“Then he’s still inside.” She saw Daniel moving toward her, the phone pressed against his ear.
When he saw her, he hung up. He held his weapon in his other hand. “You all right?”
“Yes.”
He looked behind them. “He could have easily disappeared into one of the buildings across the street if he managed to crawl out of a window.”
She grimaced. “Yes, he could have.” And probably had.
A low creak reached her ears and she grabbed Daniel’s arm while her gaze scanned the ceiling. “You hear that?”
“Yes, I don’t like it.”
“We need to get out.”
“Go for the back exit, it’s closer.”
She let him take the lead, doing her best to ignore the throbbing, stinging pain in her knee. Another groan and more debris fell from the ceiling. Then a loud crack shot through the air and the building rumbled.
“Go!”
The last column just ahead went down. She felt Daniel’s arm go around her waist and he hauled her in the opposite direction just as the ceiling crashed behind her.
Daniel kept a tight grip on Katie. He coughed at the lungful of air he’d just inhaled. She wheezed right along with him. “You okay?” he gasped.
“Yes. You?”
He stood, still just inside the building. “He pushed that column over.”
“No kidding.” She coughed again. “Did the whole place come down?”
“No, just that section. We’re okay right now.” His heart pounded. Yet another close call.
She pulled away from him and walked toward the exit. “I’m assuming the person left, but let’s not take any chances he’s waiting to pick us off as we leave.”
“Good idea.”
She continued to wade through the rubble, choosing her steps carefully. Daniel stayed behind her, watching. With the sun shining through the holes in the roof, he could see pretty well and he noticed her favoring her left leg.
At the exit, she stopped and gripped her weapon. “You go right, I’ll go left,” she whispered.
He nodded.
She put her back to his. “Now.”
They rounded the doorway, him to the right, her to the left. “Clear,” he said and spun.
“Clear.” She lowered her gun.
A rumble caught his attention. “You hear that?”
“A car engine?”
“Sounds like. But there are a lot of cars around here. Could be any engine.”
“Yeah.”
Tires squealed and then nothing but the sound of the men working next door, the traffic in the street, and a plane passing by overhead. Daniel shoved his weapon in his shoulder holster and trotted over to find the nearest worker who might have had a view of the back exit of the restaurant. “Hey, excuse me.”
“Yeah?” The man in his early twenties turned from the bucket of cement he’d been mixing. “Help you?”
“Did you see a guy come out of that restaurant over there?”
The worker looked in the direction he pointed, then turned back. “Nope. Sorry.”
Daniel grimaced. “It’s okay.” He moved to the next, then the next, and all gave him the same answer. They hadn’t seen anyone.
Katie had followed him quietly, alert and vigilant, but had let him do the talking. “Guess that’s that then.” She turned and headed for the car. Blood dripped with each step.
His hand on her arm stopped her forward momentum. “You’re hurt.”
She felt a wetness trickle down her shin and looked down. Blood flowed from the wound in her knee. No wonder it was pulsing with pain. “Great. You don’t have any Band-Aids on you, do you?”
“Busted that knee open again, did you?”
“Looks like.”
“Well, at least you didn’t throw up.”
She blinked. Then gave a short laugh. “No, I didn’t. When I realized someone else was in there, I forgot about everything except going after him.”
“Whatever works.”
She scanned the buildings on the other side of the street and shook her head. “He’s a slippery one. He’s either hiding in one of the buildings or he drove off.”
“Wonder what he was doing here?”
“If it’s the guy who burned the place down . . . gloating?”
Daniel’s jaw tightened. “Maybe.”
“Or maybe it was just a vagrant we scared off.”
“A vagrant?”
“Maybe. He could have been looking for anything of value that might have gotten left behind.”
“I suppose, but I doubt it. Someone pushed that column over on purpose.”
He had a point. At the car, she opened a tackle box in the back and pulled out a first aid kit.
“Girl Scout, huh?” he asked as he settled into the passenger seat and rubbed his hands together.
She smiled. “Once upon a time.” She found what she needed and examined her wound. It looked a little red and angry, so she slathered on the antibiotic cream and bandaged it once again.
He opened the passenger door and climbed out. “Let’s find that box and get out of here.”
She looked around. If someone had a rifle, they were sitting ducks. But businesses were busy, traffic was heavy on the street behind her. Then again, that hadn’t stopped him from stealing a backhoe with numerous witnesses all around him.
“I’ll look while you get back in the car and wait,” Katie said. “We already know he’s not shy about shooting at you.”
“I could wait in the car, but what if our intruder comes after you?”
She scowled. “I’ll shoot him in the leg and make sure he doesn’t get away again.”
“I’m not waiting in the car. Let’s look.”
“Riley’s going to be mad at you if you get yourself shot.”
“I know, but I really want to find this for her.” He glanced around. “And besides, whoever was here is gone now.”
“Doesn’t mean he won’t double back,” she muttered. “At least we’ll be inside looking. Will make us harder to hit, I guess.”
