Page 26

Eve

Hot Damn

We set off along the trail, hiking down the dried riverbed that ran through the canyon. It was cooler in the shadow of the rock formations. The scrubby brush became loose and sandy, and hawks circled high above our heads.

I adjusted the straps of my pack and hefted the metal detector over my shoulder. I kept the compass in one hand while Harper stared up at the canyon walls with sheer wonder on her face.

“The spot we’re going to is less than a half mile in, though we need to hike a trail up into a smaller cliff to do it,” I explained. “We’ll climb up, scope out the site with the detectors, then head back for the shovels if it looks like we’re a go.”

“How did Monty and Ruby narrow these places down in the first place?” Harper waved her arm at the expanse of open space surrounding us. “Talk about a literal needle in a haystack.”

“It’s tedious and time consuming and very expensive.

” I took a swig of water and passed it to Harper to share.

“It’s why it took them two years and a whole team.

Once they narrowed down potential spots through research, they’d go out and sweep areas like this one for hours at a time.

And it’s not an exact science. Something can be buried deep but shift around while digging, so you’ll still lose it.

Whatever you’ve found could have broken due to the elements, or it’s deeper than you can get to. ”

I jerked my thumb back at the detector. “The only reason these have ever been used to find the diamonds is because it was reported that they were stolen and encased in a large metal box that William had made specifically for storage and transport.”

Harper’s excited smile slid off her face. “What if Priscilla didn’t bury them in a metal box?”

“That’s just one of the many anxieties that used to keep Monty and Ruby up late at night.”

She winced. “And false positives?”

“That’s another issue,” I said with a shrug. “It’s common. Frustratingly common, to hear the real die-hard treasure hunters talk about it. Buried power lines can set them off. You can even swing them too low to the ground and have it issue a false positive.”

Harper and I rounded a turn, coming to the spot where I was pretty sure we needed to hike up to the top. The trail had been washed away, leaving nothing but gnarled tree roots and a few rocks marking the path. I re-checked the map and the compass before turning to Harper.

“Looks like we’re going up again,” I said. “Though I’m hoping with significantly less falling than we did at the Kept King mine.”

“It could end up in my favor if we do. You haven’t been the damsel yet.”

My lips twitched into a grin. “Are you trying to rescue me?”

“Everyone needs a little rescuing now and then,” she said, nudging her hip against mine. “Given the opportunity, I can be quite heroic, you know.”

She laid the metal detector on the ground and began to scramble up. It was a sharp incline, but doable. Small rocks scattered around her as she half climbed, half crawled forward.

“No reservations this time?” I called up.

“There’s no sign here that says caution: you’re definitely going to die so, yeah…I’m feeling a bit more comfortable.”

Smiling to myself, I scrambled up after her, inhaling the smell of rain still lingering in the air. I used my knees to push myself forward, keeping pace with Harper.

“It’s not a competition this time,” she said, eyes playful.

“Like hell it is.” I wiggled past her, but not before leaning in to plant a kiss on her cheek. “See ya at the top.”

She was quiet for a second, then laughing as she neared me again. We were both out of breath now, and sweat rolled down the back of my neck. The adrenaline from earlier was finally wearing off, and I wondered if Harper’s body was starting to ache like mine.

“You love this, don’t you?” Harper said. “Hunting for buried treasure?”

“I love being outside and climbing around in the dirt,” I said easily. “But it was always just a hobby for me. I don’t even usually do it unless I’m with Monty. It’s not as enjoyable without her yelling hot damn at every small coin we find.”

“We should all be so excited at the little things,” she panted. “I can see how she made it fun for you.”

I propped my upper body near Harper’s. “When she and Ruby used to visit me back east, they’d take me treasure hunting to get me outside and out of my head.

Monty was the only one who saw what my parents were doing to me.

Saw how they never believed me whenever I was open and honest about the pain I was in. ”

There was a small, scraggly patch of dandelions near our heads. Harper picked a single flower and gave it to me with a sweet smile on her lips. “They should have believed you. You knew your own body, your own mind, better than they did. Better than they ever will. ”

I brought the dandelion to my nose and inhaled. “Monty and Ruby always believed me. Gave me a safe space while doing something like this to talk about my parents’ expectations. Their perfectionism, their rigidity, their obsession with what other people might think.”

