Page 3 of Chance

“The OG. I like that.”

They shook hands.

Kensi looked around. “I am grateful you came. Hopefully, we can put these shenanigans about the gold to rest. Finally. For both of our families. I understand your family has been through a lot too.”

Chance nodded, thinking about the recent fire on the ranch and the man who had almost killed Sadie. “Yep.”

“I’m Tim,” said the man next to Kensi. “I’m the sheriff in these parts. We appreciate you coming.”

Chance shook his hand, grateful to see his local counterpart. “Nice to meet you, Tim.” He seemed reliable, strong, and capable, much like the other Stone men.

Chance wasn’t able to respond further before Ava winked at him and said, “You’ll be staying with us. I have your room prepared.”

“Thank you,” he said, meaning it. “I want what you all want; closure on this whole deal.”

A man he recognized as Raine Birch clapped a hand down on Chance’s shoulder. “Nice to see you. Welcome. This is my wife, Sarah. She’s from Montana, a little town called Snow Valley.”

He shook hands with both of them. “Hi there.”

Cheryse, Hunter’s wife, eyed Chance. “I’m thinking Sarah and I will give you a makeover to make you even more undercover than just a changed name.”

Sarah grinned at Cheryse. “Yes, we’ll give him a beach look.”

“What?” Chance backed up. “Nobody said anything about a beach look.”

Raine nodded. “I think it’s a great idea. New hair, some new clothes.”

“I’ve got that covered.” A woman he didn’t recognize stepped forward; she almost seemed like she was floating toward him. “I’m Lucy. I own the boutique in town. I went shopping over at Browne’s surf shop today and picked out a few articles of clothing for you, Rob.” She flashed a grin. “Might as well start the new name now.”

A man put his arm around her. “I’m Matt, Lucy’s husband. I’ve been best friends with the Stones my whole life.”

“Hi.” Chance looked around at everyone surrounding him; in this huge group, he felt uncomfortably small. “How many more people know about me being here?”

Trey grunted. “Only one more couple.”

As if on cue, the last woman flashed a smile. “I’m Dawn. I’ve been friends with the Stones forever. This is my husband, Trevor. We actually only live here part time. Both of us are professors, and we have a place here where we stay for a couple months a year. Most of the time, we’re in Wilmington.”

Chance let out a light laugh and shook both of their hands. “Nice to meet you guys, too.”

“You understand small towns,” Tim said, turning to him. “Your friends become your family.”

Chance wasn’t sure about this large of a group. Would they all be able to keep this secret? “I guess I’ll have to trust you all.”

Tim nodded. “Any good sheriff would know that a small town has—and keeps—many secrets.”

Chance couldn’t disagree with that. “True.”

“This might seem like a lot of people keeping this secret,” Trey told Chance, “but these people are the only ones who know you’re here to help us find the gold. You’re mostly going to poke around with your dad’s journal on your own. Of course, some of us will be available—I will for sure, as well as Marshall, Hunter, and Kensi. Everyone else will go back to their jobs. Brooks goes back to the FBI, and Trent is finishing up his last tour as a SEAL, but he’s on leave this week. You can call on any of these people here to help you. That’s why we wanted to be here when you got here, so you could feel you have support. We want to be transparent with you, and we expect you to be transparent with us.”

“Of course.” Suddenly, Chance felt like he was in an interrogation. “I brought my dad’s journal, and there are a couple places I want to check out. I’m happy to go over them with you all, but I would like the latitude to do some searching by myself. I’ll report back to you about what I find.” He cocked an eyebrow at Trey. “I’m here to get answers.”

Trey nodded. “Good, because we want answers.”

Marshall coughed. “That’s right.”

Trey turned back to the group. “Okay. Let’s go eat dinner, and we’ll give you whatever info you need to get started.”

“Sounds great.” Chance let out an awkward laugh, feeling more and more unsure about this whole situation.

---