The world spun, or at least it felt like it was. “You wanted to beat me?” Was that fear she felt? Or something else?
“I wanted to spank you,” he said. “It’s a common misconception with people who don’t know anything about the lifestyle that you start off with something heavy. You didn’t ride a bike at first without training wheels, did you?”
“No,” Autumn said. She cleared her throat when she realized her voice sounded as if it had been sliced over a cheese grater.
“Frog in your throat?”
“You’ve just shocked me,” she said. “I had no idea you were thinking that.”
“Then you do yourself a disservice,” he said. “You’re very lovely.”
“Thank you,” Autumn said. She knew she wasn’t the classic idea of beauty, but she’d never thought herself ugly; chunky maybe, but not unattractive.
“We should just get it out of the way, then,” she said. “Nothing about being spanked fascinates me.”
“As you say,” he replied.
“What does that mean?” She focused on his face while he ate a muffin. He took a few swigs of coffee, and then ate another muffin.
“Are you not going to tell me what that means?”
He gave her what she could only term as a look of pure innocence. Somehow it made him look more dashing, and it perked up her nipples. Why did he have to be in the weird stuff?
“It means it’s a good thing I left when I did,” he said. He brushed crumbs from his fingers and stood. “Let’s go have breakfast and see what’s what in our plan.”
“Okay,” Autumn said. She felt a little disappointed that he was ending the conversation so abruptly.
She took the empty cups and remaining muffins into the cabin. When she came back out Shawn stood at the bottom of the stairs next to a golf cart. He knocked on the hood top and sat down behind the wheel. She hadn’t noticed it when they’d been sitting on the porch, and she hadn’t heard it when he’d driven up. She was not in good form today and needed to amp up her game while talking with Ethan and the attorney.
“Did you drive this up?” she asked as she slid into the seat beside him.
“I did,” he said. “You were deep in thought.”
“Yes,” she said.
He started toward the lodge and she glanced around them. “Where is everyone?”
“It’s vacation time for them,” he said. “They’re doing whatever they want.”
“You mean the Doms are,” she said. “The subs are doing whatever they’re told.”
He was silent for a moment before he said, “I’m going to leave a few books in your cabin for you to read while we’re hunting. Or I should say you can read them if you want, or you can go on making assumptions without the facts. Is that what you did when you worked as a journalist?”
“Of course not,” she said. “I did research.”
“Then give us the same courtesy,” he said.
She hated to admit that he had a point. She usually wasn’t one to pass judgment on people without knowing the facts. She needed to keep that in mind as this adventure progressed.
They pulled up in front of the lodge, dismounted and then climbed the stairs. Ethan stood at the top. Was Autumn imagining things, or was he smiling? He usually seemed so severe. She wondered what had brought about his change of heart. Maybe he’d just needed sleep last night.
“Zach and Sara are here,” he said. “They said they had good news, and bad news.”
“Zach and Sara?” Autumn asked.
“Attorneys at law,” Ethan said. “Chef has outdone himself this morning. I think he’s trying to impress Sara.”
They went into the dining room, which was empty except for two people that Autumn guessed were the lawyers. They were at a table, full plates in front of them.
“The huevos rancheros are to die for,” the woman said. She put a bite in her mouth just as Autumn took a seat across from her. A waitress appeared from seemingly out of nowhere and put a plate in front of Autumn. Her mouth watered at the sight.
Ethan made introductions and instead of shaking hands they wiggled forks in the air. Autumn had to admit she liked the fact these people were so laid back, for the most part. Although Ethan seemed that way now, she felt as if he could turn sour at any moment.
Shawn took a bite of food, and after he’d swallowed he said, “So, are we going to be rich?”
“Not from this,” Zach said. “Unless the bank decided to give you a reward.”
“Or we could just keep the money,” Autumn said.
“Highly illegal,” Sara said. “Besides, how would you tell people where it came from? Especially the government, you know, the IRS? If you start spending money out of the blue, with no way of showing where it came from, you’re going to attract attention.”
Before Autumn could say anything, Sara laughed. “Did you think we would search, find the money and divide it between us all?”
“No, I didn’t care about that part,” Autumn said. “Well, at first I thought about trying to find it myself. But then I just wanted to sell the map and my research, recover some of the money I spent on the auction.”
“For fifty grand,” Ethan said. “That’s more than some of the money. That’s a nice chunk of change.”
“It’s a good plan,” Zach said. “You can’t blame her for trying to capitalize on a situation that might be profitable for all involved. Where’s the research you’ve talked about?”
The attorneys had put down their forks, even though their plates were still half-full. Autumn wondered if she should tell them everything, or if she should just call it off with them, take the map to its rightful owner and be done with it all.”
“Well?” Sara asked.
“It’s in my car,” Autumn said. “Newspaper clippings, police reports, and the map, which I found in the box. And I’m not getting near as much for it as I thought I would.”
“There’s no guarantee of anything,” Sara said. “The evidence points to it being out there, but what if it’s not? What if all you find is an empty silver mine, a few snakes and some trash left by people who’ve been in the area before?”
