especially when they find him trying to convince a young female neighbour to stay at the very adult party without the knowledge of her family. When he grudgingly takes them on a tour round his art and antique filled house, he reveals that he really wants the girl to tell him where she found a three hundred year old bottle of rum, part of a treasure horde worth a fortune…
Bass and Charlie rescue Rebecca O'Halloran from Drexel, making sure that she gets home safe to her father's island. They end up staying over then find out that Rebecca's mom is away with her seriously ill little brother Jack and that the O'Halloran's might have to sell their island to pay for the medical bills. Bass and Charlie decide to call in the troops from their security company to help in the search for the rest of the treasure for the O'Hallorans – and to make sure that Drexel and his private army don't get to it first.
In the last chapter, Charlie gave Bass the news that they're going to have a baby, although its very early days. Then, while Jeremy, Will and Scanlon who've just arrived at the O'Halloran island in a hired pontoon get settled in, Bass and Charlie go to meet Connor and Penny, Charlie's PA and Connor's fiancé, to give Connor the news about a little brother or sister. Connor isn't entirely surprised, in fact he and Penny had a bet going…
Meanwhile, the island is being watched by two of Drexel's men from a nearby fishing boat, and Drexel is on his way back from Ontario because he means to have the treasure and doesn't care how he gets it.
The O'Halloran's aren't on their own this time though.
…..
The big boat shed on the O'Halloran Island had been designated search central and at the moment it seethed with O'Halloran relatives of every shape, size, age and gender.
Keeping the search a secret from the rest of the O'Halloran tribe and their islander friends had proven to be impossible, in fact Charlie was almost convinced that there was a healthy streak of Irish second sight running through their host family's veins because within minutes of the M and 'The truth is in here', (or 'the T' for short), tying up at the island dock, skiffs, pontoons and flat bottomed outboards had started arriving in a steady stream and were tied up in rows along the jetty with new arrivals tying up wherever they could.
The house was buzzing too. Rebecca's aunts and some of their friends had set up a food distribution centre and there was a steady stream of the smaller kids coming out with picnic baskets full of supplies for each search party. It felt like a festival…
Bass, Charlie, Bill, Jeremy and Rebecca were in the boat shed handing out maps marked with designated search areas surrounded by more than a dozen excited, noisy and mostly redheaded O'Hallorans. They were all good sailors, had to be living where they did and they knew their way around the islands.
This wasn't the first time that there'd been a search for Bill Johnstone's lost cargo of rum either. Or for the gold, silver and various other treasure hoards said to have been hidden somewhere in the maze of Thousand Islands.
Although that didn't mean there was no point searching again.
The river was always changing, the winds and the storms shifting sand and soil, covering and uncovering things all the time with every day different. So the search had as good a chance today as it had the day that Rebecca found that first bottle.
At the landward end of the big wooden shed, Connor, Scanlon, Will, Penny and a few more O'Halloran cousins were setting up a communications centre and organizing call signs, frequencies and check in schedules for the short-wave radios they were using to supplement phones and tablets. The waters around the Thousand islands were notorious for dead spots and no one wanted to be out of contact with someone like Drexel having a vested interest.
They were almost ready to go, there was the long afternoon still left to search, and if nothing turned up, the plan was to keep going tomorrow and the next day if needed, although after that some of the searchers would need to get back to work. There was a sense of determination, of purpose that was almost palpable. Bill and his family were popular, well loved…
Charlie was standing next to Bass, her arm round Rebecca, Bill on the other side of them and Jeremy was handing out the last of the maps and check in instructions.
Bass held up his hands for quiet, looking relaxed and casual but totally in charge. 'Hey people?'
She smiled as their little army of O'Halloran's turned towards them like flowers to the sun, red heads gleaming in the sunlight reflected off the water outside, faces full of expectation, enthusiasm and solid islander competence…
Rebecca drew in a breath, her eyes shining.
'Folks,' Bass looked around at every face, 'we all know what we need to do,' He grinned, 'so lets go find some ridiculously valuable bottles of rum and help Bill and Becca keep their island.'
There was a roar and the whole boatshed rocked with applause, shouts of encouragement and stamping feet...
