Secret Of Coffin Island

---

Secret Of Coffin Island - book excerpt

Chapter 1

The ocean waves pounded out a rhythm that soothed your soul as its spray danced in the air with the seagulls. Crystal-like sands glistened in the sun as the sea slowly melted away the shore. With each ripple of water, the sand eroded away the remains of the coffins revealing headless skeletons facing west. Tiny sand crabs scurried in and out of the chest cavities and nibbled on century-old plankton and bacteria. The smell of decay mixed with salt gave out a sulfur-like odor even too putrid for the beach animals to ignore, while the sound of a sword sliced through the air…

“Marie, are you listening? Marie, can you hear me? Where did you go just now?” Gale Winters waved her hand in front of Marie’s dazed eyes.

Dr. Marie Bartek shook her head in a startled rattle and focused her eyes on Gale. “What, oh sorry, I just had the strangest vision.”

“Seriously, today you have a strange vision? Marie, it’s your wedding day and the ever so handsome Chief Cory Miller awaits you at the other end of the hall.” Gale looked at Helen Bartek and shook her head. “Can you please talk some sense into your daughter? I give up. I’m having enough difficulty fixing her hair.”

“Gale, I gave up talking sense into Marie a long time ago.” Helen leaned over and patted Marie’s hand. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Mom I’m fine, sorry to have upset you. I’m still learning about these psychic abilities myself.”

Helen leaned forward and lightly brushed her daughter’s cheek. “You look absolutely radiant. Wait until your father sees you, he won’t be able to keep it together walking you down the aisle.”

Marie smiled and stared at her mother’s hazel eyes and golden hair and thought she looked amazing for her age. “I’m thrilled I come from such a great gene pool. You and dad look amazing for your age.”

Gale walked back over with a lip-gloss wand in her hand and grabbed Marie’s chin. “Stop talking, I can’t do your makeup with you zoning out into la-la land and moving your head. So, are you going to tell us where you were just now? Don’t answer until I’m done here.”

Marie crossed her eyes and waited until Gale finished. “My, aren’t you the bossy one today? As to where I was, I have no clue. I saw the beach, and it was beautiful and serene, and then I saw a row of headless skeletons and tiny crabs crawling in and out of the chest cavities.”

Gale stopped smiling and raised her eyebrows. “You saw what? Wow, now that is really creepy and not what you should be thinking about on your wedding day. Can you put that on hold for a while?”

“How does Cory deal with all of this?” Helen got up and began to fidget with her bracelet.

Marie walked over and lovingly placed a hand on her mother’s shoulder as she shook her head at Gale. “I’m okay, and Cory’s more than okay. Don’t worry about all of this. Gale’s right, I’m getting married in less than an hour, time to focus on that.”

Gale replied, “Right, now I’d like to make some final touches on myself if that’s okay? I’m still trying to keep Tim’s attention. I have a reputation to uphold.”

Marie chuckled and waited until her mother was out of earshot as she whispered to Gale. “I think I saw something about those bodies that were found here on Folly Island back in nineteen eighty-seven.”

“Yeah, I was going to ask you that, but figured it wasn’t a good idea for your mom to hear anymore. Do you think it means anything? I mean, it usually does.”

“I don’t know yet, these are the times I miss Myra, especially today.”

Gale grabbed Marie’s shoulders and said, “Now look, we both know Myra is here. I know you mean you wished she were here on this side, but she’s here in spirit. You of all people should know that. Don’t start doubting your belief system now, okay? Now come on, you’re gonna mess up all the hard work I put into your makeup.”

Marie nodded her head and turned to look into the cognac-stained oval floor mirror. Her highlighted blonde hair was coiled at the top of her head as ringlets cascaded at the neck. Her emerald eyes were softly hidden beneath her veil as they glistened with happiness and pride. “I’m so glad I chose this dress in ivory. It’s simple and elegant and actually allows me to breathe.”

Helen walked over and stood beside Marie and smiled. “I wasn’t sure if I would like the halter empire waist, but the beading is magnificent, and you look like a princess.”

Gale spoke as she added rose blush to her cheeks. “I love the way it cinches up the back and how the satin flares out just below the hips. To me, you look like a mermaid. You’re always swimming in the ocean anyway, so a perfect fit.”