“What if we find the money, though?” It was Shawn who asked the question.
“We turn it in,” Sara said. “You might get a reward from the bank, and you might not. There’s no way to tell. Let me ask you, Autumn, was there anything besides money taken in the robbery?”
Autumn was so happy to hear that question she wanted to laugh out loud. She was afraid that Sara was going to ask if her name really was Pumpkin.
“That’s all that’s mentioned in the reports,” she said.
“Even the police reports?” Sara asked. “Sometimes the police keep some information secret, so they can use that information to find out if people are telling them the truth.”
“That means we need to talk to the people involved,” Sara said. “We should spend the afternoon doing some searching: finding the robber, his girlfriend who grew a conscience, the people at the bank and the police officers. You never know what they might tell you that they didn’t write down.”
The men had started eating, but Shawn stopped suddenly and looked at Autumn. “Will you stay and help? You can keep Scarlet for as long as you want. We can move around bookings.”
“For five grand?” she asked. She wanted to make sure they remembered they’d offered her five grand.
“You’ll be an employee,” Ethan said.
“What happens when—if—we find the money?” Autumn asked. She fought the urge to ask him what she’d be expected to do as an employee. She opened her mouth to ask, but then closed it. Were the attorneys involved in the resort, too? She didn’t want to sound like a prude by saying she wanted to be an employee in the treasure hunt only, and not in anything else.
“We can draw up a contract,” Zach said. “We have to turn the money over to the bank. That is a given. If they provide us with a reward, it could be split between you and the owners of Silver
Creek.”
The idea of putting it in writing made Autumn feel better about things. “Let’s do it,” she said.
“What about your life at home?” Shawn asked. “Won’t your cousin raise questions? Do you have a cat to take care of at home?”
“No, and no,” Autumn said. “I freelance, so I don’t have a quote, unquote, real job. And I have no pets. But I do have rent on my apartment. I could use the five grand for a few months there.”
“Then we’re agreed,” Shawn said. “Sara, Zach, draw up the papers and we’ll all sign them. Then we’ll look at the research and decide on a plan of action.”
Autumn nodded. It was a good idea, really. She might just come out with some money from this after all.
She glanced at Shawn, who was next to her. Their gazes locked, and she felt a strange movement in her stomach, one that she hadn’t felt in quite some time. She was attracted to him. Very attracted.
Once again one question passed through her mind—why did he have to be involved in the weird stuff?
Chapter 6
“It’s almost a twelve-hour drive from here to Colorado Springs,” Autumn said as she and Shawn walked to her car. The attorneys and Ethan were drawing up a contact, but they wanted to see the police reports before anything was signed. That made sense to her.
“You’d better put that phone down before you step over your own feet,” he said.
“I can walk and find directions at the same time,” she said. “Should we fly?”
“Awfully expensive to take to the skies,” he said, “especially on a short notice.”
“True,” Autumn said. She thought about her old car as she opened the trunk. “We’ll take your car and split the gas.”
Shawn chuckled. “Thanks for letting me in on the decision making here.”
“I just thought it would be better,” she said. “I didn’t mean to take charge. I’m just used to doing things on my own and making decisions.”
“As it turns out I think your idea is the best,” he said. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning, get there tomorrow night and see Kate the next day.”
Kate, the woman who had set all of this in motion. Autumn wondered what she would be like. She didn’t remember how old she’d been when the robbery had taken place.
Autumn worked to remove the spare tire from her trunk. She noticed Shawn didn’t offer to help, and she wondered if it had something to do with her telling him she was used to doing things on her own. An independent woman was not what Shawn and his type was used to, she was sure.
“I wonder what she can tell us,” Autumn said as she handed one of three large manila envelops to Shawn. She handed him the other two, then started to reassemble the tire equipment. “Her age should be on the police report. I wonder what she remembers from back then.”
“Probably quite a bit,” Shawn said. “People tend to remember things that went bad. You remember your first kiss with affection; but it something went wrong in a relationship you remember that just as well, don’t you?”
“Oh, yes,” Autumn replied as she worked to get the dirt off her hands. “And this had to hit her very hard for her to do what she did.”
“The guy she was stepping out with was stepping out on her,” Shawn said as they headed back to the lodge. “My mother always told me if someone will cheat on their spouse they will cheat on you, too.”
“It was the other way around this time,” she said.
“We won’t know that until we know the whole story,” he said. “Hopefully, Kate will be able to tell us.”
“I hope so,” Autumn said.
They went into the office and Sara practically ripped the envelopes out of Shawn’s grasp. Autumn could see the gleam of the hunt in the woman’s eyes as she laid out the information that Autumn had found. Soon they were all sitting and reading, all except for Autumn, who had already been through every slip of paper there.
She went to the sideboard and poured herself a cup of coffee and listened to snippets of the group talking.
“Says nothing about safety deposit boxes, only about money,” Shawn said.
“Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars?” Sara sounded shocked. “Holy crap on a cracker. Why did the bank have that much money in 1964?”
“That’s more than teller money,” Zach said. “That’s vault money, too. There’s got to be a reason they chose that day, and it wasn’t just for the eclipse.”
Sara was typing on the laptop, the keys clacking as Zach talked. “Kate Montague, age 78, lives in an assisted living facility in Colorado Springs.” Autumn watched as the attorney took out her phone and tapped keys. Sara left the room to speak. Autumn felt a bit of guilt that she was being paid five thousand dollars, but she wasn’t doing any of the work right now. That will come later she reminded herself. She had a trip to the Springs, and then back again with a man she barely knew.
Twelve hours in the car, two nights at the hotel, time with him at meals. Once again, she wished he was just a normal guy. But then again, she should be happy that he wasn’t. That meant she didn’t have to worry about giving into seduction. There was no chance of one-night stands when his idea of fun was in play.
“Okay,” Zach said. “Here’s what we’ve drawn up. Autumn, you’ll get thirty-five percent of anything we find, or receive as a reward.”
“Thirty-five?” she asked.
“Of course, your original five would be an advance on that.”
“That sucks,” she said.
“Does it?” Sara asked. “What would you see as a proper amount?”
“Fifty percent,” Autumn said, even as her mouth fought the urge to ask for more. “I’m the one who found the information.”
“Yes, and you expect us to fund the hunt,” Ethan said. “Thirty-five percent seems generous to me.”
He was probably right, but Autumn still wasn’t happy about it. Until she did a little bit of math in her head. If she was doing it right, she would get about ninety thousand dollars.
“Who gets the rest?” she asked.
“The attorneys will get thirty percent, and the resort will get the remainder,” Ethan said.
She thought thirty was a lot for the lawyers, but then she knew they would have to deal with the legal issues after they located the money. Better them than me, Autumn thought.
This was not as easy as she’d thought it would be, but if things turned out right the storage unit could turn out to be the best thing she’d ever purchased.
“Where do I sign?” she asked.
Later that afternoon, Autumn sat in her cabin, wishing she’d proposed a different procedure for finding the money. They should go out to the find the money and then decide what to do. But she couldn’t change things now. The attorneys, being attorneys, had put the procedure into the contract.
To keep things from going “off the farm,” as Zach had said, they would do their research on Kate and the story first before they went on their search.
Autumn was on the couch, wondering what the other people in the resort were doing. Things were quiet here, which was something she hadn’t expected. If people were being beaten and tied up, they should be screaming, according to her thinking. But there was no noise. To assure herself that she wasn’t hearing or not hearing, more to the point, things she went out onto the back deck.
She closed her eyes and listened. There was nothing. She opened her eyes and looked at the expanse of flat land in front of her. She could see hills in the distance. Somewhere out there was two-hundred and fifty-thousand dollars, buried and waiting for someone to come along and become rich.
There were also abandoned silver mines, where men had toiled to bring the precious metal out of the dark. She wondered who had discovered the silver on this land, and who had worked the shafts. She hadn’t really asked Shawn about his family and their ties to the ranch, or to Hollis Spring, the town that bore his surname.
That was something they could talk about during their trip. She wasn’t sure how
she felt about spending twelve hours, one way, in a car with someone she didn’t know. But then she decided, talking about their lives would keep them busy.
Maybe she should write down some questions, a few ideas of what she might ask him. How would he feel if she pulled out a notebook and started asking him questions? Would he think she was interviewing him? But that’s what she was used to, something she’d done for ages.
She had a notebook in her purse. She’d just pulled it out when her phone dinged that she had a message. She picked it up and winced. Her cousin. His text was short and to the point: Where are you?
On vacation, Albert, she answered.
Vacation? She could almost see him frowning as he typed the words.
It’s a thing where people go away for a while and have some fun.
Her screen remained blank and she wondered what he was thinking. What he typed next she didn’t expect to see: Brent Mach has been looking for you.
She held out the phone as if it were a snake and was about to bite her.
What for? she asked.
I didn’t ask. He’s been here twice, though, once yesterday, once today. He wants your number. I told him I had to ask you first.
Not no, but hell no, she answered. She pondered what this could mean. Mach had never tried to get hold of her before. If he comes in again ask him what he wants.
Okay. Have fun on your ‘vacation.’
Check on my mother.
Will do. Be safe.
One thing she could say about Albert, he could be a jerk, but he cared about her and her mother. Although he hadn’t really asked where she was, just what she was doing.
Pushing thoughts of her cousin aside she wondered what in the devil Brent Mach wanted with her. They were always at odds with each other while bidding on storage units, whether it was in Pueblo, the Springs, or up in Denver. He seemed to show up at many of the same things she did, which wasn’t surprising since they did the same thing.
Still, why would he ask about her? He’d never done it before.
“Something’s rotten in the Brent Mach world,” she said.
Buried Treasure (Silver Creek Resort Book 1) Page 7