Killian looked pissed for a second, then moved forward, getting on his knees and wrenching the thing open. He grimaced at the dirt on his hands, but he quickly seemed to move past it when he saw what was inside.
“You touched things,” he accused. “Did you take anything?”
“Wouldn’t you know?”
“Don’t fuck with me.” Killian’s voice came out in a snarl. “Unless you want to say bye-bye to Mommy.”
“Just curious,” Noah said. “You told me that you’d make sure my mother got deported, unless I found the treasure and gave it to you. What’s to stop you from going ahead and deporting her anyway?”
Killian’s smile was sly. “I guess there are no guarantees,” Killian said. “So you’d better keep your mouth shut about our little arrangement, or it can still happen.”
“Here’s the thing,” Noah said, standing on the other side of the coffee table. “She’s here legally. Her green card hasn’t expired.”
Killian made a quick raspberry sound. “We have to go through this again, really? She works at a food truck. I come from one of the wealthiest families on the West Coast, complete with a celebrity father. When I go to ICE and complain, who do you think they’re going to believe? And who do you think they’re going to obey, more to the point?” He grinned. “Golden rule. He who has the gold, makes the rules.”
“Tell me you’re not quoting Aladdin,” Noah groaned. Then he reached over, slamming the chest shut, almost catching Kilian’s fingers with it. “Here’s the thing, douchebag. You don’t have the gold. I do. I found it, fair and square.”
Killian’s eyes blazed. “What?”
“And I figure, with this much money, I can hire an immigration lawyer to prevent you from sending my mother anywhere.”
Killian growled. “You are making a very serious mistake, boy.”
Boy? Killian was maybe ten years older. “Watch who you’re calling boy, dickhead.”
“It’ll take time for you to make this money liquid,” Killian said. “Your Mother would be in Indonesia before you had the chance to spend a dime – and trust me, once they get her out of the country, it will take a hell of a lot to get her back in.”
Noah felt icy fingers stroke down his spine. That was what he was afraid of – what he had been afraid of. But he had a plan, and he had to follow through with it.
“I’m not afraid of you,” Noah said.
“You should be,” Killian drawled. “Rich beats righteous, every day of the week.”
“Yeah, but you’re not really rich, are you?” Noah said, and was gratified to see Killian’s expression grow guarded and irritated. “I’ve had time to think this over. Why are you so hot and bothered to find the treasure now? At first, I thought it was just because Cressida uncovered that clue, figured out the Temple of Athena thing, and Henry had verified that we were closer than anybody had gotten. But you were so desperate about getting your hands on the treasure. You said that you wanted to humiliate your father, and I bought it because I was too hung up on the whole threatening-my-mom aspect. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized… you didn’t want the treasure to put one over on your Dad. You wanted the treasure because you need the damn money.”
Killian’s lips pulled into a thin, taut line.
“I figure you probably used up resources trying to track me down the state,” he said. “And hiring that guy in Modesto probably ate the last of your cash. You had to get my Mom called into ICE as a last-ditch effort to make sure I stayed on the leash.”
Killian glowered at him.
Noah grinned. “So you’re broke. Which means you’ve got no leverage.”
“Don’t kid yourself,” Killian spat out. “I’m still from a rich family. Your mother’s an immigrant and you’re a half-breed bastard that comes from nowhere. Do you really think you’re the one with the power here?”
Noah flinched. He should’ve expected Killian would take that route. Noah picked up the treasure. “I’m the one with the power now,” he said. “You threatened me, you threatened my mother, and you’re still threatening me. When the police find out, that’s going to be extortion. And you had me followed, and beat up. That’s conspiracy.”
“How were you planning on proving any of this?” Killian said. “Jesus, you’re stupid!”
“Maybe,” Noah said, thinking of Cressida – and how he’d handled that whole situation. No question about it, you were stupid. “But right now, I’m a hell of a lot richer than you. Now get out of my house.”
