Page 45 of Tempting Fate
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.”
