4 Buried Secrets

by Leighann Dobbs

  “Clive and Lucy never leave my side. I have to lock them in the trailer if I want to go out without them. I did that the other night when I confronted you, since I was afraid they might get overprotective of me and I didn’t want them to harm you.”

  The dogs sat on either side of Emma as if to prove her right.

  “So, where are your men?” Emma asked.

  Celeste had to think for a minute before she realized Emma meant Luke and Jake. The guys had begged off accompanying them saying they wanted to look into the break-in and try to talk to the mystery guest at the hotel. Everyone agreed that Emma might be better persuaded to reveal the letters if it was just the girls, anyway, and it looked like their instincts were right.

  “Oh, they’re off doing guy stuff,” Fiona said. “We wanted to get you the ring as soon as possible so we came without them.”

  “Did you say it was your great-grandmothers?” Morgan asked.

  “Yes.” Emma looked at the ring that she’d slipped on her finger. “I never saw it in person, but grandma had some pictures of her mother—my great-grandmother—with it on. It was special to her, I guess.”

  “Oh why is that?” Jolene cocked her head to one side as she looked at the ring on Emma’s finger.

  “I don’t rightly know.” Emma pressed her lips together. “Grandma used to tell me lots of stories about the old days and her Ma. She didn’t have any Pa—I guess he’d passed on before she was born.”

  “And you’re family always lived on this land?” Celeste’s brow creased as she looked around. The trailer was only about thirty years old and there was no other house in sight.

  “Oh no,” Emma said. “We lived just outside of Couver City.”

  “But didn’t you say this land had been in your family since the 1800s?” Celeste asked.

  “Yes.” Emma nodded as she sipped her lemonade. “It has, but no one lived here for decades. When I got to be in my forties I had a hankerin’ to move away from it all and live a simple life. Alone. So, since my family already owned the land outright, I bought this trailer and put it here.”

  “Shorty Hanson lived here in the gold mining days, back when Dead Water was a thriving town, didn’t he?”

  Emma nodded. “Everyone thinks he buried a treasure here and many have come to dig it up … just like you girls did.”

  “But you don’t think he did?”

  Emma shook her head. “No. Family legend has it that he didn’t rob those stagecoaches … someone else did it and framed him. Only a few people in the town back then believed him though, and … well, the rest is history.”

  “So, you must be related to him, then?”

  “Well I guess I must.” Emma’s brow wrinkled. “I’m not sure, though. I actually don’t think I am … seems he left the land to my great-grandma for some reason.”

  “The one that had the ring?” Morgan asked.

  Emma looked down at the ring, her brow still wrinkled. “Yes, I guess so. She was married to the Sheriff in Dead Water, so I guess I must be a descendant of his—I hope he was a nicer Sheriff than Sheriff Kane.”

  “Her name was Lily Sweetwater,” Celeste said.

  Emma jerked her head toward Celeste. “That’s right! How did you know?”

  Celeste cleared her throat and the sisters exchanged an uneasy look. “I saw her.”

  Emma laughed. “Don’t be silly, she’s been dead for almost eighty years.”

  “She’s not joking,” Morgan said.

  Emma turned her steely gaze on Celeste. “That’s impossible.”

  “I really did see her. Or I should say I saw her ghost.”

  “I don’t believe in ghosts,” Emma said.

  Celeste puffed out her cheeks. “Well, I hope you won’t think I’m crazy, but Lily told me about some letters from back then she wants us to read. She seems to think they will reveal something that happened in the 1870s … something she feels needs some kind of vindication.”

  “Vindication? For what?” Emma asked.

  “I don’t know.” Celeste gave Emma her most trustworthy look. “But if it has something to do with your ancestors, then I’d think you’d want that to come to light.”

  Emma stared at her for a few seconds, and then she looked down, her bottom lip catching between her teeth. “Seems I do recall an old set of letters. Ma found them after grandma passed. I never read them, but they looked old. They’ve been sitting in a drawer with some other old family things ever since.”

