The Treasure Hunt Club

by Michael Scott Clifton

  Four pennies were followed by four nickels, which were followed by four dimes, and so forth. Shining his flashlight on the first set of coins, Nick saw the year 1905 stamped upon them. He realized abruptly that that was probably the first year Claire’s father starting working at the Mint. He must have collected four coins of each denomination for every year he had worked there! If that was true, that meant…

  Nick aimed his flashlight at each set of coins, scanning the year on them as quickly as he could. His heart beat like a hammer in his chest as he followed the year each set of coins was struck. Reaching the end of one half of the display case, Nick hurriedly pushed open the other sliding pane of glass.

  Skipping over several sets of coins, Nick spotted the year 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, and finally, the year 1933!

  The shaft of Nick’s flashlight wavered slightly in his shaking hand as he saw four large twenty-dollar gold pieces that reflected a golden metallic luster. Touching one of the coins tentatively with his forefinger, a bright glow of light emanated from the satchel he carried slung over his shoulder. Nick gave a shout of exultation! They had found the Saint-Gaudens double eagle coins!

  He didn’t need to look to know the words “Treasure Found”

  were glowing brightly in the book!

  Nick and Mark took only the Saint-Gaudens coins with them in their haste to pack up their things and get back to their hotel. Leaving all the other coins and sliding the panes of glass shut, they exited the cramped passageway and pushed the cleverly disguised section of wall back into place.

  Once again, it resembled a featureless section of the wall. Collecting their tools, they threw them in back of the rental car, locked the doors of the old house, and left.

  As soon as Nick and Mark had driven off, a pair of head- lights came on from a car that had been parked against the curb a short distance from the old house. Stopping in front of the driveway, the headlights were extinguished, and two shadowy figures exited the car.

  Nick and Mark didn’t know it, but a second inspection of the house was going to take place that night.

  Chapter 31

  Within days of arriving back in Pleasant Mountain, both Nick and Mark had driven to Houston to have the coins appraised by a coin expert, whose specialty included U.S. minted gold coins. He had taken one look at the Saint-Gaudens and almost fainted! Once he had recovered and had carefully studied the coins, he verified they were authentic. When asked their value, the dealer hadn’t hesitated, saying each coin was worth a minimum of five million dollars, or as a set, twenty to twenty-five million dollars! He finished by saying his estimate was conservative and that at auction, the coins might fetch as much as five to seven million dollars more. Nick had almost started hyperventilating when hearing the estimate of the coins worth, while Mark wore a stunned expression on his face. They quickly thanked the coin expert, and as they giddily made their way back to Mark’s car, they both shared a common thought.

  They were multimillionaires!

  Disgusted, Carter threw the report he had just read onto the top of his desk. It had been compiled by the men he had assigned to tail Hollister and Chambers, and as he had feared, it had added little to what he already knew. Apparently, Hollister and his “club” member had bought a house. Big deal! The house was a dump, according to the tail, and other than a bunch of holes that had been discovered dug in the backyard, a thorough search of the premises had revealed nothing out of place or unusual. Even assuming that Hollister had found something inside the house or had dug something up, his men had not seen them carry anything out. Therefore, he knew zippo and the entire enterprise had been a colossal waste of time!

  To make matters worse, his headache, which had started out as a dull throb, was threatening to graduate into a full-blown migraine. Gulping three Advil, Carter had just washed the pills down with a cup of water when his cell trilled. Looking at the caller ID, he saw it was Tellie.

  Answering, he growled irritably, “I sincerely hope you have some good news for me!”

  “My, my! Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed!” Tellie chirped.

  In no mood for any kind of games, Carter barked, “Do you have something for me or not?”

  Undeterred by Carter’s abrupt manner, Tellie laughed and said, “Yes, I do have something. In fact, I believe I have exactly what you have been looking for.”

  Carter’s headache fled as he gripped his cell excitedly. “You’ve found it! You’ve found what Hollister has been using to get rich!”

  “Bingo!” Tellie cried happily over the phone.

