"It's the earrings. I know it is." Sarah used her own shovel to pry out more dirt. Slowly but surely an old metal box came into view. "Look at that, Gideon. It's a locked chest."
Gideon studied the rusted metal lid of the box. "An old strongbox. And you can bet Emelina didn't bury the key along with it."
"Maybe it's not locked."
"If it's not, then I doubt there's anything valuable inside," Gideon said reasonably.
Sarah knelt in the freshly turned earth to reach down into the pit and drag out the heavy box. She studied it intently. "Darn it, you're right. It is locked." She brightened. "But, as you said, I guess that means the earrings are still inside."
"We'll get it open."
"But how?" Sarah shook the box but it was impossible to tell if there was anything inside. She could hardly stand the suspense. "This is killing me. I can't wait to get it open. This is such an incredible experience. I've never done anything like this before in my life. Imagine. We've actually dug up buried treasure. We decoded the map and found the cache. Just like in a book."
Gideon leaned on his shovel and watched her with a curiously enigmatic smile. "Don't tell me, let me guess. You're going to use the experience in a romance novel, right?"
"Probably, but first I'm going to savor every minute of it for myself. I have to get a picture of this." She dug her small camera out of her bag. "Good thing I thought to bring this along, isn't it? Here, you stand next to the box."
Gideon shook his head and put down the shovel. "No, you're the one who should be in the picture. This is your treasure hunt. I just came along to consult, remember?" He took the camera from her and went to stand a few paces away.
Sarah hesitated for an instant, wanting him in the shot with her. But that was impossible. She scooped up the old strongbox and held it in front of her. Laughing with delight at her trophy, she stood posing for the shot. Gideon raised the camera to his eye, smiled again and pressed the shutter release.
"Now all we have to do is figure out how to open this strongbox," Sarah said, examining the rusty container.
"It will take a little time but we'll find a way," Gideon said, putting down the camera and picking up the shovel. "I've had some experience with that kind of thing."
"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Sarah glanced up from the locked box. "What are you doing?" she asked as she saw him lift a spadeful of dirt and toss it back into the hole he had just finished digging.
"Filling in the hole."
"Why?"
He gave her an odd glance. "I don't see any point in advertising the fact that we've been here and dug up something valuable."
Sarah smiled with sudden appreciation. "Good idea. Why leave tracks for someone who might want to steal our treasure from us? I told you that you were smarter than Jed Mclntyre."
"As long as I'm a little smarter than Jake Savage, we'll be okay," Gideon muttered.
"What did you say?" Sarah asked, uncertain she'd heard him correctly.
"I said, it's going to be a long drive back to the coast this afternoon."
"We could stay here or in Seattle tonight," she suggested.
"No," said Gideon. "We'll go back to my place. I didn't have a chance to ask my neighbor to take care of the cats."
"We'd better get back there, then. Poor things. They'll be starving."
"Not likely. Machu can still hunt when he has to, although he doesn't much care for the effort involved. He'll see that Ellora eats if it's necessary but he'd much prefer someone opened a can for both of them."
Sarah grinned. "He's a lot like you, isn't he?"
Gideon cocked a brow. "Because he doesn't mind eating canned food?"
"No, because he can still hunt if it becomes necessary."
SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT Machu Picchu landed on Gideon's bare back with a heavy, near-silent thud. Gideon stifled a soft groan. The cat stepped off his back and sat on the edge of the bed, tail moving restlessly as he waited for a response.
Gideon rolled over slowly so that he wouldn't waken Sarah who was curled up beside him. He eyed Machu's implacable face for a few seconds and then he slid carefully out of bed.
Machu leaped soundlessly down onto the floor and started toward the bedroom door. Gideon paused long enough to collect the revolver he always kept in a shoe-box under the bed and quickly put on his jeans. Barefoot, he went down the stairs as silently as Machu had.