…..
Drexel stepped away from the binoculars permanently set up on the top floor balcony of his house, silent, his hands clenched, knuckles white and eyes just a little left of sane.
The bodyguard closest to him backed away a little, glancing at the other three for support.
They weren't any help…
He shrugged, 'Hey Boss, don't worry about it, they're amateurs, they won't find squat.'
Drexel smiled, although it wasn't a pleasant smile. Then he shrugged, 'but I want them to find lots and lots of squat…' He peered at the man's nametag, 'Kent.' He glanced back at the distant hive of activity around the O'Halloran Island as boats left, scattering off towards the wild, generally unpopulated and almost unnavigable regions upriver and his hands relaxed...
Kent was looking a little confused.
Drexel rolled his eyes and turned to the others, 'I'm going to let them do all the hard work, and when they find my treasure, Gould and Johns will let me know and we'll go take it away from them. Simple.'
One of the other guards spoke up. His badge had 'Phillip' on it. 'What about the guy? The one married to Charlie Matheson?'
'What about him?' The hands clenched again and the strange light eyes flared.
Kent cleared his throat, 'he's an ex-marine Boss, looks like a fighter too, and he runs a security company in Chicago, a good one. I looked him up.'
Drexel heaved out a sigh… 'Yeah, I know. He and Miles Matheson were quite a team in the old days, and if they were both here I might be a little worried. But he's only got a couple of his men and his photographer kid as back up – and the O'Hallorans of course.' Then the smile returned, only nastier. 'Besides, I know his weak spot.'
The two guards exchanged a look. The other two kept blank face, although their eyes were alert.
Kent was the one who asked. 'What's that, Boss?'
'His wife of course.' Drexel pulled an antique enamelled snuffbox out of his jacket pocket, opened it and tipped a little white powder onto the back of his hand, sniffing it back one nostril at a time. 'He'd do anything for her.'
Phillip looked worried. 'You're not gonna do anything to Charlie Matheson are you Boss? I like her. I follow her on twitter. She's great.'
Shit. Kent rolled his eyes. The guy was an idiot. He should know by now that Drexel didn't like being questioned. Or criticized. And he really didn't like being contradicted.
Drexel stood very still, 'I didn't say I was going to do anything to her, did I?' He shrugged, heading inside, his voice fading away, 'just that if it came to a choice between my treasure and his precious Charlie, I know which one he'd choose.' He paused and turned back, looking at Phillip 'Oh, by the way? You're fired.'
….
It was almost lunchtime on the second day and Bass and Charlie were searching a channel between two islands, going slow and keeping to the deeper water in the middle. The thick woods, tall trees and wild undergrowth made seeing anything on the islands difficult but the recent storms had scoured the river banks and gullies, and mud slides and collapsed banks had exposed caves that they called in for closer inspection by some of the O'Halloran teams in flat boats.
Charlie was sitting on the bow of the M dressed in long pants and shirt with any uncovered bits of skin slathered in a herbal insect repellent and her wide brimmed hat draped in mosquito netting. The netting made looking through binoculars a bit of a pain, but it was totally worth it. She yawned, blinked, and kept looking.
They were going on engine power, the sound a gentle chug chug that most of the birds ignored completely, just like they seemed to ignore the clouds of bugs hanging around her, she sighed and yawned again. Searching for buried treasure wasn't quite as exciting as she'd thought it'd be. The scenery was nice, but all they'd found so far were lots of rocks and tree roots.
Bass was steering in cut off shorts a Chicago Bulls tee shirt and the battered slouch hat he'd bought when they went on a trip to Australia. He looked totally relaxed and carefree. He also saw the yawn, 'you ok Charlie?'
She put the glasses down, swatting yet another huge mosquito on her ankle and feeling an almost homicidal sense of satisfaction as it dropped into the water, lifeless. Then she turned to him. 'Yeah, but I'm wandering what these guys eat when they can't get Charlie.' She looked him up and down and shook her head, 'I still can't believe they're not hitting on you too.'
He chuckled, his eyes crinkling behind his aviators, 'maybe they just like pregnant women? They were all around you last night at the party too.'
