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He frowned. “How do you...?” He paused, seeing the Armos family name and crest on the side of the small plane. “It belongs to your family?”
She nodded, lifting heavy pieces of the front of the plane. “Can you help me?” she asked, struggling under the weight.
He moved closer and took the heavy metal from her. She sent him a grateful look as she carefully climbed inside the cockpit. She moved slowly, scanning the small interior. She picked up an old bag and searched through. “Come on, old man... I know you took it with you,” she muttered to herself.
What was she looking for? Obviously, it wasn’t Winters Lot.
She lifted several seat cushions and peered inside. She rummaged through the entire vessel as if in a trance, as though she’d almost forgotten Dwayne was even there.
“Where is it?” she asked frustratedly to no one. At least, no one who could answer. Frantically, she re-searched the front area of the plane, tossing items onto the ground at his feet. He narrowly escaped a rusted old metal thermos.
“Okay, hey, enough. Time out,” he said, carefully climbing into the wreckage with her and placing his hands on her shoulders. He looked squarely into her eyes. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”
Anna sighed, a look of disappointment crossing her pretty features. “This was my grandfather’s plane. He went in search of Winters Lot twenty years ago after my father died. They’d planned the excursion together, but then my dad got sick before he could go.”
Dwayne nodded slowly. “Sorry to hear that.”
“I was just a little girl, but the death hit me hard. My dad and I weren’t exactly close—he was so obsessed with treasure hunting that he wasn’t home much and he always said treasure hunting wasn’t for little girls.” She looked like the words still ate at her, and Dwayne suspected part of her commitment to her chosen lifestyle was an attempt to prove her father wrong.
“I’m sure he’d feel differently if he were here now,” he said gently.
“I’ll never know.” She took a deep breath and continued. “Gramps decided to go anyway. Alone. No one could talk him out of it.” She paused. “The plane wasn’t in the best of shape. He ran into trouble, but wouldn’t give up and land somewhere safely.”
“He must have been a brave man,” he said. Not unlike his granddaughter.
“He was a determined fool,” she said, but the words were softened by her laugh. “He was my favorite person in the entire world. We did everything together. Which is why I know he took it with him.” Her eyes resumed scanning the aircraft.
“Took what?”
“An heirloom compass. It was in our family for generations—the one thing of any value that Winter had to pass along. Grandpa and my dad always took it on their expeditions. A sort of good-luck charm. He’d almost forgotten it that time. I found it in the den on my dad’s desk and ran out to the plane to give it to him.”
“So, that’s what you’re hoping to find?”
She nodded.
“Was it valuable?”
“Not by any real standards. But it was old and rare and special.” She sighed, hands on her hips, giving up the search. “And unfortunately, it has broken my family apart. My mother and her sister both believe that the other took it when they divided Grandpa’s estate. No one believes me when I say Gramps had it with him.”
“That’s why this was so important to you.”
She nodded. “I want my family to reconcile. If I can bring it home, the sisters can stop this petty fighting before our upcoming family reunion.”
Dwayne nodded, feeling a warmth in his chest by her admission. She wasn’t looking for some elusive treasure. She was doing this for her family. He understood, as family was important to him as well.
Which just made Anna Armos even more perfect.
“Well, let’s keep looking.” Dwayne joined in the search, moving pieces of the broken plane to search the ground below.
Unfortunately, an hour later, every inch of the wreckage was explored and there was still no sign of the compass.
He thought hard, then said, “You said your grandfather ejected before the crash...”
Anna nodded, running her forearm across her sweaty forehead. “He had a parachute and he jumped. Rescue crews found him and got him back to a hospital in Anchorage safely, but he’d suffered a brain injury—a slow bleed that made him confused. He was incoherent and not making any sense when he talked about the expedition. He said he’d made it to the caves and that he’d moved the treasure...” She shook her head. “Then he died in his sleep a week later. He didn’t have the compass with him when they found him, so I thought it had to still be with the plane.”
Dwayne thought about it. “If he ejected between here and the coast, the compass may be along the valley...”
“It could be, but... It’s miles long and it was a long time ago. It would probably be covered by now or someone else may have found it...”
