Tempting Fate Read online

  “How do you turn this thing on?”

  “First, you’ve got to set up the treasure-vision feature on the touchpad.”

  She shot him a look. “Ha ha. Very funny.”

  “It’s not a joke,” he protested. “See this?” He showed her what appeared to be a compact computer screen at the top of the detector. “It’s an imaging display and can hone in on a target. Basically, it was invented for treasure hunting. According to the dude at the hardware store, there are even better ones on the market, but this is the one they rent out to all the morons who come up to the Mother Lode, looking for buried gold.”

  He fidgeted with the settings, his expression filled with glee. Even though Gabe didn’t believe the gold existed, he sure seemed to love playing with the detector. Raylene suppressed an eye roll. If a gadget with lots of bells and whistles was what it took to get him out here, he could slow dance with the metal detector for all she cared.

  She stood on a mound of leaves underneath two massive oak trees and scanned the area. It was at least forty feet from her original spot. A grove of trees had been depicted on the map. They could’ve been pine, oak, fir, or cedar for all she knew. Gabe was right, the map was so crude it was difficult to distinguish south from north, let alone which species of trees her great-great-uncle had buried the gold under. “Why here?”

  “Your original trees had trunks with half the circumference of these. I’m no tree expert, but Levi buried the gold nearly two centuries ago, right? I’m guessing those weren’t even around back then.”

  She hadn’t thought about that. “All right, makes sense. Brawn and brains, who would’ve thought?”

  “Hey, ungrateful girl, watch it.” He grinned, and it made her belly do flip-flops. Brawn, brains, and charm. A lethal combination.

  He fired up the detector and they spent the next hour hovering over the small swath of land inside the grove, going back and forth and back and forth. Nothing. Not so much as a soda can. Gabe even chopped at the dirt to break up rocks in case they were getting in the way.

  “This must be the wrong spot,” she said. “Maybe we should go back to where we were.”

  “Or maybe we should go home and snuggle up on the couch with something warm in front of a fire.” He let his eyes slowly sweep over her and she remembered the kiss, the hot pull of that glorious mouth of his, and got goosebumps.

  Gabe was a tease, and this wasn’t her first rodeo. There’d been a lot of pleasurable kisses in her past and they’d all ended in pain. Besides, he was her brother’s best friend, and messing around with him would be tempting fate. She didn’t want anything to come between her and Logan. They’d just found each other and she wanted to hang on to her half brother with all her might.

  “How ’bout we keep working, and at noon I’ll buy you lunch?”

  He leaned both arms on the handle of the metal detector and considered her offer. “I want steak.”

  “For steak, you can’t break until one o’clock, and if we don’t find anything by then, we have to change locations when we come back.”

  “Come back?” He raised his brows. “Sweetheart, I’ve got other things to do.”

  “Seriously, you’re willing to quit this early in the game? So much for badass SEALs.” She flapped her elbows and made chicken noises.

  He threw his head back and laughed. “You really think you can goad me into doing this? Raylene, read my lips: There’s no gold, and we’re wasting our time. The only reason I’ve agreed to this fool’s errand is because I find you highly entertaining.”

  “Why?” She sat in the dirt, pulling her knees up under her chin. “Is that your way of saying I’m ridiculous?”

  “Not ridiculous, though this is.” He gazed around at the ground they’d already covered. “All I’m saying is there’s never a dull moment when you’re around. And as long as I’m on vacation, I could use a little excitement.”

  “Glad to be of service.” She wasn’t sure if he was telling her he enjoyed her company or whether it was his measured way of saying she was a giant pain in the ass. She wished it didn’t matter to her one way or another. But it did. “You think we could get back to work now?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He saluted her and turned the detector back on.

  She got to her feet and followed behind him. If they had two detectors they could cover twice as much ground. She was just about to suggest it when the detector went off.

  “Oh my God, we’ve got something.”

  “Don’t get excited yet.” Gabe crouched down on the ground and maneuvered the detector closer. “Right here.”