Killian blinked. “I can’t believe this,” he snapped. Then he reached into his suit jacket – and pulled out a gun.
Noah froze. He’d known Killian would hire thugs, since the guy who tried to beat him up in Modesto definitely counted as one of those – but he hadn’t expected Killian to be packing, himself.
“Just give me the damned treasure,” Killian said. “Otherwise, I’ll make this look like a robbery, I swear to God. And you’ll be dead.”
“You really think you can get away with murder?” Noah said, shocked to his core.
“Who’s going to suspect me?” Killian’s tone was diffident, too cocky. It was the voice of a spoiled brat who had never faced the consequences of his actions.
Please, God, let that change right now.
The door burst open. “Freeze! Police!”
Killian’s mouth dropped open. There was a policeman, gun drawn, pointed at Killian. Behind him stood an older man, wearing a pair of jeans that looked broken in and a shirt that was probably expensive.
“Dad?” Killian said, lowering his gun.
The policeman rushed him, tackling him to the floor and taking the gun from him.
“Hey! Get your… get your hands off me!” Killian protested. “What are you doing?”
“You were pointing a deadly weapon at someone, asshole,” the policeman said. “What do you think I’m doing, asking you to dance? You’re under arrest.”
“It… it was all a misunderstanding!” Killian tried.
“Seemed pretty cut and dried to me,” the policeman said, cuffing him.
“Dad? Are you going to let him do this to me?” Now Killian’s voice was a cross between a plaintive whine and an aggravated roar.
“Shut up, Killian.” The sharpness of Henry Curton’s voice could’ve cut through steel. “This kid set up a web cam on the Curton boards. Everybody’s been watching a livestream of this, and then it’s being uploaded to YouTube. You basically admitted that you set this guy up. And threatened his mother.” The disgust was thick. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Killian shot back. “You spend more time with these loser fans of yours than you do your family!”
“The book is only a few years old, and you’ve fucked up way before that,” Henry said. “Don’t even try to pin this all on me. You’re just pissed that we cut down your trust fund allowance.”
“You’re, what, thirty something, and you still get an allowance?” Noah interjected, amused.
Killian’s face turned a dull red. “This can’t be admissible in court,” he said. “You’ve got nothing to prove.”
Henry stood in front of his son. “My friend Jack here saw you pull a loaded gun on Noah. That’s not nothing,” he said. “And if you think I’m springing for a lawyer for you, you’re delusional. I warned you that the family was done with your nonsense and if you didn’t turn around, there would be consequences. You are now completely cut off – no trust fund, no cash whatsoever. I know how deep in debt you are. You’ll be lucky to get the public defender.”
“Dad!” Killian said, sounding scandalized. “You can’t be serious!”
“I’m disappointed with you, Killian,” Henry said, then nodded to Jack the policeman. “Thanks for your help with this. I didn’t expect it to shake out this way.”
“No problem, Henry,” Jack said then carted Killian off.
Henry looked at Noah, seeming to have aged ten years in the past fifteen minutes. “I’d say
I’m sorry for my son, but it doesn’t seem good enough. I can’t believe he’d threaten a woman like your mother. And the half-breed comment…” Henry looked like he’d swallowed a bug. “I didn’t raise him to be racist. But then, I didn’t raise him to be an extorting, cowardly asshole. So apparently I really fucked up somewhere along the line.”
Noah didn’t know what to say to that, so he kept silent.
Henry looked at the chest Noah was still holding. “May I?”
Noah nodded, putting it back down and opening it up. Henry’s fierce expression dissolved into a smile.
“Well, this has got to ease the sting a bit,” he said. “You found the treasure, Noah. The hunt’s over. You won.”
Noah took a deep breath.
This is where you stand up, and stop being an idiot.
“Yeah. About the treasure…”
It had been four days since Rachel and Hailey had rescued her and brought her home. Cressida felt better – at least, she felt shaky, but was upright and not curled in the fetal position. Considering how she’d felt in the hospital in the Mojave, that was a big step forward.
