Abby swallowed past the lump in her throat. Her memories of the time she had spent with her grandfather would never leave her. And he would be with them in spirit every day of their journey.
Gage sat down across from her. Abby picked up the list she had made the night before and handed it over.
As Gage studied the list, his dark brows pulled together. “You said King was all the family you had, but the names at the top of the list are your cousins.”
Abby nodded. “My cousin Jude and his sister, Stacy. Their grandfather was King’s younger brother. Jude’s always been a jerk. He’s thirty years old and still lives with his mother. His sister, Stacy, is selfish and spoiled. She dates wealthy older men and takes whatever she can get from them. Jude wasn’t the guy who attacked me, but I figure he or Stacy could have hired him.”
“They were both at the reading of the will?”
She nodded. “Their mother, Olivia, was also there. King left each of the kids a small amount of money. Jude was furious King left the house to me. He thought I should sell it and split the money with him and Stacy. I figured if my grandfather wanted them to have it, he would have given it to them.”
Gage’s mouth inched up in amusement. “Tell me about Stacy.”
“My cousin is a gold digger—if you’ll pardon the pun—and she’s a user. Not drugs. The kind of user who’s willing to do anything to get what she wants. A fortune in gold certainly qualifies.”
“I can see why you don’t claim them as family.” He looked down at the list. “Dave Franklin and Caroline Stanfield. I know both of them. They’re curators at the Museum of Science and Nature.”
“King left the museum a number of valuable artifacts he brought back from various countries. He found the items before today’s more restrictive archeological policies were put in place.”
“Dave and Caroline are both very well respected. I can’t see them involved in the kind of treachery we’re talking about, but money can do strange things to people.” He looked back down at the list. “Clayton Reynolds. I’ve never met him, but I know he’s an expert on pre-Columbian and Spanish colonial art.”
“Mayan culture specifically. Clay and King were friends. My grandfather had some very nice pieces in his collection. Clay was at the reading to receive the gift for the Denver Art Museum.”
Gage studied the list. “Rudolph Weyburn is the name of your grandfather’s attorney?”
“That’s right. Rudy knew about the map. No idea if he knew about the gold in the box.”
“Or if your grandfather told anyone else.” Gage tapped the list. “At least we know who to keep an eye out for. I’d like to talk to your cousins, but we’re on a time clock here. It’s already the eleventh of March. By April, the temperature in the desert can climb into the nineties, sometimes higher. We need to get in and out before the heat turns the trip into a suicide mission.”
A shiver ran through her. A lot of people had died trying to find gold in the Superstitions. In such a hostile environment, the weather was often the cause.
“So what’s our next step?” she asked.
“We need maps. Lots and lots of maps. Old maps, new maps, aerial photos, satellite imagery, soil geology, regular old topo maps. Pretty much anything we can find.”
“I can help with that.”
He nodded. “I’ll give you a list of the places we use for digital mapping, and you can get started. You ready to go to work?”
She was more than ready. Her pulse was hammering with excitement. She couldn’t wait to get started, couldn’t believe her grandfather’s dream, now her own, was about to come true.
Or at least there was a real possibility.
She hoped King Farrell was watching from his corner of heaven.
CHAPTER EIGHT
THEY WENT INTO THE OFFICE THROUGH A DOOR DOWNSTAIRS INthe atrium entrance to Gage’s apartment, Abby with her laptop slung over one shoulder, and her digital camera, a Canon EOS Rebel T-8i, draped over the other. The camera shot excellent video and stills. It wasn’t cheap, but it was worth it.
As they walked down the back hall, she noticed a room filled with workout equipment: weight rack, sit-up board, benches, squat rack, and treadmill.
Abby thought of Gage’s amazing body, the well-defined pecs, rippling abs, and thick biceps, and a little zing slipped through her. Clearly, the effort he made to stay in shape was also worth it.
Continuing into the main office, Abby set up her laptop on one of the desks, and Gage brought her a list of internet sites he used to order mapping information.
“That ought to get you started,” he said, then turned and disappeared into his office.
Abby took a seat in front of her computer screen and went to work. She typed in “Imagehunter” and discovered the company had a hundred million images from fifty-three satellite and aerial databases. Another site, Open Topography, had high resolution topo data. Digital elevation models came from a company called Lumina.