  “It would mean a lot to us if we could see them.” Celeste perched on the edge of her seat, her muscles taut with tension.

  Emma stared at her, and then looked at each of her sisters. She nodded slowly and stood. “All right. I consider myself to be a good judge of character and I think you girls are okay. I’ll let you look at them, but I want them back.”

  Celeste relaxed back into her chair. “I really appreciate that. Of course, we’ll return them in perfect condition.”

  Emma went inside and the girls breathed a collective sigh of relief. Clive and Lucy stood guard at the door of the trailer until Emma came out, a pile of yellowed papers tied with a faded red ribbon in her hand.

  “Here they are. Still tied with the old ribbon.” Emma handed the package to Celeste then started rounding up the empty lemonade glasses.

  Celeste took the last sip from her glass. The drink was perfectly sweetened with just a hint of tartness from the lemon. A mint leaf enhanced the flavor. Celeste pulled the leaf out of the glass and chewed on it.

  “That’s mint from my garden.” Emma tilted her chin toward the raised garden bed full of herbs as she balanced the glass on the tray.

  “I noticed your gardens,” Morgan said. “It’s a miracle you can get stuff to grow in this climate.”

  Emma laughed. “A lot of water and good loam helps. My family’s been into growing herbs since I can remember. In fact, they tell me my great-grandma, Lily was quite the herbalist.”

  “She must have been if she could grow stuff out here in the 1870s,” Morgan said. “I’m an herbalist myself.”

  “Is that so?” Emma asked as she moved toward the trailer. “Well, maybe someday we can trade tips.”

  “I’d like that,” Morgan said as she stood. “Well, I guess we should be going.”

  Emma opened the trailer door and put the lemonade tray down on something just inside.

  “Well, it was nice of you girls to come by and I do appreciate you giving me the ring.” She looked down at her finger again. “Less honest folk would have just taken it and I never would have known.”

  “We would never do that,” Celeste said.

  “I know that now,” Emma said. “And I enjoyed the company. Feel free to come back anytime you want.”

  “Thanks.” Celeste held up the packet of letters. “And thanks for letting us read these. I’ll get them back to you within the next couple of days.”

  “Now, you girls be careful. I heard you had some trouble at the hotel.” Emma leaned down to pet Lucy’s head.

  “The break-in?” Celeste asked.

  Emma nodded. “If you ask me, that Sheriff Kane is behind it. He seemed like he didn’t want you folks hanging around here.”

  “You can say that again,” Jolene said. “His deputy threatened to throw us in jail the other day.”

  “He did? On what grounds?” Emma asked.

  “We were out at the mines exploring, and he drove right up and gave us a big old fine,” Jolene answered. “He said if he caught us there again he’d throw us in jail.”

  Emma’s eyes narrowed. “Is that so? You know years ago, no one cared if people explored there. But ever since Kane became Sheriff, they’ve been real touchy about anyone going up there.”

  “Why?” Morgan asked.

  Emma’s gaze drifted over to the mines about a mile away across bare flat land. She had a clear view of them from her property. “I’m not sure, but I’d bet my eye teeth something funny is going on up there … At night sometimes, I see things and
hear things and it ain’t just my age.”

  The sister’s exchanged a look. Emma seemed sharp as a tack. Celeste doubted she was seeing or hearing things that weren’t there. She remembered how Sheriff Kane had seemed eager to get Emma off her property and into the city. But why?

  “Of course, the sheriff and others in town would have you believe that the mines are haunted but, as I said, I don’t believe in ghosts. I think he just says that to keep people away,” Emma added.

  “What could be going on up there that the Sheriff wouldn’t want anyone to know about?” Fiona asked.

  “I don’t know, but I plan to find out,” Emma said as she stroked the dog’s ears absently. “… And sooner rather than later.”

  ***

  Celeste’s fingers rasped on the dry paper of the letters as Morgan pulled the Escalade out onto Route 51. She fingered the silky ribbon as she looked down at the barely discernible faded blue writing.

