Alvarado Gold (8 page)

“Hello, Addie. I’m so sorry about your grandfather.” Catherine never could keep a poker face. Today, she looked like she would explode if she didn’t tell me whatever ran through her mind. “How was the trip to Houston?”

“The trip was fine.” I thought I might as well hear the latest office gossip. Obviously, she couldn’t wait too much longer to tell me. “What’s up?”

“Jack cleared an area in the archive examining room for you. I can’t believe what’s on your desk. Wait until you see it.” Now, she would drag it out, but I didn’t want to play the game.

“Well, if you’re not going to tell me, I guess I’ll just find out for myself. When Jack comes in, have him give me a ring, will you?” Jack, who was usually an hour later than everyone else, would come in laden with bagels and coffee. I hope he remembered I liked a cafe latte grande with two packets of fake sugar.

I made my way to the archive room, saying hello to my old co-workers as I went down the hall. I gasped when I opened the door. Then looked around in hopes no one heard me. Arranged in a low, free form bowl with a translucent pink, pearl finish sat the largest bouquet I’d ever seen. Surely Jack hadn’t given them to me my first day back as a welcome gift. I put down the box and my brown bag lunch to read the card.

When we talked on Tuesday, I upset you. Please forgive me. My only intention was to help. Yours, Gary.

Yours!
I could go a mile or two on that one.
Wouldn’t it be nice if he were mine?
What am I thinking? What was he thinking?
I could call Susan; she remembered him. No, she thought I should call him in the first place. I’d get in touch with Mel.

I picked up the phone and punched in the four-digit code for Catherine’s desk. She answered on half a ring. “Catherine, when did these get here?”

“They came yesterday, late in the afternoon. Who are they from, Addie?”

“Just someone I met in Houston who is helping me solve a family situation.” It was just a little stretch of the truth. I might just let him help us out after all.
Yours!
Why didn’t he put sincerely or just his name? Why did I care?

Because of the size of the flower arrangement, I couldn’t work at my desk. I put it on top of the file cabinet. I still couldn’t get over how it seemed to have a life of its own. The bouquet had carnations, star lilies, baby’s breath, you name it. It must have cost Gary a fortune.

The sweet perfume filled the room and lightened my heart. Gary Wright was probably just another nice guy. Yet, I had a feeling he was after something else. He seemed to know more than he cared to divulge which altered my concept of his integrity, but still, it wasn’t like me to be so nasty. Was he really as sincere as he appeared? It was my nature to analyze everything, which wasn’t always the best idea. I’d become overly critical of Gary, perhaps jaded by my past relationships or my irritating habit to question every detail. Maybe I should just let things happen. I could hear Grandpa’s voice, “It's your time, Addie.”

I continued to get my little corner of the room in order until I heard a light rapping on the door. Jack stuck his head in. He eyed the flowers but didn’t ask any questions.

“Morning, Addie. Here’s your coffee.”

“Latte?”

“I didn’t forget. Did you bring those papers you wanted me to look at?”

“Yes, Jack, I did. Don’t you want to get into the Cairo project first?”

“I’m going to have a staff meeting at ten to bring you up to speed. I also want you to meet the two new employees I’ve hired to work specifically on the restoration. So until then, let’s see the things you brought.”

“They’re here in this box. I think they’re probably over 130 years old.” I carefully took everything out of the box and laid it on the table. “What do you think?"

Jack studied the papers before him. He went over to a corner cabinet, put on a pair of white gloves and held the old letter to the light. “This paper was made before sulfites were used and is rather poor quality. I’m guessing before 1870. What did you come up with?” Jack knew exactly what he was doing so I trusted him to date things as closely as possible.

“That’s pretty much what I thought. If they are pre-1870, it fits in with the family history. I need to get this Spanish one translated. Does Samuel Garcia still work in the C building?”

“Yeah, he does. Let me see the letter. Can you decipher any of it?”

