4 Buried Secrets

by Leighann Dobbs

  “What?” Celeste looked up from the book to see her sister staring at the taillights of a Dodge that had just pulled onto the road.

  “Did you see him?” Morgan asked.

  “See who?” Fiona asked. “The guy in the car?”

  “Yes … did he look familiar to either of you?”

  Celeste stared down the road but the car was too far away. “Sorry, I didn’t see him. Who did you think it was?”

  Morgan shook her head. “No one. It was just my imagination. This break-in thing has me a little spooked.” Morgan slid into the passenger seat, leaving the back for Celeste.

  “So anyway, where do you guys want to go shopping?” Morgan turned to her sisters and pretended like she’d forgotten about the guy in the car.

  Celeste shrugged. “Where-ever.”

  Fiona started the SUV and pulled onto the road, heading in the opposite direction of the other car.

  “So you don’t want to tell us who you thought was in the car?” Celeste pressed.

  “Car? What car?” Morgan joked. “Really it was just my overactive imagination. Let's focus on more interesting and fun things like shopping.”

  “If you say so,” Celeste answered. But she wasn’t fooled. Because if it really was nothing like Morgan insisted, then why did she keep glancing out the rear view mirror every ten seconds?

  Chapter Seven

  The girls got back from their shopping trip at the same time the delivery truck from Ace Furniture—the local furniture store the sisters had bought a replacement couch and chairs from—was pulling into the parking lot.

  Fiona sprinted over to talk to the deliverymen—giving them instructions as to where to bring the furniture, Celeste presumed, as she watched Morgan glance around the parking lot uneasily.

  “Looking for someone?” Celeste asked.

  “No. Just looking around.” Morgan flipped her long black hair over her shoulder as she grabbed the shopping bags from the back seat and headed toward the hotel door.

  Celeste walked after her, the old book she’d been browsing through the whole trip clutched to her chest. She followed their new beige microfiber couch up the stairs and watched while the deliverymen exchanged the old set for the new. Fiona had made some sort of deal with them to take the ruined furniture away and Celeste breathed a sigh of relief when they finally disappeared with the last of it.

  “This furniture looks great.” Fiona plopped down into one of the chairs. “And it’s a lot more comfortable too.”

  “Buzz fixed the lock and I’ve just about finished setting up this surveillance stuff.” Luke said from atop a ladder where he was running a wire to a small camera. “Jolene’s setting up the new computer we bought.”

  “So, did Dixie see or hear anything last night?” Jake’s eyes went from Fiona, to Morgan to Celeste.

  “No. Apparently, only the chef was here due to some big town meeting and he was busy in the kitchen. Didn’t hear a thing.” Morgan pressed her lips together. “But we did find out there is a mysterious guest that came in yesterday.”

  “Mysterious?” Jake’s eyebrows lifted.

  “Well, not really mysterious,” Celeste said, “although Morgan seems to think so. It’s just another guest. Some guy.”

  “And you think he is involved with this?” Jake asked Morgan.

  “No. Not really,” Morgan said. “I just have a funny feeling about him.”

  Celeste, Fiona and Jake exchanged a glance. Jolene looked up from the new laptop she was setting up on the table. “After everything I’ve seen, I wouldn’t take your feelings lightly, Morgan.”

  “I’ll look into this new guest,” Jake said. “Now, someone help me move this couch out so I can paint the wall.”

  “Is he the only guest staying here besides us?” Jolene asked.

  “Apparently,” Fiona answered as she struggled to pick up the end of the couch opposite Jake. “I haven’t seen anyone else.”

  “You know, I think it’s sad that this place isn’t doing well. It’s a nice place, even though this suite could use some updating.” Celeste settled into a chair and opened the book Dixie had given her. “I’d like to do something to get that Sheriff to back off. I feel sorry for Dixie.”

  Morgan came to Fiona’s aid and the two of them moved their end of the couch away from the wall. “Did you find anything good in that book?”

  “Book?” Jolene asked.