At the bottom of the staircase, Gideon turned right and went down the hall to his study. He stopped outside the open door and peered into the shadows. He was not unduly surprised to see the figure of a man hunched over the locked file cabinet where the strongbox had been stored earlier. Keeping the revolver hidden behind the half-open door, Gideon reached just inside the room and flicked on the light switch.
The intruder jumped and whirled around to face him, his mouth open in shock and alarm.
"Forget it, Jake," Gideon said calmly. "Even if you managed to get the file open, you'd only find an empty, rusted out strongbox with nothing in it. The Fleetwood Flowers are long gone. Somebody got to them years ago."
Jake's hands fell away from the file cabinet. "Damn it, Gid, you always did have a way of sneaking up on people."
"Sarah kept saying she was afraid you'd get close to the earrings. I guess this was what she anticipated, wasn't it? That you'd break in and find the old strongbox. Looks like I've got to start paying more attention to that woman's intuition."
Jake hesitated, relaxing slightly when Gideon didn't move or say anything else. Then his brashness returned in a rush. With a cocky grin he stalked across the room and threw himself down in Gideon's desk chair. Legs stuck out in front of him, hands behind his head, Jake continued to smile the rakish smile that had never failed to charm.
"Tell me the truth, Gid. This is your old partner here so you can be honest with me. I know you went back into the mountains this morning. I followed you. And I know you did some digging. I saw where you'd filled in the hole. You really didn't find the earrings?"
"Just an old strongbox. The earrings might have been stored in it at one time, but the box is empty now."
"Why keep it in a locked cabinet?"
"Sarah doesn't know yet that the strongbox is empty," Gideon explained patiently. "She's looking forward to opening it in the morning. I didn't want to spoil the surprise."
"But you couldn't resist taking a quick look for yourself, is that it?"
"That's it. You know me. I get curious about locked boxes."
"And you're telling me there was nothing inside, huh?"
"Right."
"I don't believe you." Jake Savage shook his head slowly. "You never came back empty-handed from a job."
"This wasn't my treasure hunt. It was Sarah's. I just went along as a paid consultant."
"Bull." Savage suddenly sat up straight in the chair, his eyes glittering with frustrated anger. "I think you found the earrings. I think you found them the same way you always find what you go looking for, you bastard."
"No. There's nothing inside. Take a look." Gideon opened the file cabinet and removed the strong box. Then he twisted a strip of metal in the old lock until something clicked. Then he raised the lid to expose the empty interior. He waited a few seconds while Jake stared into the box and then Gideon closed and relocked it.
Jake eyed him uneasily. "Come on, Gid. We can do a deal. Just like old times. All I want is the publicity and a chance to draw in some big bucks. I need a big score.
"Be content with staying a dead legend."
Savage slapped his hand on the desk. "Why the hell should I do that? I'm not dead and I've discovered during the past five years that I don't like being a nobody. They don't know who I am any more, Gid. I walk into a bar and no one even knows me."
Gideon exhaled thoughtfully. "That's not surprising, I guess. You did a good job of disappearing five years ago."
"As good a job as you did."
"Tell me something, Jake. What really did happen that day we both suppos
edly got killed in that damned jungle? Did you set up an ambush with those smugglers? Were you working with them all along and finally decide I'd become a handicap? I was the one who saw too much that day we made the delivery, wasn't I? You already knew what was going on. You were in on it."
Jake's eyes flickered. He sat very still behind the desk. "You figured it all out, didn't you?"
"I've had a lot of time to think about it."
Jake's hand tightened into a fist. "You want to know why I did it? I'll tell you. There was big money involved. Enough to set me up for a long, long time. Enough to ensure that I wouldn't need to rely on you any longer, you bastard."
"I thought we were supposed to be partners, Jake," Gideon mocked softly.
"Yeah, but we both knew you were the one with the magic, the one who made Savage and Company a legend. And I was sick of knowing I had to depend on you. Sick of trusting you. Sick of relying on you."
"So you saw your big chance and decided to end the partnership. Except it didn't quite work out the way you'd planned, did it?"