  Tellie then explained to Carter her trip to Dusty’s and how she had managed to get Steve drunk and pump information from him about the Treasure Hunt Club. Saving the best part for last, she told Carter about The Book of Lost Treasures and how the club had been using it to find all the antiques and other rare items that were the source of their sudden wealth. At first, Carter was skeptical just as Tellie had been. However, as Tellie pointed out, they had found the rare antiques, they now had fat bank accounts, and they had found too many rare items to be coincidental! As Tellie talked, Carter felt his disbelief melt away.

  “The only problem is that Steve never told me where they keep this book,” Tellie finished.

  “Oh, don’t worry about that,” Carter assured Tellie. “Why?”

  Leaning back, it was Carter’s turn to laugh. “Because I plan on finding that book and taking it way from Hollister!”

  Nick turned into the parking lot of Porter’s and, finding an open parking slot, pulled in and turned off the car. Getting out, he opened Abby’s car door, and they entered the restaurant. He was in the mood to celebrate and, the day after arriving back from Houston, had called Abby and asked her out to dinner. After being seated, they had each perused the menu for a few minutes before handing it back to the waiter.

  “I’ll have the T-Bone, rare,” Nick said.

  “Um, I’ll have the six-ounce rib eye, well done, please,” Abby said a moment later.

  “We’ll also take a bottle of your best red wine,” Nick added before handing the waiter their menus. Nick watched the with satisfaction. They were at Porter’s, and the only thing that could have made the moment any sweeter was if it had been Tony that had waited on them. It had been two weeks since he and Mark had taken the rare Saint-Gaudens coins to Houston to be authenticated and appraised. Now they were in the process of deciding whether to auction off the coins or to bypass the auction houses and take bids directly from private collectors. The coin dealer in Houston had made some discreet inquiries on their behalf and said offers were already pouring in.

  Now, as he sat in Pleasant Mountain’s fanciest restaurant with Abby to celebrate the club’s latest and definitely greatest discovery, Nick felt at peace with his life, and that at long last, his luck had finally turned. True, he and Abby still had work to do to repair their relationship, but all in all, the future looked bright indeed!

  “You look like the cat that ate the canary,” Abby said, smiling at Nick.

  “Pardon?” Nick said as Abby’s comment pulled him from his pleasant musings.

  “I said you look like the cat that ate the canary,” Abby repeated. “It’s what my mother always used to say to me or my brothers when she would see a certain look on our faces. It’s the same kind of look I saw on your face just a moment ago.”

  “Oh,” Nick said. “I was just thinking about how perfect things seem to be working out.”

  The smile on Abby’s face disappeared at this comment. The waiter then appeared with their dinner salads, and Abby picked at hers, while Nick attacked his with gusto.

  “Do you really believe that, Nick?” Abby said as she continued to poke at her salad. “That things are perfect, I mean?”

  Puzzled, Nick looked up, chewing. Swallowing, he said, “Of course! Once we sell those coins, you, me, and everyone else in the club are going to be rich!”

  Perturbed, Abby hesitated for a moment before putting her fork down and gazing dir
ectly at Nick.

  “Nick, have you looked around you? Do you see what is going on?”

  Abby’s tone of voice and the look on her face caused Nick’s good mood to flee instantly.

  “What … what do you mean?” he asked cautiously.

  “Did you know that Patti and Mark are having serious marital problems? Did you know that Mark moved out last night and is living with his parents until he can find his own apartment?”

  “Huh?” Nick said incredulously. Mark had never said a word to him!

  “Did you also know that a couple of days ago, Kenneth called Patti and asked her if she, as treasurer of the club, would advance him some money to help prop up his electronics store? It seems a store employee, instead of ordering thirty radio-controlled cars to sell for the Christmas season, ordered three hundred!”

  “Ken … Kenneth di … did that?” Nick stuttered.

  “Yes! That’s what I’m talking about! Things are not perfect—not for Patti, not for Mark, not for Kenneth, and not … not for us!”

  As Nick sat there, openmouthed, Abby plunged on.

