“Why don’t we sit down and you can tell me why you’re here?” Logan led her over to a claw-foot round oak table in the corner surrounded by four oak chairs. Like the outer office, there were stacks of papers and maps around the room, on the floor and the tops of both oak file cabinets. Manila folders sat in a haphazard pile on the corner of his desk. There was a door off to one side that appeared to open to a private bathroom.
“Can I get you something?” Logan asked. “Coffee, or maybe a soda?”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
He rested an elbow on the table, his shirtsleeves rolled up over muscular forearms. “I understand you have a proposition for me.”
Her mind went straight to the bedroom. The man had sex appeal and plenty of it. Add to that, she had been following his exploits ever since her grandfather had mentioned him several years back and had begun to imagine him as having almost superhuman abilities. She had a fair complexion, and she hoped the color in her cheeks wouldn’t betray her thoughts.
Abby smiled. “A proposition, yes. I want you to help me find a treasure. That’s what you do, right? You find all sorts of missing things, historical artifacts, sunken ships, missing airplanes.”
“My partner and I tend to specialize, but basically, yes, that’s what we do.”
“But it was you who found the lost rubies of Amanitore, right? Gems that belonged to the Queen of Nubia?”
He nodded. “The rubies actually belonged to a daughter of the queen. I’ve been back in the States for a while since then, but yes, I led the expedition that found them.”
“I want you to help me find my grandfather’s treasure.”
Logan leaned back in his chair. “That was in the message you left on my phone. Interesting, but not very informative. What sort of treasure are you looking for?”
Abby’s smile widened. “Gold, Mr. Logan, at least two hundred million dollars’ worth.”
Logan’s expression didn’t change, the gigantic sum clearly not impressing him. “I assume you have some reason to believe you know where to find it, or at least have some clue as to where it’s supposed to be located.”
“I have a map, Mr. Logan. It was willed to me when my grandfather died. In the past few months, I’ve been making preparations to find it, but I need your help.”
“It’s just Gage, and you realize most treasure maps are fake, even the old ones.”
“Not this one. My grandfather was an explorer, much like you. His name was King Farrell. I believe you may have heard of him.”
Logan’s intense blue eyes sharpened. “King Farrell was your grandfather?”
“That’s right, my mother’s father. His travels kept him away a lot, but whenever he was home, we spent as much time together as possible. I loved hearing his stories, tales of his travels. When my mother fell ill, then passed away, we grew even closer.” She felt a pang just saying the words out loud. She had nursed her mother during the terrible years of her cancer. She still missed her every day.
“I’m sorry for your loss. I heard your grandfather has also passed.”
“That’s right. King died three months ago.” Abby blocked a fresh surge of emotion. “He left the map to me in his will, along with the house he owned here in Denver.”
“Go on.”
“Receiving his bequest gave me a choice. I could keep the house and forget the treasure. Or sell the house and use the money to finance an expedition. I sold the house.”
One of his dark brown eyebrows inched up. “You’re that sure the map he left you is real?”
“I know what people say about him. That all those years of searching for the Devil’s Gold drove him over the edge. They said he never produced any real evidence the treasure existed. They called it King’s Folly. They said he was a fool. But my grandfather was no fool.”
Gage leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers. “So you’re completely certain the map is real.”
“I was fairly sure when I found out he’d left it to me in his will. Now that someone’s tried to kill me for it, I’m entirely certain.”
Gage straightened, his posture no longer relaxed. “Tell me what happened.”
Abby filled him in on the attack three weeks ago, including the description of the man in black who had broken into her house in search of the map. Over the next few days, she’d purchased a. 38 revolver and had a security system installed, but she had been more than ready to move out.
“I listed the property for sale the next day. It’s a lovely old Victorian, and the Denver market is strong. I had a full-price offer by the end of the week.”
Those intense blue eyes ran over her, and she felt a little curl of heat in the pit of her stomach.
“Clearly you’re serious about this,” he said. “Unfortunately, I only met King Farrell a couple of times. I never knew him on a personal level. I’ll need a lot more information before I make a decision.”
“Assuming you agree, how does it work?”
“It’s all fairly straightforward. Our lawyers draw up a contract. In layman’s terms, you and I share equally in the cost of the expedition. You provide the information. I provide the expertise and the crew necessary to make it work. If we find something, the expenses are deducted, including any government fees and any unexpected monies that might be required, and the balance is split fifty-fifty.”
She nodded, expecting similar terms. “That sounds fair enough.”
“You referred to this as the Devil’s Gold. From what I’ve read, King never gave any indication of where the gold was supposed to be. His travels took him everywhere—from Africa to the southern US border to the tip of Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. That’s a lot of ground to cover.”
“I can narrow it down for you. You have a reputation for honesty, Mr. Logan. If you’re willing to sign a nondisclosure agreement, I’ll give you all the information you need.”
“It’s Gage, and I’m happy to do that—if it gets that far. In the meantime, I’ll have to do some digging. Give me a couple of days. Why don’t we meet here again Wednesday morning, if that works for you.”
“Ten o’clock?”
“That’s fine.”
“All right,” she agreed. “Then I look forward to talking to you on Wednesday.”
“If you’re interested in the Amanitore rubies, I’m giving a guest lecture tomorrow night at the Museum of Nature and Science. Begins at seven p.m.”
Mostly she was interested in seeing the way Logan handled himself. She would be trusting this man to help her find her grandfather’s treasure. She wanted to know as much about him as she could.
“Perhaps I’ll see you there.” She rose from her chair, and Logan rose as well. As she walked out of the office, she could feel him watching her, and a thread of sexual awareness slipped through her.
Abby sighed. She didn’t like the attraction she felt for Gage Logan. It was a complication she didn’t need. If they partnered for the search, she would be spending days, possibly weeks with him. She didn’t want to feel this pull that could very well be one-sided.
And if it were mutual?
Even worse. Finding the treasure meant everything to her. King Farrell had been a great man, a man she loved and respected. For years, she had begged him to take her on one of his expeditions. In the beginning, she’d been too young. By the time she was old enough, her parents were divorced, her mother had been diagnosed with fourth-stage, terminal breast cancer, and Abby was needed at home.