She still felt crushed with guilt for what she’d put her sisters through, and all of it for nothing. Rachel had asked her high school flame (and probably the only billionaire they knew or would ever know) to loan her his private jet so they could get Cressida home as quickly and painlessly as possible. Rachel didn’t even like saying Ren’s name, much less thinking about him. To ask him for a favor had to be excruciating for her.
Now, they had to think about packing, and moving.
Maybe I can live in the RV…
She cringed. And be surrounded daily by memories of her time with Noah.
Kyla had been livid, and had considered calling the police, but Cressida pointed out that Noah’s car was still at the store. They had collateral, if nothing else. She knew that Kyla was simply pissed at how Noah had betrayed her, trying to trick her to get the treasure. She hadn’t told any of them that she’d slept with Noah – she didn’t want to know what they’d do if they found out that little tidbit.
She rubbed at her chest with her palm, wincing at the pinch she felt there.
She missed him.
She was still angry, without question, and disappointed, but she missed him. She’d ignored any texts he’d sent, and she’d been deliberately ignoring the Wastelander boards, just in case they said he’d won.
Now that she was settled back in to her home, with the anxiety held at bay by her comfortable, familiar surroundings. she had the time and the space to think. Noah had done what he thought was best. If Rachel or Hailey had needed her, she might’ve lied, cheated, or stolen to try and protect them. They would do the same for her.
But would I have betrayed Noah’s trust to do it?
She rubbed at her temples. She didn’t know what she would’ve done. All she knew was, the landlord and the realtor were going to be there soon, and their lease was going to be up at the end of the following month. Everything that they had – including stuff from when Grandma Frost had lived there, so an accumulation of forty years of stuff at least – they would need to box up. Oh, and they needed to find a new place to live and a new place to open up their shop. So far, finding things in their price range was futile, especially in Snoqualmie.
She didn’t know what to do, and she couldn’t remember feeling so hopeless in a long, long time.
What would the Doctor do?
She wrapped her arms around herself. She wasn’t up to playing WWTDD right now. She wasn’t a Time Lord, she wasn’t River Song, she wasn’t an adventuress. She was just someone who was trying to get her life together and keep it that way.
“Cressida!” Hailey called from downstairs in the shop. “Somebody here to see you!”
Cressida jolted, her heart pounding hard in her chest. Noah? Her pulse jumped traitorously. No, it couldn’t be Noah. He’d probably drop off the RV and take his car without coming in – or would if he were smart, since Hailey was ready to kick his ass. And Cressida had already sent him away. Still, the thought of him apologizing, or them talking…
Get over it.
Cressida finger-combed her hair as she headed down the stairs. There was an older man standing at the counter, smiling and talking with Hailey. He was wearing a fleece jacket and a pair of jeans and what looked like a pair of moccasins. He looked over at her.
“Are you Cressida? You must be.”
He looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite tell why. “Yes.”
He held out his hand. “I’m Henry Curton.”
She was already gripping his hand when the full import of his name sank in. “The Henry Curton?” she gasped.
His smile widened. “I guess you could say that, yes.”
She stood there, gobsmacked, staring. “Don’t you live in L.A.? I never expected you to come here.” Then she paused. “Wait. Why did you come up here?”
“A few things, really,” he said, and his cheerful expression drooped a little. “First, I wanted to apologize. I found out what happened to you in the desert. It was on the news, that another one of Curton’s Wastelanders was injured in the course of the hunt.”
She sighed. “It wasn’t… that is, it wasn’t recklessness.” Or was it? After all, she’d recklessly gone out on an adventure with a man she barely knew in real life. “I just had a massive panic attack. I have a history of them.”
“And you went outside and hunted for it, regardless.” There was definitely a note of admiration in his voice.
“I was careful,” she pointed out.
