“Someone must have dug these posts up and then put them back.”
She cast a look over her shoulder toward the line shack not too far away. “We’d better check out the closest shack.”
Not seeing any signs of recent travel by a vehicle or animals en route to the shack, Clint had to wonder why the heck would someone dig up and replace a pole? At the shack, just in case, he pulled the rifle from the rack and escorted Ms. Alice to the small space. Inside, he already knew what to do. Kicking the floorboards as he walked, he listened for a hollow sound. Nothing. This wasn’t making sense. Why did they dig up the post over there? And who was responsible? Could the men from Millers Creek been the ones who ransacked the other building?
“What are you thinking?” Alice stood, hands on her hips, looking around, shaking her head.
“It doesn’t make sense.”
“Yeah, that’s my thought too. We have to be missing something.”
Bobbing his head, he turned and headed out the door, Alice on his heel. Walking slowly, he searched the perimeter.
“Over here.” Alice crouched by the corner of the shack.
These old shacks were built a million years ago when pier and post foundations were used. By the trap door to access the plumbing under the cabin, the dirt had been moved.
“We should call the sheriff.” Alice pushed to her feet, brushing off her hands and taking a step in retreat, tripped over a small rock and stumbled, her arms flapping like an injured bird.
Instantly, Clint lunged forward, his arms gripping hers. As the two tumbled to the ground, he rolled, his arms now wrapped tightly around her in a desperate effort to avoid squashing her beneath him. Successfully flipping them, he landed on his back—hard. His head bounced off the ground and Alice Sweet, all soft and pliable, was sprawled on top of him.
It took a minute for him to blink away the stars and open his eyes. Almost nose to nose, not even when they’d danced had he been this close to her. Eyes a sparkling deep shade of blue stared down at him. He could feel every thump of her rapid heartbeat against him. All rational thought flew out the window and sheer instinct kicked in. Tightening his hold with one arm, the other wrapped around her shoulder, closing the distance between them, his lips pressed against hers. Lips warm and smooth and sweet as honey had his brain rattled and his hormones in high gear.
Somewhere in the back of his addled mind he knew this was a serous mistake. He had no right. Then, the tiniest of moans reached what was left of his brain cells and it registered, she was kissing him back. All good sense—not that he had any at the moment—and all sense of propriety, flew out the window. He tightened his hold and kissed her again until he could barely breathe.
Just as suddenly as the urge to hold her close and kiss her long and hard had overtaken him, Alice suddenly froze in his arms and good sense smacked him upside the head. Letting his arms fall to his sides, he waited for her to inch back and right herself.
Pushing off of him and coming to her feet, she brushed her hands again, and took a careful step toward the side of the shack. “It looks like someone dragged something out from under.” She sucked in a long deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Could have been a smaller piece of equipment but my money is on a backpack or sack of more cash.”
Now standing, his mind was scrambling to keep up. Clearly she wasn’t going to say anything about the kiss, which meant what? Was he to ignore it as well? Was she waiting for him to apologize? What the heck was he supposed to do now?Especially if he didn’t want to lose the best job he’d ever had, and more importantly, being near Alice Sweet. “I, uh.”
He barely got the sounds out before her hand flew up, palm out, and her head began to shake from side to side. “Don’t. Lets focus on this. On Ray. On whatever it all means.”
“Okay.” He nodded and desperately tried to clear his mind. “I’ll call the sheriff. There might be some prints left behind, though I doubt it.”
“This probably explains the post. Whoever came out here wasn’t in a vehicle, they were on foot.”
“And they knew what they were looking for. Whoever found this stash, also put it here.”
She nodded. “And our most likely candidate is—Ray.”
“Ray,” Clint echoed her words.
Now the question at hand was, is this it—or is he coming back for more?
Chapter Fourteen
Eventually Alice would have to get a good night’s sleep if she didn’t want to fall asleep over the lunch table, she just didn’t think that was going to happen any time soon. All she’d been able to think about since her stumble at the line shack yesterday was that soul-searing kiss. From Clint. She couldn’t decide what had her more unsettled—the fact that she’d actually kissed him back, or that Charlie had never crossed her mind. Not even after she’d righted herself and her lips continued to tingle and her brain began to unrattle, Charlie was nowhere in her thoughts. Heck, he hadn’t made an appearance until she walked past her old master bedroom door and almost collapsed from the reminder that she was a married woman—sort of.
Kade and Josh made their way into the kitchen from upstairs. “You all packed?” she asked.
“Uh,” Kade looked to Josh then back to his mother, “not exactly.”
“Then you still have time?”
“Definitely.” Josh nodded with a smile at the same time Kade flashed his buddy a stern, almost scolding look.
Focusing on his mother, Kade smiled more widely. “I have a little surprise for you too.”
