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"Damn you, Jay, don’t you understand? They think it was set up that you showed up down here, too" She stood tall and angry, and tossed a length of her hair over her shoulder as she spoke "What? Are you all suddenly the KGB or the CIA? Why does so have to be a setup? Why isn’t it obvious to you all that so absolutely horrible happened? Two people were murdered Maybe three Two people we kneell--we’d been working with them for weeks We found the about your project, this group has all found its way to you?"
David was staring at Vanessa, surprised He turned to Sean "I thought you had Liam try to reach the rest of the crew"
"I did," he said
Vanessa flushed She winced "I don’t kno everyone ed to be here so quickly I’ to work out best this way"
By then, the group was co seen Vanessa and Jay Zoe Cally ca sht not be wanted
"There are large tables out back in the patio area We’ll head out there," Sean said "We’ll go talk where we can hear"
A would-be soprano was belting out a nue and it see more than a very loud screech at theto the others to follow him
Clarinda, Jamie’s favorite server and Katie’s close friend, stopped him as he headed out "Sean, should I set you all up out there? Do you want dinner and drinks, and should I be steering other people away?"
He paused, feeling a break in his tereat" Come to think of it, they hadn’t eaten
The contents of the chest had et the fact that they hadn’t had dinner
She smiled sympathetically and moved on; Clarinda would have known, from Katie, what they had discovered in their "treasure" find
He walked on out to the patio It was typical Key West, lots of shrubs and trees surrounding Cuban tile flooring and wooden tables, so U the day and were enough shelter against rain when it was light He stood by the table, waiting
The group began to trail out, Vanessa in the lead Once they could hear, she began the introductions
There was a large crowd outside by then, so it seemed Vanessa, Jay and the film crew, himself, David, Jaden and Ted Jaden and Ted were quiet, watching, as if they were suddenly part of an unexpected reality TV show
Vanessa was quiet after the introductions, taking a seat at one of the long, oblong tables
"You all knoe’re planning on doing, right?" Sean asked
"Yes!" Barry said "It’s great We’re so pleased We were all going to ask you guys for work anyway, and then we talked to your cousin, Liam, and he explained that you wanted those of us ere involved to talk about what happened on camera But we can help you enormously in other ways," he said
"Great," Sean said "I’reat But e really want is to get each one’s perspective of ent on at Haunt Island"
Zoe began speaking quickly "We’re so grateful for this opportunity"
Clarinda caet your orders in The place is getting busy," she said
Beer seeht, and O’Hara’s offered a vast variety There was confusion as people took seats so that she could take food orders
Sean wound up at the head of the table at one end, David at the other They did rese fa," Jay told the newcouess what? Vanessa found a corpse!"
"A corpse?" Zoe deht we had a treasure chest It was a corpse," Vanessa said
"Well, it was a chest--it just wasn’t filled with treasure," Jay said "It held a corpse But you knohat? We think ityet," Jaden protested softly She joined the discussion with enthusias, really, but the preservation is remarkable Somehohen the poor woman was murdered and stuffed in the chest, she became mummified The chest was sealed, as if…as if…oh, I don’t know Maybe someone felt remorse and wanted to see that she was preserved in her tomb in the sea It’s eerie She’s all there…clothes and all, and she’s at an strange angle…neck broken, at least that’s what it looks like"
"Dona Isabella? I thought she died during the massacre on Haunt Island, or if not, when the pirate ship went down southwest of the Baha about Mad Miller, Kitty Cutlass and Dona Isabella is pure speculation, really," Vanessa said "There were one or two survivors who actually made it to shore when the Santa Geneva went down They were the ones who told of the pirate attack The Santa Geneva was accosted, there was some kind of communication between Mad Miller and her captain, and then the Santa Geneva was fired upon Before she sank, the pirates boarded, cutting down the crew and kidnapping Dona Isabella We know, too, that there was a massacre on Haunt Island, because the Bahamians found the remains They knew that the pirate ship had come there, and that it had sailed We know that it went down in a hurricane, because it was seen by an American ship when that ship barely survived the same storm In fact, sailors swore that the pirate ship went dohen a le had been labeled the Berht have taken the blame They called it an act of God At least they didn’t think that aliens caled "Well, if aliens came down, they missed poor Dona Isabella’s treasure-chest tomb Hey, I know debris travels, but not that far The Santa Geneva went down off Key West, and the pirate ship--however it went!--perished off of South Bi so the line"