Shiver(73)

“She married him, huh?”

“Uh…yeah. You okay with that?” Peter looked apprehensive.

“As long as the fish cop makes her happy,” Aidan admitted, realizing it was actually true.

“Well, anyway,” Peter said. “When Lana called, all upset because she couldn’t get a hold of you, we kinda came up with a plan. She flew into Fairbanks, and I picked her up, and then we came here.”

“What did you think you were going to do when you got here?” Aidan looked from one to the other. “What was in this letter?”

“Dad’s really upset about Uncle Earl dying,” Lana started. “He said he was coming here.”

Aidan remembered all too clearly the bitter, hateful words Roland had yelled at him after Aidan had killed his only brother. Roland and Earl were not only brothers but cohorts. There was nothing the two of them had liked better than causing mischief and mayhem. It was still hard to swallow that they’d added murder to the mix.

“What does that have to do with you two ending up in Chatanika?”

“Dad’s after something. Something Uncle Earl had. And I’m afraid of what he’s going to do to you.” Lana reached into her purse and pulled out the letter, handing it to Aidan. “He’s already in so much trouble. We have to stop him before he does something worse.”

Aidan gingerly touched the bump on the back of his head. Had Roland knocked him senseless and left him to die this afternoon? Had he been the one to toss his rental and blow through Earl’s place? Aidan took the letter. “What’s he looking for?”

“I haven’t a clue. But whatever it is, I think he’s willing to do anything to get it.” Lana pointed at the letter Aidan held. “Read it. See if you can make any sense of it.”

Aidan unfolded the well-worn paper. Lana had been over this more than a few times. He read the letter twice. The hairs on the back of his neck rose. Roland was definitely on his last fish fry. He studied both Lana and Peter. “Huh. Well, looks like Uncle Roland wants me dead.”

“Uh, yeah,” Peter said. “That part about you being gutted and your innards strung out for the wolves was a good indication.”

“Aidan, you’re the closest thing I have to a brother. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” Lana’s eyes once again filled with tears. Aidan reached over and squeezed her hand.

“What do you think he meant about claiming the windfall that is now rightly his?” Peter asked. “Was Earl rich?”

“No.” Aidan frowned. “I haven’t found any evidence of bank accounts, tax records, investments. Earl lived under the radar. After he’d served in Vietnam, Uncle Sam wasn’t going to get another piece of him. Hell, I had to apply for my own social security card when I left home. It explains why someone has been searching Earl’s place, though. There must be something hidden in the cabin.”

He took a deep breath, and narrowed his eyes. “I’ve spent the last few days going through everything, and I haven’t found anything of interest.” He reexamined the letter. “What kind of windfall would Earl have? Money never seemed important to him. Just causing trouble. ”

“Maybe it isn’t money,” Peter said. “We are in gold country.”

Gold. Earl had killed for gold. Fox senior had paid with his life. It wasn’t a stretch to believe he’d horded whatever he’d found. But where would he hide something like that?

Another thing kept bugging him. If his uncle was serious about his demise, it didn’t make sense for Roland to hit him on the head and leave without making sure he was dead.

One thing you could count on about Earl and Roland Harte: when it came to threats, they kept their word.





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“All right, sis.” Tern breezed into Raven’s place, tossing her fur-trimmed black suede coat over the back of the couch. “What’s so important that I had to leave town and travel to the boonies?”

“I slept with Aidan,” Raven blurted out, looking around the cabin for Fox even though she knew he was at school.

“Well, then.” Tern took a seat and crossed her legs, her fingers one-by-one pulling off her black leather gloves. “When?”

“Yesterday.” In the middle of the night, after she’d sobbed until she was bone dry, she’d decided to buck up and take control of her life—before others took control for her. She needed to arm herself and rebuild her fortress, so to speak. Time to go on the offensive. Which meant coming clean to her family before they found out the truth from someone else. That someone else being Aidan, or worse, Fox. Tern was the best one to start with. She wasn’t only Raven’s sister, but her best friend. And she was as honest and forthcoming as bitter coffee.