06 Uncovering Hidden Treasure (11 page)

Goose says, "I agree. It is confusing. Let's
let Eric look at the video of the theft and see if he sees anything
else."

Stump nods, "Good idea, he may pick up on
something about his movements or something."

So they show the video to Eric and Damian.
When the video shows the man loading the materials into a pickup,
Eric says, "That's not Mr. Wilbanks vehicle. He drives a really
cool red Mustang and this guy has bigger muscles in his arms. Mr.
Wilbanks doesn't have tattoos like this guy does either. It sure
does look like him though."

Goose backs up the video and reruns it to see
if they can get a license plate number off of the truck. They
manage to see enough to know the plate is from out of state,
possibly California.

Sam has been going through the stack of mug
shots looking for the second guy involved in her kidnapping and she
suggests, "What if Mr. Wilbanks has an evil twin?"

Stump looks up surprised and says, "It's
possible. Let's run T. Wilbanks through the database and see what
we get."

When the report comes back they get a hit on
a Terrence Wilbanks that has a rap sheet a mile long. When they
pull his photo it is an almost perfect match for Thomas Wilbanks,
math teacher except Terrence Wilbanks has tattoos on his very
muscular arms. His last known address was in Los Angeles,
California.

Goose says, "Well, what do you know? Great
job, Samantha!"

Stump looks over at Sam and exchanges a smile
with her. His heart is overflowing with pride. The exchange does
not go unnoticed by Bear.

When Scoot and Pinky walk into the office
they present their theory to them. Scoot says, "I think it's a good
theory, but how are we going to find this guy? If he doesn't work
at the construction site, unless he happens to be staying at his
brother's house, he is going to be hard to track down."

Pinky says, "I doubt his brother even knows
he's in the area. They are as different as daylight and dark."

Scoot says, "Well, we can get law enforcement
to ask him. It won't hurt."

Bear says, "It might hurt. If he notifies his
brother that we are looking for him he might disappear and then we
won't be able to locate that mine at all."

Scoot concedes, "Good point Bear. What do you
suggest?"

Bear says, "Well, they have been hitting the
construction site at least once a week. Why don't we stake it out
and follow them the next time they hit it?"

Pinky says, "We can take it in twenty-four
hour shifts and no one will have to be away from home too
long."

Scoot says, "Stump, can you think of
someplace around the area to set up a stake out where we can see
but not be seen?"

Stump says, "The woods around the place are
still very thick and will provide sufficient cover for a stakeout.
You would have to watch for bears though. Quite a few of them have
been seen roaming freely around that section of the park."

Sam says, "Instead of following the guy, why
not put a locator on his truck while he is stealing the stuff. Then
you can sit back and let him go to the mine before you grab
him."

Goose says, "Good idea, we can monitor the
camera from the lodge, then when we see him at the construction
site, someone can put the locator on his truck. Less danger, I like
it."

Scoot says, "It is doubtful the guy is
working alone. What if someone is watching the truck while another
is loading the stuff and catches us trying to put the locator on
the truck?"

Goose says, "At the very least, we should be
able to get the license plate, make, model, and color of the truck.
Then we should be able to locate it within the park."

Scoot says, "All right, we'll give it a try.
I'll call Jeffrey and get us a room at the lodge where we can
monitor the cameras. Pinky, get the program loaded on the laptop.
We'll do this in pairs. Stump, I still think you and Sam both need
to stay out of site for a while so I'm not going to include you in
the schedule."

Sam says, "Scoot here is the picture of the
second guy that kidnapped me." She hands him the picture.

Scoot says, "I'll turn it over to Jeffrey
Whitmore and have him picked up."

Sam asks, "Have they determined for sure why
they kidnapped me?"

Scoot says, "Not for sure, we are still
leaning toward the lost cave theory."

Scoot's cell phone rings and he answers. When
he disconnects, he shakes his head disgustedly and says, "Damn!
Stump pack your bags, you're going to have to go to Washington DC
for a few days. Congress is subpoenaing one of us to testify about
our last mission in Central America. Hopefully, they won't require
all of us."