“You would say I look like a mermaid.” Marie turned to face her mother and best friend as she picked up her bouquet filled with pink Astilbe, purple Zinnias, and a touch of white Shasta Daisies and Cosmos.

Helen reached into her purse and pulled out a square black velvet box and handed it to Marie. “The jewelry inside this box belonged to your great-grandmother. She wore it on her wedding day just as my mother and I did. I’ve been waiting for this day to pass it on to you to carry out the tradition. We have all had strong and loving marriages. I hope it brings the joy that you and Cory deserve.”

Marie’s hands shook as she opened the box and saw a simple pearl necklace and earrings. “Oh mother, this is absolutely beautiful. I don’t know what to say. I never saw this around the house when I was growing up.”

“That’s because they’ve been stowed away in a safe deposit box. Marie, these are very valuable. Please take good care of them, and I hope I’m alive to see you hand them off to your daughter on her wedding day.”

Marie leaned in and kissed her mother’s cheek. “Thank you, and I love them.”

Gale grabbed a tissue and wiped the corners of her eyes. “Okay, now that’s enough. We’re all going to need a makeover. I’m never going to make it through the ceremony.”

Marie wrapped her arms around her mother and best friend and took in a deep breath. She stood an inch less than Gale who claimed to be five foot nine. “Okay ladies, let’s do this. Let me meet my soul mate and make this official.”

They all laughed and walked out of the room toward the end of the hall to meet Marie’s father. Gale’s charcoal black hair draped over her bare shoulders, and her olive skin tone complimented the chiffon deep plum gown, which was an elegant contrast to Helen’s classic chiffon taupe suit with beaded collars and cuffs.

Marie’s father, Paul Bartek, stood tall and proud wearing a simple black tuxedo with a charcoal gray tie. He smiled wide as a tear slipped out the corner of his eye when he leaned forward to kiss Marie on the cheek. “You look just like your mother did on her wedding day. I couldn’t be more proud to walk you down that aisle.”

Marie choked back her tears so she wouldn’t look like a raccoon when she exchanged her vows. “Oh Daddy, I’m excited and scared to death at the same time. Is that normal?”

“Absolutely, so take my arm and lean on me, just as you always did when you were little. I want you to know that I’ll always be here for you to lean on, both your mother and I will.”

Marie leaned her head on his shoulder and smiled. “I know and thank you. I can’t imagine not having you and Mom here to share this day with me.”

Marie watched her older brothers Edward and Warren escort her mother to the front of the small chapel. She caught a glimpse of Cory and Tim Haines standing at the altar before the doors slowly closed.

Marie and Cory chose to have a simple June beach wedding, and it was only natural to have Gale and Tim as the maid of honor and best man. The white and red baby roses had been arranged on the altar in a solid brass vase trimmed with satin plum bows.

The Folly Beach United Methodist church was a quaint white wood-sided chapel that barely seated a hundred people. It was quietly tucked in amongst the palm trees and a short distance to the South Carolina oceanfront beach house where the wedding reception would take place.

An hour later, Marie and Cory walked out through the opened church doors as friends and family members blew bubbles into the air. The wedding was traditional and progressive at the same time, and all the planning and organizing was worth any amount of money and arguing with Gale over details. Now it was time to head to the reception and party with everyone who meant the world to them.

Cory stared at the string of cans tied to the back bumper of his British racing green convertible MG. “You all do realize this is a classic?”

Gale sheepishly grinned and said, “Yeah we know, heaven forbid should we leave any marks on the precious car. Look, we placed bubble wrap on the bumper before we tied the string.”

Tim pumped up his chest and saluted Cory. His six-foot-five frame stretched the seams of his tuxedo. “That was my idea. This was the least damage I would allow her to do. She wanted to blow up condoms and tie them to the mirrors.”

“Allow me to do?” Gale grabbed Tim’s tie and yanked him against her body. “Nobody allows me to do anything. Got that?”

Marie shook her head. “Oh, trust me, we’ve all got that.”

“Okay everyone, I think we have enough pictures here at the church. It’s time to head over to the reception.” Helen tapped Marie’s arm and winked. “I’m glad there are no condoms tied to anything.”

“Yeah, I am too. Okay, let’s go, I’m starving. Plus, I need a glass of wine.” Marie lifted the folds of her dress and draped them over her arm and ever so carefully slid down into the moss-leathered upholstery.