  “Yeah, Dixie lent us a book on Dead Water.” Celeste held the book up. “I was thinking it might have some clues to the treasure and it’s actually very interesting. There are even some pictures.”

  Celeste opened the book to the last page she’d read—a section that talked about the various mines and different claims for each section of the mine. She read with interest; she knew little about mining and didn’t realize that different people could purchase or stake claim to different areas of land to mine in.

  That section of the book contained several glossy pages with pictures from the 1870s, which contained images of the people of Dead Water as well as the old mining tools and household items they used. She wondered what the tools and household items were, her heart clenching as she realized her boyfriend, Cal, would know exactly what each item was used for.

  Cal Reed had been a friend of the family, and her best friend, since she was a kid. For most of their lives, that’s all they’d been—friends. But the events of the past year had brought them together and somehow they’d turned into more than friends … much more.

  Cal, who owned a thriving antique and pawn store, had business back home, otherwise he’d be here right beside her. Celeste missed him.

  She sighed and turned back to the book. Until Cal could join them, she might as well bury herself in her work.

  “So, what’s next on the agenda?” Jake spread a canvas tarp over the floor and back of the couch, then took out some sandpaper and started on the wall.

  “We still have some asking around to do, I think,” Morgan said. “Did you ever talk to your contacts, Jolene?”

  Jolene made a few exaggerated taps on her keyboard, then closed the laptop and stood. “I haven’t had a chance, but now that I’m done setting this up, I think it’s the perfect time to head on over and talk to them.”

  Luke hopped off the ladder and folded it up. “Our main objective is to find that treasure. I don’t want to get sidetracked with looking for whoever broke in. We don’t know why they did or if it even has anything to do with the treasure, but if it does, we’ll probably find out soon enough without having to go looking for answers.”

  “Okay, so then where do we look?” Fiona asked. “Seems to me we’re no closer to knowing where it is now than we were yesterday.”

  “Maybe we are.” Celeste held up the book, the page open to a picture of a grizzled old miner with a long beard and long hair. “According to this book, this guy here is Shorty Hanson and he had rights to a mine … mine number seven.”

  Fiona shrugged. “Yeah, so, there were a lot of miners back then.”

  “Sure, but I was thinking … what better place to bury a cache of stolen treasure, than right in your own mine?”

  Luke came over to look at the picture. “You know, that's not a bad idea. Gold and silver that the miners had cashed in to the bank was stolen from the stagecoaches. If he stashed the stolen nuggets in the mine and then brought them out little by little later on, no one would question it.”

  “It would be the perfect setup,” Morgan said. “Just bury the cache and then come out with it a little bit at a time over the years.”

  “Absolutely. I think you’re on to something, Celeste,” Luke said. “Now if we can just figure out which mine is number seven, we might be in business.”

  ***

  Jolene changed into the new light blue tank top she’d bought to round out her wardrobe since most of it had been splattered with paint during the break-in. She glanced in the mirror, thankful she’d been wearing her favorite jeans and cowboy boots when the thieves had th
eir paint party. She wasn’t much of a clotheshorse but the jeans had taken a long time to break in perfectly, as had the boots, and she would have hated to lose them.

  She rummaged in her bag for her makeup kit and before she knew what she was doing, she’d put a thick coating of black on her eyelashes, making her blue eyes stand out even more than usual. Feeling embarrassed with herself, she shoved the mascara back in her bag.

  She didn’t usually bother with makeup—why was she doing it now? Because she was heading to the bar? She hoped it wasn’t because of the cute bartender, Kyle—surely, she couldn’t have been that taken with him. She knew he wasn’t boyfriend material and she wasn’t the one-night-stand type. Tearing herself away from the mirror, she skidded out into the common room of the suite.

  “I’m going to head over to the bar and see if my contacts know anything about the break-in while you guys are finishing up,” she said as she hurried to the door.

  “Umm ... okay. Do you want me to go with you?” Morgan asked.

