Buried Treasure (Silver Creek Resort Book 1) Read online

  “He doesn’t say anything about a necklace,” Autumn said. “Kate used us. Why didn’t the police say that Kate and her husband were suspects? Why didn’t they say anything about them disappearing?”

  “Why didn’t they come after your dad for the money?” Ethan asked.

  “Why, why, why,” Shawn said. “The only person left to answer any questions is Kate,” he said. “When Autumn and I go to get her things, we’ll make a visit to the springs and ask her, and we’ll empty the box.”

  “What do you mean get her things?” Ethan asked.

  “She’s moving in with me,” Shawn said. “She’s staying for a while.”

  Randy professed his delight, and Ethan stormed from the room without saying a word.

  “Why does he hate me?” she asked.

  “It’s not you, it’s your profession,” Randy said.

  “A junk hunter?” Autumn asked.

  “A journalist,” Shawn said. “His wife always wanted to be one, and she and a friend of hers were hunting down a story when she was killed in an accident. He thinks if she had minded her own business she would be with him today. Don’t expect him to be cozy with you. Sorry.”

  “Me, too,” Autumn said. “He went along with the hunt for the treasure, though.”

  “Because we talked him into it,” Randy said. “He wanted to kick you out the first night you arrived.”

  “Wonderful.” Autumn looked out the window. “Glad to know he’s going to make me welcome here.”

  They flew to Denver and rented a car. At the urging of the lawyers they stopped by the police station in Colorado Springs to let them know what they were doing in town. They asked an officer to accompany them, and that’s why at nine o’clock in the morning two days after opening the letter, Autumn, Shawn and Det. Frank Hart walked into the First State Bank, which had changed hands several times since Shawn’s father had rented the box.

  “I’m nervous about this,” Autumn said.

  “You did the right thing,” Hart responded. “And it’s good that I’m here to watch the box be opened.”

  The woman working the safety deposit box area was concerned they had a cop with them, and she insisted the bank manager be let in on what was happening. Autumn thought it was all taking way too long. Her hands itched to turn the key in the box, although she knew Shawn would have to be the one to do it, since his name was on the lease.

  “It’s one of our larger boxes,” the bank manager said. “We always wondered why no one came to take things out, or check on it. It’s a little unusual, but not unheard of. When the bank changed hands we simply held it over, since the rent on it was paid.”

  “Let’s get it open,” Shawn said.

  They located it and it took two of them to heft it onto the table. When they inserted the keys and opened the lid, Autumn’s mouth opened in shock. The box was full of money, except for one small part of it where a dark blue jeweler’s box lay.

  “Oh Lord, there was a necklace,” Autumn said.

  “There must be two-hundred grand here,” the detective said.

  “Almost two-fifty according to the police report,” Autumn said. “But they never mentioned jewelry.” She pointed to the bag.

  The detective pulled a pair of plastic gloves from his pocket and pulled them on. Then he picked up the bag and opened it. He looked inside and when Autumn heard his soft whistle she knew what was in the bag was big.

  He held out his hand and dumped out a handful of diamonds.

  “Holy crap,” Autumn said.

  “We’ve already sent for your friend Kate, but when we got there it was to find her gone.”

  “She died?” Autumn asked.

  “No, she’s gone, as in she flew the coop,” the detective said. “We tried to go see her last night and were informed a young man came and picked her up to go out to lunch, and they never came back. How she knew we were coming I don’t know.”

  “Brent,” Autumn whispered, “that sneaky little rodent.”

  “Who?” the detective asked.

  “Brent Mach. He buys storage units.” Autumn pounded her fist on the table. “He’s been snooping around. He was arrested in Nevada for trespassing. How did he get here so fast?”

  “Bonded out, I’m sure.” The detective picked up a packet of money. To Autumn it looked so old compared to the new money.

  “We leave all this with you, right?” Shawn asked.

  “Yes, sir,” the detective said. “I don’t know about rewards since the bank has changed hands so many times, but you did the right thing.”

  “I’d like the information to get out there, somehow, that we don’t have this money in our possession,” Shawn said. “I don’t trust Kate, or Brent Mach.”

  “There will be a story in the paper, and on TV,” Hart said. “It was a big deal when the bank was robbed. Finding the money is a big thing, too. It will attract a lot of attention.”

  Autumn thought about the book Shawn had suggested, the one that was already forming in the back of her mind. She would start with the robbery, and then move to the discovery. She could use the letters, although the one she found in the storage unit still surprised her.

  Kate had lied to them, obviously. She had written the letter and put it in the storage unit for someone to find? It seemed to Autumn that she would have selected a storage unit in Colorado Springs. And who was Earnest? Autumn wanted to find Kate and ask her to come clean, to tell them the truth. How could she go about that?

  And then it popped into her mind. Mach. It couldn’t be a coincidence that he bid on the unit, and gave it up, and then rubbed her nose in it. He wanted her to be the one to search. Somehow, he was connected to Kate.

  “The weasel,” she whispered.

  Shawn frowned, and she shook her head. “Sorry, I’m just thinking about Mach. He’s a weasel.” She locked her gaze on Hart. “You want to talk to her, right?”

  “Oh yeah,” he said.

  Autumn held up her phone. “Can you track cell phones?”

  The detective smiled. “We sure can.”

  Autumn rested the box against her thigh before she hefted it up against her hip and started up the stairs at the Shawn’s cabin. She stopped at the top and reminded herself that when she’d said something about his cabin last night, Shawn had reminded her that it was “their” cabin. She lived here now, after she’d sold her furniture and brought the few remaining books and other items here, to Silver Creek.