  What secrets did the letters hold?

  She was dying to read them and had all she could do to not rip them open in the back of the car—the only thing that held her back was she didn’t want them to get damaged. Better to wait until they were back at the hotel where she could place them out on a clean surface and read them in an orderly manner.

  Besides, her excitement to pick up Cal at the airport—where they were now heading—trumped her excitement to read the letters, so she kept them safe in her lap.

  “Do you guys think Sheriff Kane is up to something, like Emma says?” Jolene twisted in the passenger seat to look at Celeste and Fiona in the back.

  “Sure seems that way,” Fiona said. “He’s probably after the treasure, just like us.”

  “And that deputy must be in on it too,” Jolene added.

  “Maybe even the whole police force,” Morgan said.

  Celeste pressed her lips together. “If he is, then he must have information the treasure is in one of the gold mines, so we’re on the right track. Otherwise he wouldn’t be protecting that area the way he is.”

  “What if Kane already knows where it is?” Jolene asked.

  “I don’t think he does.” Fiona narrowed her eyes. “Because he’d already have taken it out, right? He must still be looking or he wouldn’t be trying to scare people off.”

  “Unless there’s more to it than just a cache of treasure,” Morgan said as she signaled to turn into the entrance of the small airport where Cal’s plane was scheduled to land.

  “Maybe there’s a vein of gold still active in the mine,” Jolene suggested.

  “Whatever it is, it might make sense to follow the Sheriff. He could lead us straight to the treasure and we wouldn’t have to worry about old letters and cryptic keys,” Fiona said.

  “That’s not a bad idea.” Morgan pulled to a stop at the passenger loading area outside the airport and pulled her cell phone out of her purse. “I’ll call Luke and see if he can have Buzz and Gordy put a tail on our friendly law enforcement.”

  Celeste was already opening her door. She could see Cal, just inside the glass entrance to the airport. She resisted the urge to run to him and walked over to the door. The smile that lit Cal’s face when he saw her from the other side of the glass made her stomach do somersaults.

  He burst out of the door and folded her into his arms right before making her knees weak with a smoldering kiss.

  “Ahem …”

  Celeste grudgingly broke the kiss and turned to Jolene who was standing beside them, hands on hips, with a disgusted look on her face.

  “You have luggage?” She raised her brows at Cal who nodded. “Then let’s get it and go.”

  Cal laughed as she pivoted on her heel in mock disgust and headed toward the luggage claim where his bag was already spinning around the carousel.

  He grabbed it, shoved it in the hatch of the Escalade and, after greeting all the sisters, settled into the back seat next to Celeste.

  “Somebody fill me in on what’s been going on,” he said.

  Between the four of them, the girls brought him up to speed on the events since they’d come to Nevada ending with the story of the trip out to Emma’s to get the letters.

  “Do you have more pictures of the symbols from the mine?” he asked after carefully inspecting the brittle pack of letters.

  Celeste pulled up the pictures on her cell phone and handed it to Cal so he could scroll through them himself.

  He spent several minutes studying them, pressing his lips together and nodding as he scrolled.

  “Yeah, these look like some sort of coded symbols.” He handed the phone back to Celeste. “But they are meaningless without the chart to decode them.”

  “Like a key, right?” Jolene asked. “Walt specifically used the word ‘key’ and so did Lily’s ghost.”

  “You could call it a key, sure,” Cal replied.

  “Do you think they could mark the path to the treasure?” Fiona leaned across Celeste to look at Cal. “They run down both passages … and who knows how many after that so we don’t know which tunnel to take. We don’t even know how many tunnels there are off the main shafts. One could easily get lost in there.”

  “They could mark the path to a treasure, but they could also be for something else.” Cal shrugged. “They could indicate where the veins of gold were … they could be markings that kept the miners from getting lost inside the tunnels, or they could just be the old miner’s version of graffiti.”

  Celeste felt her stomach sink. What if the markings didn’t have anything to do with the treasure and this was all a wild goose chase?