"No, you son of a bitch, it didn't. But it will." Jake's hand shot under the desk and Gideon knew he was reaching for the small pistol he'd always carried strapped to his leg beneath his pants.
"Forget it." Gideon moved his own hand from behind the door and aimed the revolver almost absently at Jake. Savage froze, one hand still under the desk. "You were never that fast or that lucky and we both know it. The truth is, Jake, you were always better as a legend than you were as a reality."
11
« ^
GIDEON WATCHED, fighting to hide his amusement, as Sarah paced up and down the living room. The cats had long since grown bored with her diatribe against Jake Savage. Machu Picchu was sprawled in his usual position across the back of the couch, his ears flat against his head and Ellora was curled up, sound asleep, alongside Gideon.
"We should have turned him over to the police. He was guilty of everything from breaking and entering to being a damned nuisance. And the man lied through his teeth. How could you just let him go like that, Gideon?" Sarah turned and stalked back across the living room, robe flapping around her ankles. Her hair was anchored in a topknot that was coming adrift from it's moorings.
"He won't bother us again, Sarah."
"We don't know that for certain. We should have had him arrested. Why didn't you?"
"Jake would never have survived prison," Gideon said, thinking about it. "Assuming we could have actually gotten him convicted and sent up, which is highly doubtful. We'd have been lucky to make the charges stick. He didn't actually steal anything and he doesn't have a record. The most he would have gotten would have been a few months."
Sarah reached the far end of the room, spun around and headed back the other way. "I don't think that's all of it. I think you went easy on him for old time's sake."
"Old times sake?" Gideon cocked one brow.
"Sure. After all, he was your partner for several years. You'd been through a lot together. And you're the loyal type."
"I am?"
"Certainly. Don't laugh at me. It's your nature. I suppose it's one of the things I admire about you. But that still leaves us with a problem. What if he comes after the Flowers again?"
"He won't."
"I don't see what's to stop him this time."
"I told him that if anything happened to that strongbox, I'd destroy the legend I helped him build. That's all he's got left, Sarah. His own legend. It's the most important thing in the world to him."
Sarah paused and nibbled on her lip. "And you could do it? Through your magazine?"
"I could do it by sending letters to certain collectors and dealers telling them to take a second look at some of the South American artifacts they've acquired lately through Slaughter Enterprises."
Sarah's eyes widened. "You said you'd kept tabs on him. That's what he's been doing for the past five years? Selling antiquities?"
"Uh-huh."
"And some of them were fraudulent?"
"Right. Smuggling the real stuff is a better bet. Dedicated collectors and dealers won't ask too many questions about sources so long as the pieces are real, but they'll be mad as hell if they think they've been taken in by a fake."
"So Jake has been reduced to selling fake South American antiquities. What a comedown for him." Sarah shook her head. "That must have grated. No wonder he was looking for a way back to fame and fortune."
Gideon stroked Ellora. "Some people would say that publishing a small treasure-hunting magazine like Cache is even more of a comedown."
Sarah glared at him. "It certainly is not. You're in publishing, the same as I am. You're an author. Just like me. You write for people who can still dream, the same way I do. We perform a very valuable function for a very important group of people, Gideon Trace, and don't you forget it. As this world of ours gets more high-tech and more endangered, it needs its dreamers more desperately than ever."
"I never thought of it quite that way," Gideon murmured, amazed as usual by her highly biased view of him. It was very heartwarming.
Sarah turned away again. "I suppose somehow Jake is a dreamer, too, isn't he? Unfortunately he's just kind of screwed up in general."
"Unfortunately." Gideon yawned. "You were right, by the way, about why he set up that ambush five years ago. He was trying to prove something to himself. Trying to get free of his dependence on me."
Sarah nodded. "Trying to prove he didn't need you to be a success. You're sure he'll stay out of our lives from now on?"
"Reasonably sure."
"What about the Fleetwood Flowers? He wanted those very badly."