  She looked out over the other cabins. It was quiet today, but there was a playtime scheduled for that evening. Considering her reaction to the last one, Shawn had made what he called an “executive decision” which meant the two of them would stay at their home and play.

  Randy had nodded his assent when Shawn had told him at lunch, but Ethan had glared at her as if she were responsible for bringing trouble to the resort. He hadn’t talked to her since.

  Right now, Shawn and Randy were inside, building shelves in what was her office. She would start work on Monday on the book that would, hopefully, sell.

  She thought about the notes she’d made that morning, about the finale of the case. The Colorado Springs police had used Brent’s cell phone to track down the duo. It turned out that Brent was Kate’s great-nephew. They had been waiting in Colorado Springs, because they wanted to contact Autumn again, and try and take the loot away from her. They’d been surprised to learn Autumn and Shawn had contacted the police.

  “What can you charge her with?” Autumn had asked Hart, who had shaken his head.

  “Not much. There is a statute of limitations, especially since no one was hurt. The only thing we can do is return the money to the bank and the jewels to the family they had been stolen from.”

  But Autumn had wanted to talk to Kate. She wanted to talk about the letter, and about the reasons for planting it in Pueblo. They had taken the elderly woman to the police station to talk. She had been very willing.

  Kate and Brent had talked about the heist, and the fact the
money was buried on the Silver Creek resort.

  “I had the coordinates, but I couldn’t get onto the land.” Kate had laughed. “So, I made up the letter, made up Earnest. It was a nice, romantic touch that Brent assured me you’d fall for, Autumn, and you did.”

  “You used me,” Autumn said.

  “And you failed me,” Kate had said. “It’s a shame you wanted to do the right thing. I would have shared part of the money with you.”

  “The money was not yours to share,” Autumn said. “Why did you wait so long?”

  “Oh, I tried many times,” Kate said. “But it wasn’t until I let Brent in on it that he helped me devise the scheme. We bribed the owner of the storage place. Truthfully, I think you owe me for that. I hear you received a reward.”

  “We did, twenty thousand from the bank, which I split with my partners.” Autumn glared at the woman. And then she and Shawn had walked out.

  Autumn needed to ask Sara if, legally, Autumn could use Kate’s name in the book, if she could name her as a bank robber. The last thing she wanted was for Kate to file suit, and win money from her.

  “Off in LaLa land?” Shawn asked. She turned to see him standing in the doorway.

  “This is the last box,” Autumn said. “After I move this in you’re stuck me.”

  “What a horrible idea,” Shawn said. “We better leave this box out here in case I change my mind.”

  “I think the threshold is here,” she said, drawing the toe of her line over the top step. “Technically, I think I’ve already moved in.”

  “You’re contradicting yourself,” he said. “Which is it, after the box is in the house, or now?”

  Before she could answer he took her face in his hands and kissed her, long and deep. She melted into his chest and moaned softly.

  “I’m out of here before you two get more mushy,” Randy said with a laugh. “Have a good time.”

  He was down the stairs and in his car before they could respond. Shawn picked up the box and took it in the house. Autumn followed him in and closed the door. To her new home.

  He put the box on the couch, turned around and kissed her again as he’d done on the porch. They hadn’t had sex since the night he’d taken her in the bedroom, the night she’d decided to give things a chance between them.

  “I have something for you,” he said.

  “Diamond bracelets that clink together?” she asked.

  “You’ve been peeking.” He pulled back from her and the look of shock on his face made her think she’d guessed the truth. But then he laughed. “Close, but no.”

  He led her into the bedroom. The handcuffs and chains were in the middle of the bed.

  “Should I get undressed?” she asked

  “You have to ask?”

  She stripped, and then before he could order her to she laid down in the middle of the bed. He cuffed her and then climbed on top, fully clothed. He had a bag in his hand, much the same as the one that had been in the safety deposit box.

  “Are you going to cover me in diamonds?” she asked.

  “Maybe on our first anniversary, but they wouldn’t be real,” he kissed her again. “That’s a little above my pay grade.”

  He opened the bag and dumped the contents on her chest.

  Autumn giggled. “What’s there?”

  “Two collars, one for here and another for being in public, and then, yes, a pair of handcuffs and all decorated with diamonds.”

  He held up one of the collars. “This one has O rings, and is the one you wear in the house.” He placed it on her neck and Autumn shivered.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said.

  “The stones in the collar you wear out of the house are real,” he said.

  “Thank you, Sir,” she said.

  “No longer Sir,” he said. He kissed her as he pressed the collar into her neck. “From now on you call me Master.”

  Autumn bit her lower lip. His words made her nervous, but she knew he was waiting to see how she would respond. She wiggled a little and then smiled.

  “Whatever you say, Master.”

  His smile told her she’d said the right thing. She had so much to learn, and she was thrilled that Shawn would be her teacher.

  The End

  Melinda Barron

  Melinda Barron loves to explore Egyptian tombs and temples, discover Mayan ruins, play in castles towers, and explore new cities and countries. She generally does it all from the comfort of her home by opening a book.

  Melinda loves to lose herself between the pages of a book. The only thing she loves more is creating stories from the wonderful heroes and heroines that haunt her dreams and crowd her head. She believes love is for everyone, not just those who are a size 2. Her books are full of magic, suspense and love, in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

  Mel currently lives in the Texas Panhandle, with two cats, and a file stuffed with new ideas to keep her typing fingers busy, and your heart engaged.

  Mel also writes as Maura McMann .

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  Silver Creek Resort

  Buried Treasure, Book 1

  Rakes of Mayfair Series

  His Virgin Widow, Book 1

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  His Little Problem, Book 3

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