But… it can’t be done that way. Not with Collins as a partner. Collins is too dirty already. And Collins doesn’t want the reward. That’s small change. If the truth is known, Collins wants the 162 pounds of Confederate gold. Of course he would have to launder it. He would have to run it through a bank somewhere foreign just as dirty as he is and then have it wire transferred to another foreign account, the first bank holding the gold as security. Then he will have all that cash to play with and not a worry in the world. The Mayor knew this was true even as crazy as it sounded. There was no way that a guy like Collins could ever pull that off by himself but he is crazy enough and he is greedy enough and he is obsessed enough to think that he could. And, if he gets the gold first, he will try! Collins would need a partner; someone who knows the system better than he.
The Mayor weighed it both ways in his mind, trying to determine what was really best. Another crossroads in two men’s lives. A man will have many crossroads in his life and will make many wrong turns but if one can learn from each wrong turn and direct himself back to the right path, then his journey will not be a failure and his original goal can still be his destination. So what is better? Instant gratification on a huge scale or the road less traveled? The Mayor was eaten up with indecision and would have loved to just think about it for a week but there was not time. Too many people had too much information and time was running short. A decision had to be made immediately and then they must act quickly. This legend would come to life and the gold would be discovered very soon, with or without him.
Billingsworth turned back to Collins and looked at him; taking the cigar out of his mouth he paused briefly then said calmly, “So what’s next? What do we do?”
Collins grinned and together they looked at the paper with all the information they needed.
……………………………………………………………………………………
Elton Mansfield closed his car door and hit the door lock button on his keys. His arms and hands were occupied beyond capacity with a briefcase, a lunch bag and three newspapers that he picked up from in front of the library door before inserting his key to begin another day of work at the library. He awkwardly managed to unlock the front door and step across the threshold of the doorway into the little library that he started up on a small grant quite a few years ago. This place was his pride and joy and he knew every book, every magazine, every newspaper, and every square inch of this building and what belonged and what didn’t.
That’s why he did a double-take when he saw the small piece of tape on the doorway. A triangle of clear packaging tape clung loosely to the strike plate on the door jamb. He put his briefcase down and placed the newspapers on a table nearby. He knelt to get a better look and analyzed it like a forensics officer. He didn’t have packaging tape at the library. It hadn’t been there yesterday when he opened. He remembered because he had to jiggle the key a little yesterday to get the tumblers in the aging lock to turn. He recalled glancing at the doorway the day before and making a mental note to have new locks installed soon.
The tape was stuck to the strike plate on just one corner of the triangle and the rest of it was folded back a little and stuck to itself. It didn’t prohibit the lock from working, but it was close. Maybe someone had brushed up against the doorway on the way in or out yesterday with a backpack or an armful of work and a piece of tape had clung on the way out. Must be the reason. He turned, disregarding it, and flipped on the lights to his workplace and moved the newspapers from the table beside the door to the rack where they would hang for the day. Mansfield then proceeded to descend the stairs to the still dark basement, and at the bottom he put his briefcase on one of the tables and reached for the light switch. His eyes then froze, as did his entire body. The light for the power switch on the copier was illuminated.
He ran upstairs to the phone, leaving everything just as it was in the basement. When he was done on the phone he took a pair of tweezers from a desk drawer and peeled the remaining piece of tape from the doorway. He carefully examined it and noticed a fingerprint on the sticky part of the tape. He then located a small Tupperware container and gently placed the tape fragment inside and snapped on the small lid.
Mansfield heard the unmistakable rumble of Giselle O’Conner’s Pontiac pulling up to park outside. She, too, was starting her workday at the library.
Mansfield hurried to put away the small container and greeted Giselle as always as she entered the door. She smiled, returned the greeting and proceeded to start her day. Giselle was a great helper at the library and had a very good work ethic. She, too, knew what was in order and what was out of place.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Josh Baker woke late that morning after a good night’s rest, curled up and comfortable in his bed. He turned off his old two-dollar Hallicrafters short-wave radio receiver that had played on the AM band all night, long after Mystery Theater had ended and he was deep in sleep. His eyes fluttered open and he gathered his thoughts a little and rolled out of bed.
For an instant upon waking he thought it was all a dream, but as he came to life he realized otherwise and the adrenalin immediately started to move him. He, Eddie, Mr. Otis and Tiny Brooks had unraveled the code of the document and now the old article had been transformed into a treasure map.
The arrangement was to meet that morning around noon on the sandbar and formulate their plan to discretely locate 162 pounds of Confederate gold that was stolen from a train in 1903 right across the river from where Josh Baker’s house now stands. Not your average summertime, school’s-out adventure!
Josh jumped out of bed, washed his face, brushed his teeth, got dressed and scurried down the stairs to eat some breakfast. At the table he was hit with a barrage of questions about his two night “camping trip” and did his best to dodge questions that might give away their objective, going to Tater Holler. Of course he did not mention the cougar encounter and Mr. Otis at this time. He didn’t want to jeopardize any future camping trips. And of course the treasure map was still confidential, too. The boys would not share this with their families at this time. Not yet.