He ignored her and found the rakes he’d brought. Together, for the next hour, they used the rakes to sweep inside the site, being careful to avoid the shaky columns. Daniel pulled out dining utensils and other soot-covered items. They hadn’t wanted to spend too much time inside the building—or what had once been the inside—and had moved outside to continue the search.
Katie’s phone rang and she propped the rake on the side of the building to answer it.
“Hey, it’s Bree.”
“Hey, what’s up?”
“I talked to Tim Shepherd.”
“Really? Did he have anything interesting to say?”
“He did. When I asked him if he burned down Bryant’s restaurant, the man actually laughed. Said there was no way I was going to pin that on him. And that he didn’t do it. Said the man burned it down himself and blamed him.”
Katie frowned. “Why would he do that?”
“He said he can’t prove it, but Bryant’s father-in-law owned the business and forbade it to be sold. Turns out Bryant never wanted to be in the restaurant business but couldn’t sell it without his wife filing for divorce.”
“No way.”
“Way.”
“Who told you that?”
“Bryant’s wife. She didn’t say he burned it down, but she said she refused to allow him to sell it.”
“So he burned it down himself, blamed Shepherd, even had proof of Shepherd’s harassment, and gets the insurance payoff, gets out of the restaurant business, and his wife has no reason to divorce him.”
“That’s a good summary.”
“Wow.” Katie ran a hand through her hair and shivered. Now that she wasn’t moving, she was starting to get cold. “So you don’t think Shepherd’s behind all of the threats against Daniel?”
“It’s not looking like it.”
“Okay. Thanks for keeping me in the loop.”
“Welcome.”
/> She hung up and thought about that new development and all she could come up with was, “Interesting.”
“Did you find it?”
Katie spun to find Lizzie and Riley walking toward them. She met them near the front entrance. “Hey, what’s going on?” she asked.
“One of the workers at the dig sliced his hand open. Martin told me I could take off since he had to get the guy to the hospital and wouldn’t be there to supervise,” Riley said. “Lizzie and I went to get something to eat, then decided to come here.”
Katie paused. “When did that happen? The guy at the dig getting hurt.”
“About an hour ago.”
“I see.” She looked around. “You guys don’t need to be around here. It’s really not that safe.” She escorted them away from the building and off to the side. “How did you know we were here?”
Riley held up her phone. “Daniel’s app.”
Daniel stepped up beside Katie. She lifted a brow at him. He shrugged. “I downloaded an app on her phone. She can find me anytime she wants to.”
“He can track my location with the app on his phone. I simply told him if he could know where I was, then I wanted to be able to do the same.”
Daniel swiped a hand across his cheek, leaving a trail of soot. “I don’t do that because I don’t trust you, Princess, you know that.”
“I know.”
Katie suspected Riley truly did know that. With everything Daniel had seen in his career in the Marines and law enforcement, he was super protective. He saw it as an extra to ensure his niece’s safety. She admired the fact that he was willing to allow her the same access to his location as well. For Riley, after losing her parents, knowing she could find Daniel anytime she needed him had to be a huge comfort.
Riley walked forward, placed her hands on her hips, and looked at the blackened area. Anger tightened the girl’s pretty features. “I really hope they catch the person who did this.”
“So do I, Princess, so do I,” Daniel said.
“So? Did you find it?”
“No.”
Riley sighed. Katie turned to Lizzie. “Someone was here snooping around.”
“You think it was the guy who burned the place down?”
Katie shook her head. “Who knows? I couldn’t move fast enough to catch him.” She saw Riley stoop down and pick something up, study it, then stand. The slump of her shoulders said it wasn’t what she was looking for.
“Hey, Riley?” Daniel called. “Let’s go. I don’t think we’re going to find it. Not today anyway.”
Riley glanced over her shoulder at her uncle, then gave a slow nod. She trotted over to him. “Maybe when they start clearing the place out, it’ll show up.” Her phone buzzed. She looked at it. “That’s Martin. He said he’s back from the hospital and I can come back to the dig site so I don’t lose any more hours if I want to. I guess I’ll go back.”
“Have you found anything interesting?”
Her eyes lit up. “I haven’t, but one of the other workers found something. He found a Confederate Leech & Rigdon .36 caliber percussion revolver with original matching holster. It says CSA on it and everything.”
“Confederate States of America,” Daniel murmured. “When did he find that?”
“Just this morning. Right after I got there. You should have seen Martin. He went nuts, he was so excited. He was dancing and shouting. It was funny.”
Daniel gave her a genuine smile. “That’s amazing. I’m happy for Martin.”
“He stood there and looked it up online and one sold at an auction last year for around fifteen grand.”
Daniel let out a low whistle. “Wow, that’s impressive. I guess Martin is ready for the press to come in now?”
“Yes, they’re supposed to do an interview with him this afternoon. He scheduled it right then. If you think he was hyper before, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
“I hope he put it somewhere safe,” Katie murmured.
Riley lifted her shoulder in a shrug. “I don’t know what he did with it, but it’s off-site now. He’s got a few other things he’s found, some bullets, and smaller items, but this is big.”