Stump glances at Sam then asks, "When do I
have to leave?"

Scoot glances at his watch then says, "Well,
you've missed the last flight out of here tonight, so make your
reservation for the first flight in the morning.

Stump sits down at the computer and makes his
flight and room reservations for his trip to Washington DC. He is
dreading being away from the ranch, away from Samantha. Wait! When
did this happen? When did she become so important to him? Since
when does Clarence Kincaid Jr. allow his dick to make his
decisions? Damn! What's wrong with him? Maybe this trip is exactly
what he needs to get his head back on straight. He goes to his
bedroom and begins packing his bags for his trip to Washington
DC.

Samantha knew the exact moment when Rance's
attitude toward her changed. She felt the chill deep down in her
soul. Her eyes cloud with tears and she slowly rises from her chair
and makes her way out of the office and over to the main ranch
house. She goes straight to her bedroom and closes the door where
she lets her tears fall. What happened? Why did he change his mind
about her? What is she going to do now? What if she's pregnant?

Bear knew the moment when Stump's attitude
toward Sam changed too. He had been watching both Stump and Sam and
felt the chill as surely as if he was one of them. Damn! He had
hoped they had worked through their differences. They are perfect
for each other but he knows they have to work this out
themselves.

******

Stump has been tossing and turning for what
seems like hours. His arms are aching to hold Samantha and every
time he closes his eyes he sees her pleading face begging him to
make love to her. He finally gets out of bed and walks to the
window facing the house and looks across the expanse. Then he sees
her. She is sitting in the wooden swing on the stone patio in back
of the house. The moonlight is reflecting off of her beautiful pale
blonde hair making it appear like a halo around her head. She is
dressed in a floor length silk robe and nightgown. It looks white
in the moonlight but may be another pale color. She looks just like
an angel sitting in that swing. Damn! She is so beautiful and Stump
has his usual reaction, his member springs to full attention
throbbing with need. He continues to stand in the window watching
her, mesmerized by the vision before him.

Samantha's heart is breaking. She has cried
until there just aren't any more tears left to fall. How did she
fall so deeply in love with Rance Kincaid in such a short time?
Will his rejection ever stop hurting? Oh God, help me please!
Finally, she rises from the swing and makes her way back to her
room where she succumbs to her exhaustion.

When Samantha rises from the swing, it takes
every ounce of Stump's control not to run after her and beg her to
make love with him. He watches until she disappears from sight,
then he makes his way back to his bedroom, opens a pint of whiskey
he keeps for emergencies, and downs the whole thing in a few gulps.
It burns his throat and helps to ease the discomfort in his nether
region. When the whiskey is gone he falls on the bed and sinks into
a restless sleep.

******

All during his flight to Washington DC the
following morning, Stump is forced to study the file of notes and
pictures that he, Pinky, and Scoot made following their last
mission in Central America. Scoot nearly died on that mission and
when they returned to the states the group decided they would no
longer accept missions outside of the United States and Canada. Now
that all of the guys are married except him, that decision is set
in stone. A wave of loneliness washes over him followed by a vision
of Samantha sitting in the swing in her flowing nightgown and the
halo around her head. He shakes his head clearing it of the vision.
He has got to keep his mind on this assignment, these committee
meetings can be very intense and stressful and he needs to be well
prepared.

******

When Samantha wakes the next morning, she is
determined to move on with her life. She has survived other tough
times and she will survive this one too. She dresses in comfortable
jeans and a long sleeve shirt, grabs a homemade cinnamon roll and a
mug of coffee from the kitchen, and heads over to Pinky's house
where she plans to sit down with Leaf Leblanc to question him about
what he has learned about the lost cave.

Leaf Leblanc is Pinky's wife, Jasmine's
brother. He works for the government and does some consulting for
Drake Security. He is a computer genius and Scoot had asked him to
find out what he could about the legend of the lost cave.

When Sam gets to Pinky's house she knocks on
the front door and it is answered by Jasmine, Pinky's new wife.
Smiling, she says, "Samantha, hello, what brings you over this way
so early this morning?"

