The Haunted Island (A Lin Coffin Mystery Book 9) Read online

  The Haunted Island

  A Lin Coffin Cozy Mystery Book 9

  J. A. Whiting

  Copyright 2018 J.A. Whiting

  Cover copyright 2018 Signifer Book Design

  Formatting by Signifer Book Design

  Proofreading by Donna Rich

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, or incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to locales, actual events, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from J. A. Whiting.

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  www.jawhitingbooks.com

  Created with Vellum

  For my family with love

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Thank you for reading!

  Books/Series By J. A. Whiting

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  1

  The boat flew up over the swells and came down with a hard slap that jolted the passengers and splashed a spray of ocean water into their faces. As the cruiser raced over the waves, thirty-year-old Lin Coffin stood next to her cousin, Viv, both of them holding tight to the metal railing, their hair blowing straight back in the wind.

  Viv’s boyfriend, John, had borrowed the boat from a friend to try it out and he, Viv, Lin, and Lin’s boyfriend, Jeff, were enjoying the fast boat in the waters southwest of Nantucket.

  When the rousing ride was over and John had brought the boat to a stop off of a small island, Lin pushed her damp brown locks from her forehead. “That was great.”

  “Yes, but why John needs a boat like this is beyond me,” Viv whispered.

  John, a Nantucket real estate agent, had been talking for weeks about selling his sailboat for a power boat and when his friend offered to lend him the boat for the day, John jumped at it.

  “He loves his sailboat,” Viv went on. “Why would he want to sell it? A boat like this is so much more expensive.”

  Lin redid her ponytail. “Have you asked him?”

  Viv rolled her bright blue eyes and chuckled. “No. I haven’t. I hoped by ignoring the idea, it would go away.”

  “Ready for lunch?” John called as he and Jeff came up from the galley carrying trays of food.

  “My stomach has been grumbling for an hour,” Viv said. She and Lin went to join the men at the table under the hardtop just as Lin’s little brown dog and Viv’s gray cat padded up the steps from their naps on the bed in the cruiser’s main stateroom.

  John had prepared focaccia sandwiches, salad, pommes frites, a platter of fruit, and yogurt parfaits.

  “Looks delicious.” Lin’s mouth watered as she reached for one of the sandwiches.

  “I haven’t been down this way for years,” Jeff said removing his sunglasses. “We usually stay in Nantucket Sound or sail along the coast of Nantucket.”

  “I thought a longer daytrip would give me a better idea of whether I like this kind of boat.” John used the tongs to put some salad on his plate.

  “Do you?” Viv asked.

  “I do like it. I’m not sure yet if I want to invest in one.”

  Viv flashed Lin a look.

  “I haven’t come this way for a long time either,” John said. “But a colleague mentioned he’d come south to these islands with some friends and had a picnic on the beach so I thought we should do it today to take advantage of the great weather.”

  The late September afternoon was unusually warm with a brilliant blue sky and a hot sun overhead making it feel more like a summer day in the middle of July.

  “No one lives on this island we’re going to?” Lin asked.

  “Not anymore,” John said. “The place had been used by the government since the Civil War, but then it was abandoned. It’s called Canter Island.”

  “What was it used for during the Civil War?” Viv asked.

  “It was a training camp and a discharge camp for Union soldiers. There was housing for about three thousand soldiers.”

  “Wasn’t it used during World War II as well?” Jeff asked.

  “That’s right. There was a radio school on the island. I think about three hundred people lived there then,” John said. “My buddy has explored the place. He told me the structures are all gone, but the foundations remain. There are lots of trees and shrubs, and some fruit trees. Hedges line some of the old pathways.”

  “Sounds like a ghost town,” Jeff said.

  Sitting in one of the deck chairs, Lin’s little brown dog, Nicky, let out a woof and Lin gave her boyfriend a quick look at the word ghost. Viv and Jeff knew about Lin’s ability to see ghosts, but John was still in the dark about it.

  Jeff changed the subject of conversation. “I got the new contract to renovate that antique house on the outskirts of town. It’s a great place. The man who owns it now used to live in Cisco, but he wanted to move closer to town, so he rented the Cisco property and is moving in to the new place even though the renovation work won’t be done yet.”

  “And Leonard and I got the landscaping contract for that house,” Lin smiled. In only a year, she and her partner had built a strong reputation as one of the premier landscaping companies on the island and their work was always in demand. “We’re looking forward to doing the gardens.”

  “Who’s the owner?” Viv poured lemonade into her glass.

  “Samuel Mitchell,” Jeff said. “He’s in his mid-seventies. Still active. Jogs every day, bikes.”

  “I know who he is,” Viv said. “He comes into the bookstore a lot. He’s a semi-retired doctor.” Viv owned a bookstore-café on the Main Street of Nantucket town.

