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“Cheers.” They clinked glasses and took a sip. “Wow,” said Dawson with a broad grin. “It certainly packs a punch.”
His phone buzzed again, and he continued to ignore it.
“Someone’s popular,” Piper teased.
He shook his head. “Work. Not important right now.”
She glanced toward the envelopes. “Will we open them?”
“Sure.”
Piper took off her leather gloves and popped the seal of the envelope. The silver writing caught her eye straight away.Final Clue
Dawson must have noticed at the same time she did. His shoulders sagged a little.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing.” He shook his head. “It’s just—I was enjoying this. I don’t like the thought of it coming to an end.”
Her hand reached over to his. “But this is good, isn’t it? We get to solve the final clue and move on.”
The smile disappeared from his face. “I thought you were enjoying this, too.”
She waved her hand. “Oh, I have. But we both wondered how many clues there would be. Now we know. There are five. And if we can solve this final clue, we reach the end.”
She was excited. She truly was and couldn’t quite understand why Dawson wasn’t as excited as she was. This could mean everything. A better future. A new life. And maybe even one with Dawson in it.
His phone buzzed again.
She was starting to get annoyed. “Do you want to get that?”
He shook his head.
Piper took a breath and pulled the final clue from her envelope.
Back to the beginning of the matter,
In a place virgin to one,
Find the best-known parasite,
Founded into a title close to all hearts.
For a moment her heart skipped a beat. Like all the clues, the first time she read it, it didn’t quite make sense. But the words started to circulate in her brain.
Dawson was staring at the card. A strange expression on his face.
His phone buzzed again and she picked it up in pure frustration. It was a name she didn’t recognize. The first lines of the text were visible.All that land? Could make millions…
Her breath caught somewhere in her throat. She couldn’t see the rest of the message. She didn’t need to. Betrayal swept over her like a tidal wave.
“How could you?” The words didn’t come out angry, she could barely say them.
He blinked, bending over his phone to view the first part of the message, too. His face took on a pained expression. “No…” he started.
But Piper was already on her feet. “You said we’d do this together. Do something for the community. Me with the greenhouses, and you with a training ground. What happened, Dawson? Did you see the money signs flash in front of you? Did your friend point out how much you could make if you sold it to a housing developer?”
Dawson shook his head. “No, Piper. None of this is—”