  “I’d like to get a look at them in person. Maybe that will tell me more.” Cal looked out at the setting sun. “But it’s getting dark so I guess we’ll have to save that for tomorrow—after I spend tonight getting reacquainted with Celeste.”

  Jolene groaned and rolled her eyes at them before twisting around to face front. Fiona made gagging noises next to Celeste.

  Cal laughed at the sisters’ antics but Celeste couldn’t help the warm tingle of anticipation that spread through her. And judging by the look in Cal’s sapphire eyes, he was feeling the same way.

  Chapter Twelve

  “They have the best breakfasts here at the hotel. I know you’re going to love them,” Celeste said to Cal as she stood poised at the top of the steps outside their suite.

  “Good because I’m starving.” Cal came out the door with Jolene, Morgan and Luke following behind him.

  Celeste started down the stairs. At the bottom, she could see the sun streaming through the double oak doors that led outside. A man opened the left door and Celeste’s memory tingled. He looked familiar but she couldn’t see clearly—the glare of the sun put him in shadow. His thick, dark wavy hair reminded her of the mysterious man, Mateo, who had helped them get the final clue they needed on their last treasure hunt. But, it couldn’t be … what would he be doing here? And if it was him, why would he avoid them?

  “Hey, hold on!” Luke pushed his way past her practically knocking her down the stairs. He sprinted across the lobby and out the door. Celeste looked back at Morgan who shrugged.

  The four of them continued down the stairs and were turning toward the dining room when Luke came back in.

  “What was that about?” Morgan asked.

  “I thought that might be the other guest. We still haven’t been able to question him.” Luke pressed his lips together. “But I missed him. He was in his car and pulling out onto the road before I even got out the door.”

  Morgan narrowed her eyes at the door. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Dixie behind her.

  “I hope you folks weren’t coming down for breakfast.”

  Celeste turned to Dixie who looked like she was about to cry. “Why, what’s wrong?”

  “Sheriff Kane shut down the kitchen.” Dixie’s lower lip trembled.

  Morgan’s brows knit together. “What? Why?”

  A tear slipped out of the corner of Dixie's eye and sh
e covered her face. Morgan rushed to her side, putting her arm around the woman’s shoulders, and leading her into the empty dining room.

  Dixie collapsed into a chair, her shoulders shaking. “A big chunk of our income comes from the dining.” She sobbed. “I’ll be out of business in no time. Who’s going to stay at a hotel with no meals?”

  Celeste’s heart ached for Dixie as she sat on her left side, rubbing Dixie’s arm through the crisp, white long sleeved blouse and making soothing noises. Morgan sat on Dixie’s right, echoing Celeste. Luke, Cal and Jolene pulled out chairs on the other side of the table.

  After a minute, Dixie stopped crying.

  “Sorry, I’m not usually emotional like this,” she sniffed, “but my grandmother said the hotel was so important to her parents—the ones that built it—and I wanted so badly to restore it and keep it running just like they did to honor their memory.”

  “Why did he close down the kitchen? Did he find some violation or something?” Jolene asked.

  Dixie shook her head. “He said he it didn’t pass the cleanliness inspection but I’m sure he made that up.”

  Celeste remembered how spotless the kitchen was when they’d gone in there the day before. “I’m sure he must have. But why? Maybe it was just a mistake?”

  Dixie shook her head. “It’s no mistake. He means to put me under. For some reason he’s been doing everything he can to make me go out of business.”

  “Does he have a grudge against you or something?” Cal asked.

  “No, I don’t even know him.” Dixie blew her nose on a napkin. “But ever since he became sheriff, it seems he’s been trying to shut me down.”

  The five of them exchanged a glance and Celeste knew what the others were thinking. Did this have something to do with what was going on out at the mine?

  “But I shouldn’t be burdening you folks with my problems.” Dixie waved them away. “I’ll make do, somehow.”

  “But the hotel … can you do something to get the kitchen opened again?” Celeste asked.