Page 42 of Tempting Fate
“You got it.” He winked and she got the distinct impression he was mocking her. The man probably had a photographic memory. He waggled his hand. “Let me see it.”
She pulled the map out of her handbag and he spread it out on the table, hunching over it.
He examined it for a while and shook his head. “You’re kidding me, right? This looks like something a two-year-old drew. There’s no compass rose, no grid, no scale indicator, no nothing. This isn’t a map. From what I can tell, it’s a sketch made by a drunk. Where’d you get it?”
“My dad. It’s been passed down from generation to generation and is based on Levi’s instructions.”
“According to everything I’ve read, Levi wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, so at least the map’s consistent with that.” He looked at her. “Ray, honey, what’s it going to take for me to talk you out of this? Think of all the ways we can spend the day instead of breaking our backs, digging in the dirt while freezing our asses off. The forecast said snow. Wouldn’t you rather spend it here, in front of a fire, or in bed?” Gabe tossed her a cheeky grin.
“I’ll do it myself,” she said. “Just give me the metal detector.”
He huffed out a breath. “Stubborn, just like your flipping half brother. All right, let’s go break rocks in ten degrees.” Gabe shrugged into his jacket and she followed him outside. He opened the passenger door and ushered her in.
Five minutes later, they were at the site, unloading the equipment. Gabe was right. It was easily ten degrees outside, and Raylene could feel snow. Not the best conditions for finding buried gold. But the clock was ticking. Gabe took another look at the map and cursed under his breath.
“What’s this?” He pointed at a row of scrawl, maybe numbers, at the bottom of the paper.
“I have no idea. It looks like someone was doodling.”
He studied the scribbles for a while and shook his head.
She pulled the metal detector from the back and tried to figure out how the thing worked.
“Hang on, there,” Gabe called. “I’m thinking over there.” He pointed to another cluster of trees. “Don’t ask me why. It’s not like I can make any sense out of this.” He held up the map. “It’s just a hunch.”
His guess was as good as hers. She carried the detector to the spot and Gabe brought the shovels and the pickax.
“You do realize that thing will only detect metal a few feet down, right?”
No. “Duh.”
“What’s the likelihood your gold is buried that shallow? Don’t you think if it was it would’ve surfaced by now?”
“Jeez, Gabe, you’re hellbent on sucking all the joy out of this, aren’t you?”
He zoomed in on her pricey sheepskin gloves, a treat to herself from Rodeo Drive when she’d still had money. “Joy? Easy for you to say, since I’m the one digging.”
“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.”
