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Jesse’s eyes narrow. “You need help?”
“No.”
“Are you sure—”
“Jesse. How about you dig yourself out of this mess first,” I gestured to the cave, “then you can be my sidekick.”
He grins.
“Alright,” I stand, look down at him. “Now. Onto business. You’re expected at 217 Circuit Street at six-thirty tomorrow morning.”
“What?”
“The construction site, behind the liquor store. Six-thirty. Do not be late, you understand me?” I turn, begin making my way out of the room.
“What for?” Jesse jogs after me.
“You’ve got a job. Digging ditches. Start making your own money so you can be in charge of your life. And you’re going to want a comfortable bed after a day spent digging ditches, trust me. Go to work and thengo home, kid.”
I duck under a stalactite.
“Rhett.”
I turn.
Jesse lifts his chin, pulls his shoulders back. “Six-thirty, sir. Thank you.”
“Don’t disappoint me. You’re taking my job.”
“Yes, sir.”
He calls my name again as I step down the tunnel. “That letter… those numbers and letters… They’re coordinates.”
I turn. “What?”
He nods to the letter in my hand. “It’s not a password or code for anything, its coordinates for a location.”
I blink. He’s right. How the hell hadn’t I realized that?
Jesse smiles.
“Well son of a bitch. Thanks, kid.”
I dip my chin and jog back to the truck.
36
Rhett
The moment my cell phone has reception I pull to the side of the dirt road. One bar. Enough to pull up Google maps.
Mind racing, I punch in the coordinates and impatiently wait as the small computer in my hands appears to have trouble connecting.
Where will the coordinates take me? Somewhere local? Or—my stomach sinks—a location where I would need a plane ticket? Where would I get the money? What will be at the location once I arrive? The letter writer himself? Sylvia? Another clue? My death?
“Come on, come on,” I tap the phone against the steering wheel. Finally, a little red dot pops up on a map.
The location appears to be in the middle of the woods—I zoom out—at the base of Black Bear Mountain, five miles out of town.
