Page 95 of Tempting Fate
“Before you start digging, I think you should pay a visit to Flynn over at the ranch. He wants to go through the house with you…look for any kind of hidden safe. You grew up there; if anyone would know where to search, it would be you.”
“And Cecilia,” Raylene said. Cecilia knew every nook and cranny from cleaning the ranch house all those years.
Rhys leaned back in his chair. “Good idea. I’ll ask Jake to call her and see if she’d be willing to meet you over there. I’d like to put an end to this ridiculous Levi’s Gold legend for once and for all.”
Not as much as Raylene would. She’d almost died for that gold; the universe could at least allow her to reap its riches.
* * * *
A few hours later, a small crowd assembled at Flynn and Gia’s house. It was weird for Raylene to think of the big, rustic ranch house as belonging to anyone else. For so long it had been her home, and before that the home of her ancestors. Everywhere she looked there were small changes. Her father’s hunting trophies had been removed from the wall, as well as his prized Winchester rifle. Some of the heavy wooden furniture had been replaced with sleeker, more modern pieces. And a lot of abstract artwork filled the walls next to Ray’s Western landscapes and cowboy paintings. It was Manhattan meets the Sierra Nevada, and while it wasn’t Raylene’s taste, she could understand how the juxtaposition of the old West with canvases covered in bold shapes and colors might appeal to someone with a more sophisticated sensibility.
In any event, it was gracious of Flynn and Gia to open their doors, allowing her to comb the house, hunting for Levi’s Gold.
Someone had tipped off Harlee Roberts, who showed up with her camera and a laptop, presumably pumped to post a story on theNugget Tribune’swebsite as soon as they found the gold. Raylene suspected Rhys was her source, hoping an article would end the intrigue and keep any treasure hunters away from Nugget.
Cecilia had also come. If anyone knew where Ray hid his valuables, it would be Cecilia. Raylene had always suspected that big bad Ray had been afraid of Cecilia. As their housekeeper, she knew where all the skeletons were buried. But because of her financial restraints—a single mother, raising a son—she’d been forced to keep her mouth shut to keep her job.
“You have any ideas?” Raylene asked her. “It’s not the gun safe.”
“There are only two other safes that I’m aware of. One was in Ray’s closet.”
That seemed too obvious to Raylene. Wasn’t the closet the first place robbers looked? But it was certainly worth a try.
“Is this the combination?” Gabe stepped forward with the map and showed Cecilia the tiny numbers scrawled at the bottom.
“I never knew the combination,mijo. But let’s try.”
“I hope it is,” Flynn said. “Gia and I have been wanting to get into that safe since I moved in.” He led Raylene and the rest of the crew into the master suite.
Her parents’ former bedroom was different now. The heavy draperies had been replaced with blinds, the cowhides with modern area rugs, and the big rough-hewn log four-poster with a metal and wood platform bed. Any trace of Raylene’s father had been stripped from the room. She could breathe in here for the first time in her life.
Flynn opened the closet, cleared a row of suits, and tossed them on the bed. “You want to do the honors?” he asked Raylene.
“Let Gabe do it.” Her hands were shaking.
Gabe stepped forward and turned the dial on the safe the same way he did everything else—deftly, and with utter confidence and calm. When he got to the third number he winked at Raylene, and it felt like a hundred butterflies fluttered their wings in the pit of her stomach. She was supposed to be focusing on Levi’s Gold, not on Gabe Moretti.
“Ready?”
“Do it,” she said.
The safe door opened with ease and she held her breath. “Is it there? I can’t look.”
It felt like a thousand eyes were peering over her shoulder. Harlee began snapping pictures and Rhys pulled her back. “Anything, Gabe?”
“Let me see what we’ve got.” He pulled a stack of paperwork from the safe.
“What is it?” Raylene moved closer.
“Deed to the house, insurance documents.” Gabe continued to sort through the pile. “Some pictures.” He stopped to focus on a photo of Logan graduating from BUD/S. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“Let me see.” Raylene took the picture to examine it. A tear leaked from her eye; a jumble of confused emotions swirled in her gut. “You think my dad was there?”
“Don’t know. Someone had to have taken the picture. I doubt Maisy would’ve sent it to Ray. Maybe Nick, just to shove it in your old man’s face. But it obviously meant something to Ray, because he kept it.”
“I want to give it to Logan,” Raylene said. “You think that’s okay?”
“I don’t see why not.” Gabe gazed at the photo. “He was a handsome devil back then. Lord knows what Annie sees in him now.”