  “That’s him,” Jeff said. “He seems like a nice man.”

  Talk of the doctor sent a little spark of anxiety through Lin’s stomach. She hadn’t met Samuel Mitchell … her partner, Leonard, was the one who had meetings with the man to go over the design ideas and to finalize the contract.

  “Is there anything wrong with him?” Lin asked.

  “Why would you ask that?” One of Viv’s eyebrows raised in question.

  Lin shrugged. “Just wondering if he would be an easy person to work for.” That really wasn’t the reason she’d asked about Dr. Mitchell. A strange feeling ran over her skin when the doctor’s name was mentioned and it made her worry.

  Born on the island, Lin was a descendant of some of the earliest settlers of Nantucket and a special ability had been passed down to her through generations of her Nantucket ancestors … ever since she was little, Lin could see ghosts. The doctor was clearly formed of flesh and blood, so why did the thought of him send a shiver of unease through her mind?

  “Lin?” Viv asked for the second time.

  Lin blinked and turned to her cousin. “What? Sorry. I was lost in thought.”

  “Rea
dy to swim to the island?” Viv pulled her t-shirt over her head to reveal the new blue swimsuit she’d bought on sale.

  “The suit is pretty,” Lin told her cousin. “It looks great on you.”

  Jeff sat on the swim platform with his legs dangling in the water. “It’s really warm, especially for late September.”

  John dove into the ocean from the platform and surfaced with a wide grin. “Come on in.”

  Jeff slipped a one-person kayak into the water for John and handed over the backpack with the towels, flip flops, and a blanket inside.

  Viv held a boogie board in her hand. “You want one?” she asked her cousin.

  Lin accepted the board and as she dipped her foot into the water, she looked over to the small island with the little stretch of white sand beach and groves of trees standing tall on the gentle hills. Something made Lin apprehensive about going to the island, but she brushed it off and followed Jeff and Viv off the platform.

  Lin and Viv used the boogie boards like surfboards and rested their stomachs and chests on them and stroked with their arms the short distance to the beach. John paddled next to the swimmers until they reached the white sand and then he pulled the kayak out of the water.

  For about an hour, the foursome swam and floated and enjoyed the summer-like day in the water before stretching out on the blanket to sun themselves.

  “How about a walk up the hill for a look around?” John asked.

  “Are you sure no one is living on this island?” Viv asked with narrowed eyes.

  Standing up and brushing the sand from her legs, Lin glanced at the overgrown path up the slight hill.

  “I’m sure,” John said. “Well, unless someone is camping somewhere around here. No one is allowed to stay overnight though.”

  “Who would know if someone was here?” Viv looked around at the trees. “There isn’t a park ranger or anything.”

  “Would you rather stay here on the beach?” Jeff questioned.

  “It’s okay, I guess,” Viv said with wariness in her voice. “What do you think?” she asked her cousin.

  Giving a slight nod, Lin said, “Sure. We can walk up the hill. If we don’t like what we see, we’ll come right back down.”

  The men led the way and when they reached the top, Jeff said, “Look at this view. It’s incredible.”

  The group of four looked out over the shimmering ocean to see a few smaller islands stretching out before them. Two sailboats could be seen near the horizon.

  “It’s beautiful,” Viv said shading her eyes from the sun.

  They followed the path until it connected with what must have been a road that ran through the center of the island. Some wildflowers grew near the road and old foundations could be seen on both sides as they strolled past the long ago abandoned buildings.

  “It’s strange to think soldiers lived and worked here.” Viv looked at the weed-covered foundation walls. “It was such a long time ago.”

  Lin glanced over her shoulder. Goosebumps formed on her arms and her heart was beating too fast. “Was the island used for anything else after the wars?”

  “I’m not sure,” John said. “I don’t know all the history.”

  “It might be interesting to read about it when we get back.” When Jeff took Lin’s hand in his, she was grateful for the warmth of his skin.

  Following the old road for about a mile, Lin was unable to shake the feeling of unease that had come over her as they walked past the forgotten empty spaces. “Should we head back? We shouldn’t leave Nicky and Queenie alone on the boat too long.”

  “Let’s turn around,” John suggested. “We should be heading back to Nantucket anyway.”

  Lin was the last one in line as they walked down the narrow path to the beach. While being careful not to get her feet tangled in the vines on the trail, a sudden cold breeze whipped down from the hill causing her to shiver.

  The blast was so icy that Lin stopped in her tracks knowing what she felt was not a result of the wind.

  Slowly, she turned around and what she saw almost made her gasp.

  A man stood staring down at her from the top of the hill. He seemed to be in his late-twenties or early thirties. He was dressed in brown slacks, a vest, and a suit jacket. A cap was on his head. His body looked translucent as it shimmered in the sunlight.