She got up and stretched, walking over to him, sliding her arms around him from behind, the netting on her hat catching on his beard. 'It was a good night, wasn't it? Even with the bugs, and even if I couldn't have a drink.'
'Yeah, the O'Hallorans sure know how to throw a party and the Auntie's lemonade was almost as good as the beer.' He changed course a little, then reached back with one hand, pulling her in close against him and dropping a kiss on the end of her nose, not taking his eyes off the river, 'I didn't know Connor and Penny were so good at organising things. They make a good team.'
She grinned, 'yeah, I think they're going to make an announcement of their own soon.'
He nodded, 'they're already looking at dates,' Then he laughed softly, 'did Jeremy show you the plans he and Will have drawn up for a nursery?'
'Yeah,' she snuggled into the circle of his arms, 'they might have to fight Duncan over the colour scheme though. She thinks it's a boy and the guys really want a girl.' She leaned back against him, enjoying the feel of him behind her, solid, strong, the muscles of his chest moving against her back as he steered the M into the middle of a wide part of the channel, away from the thickest clouds of the evil insects.
The radio buzzed. Bass reached around and picked up the handset, 'yeah?'
'Dad? It's Bec, she says they've found something, she wants everyone to come in.'
Charlie whooped...
Bass winced, grinning, 'copy that, on our way,'
He'd just hung up when another call came in. It was Jeremy this time, voice stressed. 'You'd better come back, boss. We've just caught a couple of guys in a fishing boat listening in and they say they're working for Drexel. Will and Scanlon are finding out what they've told him.'
Bass shook his head, 'Shit. Tell Will to go easy till I get there, ok Jer? Has he got his knives out yet?'
There was a chuckle on the other end of the line, 'not yet, he's still busy tying them up.'
'Well, try and get him to start with the thumbscrews or something else, not the knives,'
'I'll try, but you know he won't listen to anyone but you when he's got a job on, Bass.'
Charlie was laughing so much she slipped, grabbing on to her hat and Bass at the same time.
He braced to keep her upright, careful of her belly, dropping a kiss on her cheek as she got her balance back. 'Yeah, I know. We'll be about half an hour. Try giving him some more rope, it might slow him down a bit.' He fired up the engines, circled the M round and started back, punching in another code, 'Connor?'
'Yes Dad?' There were voices in the background, loud, excited…
'Connor, listen. There's a chance that Drexel knows where we're up to. Tell Bec and Bill to mark the location and come in but no one's to say anything over the air, ok? We'll be there as soon as we can.'
There was silence for a moment, 'copy that, I'm on it.' Then he was gone.
Charlie had stopped laughing, and was looking up at Bass, the wind whipping her hair around under the net now they'd sped up. 'Do you think he knows?'
His lips tightened, 'Drexel? Probably, and he'll do whatever it takes to get what he wants.' They were heading out to open water now and he increased the speed, his arms and chest a solid frame around her, his legs strong pillars behind hers and the wind belling his shirt out behind them, the sun on the water making everything bright shimmering blues and golds now they were out of the shade of the trees...
She nodded, 'I believe it.' She reached up to pull her hat off, her hair whipping back and wrapping itself around his shoulders. She remembered the look of total lust on Drexel's face when he talked about the treasure and knew Bass was right. 'But this time we're here to stop him.'
He chuckled, 'yeah…'
….
Drexel hurled his new phone into the water far below. 'Fuck…' He blew out a long-suffering breath. 'It just goes to show that if you want something done properly you have to do it yourself.' He pulled the snuff box out again and held it up to the light, admiring the colours… 'When two tribes go to war, etc etc.'
Kent looked at the new guy, Jim. Big, strong and competent looking, his dark skin was set off by a snowy white shirt under the regulation black jacket and he'd arrived that morning. He also seemed totally unfazed by the fact that he was working for a crazy guy.
Kent wondered how long that'd last. 'So what are we going to do, boss?'
Drexel smiled…
….
AN: Hi, and thanks so much for reading! There'll be one more chapter – and then a little Charloe epilogue. At least that's the plan. Hope to see you there, cheers, Magpie.