Page 40 of Tempting Fate
“I’ll go first thing in the morning to get the metal detector.”
Clearly, she wasn’t too mad to let him off the hook. More’s the pity. Gabe could’ve done with a day at home, watching football instead of digging in the dirt for rocks with an off-limits temptress.Take care of my sister. If Logan only knew.
“I’ll get it.” That way he could grab some breakfast before she came banging on his door. “And meet you at the property at ten-thirty.”
“Ten?” she whined.
“It’s Sunday, Ray. The hardware store doesn’t open before ten.”
That seemed to appease her. The truth was he didn’t know what time the hardware store opened, only that he didn’t want to wake up at dawn’s early light. He’d seen enough sunrises and wanted to sleep in.
Gabe pulled up to the house and before he could put on his emergency brake, Raylene jumped out of the SUV.
He rolled down his window. “What? No kiss goodnight?”
She waved her middle finger in the air and climbed the stairs of the front porch. His mouth quirked as he admired her backside in that tight dress. Gabe waited for the foyer light to come on and started for home when he remembered he’d left his boots in the office. He’d need them tomorrow for their dig, and he rolled his eyes. Flipping a U-turn, he took the driveway past a row of privacy trees Annie had planted and pulled into the carport at L&G. With the engine running, he dashed into the building, punched in the alarm code, found his boots, and was halfway to his truck when a he heard a crackle in the neighboring woods. It sounded like the snap of a twig and then a cough. Probably an animal or a figment of his imagination. But after more than a decade in the spec ops world, “probably” wasn’t good enough. They stored hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of security equipment, a cache of weapons, top-grade gear, and ammo in the small compound. And though they had a state-of-the-art alarm system, nothing was impenetrable. Gabe ought to know. He reached in the SUV, turned off the engine, opened the glove box, and pulled out a Sig Sauer P226.
Other than the security motion light on the side of the building, the woods were pitch black. Not a problem; Gabe knew how to find his way in the dark. He circled around the building, entering the forest from the back side of L&G. Better to exercise his assault from the rear than the front, giving him the element of surprise. He crept through the trees, hoping his dress shoes didn’t creak. He felt a little like James Bond, doing reconnaissance in a tuxedo. All he needed was a Walther PPK.
With a sliver of moonlight peeking out from behind the mountains, he could see his breath in the cold. He stopped, flattened his back against a tree, and smelled the air. Pine needles, damp dirt, oak leaves, and something that didn’t quite belong. Nothing Gabe could identify, but whatever it was didn’t feel right. Fetid, like unwashed bodies. He stood there listening for a while, but all he heard was the sound of the night. Trees rustling in the breeze and an owl. He suspected if anyone had been there, they were gone now.
Still, he snuck closer to his SUV, searching the woods for shadows or clues. The ground looked recently trampled, like someone or something had compressed the sodden dirt near the perimeter of the carport. He got up close and used the flashlight on his phone. Tread marks from a tennis or hiking shoe had left an imprint. It was too small to be Gabe or Logan’s, but it could’ve been Annie’s, who had access to the building. It wasn’t unusual for her to stop by in the middle of her farming chores to say hi or to use the gym. In the dark, Gabe couldn’t tell how fresh the prints were.
By the time he got to his vehicle, he’d half convinced himself that his instincts were wrong.
Let your gut be your guide. It’ll keep you alive. The words of his commander rang in his head.
Well, his gut wanted to believe he was overreacting, but in an abundance of caution he slipped inside headquarters and cued up the last hour’s security footage. Logan had gone a little crazy with cameras, so they had eyes on practically every corner of the compound—from the carport to the shooting range. He sat in one of the office chairs at a bank of screens and flipped through the frames, alternating between cameras. Nothing looked amiss.
He went back to the footage of the carport and went through it slower this time.Nada. More than likely the noise he’d heard was a deer or a raccoon. Could’ve even been a bear cub, though most of them were supposed to be hibernating. He was about to shut the screens down when he saw something. Just a flash of color, but the hairs on Gabe’s arms went up. He rewound and paused the footage at least a dozen times when he spotted it again, zoomed in, and blew up the frame. It was too blurry to make out. He played with it for a while, using various software programs to get a clearer image. Finally, he was able to hone in on the picture and get a decent view of what he was looking at. It was a tennis shoe. A child’s red high top, if he wasn’t mistaken.
Alarm bells sounded in his head. Gabe sent the frame to his phone and fired it off to Rhys in a text.
“Your elusive trio may have been snooping around L&G. Call me when you get this.”
It was after midnight, and he figured Rhys was sound asleep. To be safe, he decided to camp out in his office. If anyone was out there, he’d be prepared.
* * * *
Raylene paced the kitchen. Where the hell was Gabe? He was supposed to be here an hour ago. Chad and his parents had headed back to their Yuba City farm at the crack of dawn. After breakfast, Nick and Maisy had loaded up the Winnebago and took off for Vegas. That left Raylene, who’d cleaned up the dishes and was raring to go.
She shot a text to Gabe.
Did you oversleep?
Chill, I’m on my way, came his response, with an emoji of a steaming cup of coffee.
Did he want one, or was he stopping off at the Bun Boy to bring her one? She took out the filters she’d just put away and made a new pot, in case. The man was beyond high maintenance. He did look good in a tux, though. She’d give him that. Ah, hell, who was she kidding? Gabe would look good in overalls, covered in mud. And despite his cryptic emoji, he was fairly agreeable.
But like everyone else in this town, he thought she was no good.Someday, you’re gonna tell me the whole story. Maybe she was no good, but the fact that he sided with her critics made her indignant.
She heard a car and looked outside to see Gabe pulling up. A wave of anticipation at seeing him again spread through her and she quickly willed it away. He got out and she could see that his hair was still wet and that he’d dressed for manual labor. Worn Levis, work boots, and a fleece hoodie peeked out of his jacket. There was no sign of the straw cowboy hat he liked to wear. When she found the gold, she’d buy him a felt one.
“Hey.” He came through the door. “You make coffee?”
“Yes. Did you get the metal detector?”
“Yes,” he mimicked her, and made a beeline for the kitchen. “Is there anything to eat?”