Katie nodded to Lizzie. “You take her back to the site. Daniel and I’ll be heading back to his place.”
“Sure thing.”
Lizzie and Riley climbed into her car and Katie blew out a low breath. “I’m disappointed we didn’t find the box.”
“I am too.” He placed his hands on his hips and looked around again. “I don’t understand it. It was on the counter by the register.”
“The force of the water could have knocked it a good distance away. It could be anywhere. Buried under anything. We have a lot more space to search before covering the whole restaurant.”
“I know.”
“We can keep looking if you want.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I wanted to take you flying.”
“What? What about your head?”
“It’s fine. Down to a dull ache and I don’t have any vision issues. It was a slight concussion, remember?”
“All right then, I’d love to go. But I think I still want to talk to Tim Shepherd at some point. I want to see him face-to-face.”
“All right, we can fit that into the schedule. But first things first.”
“You want to go to the press conference.”
He shot her a funny look. “Am I that easy to read?”
She laughed. “Easy like a large-print book.”
He shook his head. “We’ll go up after?”
“Or another time.”
“Well, Riley wants to take the plane up Saturday. I need to give it a good going-over and a test run before she gets in the pilot seat.”
“You’re a good uncle.”
He smiled. “I try. Now let’s go cheer while Martin has his big moment.”
[22]
The ride back to the dig site took just under twenty minutes. They crossed the long Gervais Street Bridge covering the Congaree River. Once they reached the end, Daniel spotted the news vans already there. They pulled in next to one, and he figured everyone was down the embankment. He and Katie exited the vehicle and she gave the area the once-over, seemed satisfied, and followed him down to the crowd.
The archaeological site buzzed with activity. Team members barely held on to their excitement. He and Katie walked toward the area where Martin stood. On the bank of the river, he’d created a makeshift stage and stood in the middle of it, a portable microphone in his right hand. A box sat at his feet. Daniel also noticed the security. Uniformed officers patrolled and he hoped whoever was after him would be deterred by their presence.
Thunder rolled overhead and Daniel glanced at the darkening sky, then looked back at Martin. There was no way his friend was the one who was trying to kill him. What reason would he have? There was simply no motive. And why would he claim the coin had been stolen if it was just lost? Denial?
Martin lifted the microphone. “Well, folks, I’m excited you’re here. Thank you so much for coming out. I’m going to get right to it since it looks like we’re in for a downpour. First, let me start by saying that I’m very grateful to the university and private donors for helping to fund this site. When I was putting this together, I had a pretty good idea there were some artifacts in this area thanks to the research my colleagues and I have done. I had no way of knowing the things we would come across, but we’re very excited with what we’ve found. As you know, when Sherman made his march across Columbia back in 1865, he left a trail of destruction in his path. We also knew he threw weapons into this very river. While some excavating has been done in the river, I thought it might be wise to look along the banks area. And sure enough, we’ve made some fabulous discoveries. We’ve got some on display there under the tent to your left. Feel free to browse when we’re finished here.” He bent down and opened the box. “Now, I want to show you our most recent find.” He reached in the box and pulled out a gun and holster. “This is a Conf
ederate Leech & Rigdon .36 caliber percussion revolver. And yes, this is the original holster. Both pieces were found right here.”
Oohs and aahs filled the air. Flashes lit up around them. Reporters shouted questions. And thunder rolled overhead once again. Daniel grasped Katie’s hand and he smiled at her. “Now, we can go flying.” He glanced at the sky. “We might be able to beat the storm, but I’m guessing we’ll probably have to wait it out. That being said, while we’re waiting, I can get everything ready and do the preflight check.”
She nodded. “I just want to check on Quinn, all right?”
“Of course.”
He led the way back to the car and listened to her talk to Maddy about Quinn, but couldn’t hear Maddy’s response. They climbed into her Jeep while lightning flashed in the distance and another boom of thunder rolled across the even darker sky. She hung up and stared out the window. He let her think for a few minutes before he caved to his curiosity.
“How’s Quinn doing?”
“He’s about the same, according to Maddy.”
“Glad he’s healing.”
“Yes, he’ll heal.” She frowned.
“What is it?”
“I just hope he doesn’t run Maddy off in the process. She said he’s giving everyone a hard time.”
“That bad?”
“She hasn’t given specifics, but I hear the weariness in her voice. Along with an anger that’s going to be unleashed on his head if he doesn’t stop being such a pain. She said he’s acting like a two-year-old.”
“Men can do that.”
“No kidding.”
“Which means there’s something mental going on with him.”
“I know.”
He gave her a slight smile. “What’s his story?”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure. I’m not even sure Maddy knows the whole thing.”
Her phone buzzed again and she checked the screen. “It’s Bree.” She tapped the speakerphone. “What’s up?”
“Hey, I’ve got an update on Lee Kendall. We tracked him down.”
“Where?”
“He’s in Florida attending his aunt’s funeral.”
Katie pursed her lips and Daniel caught her gaze. “So I guess he’s not the one causing all my trouble.”
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