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She stifled a sneeze as she set the box on the coffee table and brushed the dust off the top. The cardboard was damp. Years had passed since she’d last opened it. Her stomach roiled at the thought of reopening it. She blamed Gavin for the impulse to dig into Uncle Richard’s life once more. His questioning why she wasn’t do more to find her uncle had rankled.
When she lifted the top off, she was assaulted by the scent of mildew. Setting the lid aside, she peered into the jumbled mass of papers. She extracted the first article on the top of the pile” “Local business man missing. Foul play suspected.” Holding back tears, she read over the news story again.
His disappearance hadn’t made sense to her then, and it didn’t make any more sense now. The gas leases he offered residents had the potential to change their lives for the better. Why anyone would want to hurt him was a mystery, but she was convinced he wouldn’t have walked away from his life. From her. She’d needed him. Still did.
In a manila folder there was a stack of printouts from websites. Theories abounded, but none of them fit. Some thought he’d been abducted by environmental terrorists who would do anything to stop the drilling. Others thought he’d met a woman and run away with her. Even more spouted crazy conspiracies about a society similar to The Illuminati or the Freemasons, but she’d dismissed them as rubbish.
His car had never been found, and she’d avoided his bedroom, but the items he’d left out on his desk, she’d tossed into the box with the newspaper clippings and police reports. Out of sight. Out of mind. Her fingers curled around a small metal pin in the shape of an intricate symbol formed from the initials “C” and “A.” The same symbol was found on his pen and his gold business card case. She opened the case and took out a card. The C could be for his last name, Cleveland, but the A was a complete mystery. The company he worked for was called NovaFuel, so it wasn’t that. She grabbed a sticky note from her junk drawer and sketched out the symbol. Maybe she’d do a reverse image search and see what came of it. And it might not hurt to share it with Wade.
Her phone buzzed. A reminder from Ranger William ‘Billy’ Stone about their plans for the night. She smiled. Billy was an older gentleman who took his job as a ranger seriously, always had time for questions from visitors, and refused to accept nonsense from anyone. He was one of her favorite people. She wouldn’t keep him waiting, so there was no time left to dwell on Uncle Richard’s disappearance.
She needed a bite to eat before she headed out. Time had flown by as she perused the contents of the box, and they had a stakeout planned this evening. It was an attempt to catch a poacher who’d been joy killing deer and leaving them to rot. They were going to setup a decoy and hope the guy took a potshot at it.
Chapter Four
Samanthapushedherchairback from her desk. Her eyes burned from hours of staring at paperwork. The faint scent of skunk lingered in the air despite attempts to cover it up with Lysol spray.
Intermittent updates crackled over the radio as other park rangers went about the business of keeping both visitors and wildlife safe.
An email notification dinged on her cell, but before she could swipe to open it, her phone buzzed.
“Hey, Wade. How’s it going?”
“You have a minute to chat?”
“Sure. What’s up?” She stood and wandered over to the windows overlooking the parking lot. It was a beautiful day despite the chill in the air. The sunshine brought the public out in full force to enjoy an early spring hike or to sit on picnic tables by the lake.
“Checked out that symbol you sketched. Found some old records that trace it to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.”
“Interesting. How so?”
“Some old documents have the same or a similar symbol. I’d like to ask Gavin to look into it since he’s in Philly and has the resources to do a deep dive, but I wanted to check with you before bringing him in.”
Working with Gavin was a complication she didn’t need. Her prior interactions with him were awkward and uncomfortable, but this was about Uncle Richard, not her own bruised ego. “You can ask him if he wants to look into it, but don’t pressure him. I don’t want him to feel obligated.”
“He seemed interested in the case, so I think he’ll jump at the chance to explore it further.”
“Maybe.” Unless he recognized that getting involved would mean being forced to talk to her. He probably wanted no parts of that.
“I’ll let you know when I have something.”
“Thanks for checking into this, Wade.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Let’s see if we make any progress first. While I have you on the phone, Emily said to make sure you put the cake tasting on your calendar. She was also wondering if you could join them tomorrow for wedding dress shopping? Then she scheduled in bridesmaid shopping the following Friday.”
“I’m working tomorrow, but I can see if Billy can switch with me. Tell her I’ll text her tonight.”
Latethatevening,Gavinpulled up everything he could find on Zeta Gamma Xi. It didn’t amount to much. He dialed the private investigator his firm kept on retainer, Pierce Bryson.
“What’s up?”
“I’m searching for information on a sorority, but I’m hitting a brick wall.” He gave Pierce the details and disconnected the call.
He flipped through the channels, but couldn’t find anything worth watching, so he grabbed his laptop to see if he could log into a streaming service and get lost in a movie. His mouse hovered over the login for the server at work. This was his vacation, but he wondered what he might’ve missed since he’d been out of the office. Grayson could handle things. There was no reason for him to fret. But it wouldn’t hurt to have a peek. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do.
He picked up his phone and called Scott. “What’s up, boss?”
“Cate tucked in safe and sound?”