“Only one word–gold.” I carefully handed the paper back over to Jack. The tight print and deliberate penmanship read:

Sr. Barnes:

Yo enterró el oro en la propiedad de Sr. Roberto Hansen. Cinco pies del marcador de la esquina. Veinte pies al norte. Cientos pies al oeste del viejo roble del poste. Cinco pies abajo.

Pablo

“Any clues, Jack?”

“No. I recognize a few of the numbers. Get Samuel up here.”

I buzzed him on the phone while Jack looked at the coordinates and the map. It would take Sam about ten minutes to get there from C building.

“This is pretty interesting, Addie.” Jack turned the box upside down and looked at the markings on the bottom. “Where’d you get all this stuff?”

“From my grandfather’s lawyer. The box comes apart, Jack; that’s how I found the map. I have another smaller case like it at home which is where I found the coordinates. It’s kind of like my grandfather has left me a puzzle to solve. The prize is a considerable amount of gold.” Jack raised his eyebrows into a look I’d recognized over the years as skeptical.

“That’s where you’re going in September, isn’t it, Addie?”

Jack could read me like a book. He knew I couldn’t let something like this just die. I had to know. “You know what curiosity did to the cat, don’t you?”

I didn’t have time to answer. Sam arrived.

“Addie, you’re back?” Sam, a bright-faced kid from a first generation Mexican family, smiled, happy to see me.

“At least for a little while.”

“You can read Spanish, can’t you, Sam?” Jack said as if wanting to get to the point quickly.

“Yes, Mr. Peterson. My parents wanted me to read and write both Spanish and English. I’m not as good as I used to be but I can translate fairly well.”

“Look at this old letter, Sam.” I knew Sam worked in the warehouse and wasn’t used to handling the documents. “Can you look at it without picking it up? It’s falling apart.”

“This is easy, Addie. It is written simply. It says: Mr. Barnes, I buried the gold on the property of Mr. Robert Hansen. Five feet from the corner marker. Twenty feet to the north. One hundred feet west of the old post oak. Five feet down. Pablo.” Sam smiled up from the letter, his face reflected his delight. “I remembered my Madre’s lessons. She insisted we learn both languages.”

“Thanks, Sam. I owe you lunch or something.” He was a great kid. I made a mental note to take him to the restaurant down the street. I noticed Sam looked up at the flower arrangement, which overpowered half the room.

“Great flowers.” He grinned. “Secret admirer?”

“Yeah, Addie.” Jack suddenly wanted to know. “Who are they from?”

“Ah, just a friend.” I pulled the answer out of nowhere but I didn’t want Jack to know. I knew he’d try to be overprotective. Thankfully, I’d tucked the card into my purse.
Yours, Gary
. How could I possibly keep my mind on the Cairo project during the staff meeting? My thoughts were filled with Gary and the letter.

Maybe if I can’t keep my mind on Docurestore business, I can keep my mind on family business. Sam had read exactly where the gold was buried. We just needed to find out where Mr. Hansen lived in 1870.

Chapter Ten

Jack called us into the green room for his ten o’clock meeting. I never could figure out why he called it that since the room was beige. He probably picked it up on some late-night TV show where the next participant was left to play out their nerves and anticipation. Some of the things he’d think up when he held his meetings always made me nervous, so I guess the name was appropriate. The two conference rooms, the boardroom and Reginald Geller’s office all had one glass wall, which faced onto an atrium. I wondered if old man Geller, the company president, designed the complex so he could watch us during our meetings. He usually wasn’t at the office; he spent most of his time traveling to Egypt or Israel to procure work for the company. He also sat on the board for The Museum of the City of San Francisco and Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum of San Jose, which had its advantages.

I slid into one of the soft cushioned chairs that made the most intolerable meeting bearable. I was careful to position myself across from the glass wall so I could look out on the last of the spring flowers the gardener had placed around the waterfall. He must have worked after hours since no one ever saw him. Geller wanted it that way.