Gideon felt Ellora stretch languidly beneath his hand. "I told him the Flowers didn't exist."
Sarah stared at him, clearly startled. "But he knew we had the strongbox."
"I told him there was nothing in it."
Sarah smiled slowly, with obvious satisfaction. "That was very clever of you, Gideon. Did he believe you?"
"Not entirely, but I think that after a while he'll convince himself I was telling the truth. He'd rather believe there were no Flowers than that he failed to get hold of them."
"Yes, exactly. He'll convince himself there was no treasure. And since we have no reason to advertise the fact that we found the earrings, Jake will never know the difference."
Gideon leaned his head back against the cushions and watched her through narrowed lids. "It's possible that when we get the strongbox open tomorrow it really will be empty. You probably shouldn't get too excited about finding anything inside, Sarah."
"They'll be in there." She hugged herself happily. "I can't wait to go to work on that old lock tomorrow. It's going to be such a perfect ending to this whole adventure."
"What about us, Sarah? Does finding the Flowers mean the end of that, too?" Gideon asked quietly.
She smiled serenely. "Don't be an idiot, Gideon. You and I are just starting our adventure."
"You really mean that, don't you?"
She paused and gazed out into the night. "I've told you before, Gideon. In some way I've never been able to explain, the Flowers are linked to you, but they have nothing to do with our relationship. Do you see the difference?"
"I think I'm finally beginning to understand." Gideon glanced toward the stairs. "It's nearly two in the morning, Sarah. Let's get some sleep. Knowing you, you'll be up at the crack of dawn trying to jam a hairpin into that old lock."
She chuckled, reaching for his hand. "I don't have a hairpin with me. But that's all right. We'll rely on your professional skills."
Gideon rose from the sofa and put his arm around her shoulder. With his other hand he lifted her chin. When his mouth closed over hers, she parted her lips for him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Gideon picked her up and started toward the stairs.
"I love it when you do this kind of thing," Sarah said, her eyes cloudy with desire as Gideon carried her into his bedroom. "You're so good at it."
; "You think so?" He put her down on the bed and came down beside her. Slowly he untied her robe and opened it. She was so lovely, he thought as he bent his head to kiss her breast. And she wanted him. Him, not Jake Savage or anyone else. Just him.
"Yes. Perfect." She caught his head and held him to her, lifting herself invitingly against him. "Absolutely perfect."
"Perfect," Gideon agreed softly. His hand slid down to her thighs. Gently he parted her legs and made a place for himself near her warmth.
This was what he wanted out of life, Gideon realized; it was all he asked for of the Fates. He had been cold for far too long. Now he knew he would be content if he could spend the rest of his days warming himself at Sarah's hearth.
SARAH AWOKE SHORTLY after four o'clock when Ellora shifted slightly against her leg. Automatically she turned to find Gideon on the other side of the bed.
He was gone.
Sarah listened to the silence of the big old house for a moment or two and then she pushed back the covers and got to her feet. Her robe was on the back of a chair. She put it on, tied the sash and went very quietly out the door. Ellora followed at her heels.
Sarah crept down the stairs, avoiding the ones that creaked. At the foot of the staircase she hesitated and then turned down the hall toward Gideon's study. There was a thin wedge of light showing through the opening in the doorway.
Sarah tiptoed to the door and peered through the crack. Gideon was sitting at his desk dressed in only his jeans. Emelina Fleetwood's strongbox was open in front of him. Nearby sat five of the carved wooden chess pieces.
As Sarah watched, fascinated, Gideon picked up one of the chess pieces, removed the base and pulled out a small object wrapped in black velvet. He put the object into the strongbox and reached for the next chess piece.
Machu rumbled from somewhere inside the study and Ellora brushed past Sarah's bare feet. The little cat pushed through the crack of the doorway and trotted into the room. Gideon glanced up. He saw Ellora first and then he saw Sarah standing in the shadows of the hall.
A curious stillness gripped him. He sat as if made of stone, his green eyes glittering with an unreadable expression.