  Jolene rolled her eyes at her older sister who tended to be overprotective with good reason—their mother had jumped to her death from the cliffs outside their home when Jolene was only fourteen and Morgan, who had been twenty-eight at the time, had had to put herself in the role of mother. And since their father was already dead, her sisters had all chipped in to finish the parenting job. Jolene appreciated all they had done for her … but she was twenty-one now and didn’t need parenting anymore.

  “I think I’ll be fine … I’ll only be a few minutes while I’m waiting for you guys to get it together so we can go to the mine.”

  Morgan narrowed her eyes, but gave in. “Okay, see you in a bit, then.”

  Jolene slipped out of the door, ran down the stairs and out into the hot desert sun. It was late afternoon and the sun was shining directly into her face. She squinted and then put her hand up to shade her eyes, noticing a movement over by the bar.

  Was that someone ducking behind the building?

  “Hey! You!” She sprinted over to the building, skidding around the corner where she’d thought she’d seen the person go, but no one was there.

  “What the heck?” Jolene scrunched up her face. She was sure she’d seen someone.

  Walking back to the front of the building, she shrugged. Probably just my imagination going wild due to the break-in, she thought as she tugged open the door to the bar.

  Inside, it was just as dim as the day before. She headed straight to the bar, letting her eyes adjust as she walked. As she slid onto a bar stool, she noticed the tables and other stools were empty. One lone glass sat at the end of the bar, empty except for a few ice cubes melting on the bottom.

  “Hey there.” Kyle had turned at the sound of the door opening and now leaned against the back bar smiling at her.

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Coors?”

  “That would be great.”

  He poured the beer and slid it across the bar to her along with a square white napkin. “Hey, some guy was just in here asking about you and your sisters.”

  Jolene’s heart lurched. She whirled around to look at the door. “Did he just leave, like a few seconds ago?”

  “Yes, right before you came in.”

  She turned back to look at Kyle and noticed he was leaning on the bar studying her intently. It made her a little nervous, but she couldn’t pinpoint why. “What did he look like?”

  Kyle shrugged. “Dark hair, kind of tall. Just a regular guy. I hope you’re not in some kind of trouble.”

  “Nothing we can’t handle,” she said. “But our rooms did get broken into last night. Have you heard anything about that?”

  A cloud passed over Kyle’s face as he straightened back up. “No. Why would I know anything?”

  “Well, I just figured you might have heard something here in the bar.”

  He shook his head. “No. You think that guy that was asking about you had something to do with it?”

  “Maybe.” Jolene sipped her beer, the grainy smell of hops tickled her nose while the icy beer cooled her throat.

  “Did they take anything?” Kyle asked.

  “Yeah. Computers and stuff.”

  “We don’t usually have much trouble out here, but sometimes kids break in and steal stuff,” Kyle said. “It could have been kids from town.”

  Jolene was considering that when she heard the door open behind her. Her shoulders tensed. She swung around on her stool, ready to confront whoever it was, then relaxed when she recognized Walt, the man she’d met the day before.

  “Hey, it's my favorite girl!” Walt said.

  Jolene laughed. “Favorite already? We just met.”

  “Well, anyone who buys me a round is my favorite.” Walt chuckled as he slid into the seat next to Jolene and Kyle automatically served him a full shot glass and mug of beer.

  Walt downed the shot, coughed and turned to Jolene. “I remembered something else my grandmother told me that you might be interested in.”

  Jolene’s brows rose. “Really? what?”

  Walt leaned closer to her. “Seems there was this beautiful woman … Miss Lily, I think my grandma called her.”

  Walt paused and his eyes got a faraway look.

  “Go on,” Jolene prompted.

  Walt’s eyes sharpened and he looked at her. “Well, Grandma was just a little girl back then and I guess she idolized Miss Lily, you know, like girls do.”

  Jolene nodded, waiting patiently as he paused to take a sip of beer. “I guess grandma used to try to be like her … you know, follow her around and such. So, she said one day she’d followed Miss Lily to the coach house where they kept the horses. Grandma snuck in the side and hid behind some bales of hay.”