Their car horns blew at passersby as they sped off toward the beach and Marie laughed at the cans bouncing and clanking against the road. She felt the warm sun against her face as the breeze lightly dried her glossed lips. Her heart felt as if it would explode with love and pride now that she was officially Mrs. Cory Miller. Or was it Mrs. Chief Cory Miller? Those were details to iron out when she wrote out their thank you cards.

“I can smell the ocean.” Cory grabbed Marie’s hand and pulled her knuckles to his lips. “Well, Mrs. Miller, are you ready for the rest of our lives?”

“Oh, I’m more than ready.” Marie gazed at his deep brown eyes and sandy brown hair and leaned her head on his shoulder. “It was so kind of your cousin to allow us to use their beach house for our reception. I can’t imagine a more fitting place to celebrate.”

“I would skip everything to have you all to myself. Why don’t we pretend to have headaches and disappear?”

“Yeah, we need a code word, so we know when we’re on the same page. How about potato salad?”

“Potato salad, where on earth did you come up with that, and are we even having potato salad at the reception?”

Marie belly laughed and said, “I have no idea, but if you hear me say it, it’s time to retreat. Oh, and I’d like to thank you again for agreeing to move into my house. I know it was tough for you to give up your condo.”

“It wasn’t that difficult, I mean come on, a tiny condominium facing an alley as opposed to living on the beach? It was an obvious choice.” Cory downshifted to second gear. “I didn’t want to upset you, but have you seen Myra at all?”

Marie lifted her head and heavily sighed. “No, I haven’t. She was coming through for me so clearly up until about a month before the wedding. I don’t understand it. Plus, I could really use her help because I had the oddest vision right at the church before the wedding.”

“About what?”

“About headless skeletons in coffins buried in the sand.”

“You’re kidding, right? That sounds like the bodies that were found here on the island.”

“That’s what Gale and I thought. We chose to refrain from talking about it with my mom there, but we all know there’s no coincidence when I have a vision.”

“Yes, and certainly not something we want to talk about on our wedding day or our honeymoon.”

“That’s right, so kick this car into fourth and get us to the reception. Then we can make our travel plans to France. I absolutely can’t wait to see where my grandfather lived. This is going to be a trip of a lifetime.”

“I think we actually have a window of opportunity next month. I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to get our schedules coordinated.”

Marie kissed Cory’s cheek and wiped off the remains of lipstick. “Let’s remember it was more your schedule that was the problem, not mine. I should be able to have someone fill in for me at the vet clinic.”

Cory pulled into the parking spot next to the cadet blue beach house and halted to a stop. The open veranda faced the ocean allowing their guests to receive a magnificent view. “We’ll discuss later whose schedule is more difficult, for now, Mrs. Miller, we have a perfect day for a reception. So, let’s meet our guests and get this party started.”

“Yes, and I need to check on Bailey. It was great how the catering staff agreed to watch him during the ceremony. I just hope he wasn’t under their feet when they put out the food. You know how he likes to beg for scraps.” Marie smiled at Cory as he held her hand getting out of the car when she suddenly began to feel dizzy and clumsily leaned against him. “Oh wow, I’m getting an overwhelming feeling of grief. I keep hearing cries and I feel so much negative energy. I suspect there were a lot of deaths here by the ocean.”

Cory propped Marie against the car and lifted her chin with his finger. “Are you going to be okay? Do you need to do some meditating before we head to the party? That usually helps you keep the spirits at a distance.”

“No, I’m fine, really I am. I’ve asked my spirit guides to clear them off.” Marie took in a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “Okay, there I’m better. Let’s go change into our party clothes. I’m so glad we decided to keep the reception casual.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Marie stood up and kissed Cory hard on the lips and then slowly pulled away and winked. “I’m perfect, remember? Let’s go. I need to get out of this dress and into my rhinestone flip-flops.”

Cory laughed and in one swift movement lifted Marie into his arms and carried her across the parking lot. “I’m at your beck and call . I have a feeling I’ll be using the code words potato salad very soon.”

“I’m beginning to crave potato salad already.” Marie giggled and nestled her head into his neck and took in the woody musk scent of his cologne as they headed toward the beach house.