  When the man made eye contact with Lin, her vision began to dim and a sense of weakness and fatigue washed over her. She mumbled something.

  Viv stopped on the path and glanced back at her cousin with a quizzical expression. “Why did you say that?”

  Lin sucked in a long breath and rubbed at her forehead.

  The man was gone.

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “Yes, you did.” Viv took a few tentative steps towards Lin. “You said, Find out the truth. I want to go home.”

  2

  When they returned to Lin’s cottage from the afternoon on the water, Nicky and Queenie fell fast asleep on the sofa while the cousins went to the kitchen for drinks and a snack. Viv poured glasses of wine and Lin cut a loaf of bread, spread chopped, seasoned tomatoes and the cheese over the slices, and popped the tray in the oven for a few minutes.

  “Okay,” Viv said as she placed a wine glass on the kitchen counter. “Tell me what happened on the island. Why did you say you wanted to go home? What did you see?”

  After a long sip of the cabernet, Lin sighed. “A man. He was standing at the top of the path looking down at me. He wasn’t from now. His clothing looked like something men wore in the late 1800s and the early 1900s.”

  “It was a ghost, right?” Viv asked just to be sure.

  “Yes, he was a ghost.”

  “Why did you say you wanted to go home? Did the ghost scare you?”

  Lin’s face tightened in thought. “I don’t remember saying that.”

  “Well, you did.” Viv took a seat at the island. “Or maybe the new ghost is a ventriloquist.”

  Lin trained her blue eyes on her cousin. “That’s interesting. Did the ghost send that message to me and I verbalized it?”

  Viv’s eyebrows raised. “That would be a fascinating twist to your ghostly adventures. A spirit who actually communicates. So what did he want?”

  Shaking her head, Lin said, “I have no idea.” The corners of her mouth went up. “Maybe he wants to go home?”

  Viv rolled her eyes and joked. “What makes you think that?”

  “Seriously, though, he made me feel sad. The way he looked down at me, it pulled at my heart.” Lin got up, removed the bread from the oven, placed the slices on a platter, and carried it to the table. “Why is he on that island? What happened to him?”

  “Is there a possibility that the ghost only wanted to greet you? He knew you could see spirits so he walked to the edge of the hill to see you. Maybe he doesn’t want anything.” Viv’s voice was full of hope.

  “It’s never worked that way before,” Lin cautioned.

  Viv blew out a long breath and brushed her light brown hair away from her face. “No, it hasn’t.”

  “Do you know anything about Canter Island?” Lin asked.

  “Only what John told us today. I’ve never really heard much about it.” Viv bit into one of the slices of bread. “Delicious. I don’t know why I’m so hungry. We ate plenty on the boat. And speaking of that boat, why does John have such a strong interest in selling his sailboat and buying a cruiser?”

  “Time for a change?” Lin asked.

  Viv pouted. “You don’t think he wants a relationship change, do you?”

  “Of course not. Why on earth would you think that? You’ve been together for what? Eight years?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m getting at. Is John bored? Is he getting tired of the way his life is? Is he tired of me?”

  Lin stared at her cousin. “That’s nonsense. Just because he’s interested in a new boat doesn’t mean he’s looking to change everything.”

  Viv put her chin in her hand. “He seems
kind of secretive lately.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “I can’t describe it,” Viv said. “I ran into him unexpectedly in town the other day. He seemed like he got all flustered, like I’d caught him at something.”

  Lin batted the air with her hand. “He was probably in a rush to meet a client.”

  “Hmm. Maybe.” Viv didn’t seem convinced. “Let’s get back to this new ghost. He looked like someone from the 1800s or the early 1900s?”

  Lin described in detail what the man had been wearing. “And he had on one of those tweed caps.”

  “How old was he again?”

  “Late twenties?”

  “Was he carrying anything?” Viv asked. “Did he have anything with him that might give you a clue as to why he was on the island?”

  “Nothing. He was just standing there looking down at me.”

  “Do you think you said you wanted to go home because the ghost communicated those words to you?”

  Lin swallowed and looked down at the countertop while she thought it over. “Maybe.” Glancing up, she asked, “What was going on at Canter Island in the late 1800s?”

  “Where’s your laptop?” Viv asked. “Let’s look it up.”

  Lin brought her laptop from the spare bedroom she used as an office and when she placed it in front of her cousin, Viv began to tap at the keyboard. “Here’s some information. During the Revolutionary War, French allies placed cannons on the island. It’s history dates back thousands of years when the place was inhabited by Native Americans.”

  “John told us that Canter was used as a training camp and a discharge camp for Union soldiers during the Civil War,” Lin reminded Viv. “And during World War II, it was used as a maritime radio school.”