  She grabbed the shovel, but the ground was like granite.

  “Let me try.” Gabe took it from her and dug enough of a hole that they could use their hands.

  She got down on her knees and pawed at the soil. Gabe grabbed a miniature detector from his SUV.

  “The guy at the hardware store told me this would come in handy.” He squatted next to her and waved the handheld one over the site until it made a piercing noise. “Right here.”

  She took off her gloves and went to work on the spot he’d honed in on. He went back to his truck and returned with a trowel and began digging alongside her.

  “Can you believe it, Gabe? This could be it.”

  “Or not.” But he seemed as excited as she was. “What’re you planning to do with all your loot?”

  “Split it with Logan and Annie, pay off debts, and give a big chunk to this women’s shelter where I volunteer.”

  He stopped and stared at her, his mouth slightly agape. “I don’t know which one shocks me more: the fact that you’re willing to give half your money to Logan, or that you volunteer.”

  “If I wasn’t about to become filthy rich I might actually be offended.” She pried a rock loose and tossed it away. “Run that thing over here again.”

  He waved the small detector over the hole they’d dug. “Sounds like we’re getting closer.” Gabe picked up the trowel and chipped away at a few more stones. “This is rocky soil, that’s for sure.”

  “Should I get the pickax?”

  “I’ll get it.” He got to his feet and Raylene thought if Gabe were Butch he’d bludgeon her to death with the pickax and run off with the gold.

  “Move away,” Gabe said, and lifted the pick above his head.

  “Be careful. I don’t want you damaging the gold.”

  He rolled his eyes and hammered into the ground, making real headway. “Get the handheld detector again.”

  She bent over the hole, turned it on, and moved the wand the same way he had. “Oh, oh, I think it’s right here.”

  “I think you’re right.” He got down on the ground and used the trowel, shoveling out small batches of dirt at a time. “I feel something.” He banged the trowel against a hard object in the dirt.

  “Is it a box?”

  “Can’t tell.” But five seconds later he pulled up an old rotted log.

  “That can’t be it.”

  “Hand me the detector.”

  She gave it to him and he tested it on the log. “It’s in here.”

  “How can that be?” According to Rosser legend, Levi had buried the gold in the ground, not a tree.

  “I don’t know, Ray, but we’re about to find out. Stand clear.” Gabe put the log on the ground and began splitting it with the pickax.

  “There’s nothing there.”

  He crouched down with the small detector again, and it signaled on a piece of the log.

  “That can’t be right.” But maybe Levi had hidden gold nuggets inside the tree itself, and over the years the oak had died and parts of the trunk had been petrified under the ground.

  Gabe used his knife to dig around in the bark. “Well, I’ll be damned.” He plucked something out and Raylene held her breath.

  “It’s it, isn’t it?” She
looked down into the hole they’d dug. There must’ve been dozens of rotted logs, petrified wood, and roots down there. How long would it take them to extract the gold? “Let me see.”

  She held out her hand and he dropped the small orb in her palm. It wasn’t as heavy as she would’ve thought, and it didn’t glitter.

  “Pretty cool, huh?”

  “It doesn’t look like gold.” She rubbed her fingers over it, trying to clear away the dirt.

  “It’s a musket ball, probably leftover from the Gold Rush. I got dibs.”

  She dropped her shoulders, let out a frustrated breath, and handed it over. “It’s all yours.”

  He examined the ball under the sun with a stupid gooey smile on his face. You’d think Gabe had won the lottery. He hadn’t shaved and his face was covered in scruff. With a boonie hat pulled over his ears, a pair of camo cargo pants riding low on his lean hips, and endless amounts of rippling muscle, he was every inch the former Navy SEAL. A former Navy SEAL who’d just reverted to a twelve-year-old on Christmas morning.

  He gazed over at her, that same silly grin playing on his lips. “Never a dull moment, Ray.”

  “Glad I could oblige. You ready to get back to work?”

  He checked his watch. “I believe it’s steak time.”