At 11:00 a.m. Eddie slid his bike to a stop inside Josh’s open garage and Josh came outside to greet him.
“How’d ya sleep?” quipped Eddie.
“Like Indiana Jones,” Josh replied, smiling.
Eddie grinned, scratched his head and repositioned his ball cap and looked around the garage. “I’m thinking we should take a couple of fishing poles to the sandbar, just so it doesn’t look so much like a meeting. Four guys standing around on the sandbar talking doesn’t make sense to someone looking or someone drifting by on a boat. It’s my thinking that we have to be as low profile as possible.”
“It’s a good idea,” Josh replied, looking at the options hanging on the rod rack on the wall. “Might as well make it real! Let’s dig some worms.” The boys never missed an opportunity to fish. Why “fake fish” when you can fish?
Josh had a favorite spot for gathering large Canadian night crawlers for fishing. Just across the street from his driveway there was a small depression that ran parallel to the street. Not really a ditch, just a low depression, and it was in that depression that leaves gathered and stayed nearly all year long. Under those leaves the ground was moist and warm and perfect for a worm farm. Three years ago Josh threw a dozen night crawlers under those leaves and he hadn’t had to buy any since.
Eddie grabbed an old coffee can from the garage and he and his friend headed over to the leaf pile to gather some bait. On their hands and knees they pulled the leaves back and began their selection. About a dozen would do.
Eddie felt something. He sensed an eerie feeling and looked around. Josh looked at him a bit startled then said, “What, what is it?” still pulling worms.
Eddie lifted up off his hands, still on his knees and looked across Josh’s left shoulder and up the street to the corner. Parked just beyond the intersection was a dark gray late-model Ford Cro
wn Victoria. The windows were tinted dark and the engine was running. Josh spun around to see what had caught Eddie’s eye.
The boys lived in a small, three-block community along the Elk River where everyone knew everyone and they were sure that they had never seen this car in their neighborhood before.
“What do you think they’re doing?” Josh asked quietly, turning back around so as not to stare.
Eddie, still looking, turned down both corners of his mouth and shrugged slightly. “Could be just picking up somebody or whatever…”
Eddie put his head back down and resumed worm collecting, but looked up at the car. He saw a large figure in the driver seat and no one else. The passenger side was empty and there seemed to be no movement in the back seat, as best as he could see. They tuned their ears toward the vehicle and heard the electric cooling fans kicking on and off to cool the engine and also the air conditioner compressor keeping the observer comfortable as he sat there.
Confident that they had enough bait for “the meeting” they brushed the leaves back over the worm farm and stood up. Josh grabbed the can and they proceeded to cross the street to his garage. With heads down, ignoring the car, Josh rolled his eyes toward the car once more. The headlights on the Crown Vic flashed! An electric shock literally ran through Josh’s body.
“My gosh Eddie! He just flashed his lights!”
Eddie paused, not knowing what to think.
“You serious?” he whispered.
Eddie, head still down, rolled his eyes toward the vehicle. The lights flashed again!
“Oh Man! Josh that’s for us! I don’t know who that could be but they want us!”
A bit of fear gripped both boys. If it were just a normal summer, they would not have been concerned. But this was not a normal summer. They were involved in the adventure of a lifetime. They had kept secrets from everyone including friends, family and law enforcement and to say that they were paranoid was an understatement. Nervousness and fear ran through their veins as they took a few more steps toward the driveway and the safety of home, and simultaneously they glanced toward the car one more time. The dark gray Ford then flashed his lights repeatedly at the boys and Josh gasped knowing that they had seen the lights and the driver had seen them, they stopped and stared at the car. They could not ignore the fact that the lights were flashed at them and someone wanted to talk to them. At that moment a big arm came out the window and, with the slightest hand movement, gestured at the boys to come to the car. Fear ran deeper now. Who could this be and what could he want? Everything they had been taught all their lives went against approaching that car. But Josh and Eddie had the advantage of space between them and the vehicle, and geographical knowledge of the area if they had to run.
“I’m a little scared of this,” Josh said, only half joking.
Eddie paused to give it some more thought.
“Josh, let’s go see who that is and what he wants. But…if we have to run, split up, stay off the streets, and I will meet you at the bulldozer under the shade tree over where they are building the church.”
Now Josh paused and thought. The lights flashed again. Another shock to his body.
“Okay, Okay let’s go.”
The boys did a slow and cautious walk to the official-looking vehicle. Josh noticed how clean it was and that the grooves of the tires were deep and new and there were no dings on the front end of the car from gravel or bugs or bad drivers. Eddie took a deep breath in through his nose as they approached the car, as the air conditioner pump on the running engine clicked on again. Josh and Eddie rounded the front of the car and walked to the side, but stayed about ten feet out from the driver’s window, prepared to run at a second’s notice. At that second the driver’s window rolled down about half way and Josh and Eddie gasped collectively as they both recognized the driver.
