Wilde One (18 page)

“Maybe Morris…”

She scrunched up her nose. “You should have heard the way he talked to the bartender at the Shrimp Shack. The man’s a bore.” Marietta batted long lashes. “I’d make it worth your while.”

Griff coughed then cleared his throat.

Ainslee raised a hand and stared at it then slowly folded her fingers into a fist. “Nope, I’m not invisible. I was beginning to wonder.”

He made another strangling noise. “Uh, maybe you could call a friend or relative to join you in the search.”

Marietta let out a sigh. “I already did, but I’d hoped…” Another sigh was followed by a shrug as she gave Ainslee an up and down inspection. Her top lip curled before she glanced back at Griff. “If you change your mind, look me up at the next stop.” Turning, she headed toward her car, hips swaying.

“Forward little thing, isn’t she?”

Griff shook his head and grinned. “That was unbelievable.”

“Sure you don’t want to take her up on her offer?”

“I’m sure.” He laid his right hand on her arm, much the way Marietta had touched him. “Look, I’m sorry about that—”

Ainslee’s bare skin tingled before she jerked her arm away. “Why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You’re right, I didn’t.”

He leaned forward as the actress climbed into her car. A moment later, she peeled out and roared up the street.

His fingers tapped the steering wheel. “I wonder if the others are here yet.”

Ainslee forced down irrational irritation. It truly wasn’t Griff’s fault Marietta had approached him. Still… She shrugged off her ill humor and focused on his question. “Let’s see, there’s one way to find out who’s here.”

His head snapped around. “There is?”

“Yep, there is. See the big, wooden sign up ahead for the General Store? Mrs. Granger, the owner, knows everything happening in town practically before it takes place. The woman has eyes like a hawk—or maybe a vulture—and a way of ferreting out information that would put the best trained detective to shame. If strangers are wandering the streets of Cloverdale, she’ll have all the details.”

“God, I love small towns.”

“Unless you have something to hide.” Ainslee grinned. “You won’t find too many cheating husbands—or wives—around here. Mrs. Granger would put the name of the culprit through the gossip mill before the poor sap had time to shower off the evidence.”

“Okay, small towns may have a few drawbacks.” Griff pulled away from the curb, passed a couple of pickups then turned into the lot in front of the store. “Since I’m not a cheater, I’m still a fan.” He parked then turned off the engine. “Let’s go chat up your Mrs. Granger.”

“Just be careful what you say. Remember the information trail goes in both directions.”

“Got it.” He opened the car door then pushed Rocky back onto the seat when he tried to escape. “Stay there, boy.” Glancing toward Ainslee, he continued, “I’ll be very cool. Watch and learn from a master.”

She slammed her door shut. “Why do I feel like we’re in over our heads?”

“I’ve no idea. I was born to be a spy.”

Ainslee rolled her eyes. “I thought you were the wild one, not the sneaky one.”

“I’m both.”

“Yeah, right.”

He chuckled as he fell into step behind her. Bins of fresh produce sat beside the open front door. Inside, the aisles were filled with food to the left and typical dime store merchandise to the right. In the front, a long counter was stocked with glass jars of candy. A big woman with hair dyed an unlikely shade of bronze manned the antique cash register in the middle. Hazel eyes brightened as her customers walked across the echoing plank floor.

“My goodness, Ainslee. You certainly look tanned and glowing.” Wilma Granger shot a speculative glance toward Griff. “Your grandma isn’t too happy you can’t—or won’t—stay for a longer visit.”

Ainslee’s hackles rose at the implied criticism. “Next time, Mrs. Granger. Unfortunately, I’m on a tight schedule.”

“Introduce me to your friend. I hear you two took a drive out to the old water tower yesterday. Aren’t you a little old for a teenage hangout?”

She gritted her teeth. “Mrs. Granger, meet Griff Wilde.”

“A pleasure.” He flashed a smile as he shook her hand. “What a wonderful place you have here. Real licorice is hard to find.” He pointed toward a jar filled with black ropes. “I’ll take a couple of those and an assortment of jaw breakers.”

“Coming right up.” The store owner pulled out a white paper bag. “The town is full of tourists this week.” She glanced over at Ainslee. “Strange, don’t you think?”

“That is odd. Cloverdale isn’t exactly a mecca for visitors.”

