Page 122 of In the Pursuit of Haven
As soon as Jessie covered our tracks, he glanced up at the redhead and her boyfriend. “I’ve got one question,” he said. “Are you good guys or bad guys?”
Chapter Thirty-Two
The redhead’s boyfriend smirked. “Define bad guy,” he said.
Jessie got slowly to his feet. He was almost nose to nose with this athletic blond guy. That meant the stranger was tall. “How about you tell me who you work for,” Jessie said.
“Ourselves, but wehopeto work with you. My name’s Brecker.” He pushed his hand out. Jessie didn’t take it. Feeling awkward, I took his hand instead and gave it a brisk shake.
They’d helped us find the cross, after all.
Brecker’s hand turned stiff before he jerked away. The redhead next to him shifted to attention, smiling brightly when it came to introductions. “I’m Caitlyn. I’m new to the treasure hunting business, but Brecker’s been doing it for a while. I’m his twin sister’s best friend. We were in the Uinta together and whoa, it was tough, lots of hiking and people chasing us.”
Brecker gave her a distracted look; like he was used to her talking this much, but she’d somehow gotten away from him now that they were in public. “We got a tip that you were getting close to the treasure,” Brecker said. “Let’s just say that Hunter and my source aren’t exactly on good terms.”
That was good news! “We aren’t either,” I said.
Now it was Jessie’s turn to give me the distracted look. He focused on Brecker next. “You expect us to believe you?”
Brecker shifted off his backpack and pulled out something very familiar. The feathers, leather, and obsidian immediately gave away what he had. It was Old Dimond’s rattle…or more accurately, the macana from the Taíno people.
My heart somersaulted over itself. He had it!
I snatched the Brown’s Island relic from his hands, seeing the notch in its side and the circle, which of course, had to be the letter “O,” if we were going by the pattern. All the Relics had a letter on them.
“How did you get this?” I cried.
“Hunter had it,” Caitlyn said. “We have someone working the inside.”
My eyes snapped to Jessie’s. He still hadn’t explained why he’d given the macana up to those jerks and what they’d been using against him. The memory of Abby calling out Robert as a blackmailer still burned through my mind. I was missing information, and it made my stomach twist with sudden unease.
Ahoy, matey. Rough patches ahead!
“We’ve got a proposition for you,” Brecker said. “We know Hunter’s been following you and we want to stop him in any way we can.”
“And what do you get out of it?” Jessie asked.
“It’s personal,” Brecker said.
“It really isn’t about the money,” Caitlyn hurried to reassure us. “We have more than enough of that from our last expedition, but we put his uncle in prison already.”
“That was you?” Jessie cut in.
She nodded. “Uh huh, and Archer’s been after us ever since. The things he’s done, well…”
Brecker’s eyes flashed at her. No doubt that was information that he hadn’t planned on giving out, but I had an idea of what Hunter had done, considering he’d asked my husband to break into an FBI warehouse.
Jessie’s gaze drifted to the priest, and then to others who’d wandered too close to hear their “confessions.” He zipped the Relics into my backpack. “Let’s talk somewhere more private. Follow me, but keep your distance.”
We made our way from the iconic cathedral down the street to the pedestrian mall located in the historical district. Our new cohorts traced our steps, but very casually, occasionally pretending to look at a gift shop or two. We walked a little past the old City Hall building before we reached Red’s Sandwich Shop, once called the 1698 London Coffee House. Just like the patriots who’d met there prior to the Revolution, we were due for our own clandestine meeting.
Weaving through the cozy room, we greeted the workers, who also happened to be Jessie’s schoolmates. He picked up a menu and found a table near the hearth where George Washington once sat.
Brecker and Caitlyn stepped into the café a few minutes after us, and Jessie hailed them like long-lost friends. “What are you doing in town?” he asked.
I perked up, easily slipping into the role of a casual diner. “Come join us,” I said.
Brecker grinned like we were the best of friends and Caitlyn stilled, looking slightly embarrassed at the playacting, but she sat down next to her boyfriend anyway, clutching at a menu.