“We’ve had two people fall off of cliffs, one guy almost drowned in white water, and three people needed search and rescue teams when they went missing,” Henry said, shaking his head. “I love adventure novels, and fantasy – you know that. That’s why I write my books. But I’ve spent so much time tending to the community that I haven’t been writing. I miss it.”
She hadn’t thought about that. It had been a while since his last series.
“You’re Henry Curton the writer?” Hailey interjected. “We love your novels.”
“I’ll be sure to sign any you have in stock,” he said easily, with obvious charm. Then he turned back to Cressida. “Anyway, I’m glad that the hunt is finally over.”
She felt her heart clutch in her chest. “It’s over?”
Noah presented the treasure. Or that thug, the one threatening his mother, did.
“Yes,” Henry said. “The details of the hunt required the trunk to be presented for verification. The trunk has been unearthed and verified.”
“Who turned it in?” she asked, her voice a bare whisper.
Please don’t be Noah. Please don’t be Noah.
“Noah Sukarno produced the chest,” Henry said.
Hailey made a growling noise. “That. Rat. Bastard.”
Cressida blinked, feeling tears pooling in her eyes. “He found the treasure?”
So much for the story that he needed to give the treasure over to some shadowy figure. It was lies, all lies.
He said he really had fallen in love with me…
All. Lies.
She supposed she should’ve felt bitter about it, or furious, but instead, she simply felt tired and heartbroken. “I guess his mother’s going to fine, then,” she murmured to herself. “If the guy even has a mother.”
“Who cares?” Hailey snarled. “That guy ripped you off!”
“You know about his mother, and that situation?” Henry asked instead, looking startled. “Then you must know my son’s involvement. Did you see everything on the Wastelander boards? You must’ve.”
“Wait, what?” Hailey blinked in surprised. “Your son?”
“My son was blackmailing him to take the treasure from you,” Henry said, his ears pinkening and his eyes turning sad. “At any rate, that whole unpleasant business is taken care of, yes. Which leads us to why I’m here.”
She wanted him to leave. She didn’t want to talk about this any
more. She felt stronger than she had in years, but she still knew that she had to take care of herself – and retreating right now was part of her self-care. “Mr. Curton, I can’t…”
“Noah said that you rightfully found the treasure. He’s relinquishing all rights to it to you.”
Her jaw dropped. So did Hailey’s. “What?”
“All four million dollars of it is yours,” Henry said. “To make things easier, I’d be happy to simply provide you with a deposit for the total sum, rather than have you try to sell the gold and jewels and whatnot. I mean, it looks cool, and nobody wants to dig up an I.O.U., but I figure just getting four million in your bank account is probably more useful these days.”
She stammered, speechless. Four million dollars!
When she finally got it together, she heard herself say: “I can’t take all of it. Half of it belongs to Noah.”
“Oh, fuck Noah,” Hailey muttered, somewhat under her breath. “I say take the cash!”
“We had a deal,” Cressida reminded her. “He was the driver. He was the one who helped me. He can’t give up all of it.”
“I’ll let you two sort that out amongst yourselves,” Henry said, his eyes twinkling. “But I will say this: that boy is torn up about everything that happened. He said that you mean more to him than any treasure. The guy definitely seems like someone in love.”
Cressida’s cheeks burned.
Noah pulled into the driveway of the Frost house, nerves jittering in his stomach. It had been almost a week since he’d last seen Cressida. He hadn’t talked to her or texted her much in that time, after the first day. Granted, in the interim he’d found the treasure, he’d figured out how to protect his Mom and give the treasure to Cressida, and he’d been held at gunpoint, so it wasn’t like he hadn’t been busy.
Still, he knew that was a cop out. He hadn’t called because he was nervous – and because he didn’t want her to hang up on him. He wanted them to talk, face to face. Returning the RV and getting his car back were perfect reasons for him to see her again, after all.
He was relieved that his car was all in one piece. Given how protective her sisters were, he was surprised they hadn’t slashed the tires, smashed the windshield, and keyed every inch of paint.
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