  “All you can see, all you seem to care about, is that … book and the dollar signs it brings to your eyes!”

  Before Nick had a chance to reply, a persistent trilling came from the cell phone clipped at his belt. Fumbling to retrieve it, he finally managed to put it to his ear and answer it. Moments later, his face went white as a sheet.

  “Are you sure?” he finally managed to say. “We’ll … we’ll be there as soon as we can.”

  Stunned, Nick turned to Abby and said, “That was Mark. Steve’s in the hospital, and he’s in critical condition. I’m afraid he collapsed on the stage at Dusty’s, and they had to call an ambulance to rush him to the emergency room. Mark said the emergency room doctor said he was suffering from acute alcohol poisoning.” “Abby,” Nick said, his voice cracking, “Mark said he might die!”

  Chapter 32

  Nick looked down grimly at Steve’s unconscious form lying in the hospital bed. Tubes ran from his throat and nostrils, and the rhythmic hum of a ventilator pumping air into and out of his lungs echoed softly in the quiet confines of the room. Steve’s arms were festooned with tubes leading from his veins to an IV bag. The other club members were all there, huddled miserably in the tomb-like silence of the small hospital room. Patti’s eyes were red from crying, and she sniffled constantly. Mark and Kenneth stood in silent anguish, while Abby looked as if she too might start crying at any minute.

  A nurse walked in and looked at the heart and blood pressure monitor mounted beside Steve’s bed. Picking up a chart hanging from the end of the bed, she wrote something on it.

  As the nurse turned to leave, Nick asked her anxiously, “Is he going to make it? Is he going to be all right?”

  The nurse stopped and looked sympathetically at Nick and the others.

  “It’s too soon to know anything definite. However, I can tell you the first twenty-four hours are the most critical. We’ll know more tomorrow.”

  Seeing the exhausted, anxious faces peering back at her, the nurse added, “Look, there is nothing you can do tonight for your friend. I suggest you go home, get some sleep, and come back tomorrow.” With that, the nurse made one last notation on the chart and left the room.

  The room was again silent as the friends contemplated what the nurse had said. Kenneth was the first to leave, as he turned and slowly made his way to the door. Patti followed shortly afterward. Abby hurried after Patti, and the two women clung to each other as if for mutual support, leaving only Nick and Mark in the room.

  “I had to call Steve’s parents and tell them what had happened to him,” Mark said quietly, a haunted expression on his face. “He has no family left around here, and someone had to call and tell them. They’re driving up from San Antonio, but it will take them five hours to get here.”

  Turning, Mark faced Nick and said, “It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. Steve’s mother … she started crying, and I … I …” Mark’s voice started to tremble, and he couldn’t go on. Finally, after a few moments, he was able to regain his composure.

  “Anyway, I’ll stay here and wait for them,” Mark managed to say. “Somebody needs to be here when they arrive, and there’s no way I’ll get any sleep tonight anyway.”

  “Are you sure?” Nick asked.

  “Yeah,” Mark said, smiling sadly. “Go home like the nurse said and get some rest.”

  Nick nodded and turned to leave. When he got to the door, he hesitated with his fingers on the door handle. After a moment, he abruptly pivoted and rejoined Mark.

  Together they waited throughout the long night.

  Nick awoke to the sound of a phone ringing persistently. He was disoriented as he looked about blearily before realizing he was on the couch at the club’s office annex. The events of the night before started to penetrate the fog of sleep in his mind, and he recalled that Steve’s parents had finally arrived at the hospital around two in the morning. After an excruciating few minutes, when Mark had to explain what had happened to Steve all over again, Nick and Mark had left with the sounds of Steve’s mother crying anew, following them out the room. Rather than drive all the way to the other side of town where his condo was located, Nick had instead gone to the office annex.

  Miserably, Nick sat up and made his way to the small bathroom adjacent to his office. Turning the cold water on, he scrubbed his face with the water until he felt somewhat revived. Drying his face with a paper towel, Nick looked at himself in the mirror above the sink. His hair was disheveled, and his eyes were red and bloodshot. As he was considering his haggard appearance, the phone began to ring again. Looking at his watch, Nick saw that it was almost 9:30 in the morning. Where the devil is Tellie? he thought irritably. She got to work at 9:00 and should have already answered the phone!

