“The gold helps him see past that,” Marco quipped.
“Hey!” Derek shouted, definitely closer and still to my left. “It ain’t like that! We’re gonna run away together.”
Marco turned in Derek’s direction, stepping to the other side of me.
“As long as you get her the gold,” I called out, holding my side. “When did you figure out that Jerry had something?”
“The night Louise got back to town. I picked her up from the bus station, and she wanted to go directly to Bart Drummond’s house. So I took her out there, then out to dinner, and then back to her cabin. The toolbox was gone, and there were fresh tire tracks in the yard as well as footprints on the porch and inside. We had seen Jerry lurkin’ outside Drummond’s house, and then a Drummond truck driving down the county road to her house, so it wasn’t hard to put it together. Louise then decided to take care of two problems at once. She hated Bart for forcin’ her to go to prison, and she hated you for your part in turnin’ her own daughter against her. So she came up with the idea of sending me to threaten you. She figured it’d light a fire under you, because you’d think I’d been sent by Bart. But after Jerry died, you went quiet instead of diggin’ more. Louise was pissed.”
“I was grieving my friend,” I said.
“She figured you needed another push, so she decided to go to you directly. Everyone in this town knows you have a penchant for investigatin’ things, and she thought you might flush out the information—either through talkin’ to people who knew something or findin’ out what Jerry had discovered.”
He was quiet for a moment, and Marco pushed his legs against my side, signaling for me to scoot around the side of the rock. Derek was getting too close.
“How did you find it?” Derek asked, his voice practically upon us, but he was hidden in the trees. Which meant we were exposed, and he was still protected. I started to scoot more, until I heard a voice I recognized directly behind us.
“My mother helped her,” Wyatt said in an emotionless tone.
My heart sank, and I lifted my gaze to Marco. He looked just as stricken as I felt.
Wyatt stepped out of the trees, his gun on me. “Drop your gun, Roland, or I’ll shoot her.”
“You wouldn’t,” Marco said, turning his gun on Wyatt.
“Go ahead and try me.” Wyatt’s gaze dropped to me, and anger flashed in his eyes. “I mean it, Marco. Drop the gun, or I’ll shoot her and then you.”
“Don’t do it,” I pleaded with Marco.
But he lowered to a squat and tossed his gun a few feet away.
Wyatt’s expression darkened. “I’ve got ’em, Carpenter. Come on out.”
“How could you, Wyatt?” I seethed. “Was my father’s reward not enough? You needed the gold too?”
“You don’t know what I want,” he snapped. “You never did.”
“So enlighten me,” I forced through gritted teeth.
“What’s she talkin’ about?” Derek asked as he walked out of the trees.
“Nothin’ of consequence,” Wyatt said with a frown.
Derek laughed. “Lover’s spat?”
“Nothin’ you need to concern yourself with,” Wyatt said, still pointing the gun at me, but his gaze lifted to Derek’s. “The car accidents are gettin’ out of control, Carpenter. I told you I’d get the information out of her.”
Sirens started to wail in the distance.
A panicked look lit up Derek’s eyes.
“In fact,” Wyatt said, “it’s time for you to make yourself scarce. I’ll clean up your mess, then meet up with you later.”
Derek looked confused, but then his face hardened. “And let you keep the gold all to yourself? No, thanks.” His looked directly at me. “How about I take her with me?”
“Over my dead body,” Marco ground out, stepping between us.
A slow smile spread across Derek’s face as he aimed his handgun at Marco’s chest. “That can be arranged.”
“Don’t be stupid!” Wyatt spat. “You don’t want to add killin’ a deputy sheriff to your list of charges.”
“They won’t know it was me,” Derek sneered.
“They will,” I said, terrified he’d actually fire his gun. “Marco gave them your license plate number this morning. They know plenty.”
“The plate is registered to my dad,” he countered. “They’ll think it’s him.”
“No,” I said in a rush, “he told them it was you driving.” Then, for good measure, I lied. “They know everything. That you threatened me at Marco’s house. That you’re involved in this with Louise. That you killed Jerry. They’ll come lookin’ for you.”
“Fuck!” Derek shouted.
“You want the location of the gold?” I asked. “I’ll tell you. Just don’t shoot Marco, okay?”
The sirens were getting louder.
Derek was becoming frantic. “Where is it?”
“Bruce buried it between the Drummonds’ land and Bingham’s property,” I said. “Out by the construction site.”
“You’re lyin’,” Derek sneered.
“It’s true,” Marco said. “He figured that Bingham’s family had lots of unmarked graves out there. He might as well take advantage of the loose soil.”
“It’s a wonder they never found it with the construction,” I said. “But then, isn’t that why you had Franklin meet Bart out there last night?”
Derek’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talkin’ about?”
He seemed genuinely perplexed. Which meant he didn’t know what Franklin was up to.
“You’ve got to go, Carpenter!” Wyatt shouted. “Go tell Louise the location, and I’ll meet you there.”
“How do I know it’s real?” Derek asked.
“Because it sounds logical,” Wyatt snapped. “No one would have thought to look there. I’ll take care of these two. Go!”
Derek threw us one last look, then took off up the hill.
I shot daggers of hate at Wyatt, but he was focused on Marco.
“How do you plan to keep us quiet, Wyatt?” I asked. “Do you plan to shoot us and blame it on Derek?”
Wyatt glanced up the hill, anger in his eyes.
Marco squatted down next to me.
“You’re not really with him, are you?” he asked him.
“Are you askin’ if I’m usin’ him?” Wyatt asked. “Then the answer is yes.”
“You’re workin’ for your father?” I asked in disgust.
“I know what I’m doin’,” Wyatt snarled. “But I need you two to keep my involvement with Derek out of this when the deputies show up.”
“So you can go get the gold yourself?” I snapped.
“Please,” he sneered. “We all know that’s not where the gold is located. But that was a great location to come up with on the fly.” His expression softened. “You got it, though, right?”
I didn’t answer.
“Marco,” Wyatt said, turning to him, “don’t give it to the deputies. Give it back to Hank. It’s his by rights, if not by law.”