“Especially ones who wear heels guaranteed to break your neck.” She clicked her tongue against prominent teeth as she dropped Griff’s licorice into the bag. “Then yesterday, this rude, blond fellow asked John over at the gas station about some imaginary tower and nearly blew a gasket when he told him we didn’t have one. After I heard you’d been spotted at the silos prior to your trip to the water tower, it set me to thinking.”

“Just showing Griff around town.” Ainslee shoved her hands into the pockets of her shorts, regretting her bright idea to pump the woman for information. At the rate they were going, word of the treasure hunt would be featured on the local news that evening. She cleared her throat. “We also took a ride through town and toured the farm.”

Griff’s smile resembled that of a crocodile as he slipped an arm around her waist. “A man likes to know a little history about the place his special lady comes from.”

“What a refreshing attitude.” Mrs. Granger glanced from one to the other then beamed. “So many young people don’t care anything about the past.” One brow disappeared into a fringe of bangs. “Can I expect an engagement announcement in my mailbox sometime soon?”

Ainslee bent to cough and sputter as Griff’s arm tightened. “Uh, nothing’s official yet. We aren’t in a rush.”

“You should be. You aren’t getting any younger.” She set the candy filled bag in front of Griff. “That’ll be four thirty-two with tax.”

“Coming right up.” He released Ainslee to reach for his wallet and hand over a five. “I don’t suppose an old buddy of mine has been through town? We seem to have missed him, and I can’t reach him on his cell. A tall, black man?”

“Don’t forget handsome.” Ainslee offered the addendum with a dark glance toward Griff.

“The Samson twins couldn’t talk about anything else this morning. Your friend, Mr. Jones, played basketball with them at the park after dinner last night.” The woman handed over Griff’s change. “Then the boys took him up to the water tower. Appears the place is more popular than an amusement park. I wonder why?”

“I’ve no idea.” Ainslee backed away from the counter. “Quite an odd collection of strangers. Is that all of them?”

“I believe so. Good to see you, Ainslee. Have a safe drive to Wyoming.”

“Thanks.” She bolted out of the store then waited for Griff beside a flat filled with ripe tomatoes. “How did Mrs. Granger know we’re headed to Wyoming?”

“Maybe she read your mind. You looked like a deer in the headlights in there.”

“I felt like one.” She punched his arm. “Did you have to insinuate we’re on the verge of marriage? Geez, the whole town will be congratulating my parents before the day is over. Then they’ll want to know…never mind.” She let out a breath. “I’ll set them straight.”

“Seemed like the most reasonable cover story, although I’m not sure why we didn’t just tell her the truth.”

“Are you kidding? As fast as word travels around here, some producer would probably turn our road trip into a movie of the week. I don’t need the notoriety.”

Griff clicked the remote to unlock the SUV. “Despite your obvious terror in the face of the town gossip, our little interview was productive.” He held up the white bag. “Not to mention sweet. I love licorice.”

“You’ll crack a tooth on those jaw breakers.”

He gave her a long, lingering look. “Not if I suck them slowly.”

Her face heated. Suppressing a smile, she climbed into the SUV, settled Rocky on her lap and let out a breath. “Did you have a point somewhere in there?”

He slammed his door before he started the engine. “My point is we now know we’re back in the crowd. All the other contenders are here in town, which means any one of them could have tried to nail me with the rock last night.”

“True. Sounds like we have a slight lead, though. Marietta just picked up the clue. Parnell didn’t get to the water tower until dark, so he probably couldn’t see the names. Chances are he’s up there again right now.” She lifted one hand. “Who knows about Ogden Morris? He obviously hadn’t identified the correct tower when he rolled into town yesterday.”

“But, we have to assume they’ve all done their homework. The fact that they got here as fast as we did tells us they expected to find a clue in Iowa. They’ll be quick to make the Wyoming connection, the same way we were.”

“I suppose so. Obviously Victor didn’t pit us against a bunch of lamebrains.”

“So, the only challenge is in the exact location.” Griff stopped the car at a crosswalk before continuing through town. “With this next trip, Victor will have left a clue in each of the five hometowns. Do you think the treasure is buried somewhere on our ranch?”

Ainslee frowned. “Does that seem fair? Would he hide the prize on your home turf?”