Isabella Swanson cowered in the corner of her bedroom as her mother screamed out her name and shook her violently. She squeezed her legs tight against her chest and tried to drown out the sound of a slicing sword against her ears. The constant screams and howls echoed in her head as tears ran down her cheeks. In one fell swoop, she felt herself being jolted up against the wall and then suddenly landed hard on the floor. When she opened her eyes, the screams were gone, and the only sound came from her mother praying on her knees in the corner of the room.

Marie sat straight up in bed and began waving her arms in the air. “No, stop that. Get it away from me.”

Cory carefully pulled Marie into his chest and lovingly stroked her hair as Bailey dropped his chin on the bed. “Marie, are you having a dream or a vision? Shhh, it’s okay, I’m here.”

Marie began to feel the calm as Cory rocked her back and forth. She slowly opened her eyes, and there sitting in front of her on the antique rocker was Myra. “Myra, you’re here. Where have you been? Were you at the wedding? Did you see the same vision I did?”

Cory released Marie and began looking around the dark room of the beach house and then looked at Marie. “Okay, I don’t see anything, of course, so hey Myra, how are you? We miss you. It’s not the same doing our ghost investigations without you.”

Marie smiled. “She said she’s always here and goes with us on the investigations. She also said our ceremony was perfect and loved the music we had at the reception. She knew we played Tequila just for her.”

“Of course, we play all requests.” Cory leaned in and kissed Marie’s cheek. “Do you need to be alone with Myra?”

“Oh no of course not, she’s here for a reason for both of us, I can sense it.” Marie stopped and tilted her head as she listened to Myra at a higher frequency. “She did see my vision of a sword in the air. And there seems to be a young girl involved, not quite sure what that means. Either this girl saw the same thing, or she’s involved somehow with this horrific sword. She also saw those skeletons I saw before the wedding ceremony. Somehow, you’re going to be pulled into all of this. Cory, she thinks there is going to be a correlation of the skeletons and the sword with death.”

Cory jumped when his cell phone rang, and he clumsily placed it to his ear. “Yes Tom, I was asleep, very funny. No, you didn’t interrupt anything. What could you possibly want at this hour? You’re kidding? Okay yes, I’ll see you there in thirty minutes. Don’t touch anything.”

Marie turned on the light and saw Cory’s blank look as he placed the phone on the nightstand. “What’s going on?”

“You’re never going to believe this. Tom just said they found a body on Sullivan’s beach tangled up in the oat grass.” Cory stared at Marie and then at the empty rocker. “Marie, Myra, the body had no head.”

Marie grabbed Cory’s arm. “Oh, that’s horrible, and by the way, Myra’s gone. She left as soon as you answered the phone. There seems to be a lot of turmoil on the other side with what’s going on here. Would you mind if I came along?”

“Are you sure you want to do that?”

“Yes, I feel I’m being pulled to go with you, but we’ll need to be quiet. We don’t want to wake anyone.”

“With as much as Gale and Tim drank, I highly doubt they’re going to hear us. We need to be sure we don’t wake your folks.” Cory slipped on his khaki shorts and turned toward Marie. “I guess you were right about your vision. It’s never a coincidence.”

Marie got out of bed and began to get dressed. “No, it never is, and there must be some danger for Myra to have shown up right before that call. I think I’m going to try and clear my head while we drive, we’re going to need all the help we can get.”

“I wouldn’t say no to that.” Cory grabbed his wallet and keys and quietly opened the bedroom door and whispered, “Well Mrs. Miller, it’s our first case together as man and wife. Are you up for it?”

“More than you’ll ever know.” Marie hooked Bailey’s leash on his collar as they quietly followed Cory out the door and down the stairs. “We can call Gale and Tim later and come back for our things.”

“Okay, depending on how long this takes, we may miss the eleven o’clock brunch.”

“That’s okay, considering the circumstances, I think everyone will understand.” Marie opened the door of the MG and guided Bailey into the tiny back seat and secured him to the safety harness. “Alright, let’s roll.”

Cory smiled at Marie as he buckled the retrofitted seatbelt and backed out of the parking lot. “There’s one thing I won’t deny. Life is never boring with you around.”

“No, and the same goes for you, Chief Miller.”

Marie allowed the warm night air to blow the cobwebs from her brain. She closed her eyes and began to call on her spirit guides for guidance. What her latest vision meant was uncertain, but she knew they were going to need more than the white light of protection. Beheaded bodies and sword’s slicing through the air was a violent combination.