I leaned forward, tucking the dandelion into Harper’s hair.

“It’s how I got into architectural salvage when I moved out here.

A way to love history while letting go of the need to be perfect.

Salvage is about loving the mistakes. Imperfections are treasured, studied as ways to learn more about the people who’d last owned them.

I’ve never been interested in antiques in pristine condition.

Objects in pristine condition are boring.

They have no stories. They give up no secrets. ”

Harper was next to me, pulling herself up with a root that collapsed the second her hand clamped around it.

She slid down just a foot, but I caught her before she fell farther.

She immediately grabbed my wrist, pressing my palm to the center of her chest. I could feel her heart racing beneath my fingertips.

“You okay?”

“Yep. Just easily startled now that I’ve fallen off a fence and into an abandoned storage space.” She cocked her head and studied me. “I’m thinking I’ve got a few cracks and chips of my own. I’m not pristine, either.”

“Exactly.” I flashed her a smile. “It’s why you could never be boring.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” she murmured. “Until now, I’d never done any treasure hunting, but I’d always wanted to.

As a kid, before my mom died, I loved all the adventure stories.

The real swashbuckling ones, you know?” She smiled at whatever memory was coming to mind.

“Can you imagine finding an actual treasure map, a big ‘X marks the spot’ and everything?”

Goose bumps shivered across my skin. “Sounds like a hell of a good time.”

“Right? That’s what I always thought.” She kept scrambling toward the top, and I followed her. “Are we almost there?”

“Almost. Now we just gotta… What the fuck?”

Harper was there a second later, looking out. “Oh my god, what the fuck , indeed.”

My chest seized up, like all the air had been stolen from my lungs.

The location we’d been climbing toward was down in a shallow valley, but instead of packed dirt, the entire area had been torn to pieces.

Giant, deep holes in varying sizes dotted the landscape.

Rocks and debris were strewn about. A rusted-up shovel was propped against a short tree, clearly left behind by whoever had done this.

“Eve,” Harper said breathlessly. “What does this… What is…”

“Someone got here first.” My shoulders sagged with bitter resignation. “And I bet I know who it was.”

“Jensen.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “But how? We saw them, what, half an hour ago? There’s no way they could have done this before we got here.”

Harper pushed to stand, gazing out like she was trying to get a better view. “You’re right, especially not in the storm.”

A grim theory was dawning. “Back at the Boot + Saddle, we assumed they were on their way out here, getting ready to dig. What if we were wrong? What if they were on their way home and only stopping in to celebrate a victory?” I scrubbed my hands through my hair.

“They could have…I don’t know, done this the last few days when it was dry? Found something and…?”

“No, no, no, I refuse to believe they found anything of substance,” Harper said firmly. “Marla said they were driving out to Haven’s Bluff.”

“She could have been mistaken. We’ve clearly been mistaken.

He’s held a grudge against my aunt for years, and he knows how much Monty wanted this.

He’s obviously more organized than I originally gave him credit for.

Jensen’s been one step ahead of us this entire time.

” I took out my phone to check X Marks the Spot, but I wasn’t getting service out here.

“So I’d be devastated if his crew did find something here before we did.

But if he tore this place apart and it was still a bust? ”

I glanced up at Harper, who looked about as devastated as I felt. “Then we’re back to square one. No leads, no new clues, nothing to go on.”

Harper winced. “Needle in a haystack.”

I pressed my hand to my mouth, trying to think like Monty. Wishing like hell that she was here. She would have laughed and said, Told ya it was a bust the first time . Then, following some magical inner instinct, would have known exactly what to do next.

Instead, I was this-close to panicking. This-close to giving in to everything my family used to say about me.

And hadn’t I done exactly what they always suspected?

So far I’d taken off on a whim without a real plan, gotten endlessly distracted by a gorgeous woman, and made the same mistakes Monty had five years ago.

“We should go back. Review Monty’s notes again. Hope like hell the diamonds haven’t been found,” I said bitterly, tugging at my curls. “It’s not doing us any good just staring at a bunch of holes in the ground.”

Harper ducked her head, catching my eye. “What’s our next step?”