Chapter 30
Leslie dressed in her hiking boots and waited at the door for Owen and Cade to accompany her on the mountain. Elias watched the cameras while Mason and Dillon guarded the house.
“Let me go first,” Owen said. “Cade will take the back.”
“All right,” she said. “What will Gunny do with those men?”
“He’ll drop them off at a friend who has FBI contacts. If they find out anything, they’ll call us,” Owen told her as they started up the path.
“Mason needs to do something about the kids,” Cade grumbled as he scanned the mountain. “I caught one of them chewing my toothbrush this morning like a feral dog. It’s disgusting.”
“Mason’s mourning his wife. He needs professional help,” Leslie said. “The boys don’t do basic motor skills and have no boundaries. He even lets them pick food off of everyone’s plate because it’s easier than listening to Nathan’s tantrums.”
“I tried talking to Mason. He doesn’t want to hear it,” Owen said as they reached the first peak.
“He needs a professional who knows how to handle grief. I’m thinking of putting Conner in a kids’ group. He hasn’t slept much since we found Jeremiah, and he gets teased at school for not having a mom.”
“Maybe they need homeschooling,” Cade suggested.
“They need social time and a teacher. Don’t even suggest it to me,” Leslie said as she stopped to sip her water.
“Elias might be a good one to ask,” Cade said. “He seems butthurt about our decision not to stay.”
“Dad says Elias hides his feelings, but he’s expressed himself since he showed up,” Owen said.
When they reached the spot, Leslie counted out the twenty steps and pointed to the ground. “It’s in this area.”
The two men started digging, and twenty minutes later, Cade hit something solid. “I found it.”
They knelt as Owen brushed back the dirt, pulling it from the ground.
“Do we want to open it here?” Cade asked, searching the area.
“No. We’ll return to the house. We don’t want anyone seeing exactly what Dad left us as a clue.”
They trekked down the mountain, and everyone huddled into the kitchen, waiting to see what the capsule contained.
Owen twisted the lid and pulled out a family picture of them, a wolf whittled from wood, and a picture of Tucker and Conner on bikes. Owen tapped the bottom and glanced inside.
“Funny. The canister only holds this, but when you tap the bottom, it doesn’t sound empty,” Owen mused.
Taking out his K-bar, Cade sliced a circle around the canister.
A piece of paper poked from the opening.
Setting the can down, he gently pulled it out, and a key fell onto the table.
Owen took the paper and gently unfolded it.
They gazed at the map of Wolfe Mountain, where several X’s appeared alongside the creek and inside a cave.
“What do you think it means?” Elias asked.
“I don’t know,” Owen replied. “Whatever it is, it’s worth killing for.”
Cade picked up the key. “This seems like a safety deposit box. It has the local bank listed on the tag.”
“It seems Dad stumbled across something,” Owen murmured as he stared at the map.
Leslie leaned down. “This area,” she said, thinking. “It’s where I saw Mr. Bigsby getting water samples. He said his first ones disappeared.”
“Hmmm,” Dillon said, pulling on his beard. “I think we need to take a trip to the bank. It’s best not to go alone, considering someone knows our every move.”
“Why don’t all of you go?” Leslie suggested. “If they see you going into the bank, they won’t worry about the house. I can stay and watch the monitors.”
“Wyatt and Elias can stay here. We’ll bring back the contents and review them together,” Owen said. “We’re not risking anyone. Let’s take two vehicles. One of us will need to guard them while the others enter the bank.”
Folding the map, Owen wrapped it in a kitchen towel and neatly folded it into the drawer. Cade pocketed the key on his keyring. Owen kissed Leslie goodbye.
“Be careful,” she murmured as she hugged him.
“I will. We’ll be back soon,” he promised.
She watched as they entered the vehicles and headed to town.
Elias went back to the temporary security room, and she brought the boys into the living room to play with blocks until she fed them lunch and put them down for the afternoon.
Noah loved stacking and figuring out how to put them into different shapes.
Nathan grew easily frustrated. By noon, she placed them at the table and tried again to get them to use the baby utensils left over from Tucker and Conner.
Noah rubbed his eyes and cried, and she picked him up to cuddle.
“Did we cry all the time like they do?” Conner asked.
“No. You and Tucker only fussed when you needed something.” she explained as she put them to bed.
An hour later, the brothers returned. Elias and Wyatt joined them in the kitchen, and Owen unloaded his pockets. Several chunks of rock fell onto the table. Next, Mason emptied his, then Cade and Mason.
“What’s this?” she asked, picking it up and examining it.
Owen held it up to the light. It glistened in several spots, catching her eye. “It’s gold,” she whispered.
“We only took a few samples,” Cade said. “We’ll have to have it tested. What if the company interested in purchasing the mountain, discovered it, and wants to buy it out from under us?”
“We don’t know if it’s real,” Owen insisted. “Maybe Dad guessed it might be?”
“Where can we take it discreetly?” Mason asked.
“At least a couple of towns over,” Dillon responded. “We can’t trust anyone here.”
Owen’s phone rang. Glancing at it, he said, “It’s the funeral home.”
“Hello,” he answered.
“Hello, I’m calling to inform you Mr. Wolfe’s body has returned to us. If you want to come down, we can make the arrangements,” the secretary told him.
Owen sighed. “We’ll come down this afternoon.
” Hanging up the call, he peered at his brothers.
“We need to keep up appearances. It appears we’ll invite the town to the wake.
We’ll have Dad cremated and throw a small gathering at the house.
Tonight, we’ll return the map with the capsule.
None of us will be safe if it’s found. Tomorrow, we’ll take these to someone to test.”
“Not all of us need to go,” Mason said. “Why don’t you and Cade take care of the funeral arrangements? I’ll stay behind with the boys.”
The men left, and Leslie joined the boys, tossing the ball to one another. They grew bored in the house, and the sunshine felt nice.
They watched as the brothers returned. “They’ll cremate him today, and we can hold a service on Wednesday. Can you call the paper?” Owen asked Leslie. “I want to get rid of the rocks until we take them tomorrow.”
“What about your dad’s wishes? He wanted you to take him to the swimming hole and have a party,” she asked.
“We can do it on Wednesday afternoon. We’ll hold the service at eleven, have a catered lunch, and they’ll be gone by two or three,” Owen informed her. “We need to act like we don’t suspect anything while they test the rocks.”
“Why don’t you take them today? They’ll be out of the house, and hopefully you’ll have your answer before the deadline,” she suggested.
“She’s right,” Cade agreed.
“Gather everyone, and we’ll do it like the bank,” Owen said.
Leslie watched them leave again. Somehow, she felt like Jeremiah Wolfe called his boys home for something special, something to change their lives.
It already forced them to work together.
His funeral might make them play together.
Maybe he outsmarted his boys after all. What boy turned down a mystery?