  Opening the door to his office that led to the anteroom where Tellie’s desk sat, Nick was greeted by an empty room. Hurriedly, he walked over to her desk to pick up the annoying phone.

  “Yes!” he snapped.

  “Mr. Hollister?” a nervous voice asked over the phone. “This is Brad Atwater from the bank. I’m sorry to bother you, but a situation has come up.”

  “What kind of situation?” Nick asked impatiently.

  “Well … oh dear, this is all so disturbing!”

  “Mr. Atwater, will you please tell me why you called me!” Nick said, exasperated, rubbing his eyes.

  “Yes, yes, of course! I’m … I’m afraid a lien has been placed on the Treasure Hunt Club’s account.”

  Any residual sleep that Nick might still have been feeling fled instantly.

  “What?” he shouted. “Who … who would do that?”

  “It’s more like whom, Mr. Hollister,” Atwater’s voice stated. “A company called Chavez Realty and Associates claims they were defrauded by you and your business associates of valuable property. Their lawyer was in contact with our in-house counsel and stated that he had received an injunction from a judge to freeze all accounts and assets of the Treasure Hunt Club. No sooner had this conversation concluded than an official with the U.S. Department of Treasury appeared here at the bank and presented our bank president with a federal injunction to freeze the club’s assets!”

  Stunned, Nick’s sleep-deprived mind struggled to process what the bank official had just told him. What did he mean about a lien? A federal injunction? What was going on?

  Clueless, Nick knew he was over his head and said, “I’m going to contact our lawyer. Thank you, Mr. Atwater,” and hung up the phone. Pulling his wallet from his back pocket, Nick was in the process of looking for the business card with Patti’s law firm’s phone number when two men wearing black business suits and sunglasses walked into the office.

  Looking up, Nick asked, puzzled, “Can I help you?”

  The two men conferred quietly for a moment or two before one of them asked, “Are you Nick Hollister, president of the Treasure Hunt Club?”


  Baffled, Nick said, “Yeah, yeah that’s me.”

  “We’re agents with the U.S. Department of Treasury, Mr. Hollister. We would like to ask you a few questions about some property that was stolen from the U.S. Mint many years ago.” With that, both agents took out their credentials and showed them to Nick. Nick gulped when he saw the words Secret Service stamped above each man’s badge.

  Nick’s mouth moved but, try as he might, nothing seemed to come out. He was spared further embarrassment when the office phone began to ring yet again. Grateful for the diversion, Nick snatched the phone from its cradle.

  “Hello?”

  “They accused my father of being a thief,” a voice said, thick with grief. “They said my father stole coins from the Mint when he worked there.”

  “What … what?” Nick stammered.

  “They said they searched my father’s house that I sold to you and found a secret cache of coins that were stolen from the Mint.” As muffled sobs came over the phone, Nick realized that it was Claire Branson. But before he could say anything, another voice suddenly replaced Claire’s.

  “We’re gonna sue you and everyone else associated with your little club! Those coins are the rightful property of my aunt!” Curtis’s angry voice shouted over the receiver. With that, the line went dead as he abruptly hung up.

  The rapid sequence of events, combined with only the few hours of sleep Nick had been able to grab, was threatening to overwhelm his already whirling mind. Realizing he was still holding the phone, Nick hung it up. Glancing over, he saw the two Secret Service agents looking expectantly at him. His shaking hand finally managed to pull the business card he was looking for from his wallet.

  He placed the call to the club’s lawyer.

  The sun was setting when Nick and Mark finally emerged from the law firm’s offices. They, along with Patti, Kenneth, and Abby, had been deposed by the Treasury agents with the club’s legal counsel present, and the questioning, with the exception of small breaks, had gone on continuously for hours. From this questioning and the give and take that ensued between their lawyer and the government agents, a clear picture of what had transpired emerged.