Mayor Billingsworth sat as low as he could in the big sedan, failing miserably to be inconspicuous, his large frame using up every inch of the driver’s seat. Josh and Eddie stepped a little closer now, completely bewildered. The Mayor was sitting stiff and still, facing forward in the car but allowing his eyes to roll left to look at the boys. The kids could then easily see the nervousness in his eyes. He was just as uneasy as they were and Josh noticed a few beads of sweat on the forehead of the top man in Red Creek. Before them was not the big-talking, confident, outspoken politician that they knew, but a man who was in a situation as uncomfortable for him as a chicken in a fox den.
“Umm…how’s it going today, fellas?” The Mayor broke the ice.
The boys glanced at each other quickly and shrugged, with Josh replying, “Good…everything’s good, sir. How are you?”
The Mayor nodded his head, looking down and then around the neighborhood, scanning for observers. His forehead grew a few more beads of sweat.
“Hey uh,… I was wondering…do you think you guys could meet me over at Ryder’s in about five minutes? I’ll… buy us a plate of fries.” He smiled a little as if to sweeten the arrangement.
Josh and Eddie were no less uneasy but agreed, figuring that a town official has to be about as safe a person as they could know, and to meet with him in a public place should not violate any of the rules of Stranger Danger.
The boys made a little small talk with the Mayor but he didn’t divulge the purpose of the meeting, just reassured the two friends that there was nothing to worry about and he just needed to talk to a couple of upstanding local youths about an issue. Of course Josh and Eddie knew it had to be something concerning their adventure but played along and, after returning their can of Canadian night crawlers to the coolness of their garage for the time being, they grabbed their bikes and started on their way to the best French fry restaurant on the river. They still had time to meet the Mayor and not be late for their “meeting” at the sandbar. They could not really say no to him anyway, because if the Mayor wants to talk to you, he will make it happen.
Carefully crossing highway 119, the boys screeched their bikes to a halt at the steps of the little diner, noticing the gray sedan parked at the south end of the small building where some trees concealed it pretty well. At mid-morning they were between breakfast and lunch and upon entering the near-empty diner they saw Billingsworth sitting in the very corner booth scrolling his phone, then looking out the window, still appearing a little bit worried. The two friends approached him slowly and sat down across from the big man. Their eyes went to him and they waited for the Mayor to initiate the conversation.
A small, anxious chuckle escaped the Mayor’s lips and he began in what was almost a murmur, “Hey guys, thanks for meeting me here. Umm…I already ordered the fries.” He smiled again, still uneasy. He opened his mouth to speak but didn’t say anything right away, still thinking of how to word things. Then he resumed, “Listen, I apologize for the stalking and the flashing lights but I had to. I had to find you. I have to tell you something. It’s for your safety, it really is.” He paused a second and glanced out the window one more time. “So…a few days ago you guys came in to the Town Offices and were looking around at some documents and things and you probably noticed the Sheriff and me taking a little notice of it. Well… it was the subject of the documents that you were searching that aroused our curiosity.” A nervous smile appeared again and he was using his hands a lot.
Josh held up one finger respectfully and the Mayor paused.
Josh said softly, looking him in the eye, “Mayor, we know what this is about and we know about your connection to the Southern Jewel. And we also know about Sheriff Collins’ connection.” Josh shrugged one shoulder. “Just to save some time.”
Billingsworth looked straight at the boys and nodded his head, realizing that there was no reason to play games here. Everybody here knew everything. Talking to kids can be tough!
One more glance out the window and then he looked back at them. But he now looked at the boys with a different face, a face of genuine concern and a hint of worry. The face of a father about to give his son
s a very serious talk. He drew a deep breath and looked at each one of them, “Do you boys know how big this is? How dangerous this could be? We are talking about 162 pounds of gold that could be hidden around here somewhere.”
The boys glanced at each other. They knew all the numbers. So far there were no revelations here.
“I’ve got to tell you that there are people involved with this who have been searching nearly all their lives just for a clue! Just one clue! And you guys come along and apparently find the mother of all clues, the document, right?”
The boys nod their heads. Still no revelations.
“Guys, listen.” The Mayor paused to think of the best way to say this. “There are some involved who may stop at nothing to take you out of the picture in order to find this gold. You may want to think real hard about going any further.”
Eddie’s eyes squinted and his finger came up with a little less respect than Josh’s, “You’re just saying that so you and Collins can go get it! I know what this is about.”
“Yeah. Collins came to my house, too. Scared my mom to death. No, we will be just fine. Don’t worry about us!” Josh added, a little perturbed.
A red-haired waitress named Katy delivered two plates of French fries and two bottles of ketchup, along with three sodas.
Billingsworth thanked her and smiled nervously, hoping that she had not heard the exchange.
“Fellas, things have changed in the last few days. Intensified. Heated up to the point that I am concerned for your safety.”
“We’re talking about Collins here, right?” Josh asked. “You are telling us that he would put it all on the line or risk everything that he has or push people around in order to collect some gold that he can’t even keep? And you’re in it with him?”
River Rocks: A West Virginia Adventure Novel Page 21