  “And?” Jolene’s brows shot up as she sipped her beer.

  “Lily was arguing with the Sheriff. Grandma thought it was strange they would argue seeing as they were getting married and all.” Walt laughed and winked at Jolene. “We know that’s to be expected when you’re married, but Grandma was a little girl with romantic notions.”

  Jolene noticed that Kyle had his elbows on the bar, leaning forward to hear the story. He snorted. “That’s for sure.”

  Jolene snuck a peek at his ring finger. Was Kyle married?

  “Anyway,” Walt continued, “she said they were arguing about a key and she said it sounded mighty important. The Sheriff said Lily would never find it and that it was buried right in Dead Water.”

  “A key?” Jolene asked. “What kind of key?”

  “Grandma didn’t know but she figured it must have been pretty valuable. Said she looked all over Dead Water for this key. She thought it was made of gold.”

  “Or opened something full of gold, maybe,” Jolene suggested.

  Walt tilted his head. “Maybe. ‘Course she might have heard it wrong or be remembering it all wrong.”

  Kyle leaned across the bar. His hand brushed against hers sending a spark of electricity up her arm. He reached for her beer mug. “Another beer?”

  Jolene frowned at the mug, noticing it was empty already. “Umm … no, I think one is enough.”

  Kyle’s hand moved from the mug to her wrist, encircling it and making her pulse flutter.

  “You don’t have to leave, do you?” His gray eyes drilled into hers and Jolene felt like time had stopped. She did have to leave. In fact, all her senses were telling her she should leave as fast as she could. So why was she still sitting there, staring at him?

  She heard the door behind her swing open, saw Kyle’s eyes darken and then felt a heavy arm drape itself across her shoulders.

  “So there you are,” Jake said, shooting what Jolene took to be a warning glare at Kyle. “Are you ready?”

  Kyle straightened and took an interest in rearranging the glasses under the bar.

  “Sure, I was just talking to my friend Walt here,” Jolene said. “Walt, this is Jake … Jake, Walt.”

  The two men shook hands while Jolene pulled some money ou
t of her pocket and tucked it under her empty beer mug.

  “Where are you people off to?” Kyle looked from Jolene to Jake.

  “I’m taking my little sister to the old mines,” Jake answered, taking Jolene’s arm and pulling her out of the chair like an overprotective big brother.

  Kyle narrowed his eyes at them. “Old mines? What would you want there? That place is dangerous … and some say haunted.”

  “Just part of our history research,” Jake said. “Plus, I gotta keep Jolene here out of trouble. I would hate to see what might happen to anyone who messes with her.”

  Kyle’s brows shot up and his eyes went wide signaling that he understood Jakes veiled threat. Jolene narrowed her eyes at Jake and wrenched her arm out of his grasp as he walked her to the door.

  When they got outside, she turned to face him. “Hey, what’s with the big brother act? I can take care of myself, you know.”

  It was true, she could take care of herself, but she had to admit she was touched by Jake’s pretense of being her older brother to protect her. It felt good to have someone looking out for her.

  “Yeah, I know, I’ve seen you in action.” Jake smiled down at her. “That warning was to protect him more than you—I’d hate to see what might happen to him if he got you mad.

  Chapter Eight

  “So, just where is this mine?” Jolene asked as Celeste pulled the Escalade out onto Route 51. The two sisters had opted to drive together in the Cadillac following Luke, Morgan, Fiona and Jake in their other rental, a black Jeep.

  “The road to the mines is just past Dead Water and then, I guess, we’ll have to figure out which one is number seven.” Celeste nodded her head toward the back seat. “The book Dixie lent us is in the back … there’s a picture of Shorty standing in front of the mine so I figured we might be able to figure it out from the picture.

  She watched Jolene twist in her seat so she could grab the book, then turned her attention back to the road. They rode in silence while Jolene studied the book, looking at the pictures from all angles. Celeste knew her sister had a photographic memory and figured she was trying to piece together the lay of the land to help them find the mine.