Page 65 of Tempting Fate
He acknowledged that with a half grin, then whipped out his phone and sent a text. “I’d say this was the work of a pickax. Our pickax.”
“You think it’s the same person who broke into my truck?”
His head came up. “Where do you keep the map when you’re not using it?”
She patted the breast pocket of her jacket and he let his eyes linger on her chest, then snapped them away.
“You think that’s what he was looking for?”
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” he said and took the map from her for safekeeping.
“How would anyone know I have the map?” Only people in Ray’s inner circle knew of its existence, one of them being Flynn Barlow, who knew everything, because he’d been Ray’s estate lawyer.
Gabe shrugged, but she saw the wheels in his head turning and suspected he had a theory. She turned at the sound of a car and subconsciously moved closer to Gabe. He hooked his arm around her in a protective manner and the contact sent shivers down her spine. It was the first time he’d touched her since their night together, and her body instantly responded.
He absently stroked her arm until a Nugget PD SUV sent a cloud of smoke into the air.
“Did you call the police?”
“Rhys,” he said.
Rhys was Clay’s best friend, so she wasn’t counting on him caring much about someone trying to stake a claim on her gold. And yay! Jake was riding shotgun. The two of them stepped out at the same time. Unlike Rhys, Jake was in uniform, and Raylene didn’t miss him shooting her a dirty look.
Rhys followed the trench to where it ended at a gnarled old oak tree and stared down into the hole. “Raylene, what time did you get here?”
“About nine, give or take a few minutes.” She hadn’t been watching the clock.
“Gabe says you were with him yesterday morning at Sierra Heights and then you came over here. What time did you leave?”
“Just before it got dark.”
“About six, six-thirty?” Jake said.
“That sounds right.” Gabe had been making dinner when she got to the farm.
“You didn’t come back any time between then and now?” Rhys asked, and she wondered if he was trying to accuse her of digging on her own land. How ridiculous would that be?
“No.”
Rhys exchanged a glance with Gabe. Was he actually looking for verification?
“You see anyone or anything suspicious while you were here?”
“Just me and my metal detector.” She motioned at the back of her truck and saw Jake glance at the bed.
“Anyone besides Gabe know what you’ve been doing here?”
She rolled her eyes. “I’d wager a guess that all of Nugget knows what I’m doing here. But the only person besides Gabe who’s seen me here is Lucky.”
That perked Jake up. Apparently, he hadn’t known that his stepson had confronted her.
“Why was Lucky here?” Rhys asked.
“To talk to me about the sale of my land; it had nothing to do with the gold.” She could feel Jake watching her, drilling holes through her with his laser eyes.
“When was that?” Rhys pulled out a notebook.
She looked to Gabe. “Monday?”