“Good point. I guess we’ll find out once we decipher the next riddle.”

“First we have to find it.”

Their speed increased as they passed out of Cloverdale and took the onramp to the highway. “I’ve been thinking about that.”

She stroked Rocky’s sleek back. “Did you come up with a possibility?”

He nodded. “What does dark and echoing say to you?”

“Some sort of hollow chamber? A dungeon or a…”

“Cave.”

A shudder rippled through her. “Cave’s freak me out. All those tons of rock closing in on me. And bats. Ugh.”

“Are you claustrophobic?”

“I guess. Gage shut me in a closet once when I was about eight. He thought it was funny until I started screaming and didn’t stop. The lock jammed…” Her hand resting on the dog shook. “I think he was almost as scared as I was.”

“And to think I used to like your brother.”

“He was pretty young and didn’t know I was going to turn into a psycho. Dad made it clear he wouldn’t sit down for a week if it ever happened again.”

Reaching across the console, Griff squeezed her hand. “Spiders freak me out. My idiot brothers used to put rubber ones in my bed once they realized I’d scream like a girl when I found them. After I punched Sawyer and knocked out one of his teeth they stopped torturing me.”

She covered her mouth. “Oh. My. God!”

“It was a baby tooth. I didn’t permanently disfigure him or anything.”

“Good to know.” She grinned. “We’re quite a pair.”

“Yes, we are.”

Her pulse thrummed as his eyes filled with compassion—and caring. Griff was everything she wanted in a man. Funny, charming, sympathetic, sexy… But, for an even-tempered man, his moods changed faster than the weather on the prairie whenever the word
relationship
came up. Sunny one minute with thunderclouds building on the horizon the next. As much as she liked him, getting caught in a storm wasn’t part of her game plan.

The New York experience had beaten her down some, but she wasn’t broken yet. Chin in hand, she glanced out at the fields and road signs whizzing by. She still wanted to teach, was still determined to make a difference in some student’s life wherever she settled. Traipsing around God knew where with Griff, she wouldn’t be able to do that.

Her glance slid his way as he hummed to the radio. Not that she expected it’d be much of an issue since he’d been clear he was content to keep things casual between them.

She’d be wise to remember that.

Griff glanced in the rearview mirror. The black sedan was still back there. Had been off and on for the last hour or more. At least that’s when he’d first noticed it. Was the driver on cruise control at the same speed he was, or was someone intentionally following them? He pulled into the right-hand lane and slowed ten miles an hour. The sedan dropped a little farther back.

“Son of a bitch!”

“What? What?” Ainslee jerked, straightened in her seat and yawned. “I dozed off. What happened?”

“Someone’s following us. Damn. You’d think they could figure the riddle out for themselves without tagging along behind us.”

“Unless it’s the crazy rock-thrower intent on running us off the road.”

“We’re on an interstate freeway. He’d get caught in about two seconds if he tried anything stupid.” Griff glanced in the mirror again and scowled. “I’m not worried about physical danger. Mostly I’m just irritated we’re leading this guy to the next clue location.”

She shifted the dog on her lap. “You think he intends to follow us for that long? It’s starting to get dark, and I’m tired. I don’t know about you, but I’d kind of like to stop for the night. I don’t care if the others get ahead of us. Some of them probably took a flight to Wyoming, so they’re in the lead now, anyway.”

“True, and a break would be nice. However, there’s nothing but podunk towns along this stretch of South Dakota highway. I’m not sure we’ll find a campground between here and the Badlands, and that’s still quite a few miles away.”

“Too bad we got a late start thanks to my mom insisting on cooking a big breakfast.” She stretched out her arms, then dropped them in her lap and sighed. “The side-trip to talk to Wilma Granger before we left town didn’t speed up the process, either.”

“Not to mention it took forever to get served at that Chinese place. I told you we should have gotten fast food for dinner.”

Ainslee wrinkled her nose. “I’m sick of burgers and fries. Anyway, they’re bad for you.” Another yawn nearly fractured her jaw. “If we can’t camp, let’s find a motel.”

“Will do. The next town is about fifteen miles from here. We can look for a place to stay when we get there.” He couldn’t help wondering if she’d insist on separate rooms. Her mood was still—cautious. He stomped on the gas and shot around a slow moving RV.