  Chapter 12

  The minute they returned from lunch, Gabe knew something was amiss. First off, their pickax was gone. At least he’d had the forethought to stash the metal detector in the back of his SUV before they’d left. Not that the middle of nowhere was a high crime area, but the piece of equipment was a rental, and he was careful with other people’s tools.

  “It was probably Harper, or one of the McCreedy boys,” Raylene said. “They’re the only ones around here, since I doubt Flynn Barlow or Gia would’ve taken it. More than likely the kids were out here playing or riding their horses.”

  Gabe sincerely doubted it. The McCreedy kids were old enough to know better than to go onto private property and walk off with someone’s stuff.

  “Stay here.”

  Of course, Raylene ignored his instructions and tagged along as he walked the perimeter of their dig, looking for anything that would give him a clue as to who’d stolen the pick. But there was nothing.

  He’d had a lengthy conversation with Rhys that morning about the tennis shoe that had turned up on his security camera footage. They were both of the opinion that it had a connection to Rhys’ trio. Too many coincidences, including the backpack found on Drew Matthews’ property. And then there was the fact that no local would’ve been skulking around L&G Security in the middle of the night.

  “It’s just a pickax, Gabe, not an international incident. We still have the shovel and the trowel.”

  He didn’t feel the need to share the information about the lurking strangers. Other than the missing pick, Gabe hadn’t heard any reports of thefts or vandalism. For all he knew they were a homeless family, looking for shelter anywhere they could find it.

  “It just seems like a weird place for someone to walk off with your gardening tools.”

  “Maybe an animal carried it away,” Raylene said, and he looked at her like she was nuts.

  “Didn’t you grow up here? What kind animal runs off with someone’s pick? The only one I know is human.”

  She laughed. “Once a bear took a six-pack from our ranch foreman’s cooler. Shit happens in these mountains.”

  “Yep, shit happens.” He caught her around the waist, because he’d wanted to touch her since the moment he’d seen her standing in Annie’s kitchen, fixing his coffee. She had on another pair of her tight western jeans and those turquoise boots that revved his engine, her blond hair pulled through the back of a John Deere baseball cap. “Come on, Ray, let’s go home before it snows.”

  “That’s exactly the reason we need to finish what we started. Otherwise, it’ll be twice as hard tomorrow when everything is frozen over.”

  He pulled her in and rested his forehead against hers. “You’re assuming a lot, sweetheart.” Raylene was a kick in the ass, but he didn’t plan to spend Monday digging up holes. He could think of a number of other ways to entertain himself. Unfortunately, the first image that popped into his head was getting Raylene naked. No can do, asshole.

  He reluctantly let go, and to temporarily appease her he got the metal detector and resumed the search. By twilight, they still hadn’t found any gold, not even another musket ball. He persuaded her to call it quits for the night and dropped her off at the farm with a promise to reconnoiter first thing Monday. He considered going in the house with her and having wedding leftovers, but decided the safer course of action was to take his horny self home.

  On his way to Donner Road, he took a detour to the police station. Surprisingly, Connie was still at the front desk, talking on her cordless headset. She saluted him like she always did.

  “You’re here late,” he said when she ended her call.

  “I’ve got a shitty boss who’s a slave driver.”

  Rhys came out of his office. “I heard that, Connie.”

  Her lips curved up. The 9-1-1 operator and office manager was always smarting off to the chief, and the truth was Rhys enjoyed it. Despite his gruff exterior, Shepard was a pushover. Gabe only had to see him with his wife and kid to know that.

  “Want to get a beer? As of now I’m officially off duty, and Maddy and Emma are in San Francisco. Big Breyer hotel meeting.”

  “Yeah? A beer sounds good.” Gabe could use one.

  Rhys turned to Connie. “You can go home now.”

  “Gee, thanks. Don’t forget to feed Emma’s fish.” She turned off her computer, shrugged into a coat, and headed out.

  “Fish?”

  “Maddy got her a little tank. Anything new on our drifters?”

