“I’m not askingwhatthey said. Buthow.”
“I’m not followin’.”
“Did the same hand write both the confession on the clipping and the clues on the paper?”
She squinted, trying to remember. “I’m not sure. Let me go ask Chase.”
Naki grabbed her arm gently, stopping her. “No. Not yet.”
“Don’t you want to know?”
He released her arm. “Can you see the pattern developing?”
“You mean, where the gold has been hidden?” Scout looked at her hand, full of scrapes. “Well, small crevices, for one. Hard to get to.”
“Yet in obvious locations. Within reach.”
“Right. Like you said, the lighthouse keeper had plans to come back and get it. But then he died.”
“Not necessarily the keeper.” Naki’s voice dropped slightly. “The person who hid the gold ... must have been about your size.”
“Maybe he was smaller than the average man.” A dimmer switch flicked on in her brain. “A woman?” As it grew brighter, her eyes went round. “His wife?”
Naki nodded. “Possibly.”
That changed everything! “So ... you think she was the one who wrote the clues? Then hid the gold?”
“Very possibly.”
Scout covered her cheeks with her hands. “Do you think she killed her husband?”
Naki’s eyebrows shot up. “Slow down. Stay with the facts.”
“Shouldn’t we let Chase in on this theory?”
“Not yet. He has yet to prove himself trustworthy.”
“You think he can’t be trusted?”
“I didn’t say that. I said he has yet to prove it.”
Just then, Chase stood up and walked toward them, dusting off his knees in frustration. “Fine, fine. Let’s head to North Bubble.”
As they made their way on the trail to North Bubble, they were quieter, lost in their own thoughts. This summit wasn’t as dramatic as South Bubble, and there were far fewer hikers too. But there was a rough, untouched beauty to it.
Chase turned in a circle. “This is a waste of time.”
Naki ignored him, methodically checking crevices along the edge of the summit. After a while, he stopped, crouching by a narrow crack between two rocks. “Scout.”
Eyes to the ground, Scout walked over and knelt beside him. The crevice looked small, slim, just wide enough for her arm to reach in. She squeezed her hand a few times, dreading this, but reached toward the crevice until Naki stopped her by grasping her wrist.
“First, glove,” he said.
“Right! Thank you, sir.”
“Naki will do.”
Maybe so, but calling him “sir” kept a professional distance between them, and she needed that, especially when she was in close proximity to him, like she was now. Her heart was beating just a few inches from his. He had put himself between her and the ledge to keep her from falling. A ledge that could induce a full-blown panic attack if she thought about it. He was so close that if she turned her head, their cheeks might touch. Their lips might—Stop! Married, married, married! Pull it together, girl.