Blushing, Samantha says, "Hello Jasmine, I
apologize if I'm intruding, but I wanted to ask Leaf what he has
found out about the lost cave."

Jasmine smiles and says, "Sure, come on in,
we were just finishing up breakfast. Have you eaten?"

"Yes, thank you for asking," replies
Samantha. As soon as Samantha walks into the kitchen little Timmy
Thompson Williams flies into her arms. Samantha saved his life when
he was kidnapped after his parents were murdered in Tennessee. She
wraps her arms around him pulling him close to her chest and fights
back tears as she says, "Oh, Timmy, how are you? I've missed you so
much. You have grown at least a foot! Just look at you."

"I've missed you too Miss Sam," replies
Timmy. "Come and see my room!"

She stands as Timmy grabs her hand and drags
her to view his room. He is so precious. At one time she had hoped
to be Pinky's wife and Timmy's mother, but that was not meant to
be. Pinky and Jasmine have loved each other since they were
children. Jasmine was kidnapped as a fifteen year old and held
prisoner in a militia type compound by a crazy man, the same man
that shot at Samantha and stabbed Stump.

After making all of the appropriate comments
to Timmy about his room she returns to the kitchen where she looks
over at the others and says, "Hello Leaf, Sherrie. Leaf, have you
been able to find out anything about the lost cave?"

Leaf replies, "As a matter of fact, I have
found quite a bit of information. Come on in the study and I'll
show you."

Leaf and Samantha retire to the study where
he shows her stacks of information he has pulled off the internet
about the lost cave. He shows her maps that people have drawn up
that show where they believe the cave is as well as dozens of
articles written by people that have searched hundreds of different
locations looking for the cave.

Sam spends a couple of hours looking through
the file and then asks, "Would you mind if I carry this stuff over
to the Drake Security office?"

Leaf replies, "No, I don't mind. I have it
all on disc if you would rather take that."

Sam says, "Oh that would be wonderful, thank
you."

So when Sam leaves Pinky's house and heads
back to the main ranch house she is thrilled. She is going to study
all of the information Leaf gave her and she is going to find that
lost cave!

As Sam is driving back to the main ranch
house she spots a new house under construction across the pasture
near Bear and Jesse's home and she can't resist walking through it.
She loves to see what others are doing with their houses so she can
plan what she wants to do when she finally builds one of her own.
She wonders who is building this house. It may be Leaf and Sherrie
Leblanc's though she would have thought they would build closer to
Pinky and Jasmine. Well, possibly it belongs to Bud and Mary Wilkes
or Bob and Virginia Kenner. Hmmmm, she just doesn't know.

This is a two story ranch style with a porch
extending the entire length of the front of the house. It has floor
to ceiling windows looking out across the pasture toward the snow
covered mountains. She can picture groupings of rocking chairs
along the front with ceiling fans above to offer relief from the
hot summer nights.

When she walks inside she is amazed at how
closely this house mirrors the one she has had pictured in her mind
for years. The front door opens directly into a large family room
with a big natural stone fireplace and built in bookshelves along
one wall. The floors are wooden planks polished to a shine and she
can picture colorful area rugs and sturdy leather furniture grouped
around the room. The far end of the family room opens into the
formal dining room that is big enough for a table to seat at least
twelve. The kitchen is beyond and has dark green tiles covering the
counters. The cabinets are a dark oak. An island stands in the
middle and state of the art stainless steel appliances glisten in
the early morning sunlight. One end of the kitchen has room for a
less formal dining table surrounded by windows to let in the
sunlight. Samantha can picture a happy family gathered around the
table enjoying time together working on homework or enjoying a
meal.

The door to the master bedroom opens directly
into the family room. The bedroom is huge with a stone fireplace at
one end to add warmth and ambiance. She can picture a huge king
size bed in the center of the room and a cozy grouping of
comfortable chairs in front of the fire with maybe a bear skin rug.
A picture of her and Rance lying in front of the fireplace making
love flashes across her mind. She shakes her head to erase the
picture, like that's going to happen.