  “That’s what I came in to talk to you about. It’s probably nothing, but Raylene and I were on her property today, looking for gold—long story—and when we came back from lunch a pickax was missing.”

  Rhys zipped his jacket, grabbed a set of keys from a pegboard behind Connie’s desk, and they crossed the square to the Ponderosa. “You sure you didn’t just misplace it?”

  Gabe shot him a look. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  “Don’t tell me you actually believe the gold story? Even when I was a kid we all knew it was bullshit. It was something Ray used to brag about when he wasn’t bragging about everything else. Let’s face it, if he’d believed it himself, he would’ve dug up the entire ranch looking for it.”

  Gabe shrugged. “Raylene believes it.”

  “And she dragooned you into doing the heavy lifting. I didn’t realize you were that hard up for female company.”

  “Hey, I found this.” He dug the musket ball out of his pocket and showed it to Rhys.

  Rhys rolled it around in his hand. “That’s all you’re going to find, but at least you’re keeping Raylene out of trouble until she leaves.”

  The derision in Rhys’ voice bothered Gabe. He tried to tell himself that it was because Raylene was Logan’s flesh and blood, but the damned truth of it was he liked her. Yeah, she was a head trip, but she was also fun. And adventurous. And frankly, despite everyone’s opinion to the contrary, she seemed like a decent person. She even volunteered at a woman’s shelter, which, admittedly, had come as a shock to Gabe. She’d never struck him as the altruistic type.

  Raylene had once told Logan that she was afraid of Butch. But Gabe had always assumed it was a pampered woman’s ploy to manipulate her half brother. Get him to help her move her crap out of the Denver house before Butch could claim it in the divorce. Maybe Gabe had misjudged. Maybe Butch used to knock her around. Just the thought of it made him sick to his stomach.

  “Yep,” Gabe said, and left it at that. “Anyway, as ridiculous as it sounds, someone stole that pickax. It was there when we left and gone when we returned an ho
ur later.”

  They found two stools at the bar. The restaurant was quiet for a Sunday. There were a couple of TVs playing, but the sound had been turned down. And about half the tables were empty. Rhys flagged down the bartender at the other end of the bar and ordered them a Sierra Nevada.

  “You think it’s our drifters?”

  “Could be. I can’t imagine anyone else taking it. Besides the McCreedys and the Rodriguezes on one side and Flynn and Gia on the other, no one is around for miles. Raylene thought one of the kids might’ve been playing around with the stuff, but I don’t see it.”

  Rhys shook his head. “Me neither. But I’ll call Clay just to make sure.” He fished his phone out of his pocket. “I’m texting Wyatt to tell him to cruise the back roads while he’s on duty tonight.”

  Gabe nodded. “I’m sure it’s harmless, but Logan’s gonna be pissed about his pick disappearing.”

  Rhys laughed. “I’m guessing he’ll be more pissed about the fact that someone was sneaking around your offices.”

  Gabe took a slug of his beer. “It’s a good wake-up call. We’ve probably been more lax about security than we should. Besides the occasional meth house and cattle rustler, Nugget feels like Mayberry.”

  “We get a fair share of crime, don’t kid yourself.” Rhys asked for a bowl of pub mix and swallowed a handful. “Dinner.”

  Gabe picked through the bowl, snagging a couple of nuts. “Yep, dinner.”

  * * * *

  On the other side of town, Drew loaded the car to make the long drive to the Bay Area.

  “We almost forgot your suit jacket.” Kristy held it folded over her arm as she locked the front door.

  He’d persuaded her to stay longer and to ride home with him. While he’d spent the day with Harper, she’d holed up in the office working on her brief, popping out occasionally for a snack or drink. It had almost felt normal. Almost. But there were subtle ways in which he could feel them growing more distant. The way she bristled every time he touched her, the way she sat on the big reclining chair instead of next to him on the couch, and the way she retreated into herself. With the exception of dinner Saturday night, they’d hardly spoken all weekend.