In fact, no one ever saw Geller, either. I think I’d only seen him five times in the five years I’d worked there. Jack was my real boss.

Docurestore had taken such a large slice from my life. I was too dedicated and I knew it. I came in early and worked late into the night to have other people receive the glory and the kudos. There was no reward for me here. I’d returned out of respect for Jack. And, yes, I had to admit, the love of the work itself. I remained lost in a print of Winslow Homer’s Maine seascape when he walked in the green room.

“Ms. Brown. I’d like you to meet Sherry Walker and Mitch McCaffery.” Jack motioned to two kids who looked like they’d just graduated from San Jose State. Probably had, in fact, since graduation had been last Saturday and tended to roll out new flesh.
This is great
. Two greenhorns on a project thousands of years old. They most likely didn’t even know what papyrus was.

“Hello. Please, call me Addie. Jack is way too formal. He makes me feel like I’m old enough to be your mother.” Wouldn’t take much and I would be.

“How long have you been with Docurestore, Addie?” Sherry chirped. “Jack has told us so much about you and how great you are in restoration.”

“I’ve worked here a number of years but now I’m only on temporary assignment for the summer on this project.” Sherry, who was bright and cheerful, slowly mouthed words into syrupy sentences that made me ill.
Was I like that when I was her age?
I certainly hoped not. McCaffery brought to life the word nerd. All his attire missed was white socks and horned rimmed glasses with tape on the bridge piece. He already had the pocket protector jammed full of pens and highlighters.
How can I ever thank Jack enough for landing me with these two?

Since I’d heard Jack’s start-up speech on these projects hundreds of times, I pulled back from the conversation. Gary seemed to be hanging around in the corners of my mind more than I wanted. The old letter in Spanish had me thinking, too. Was it the clue we needed to find the gold? Or was this just another hint from Grandpa? I really wasn’t listening to Jack as he told us about the Cairo project until I heard a sentence that jolted me out of my thoughts of Gary and the letter.

“Addie, you’ll be the lead on this. Every decision is in your hands as is the responsibility there are no mistakes.”

“Thanks, Jack, I’ll do my best.” I heard myself say. While I thought,
Thanks, Jack, for a near impossible task with two green kids and an August deadline!

At three-thirty I grabbed my purse and headed for the parking lot. I had a quick thought about trying to lug the gargantuan bouquet home with me but thought better of it. Anyway, it would engulf the condo. By the time I reached home at four, it would be seven on the east coast and I could call Mel. Nerd boy followed me into the parking lot.

“Addie, I know I can learn so much from you. Will you teach me carbon dating? Analyzing? I want to assist you in every way possible.” McCaffery babbled beside me as we approached the cars.

“Mitch, I’m probably not a good teacher. Just watch what I do and you’ll learn. Ask any questions you want along the way. We’re going to be working with some really old materials. We’ll all learn from each other as we go along. I haven’t been in school in a long time so I’m sure I can learn a few things from you, too.”
Now go away and leave me alone.
“See you tomorrow.” He didn’t move. He stood between the door and me; I was either going to have to physically move him or be really rude.

“How about dinner?” He looked hopeful.

“It’s three-thirty in the afternoon, Mitch. A little early to start hitting the diners, don’t you think?”

“A soda then?” His eyes pleaded.

“Not tonight. I have an important phone call to make to my cousin and she’s in the east. How about Friday? We’ll all go down to Los Cuates Grill. Sherry would probably like to come along and maybe even Jack and a few of the others from the office.” He wouldn’t know this was a regular thing with us. Maybe it would pacify him.

“Friday’s great. See ya tomorrow.” Nerd boy moved so I could reach the door but he stood in the parking lot as I drove off.
Jack, you owe me one for this.

Mollie greeted me as I unlocked the door. “Hey, girl. Eat any socks today?” I looked around the condo and didn’t see strips of white terry cloth. Maybe my warning had sunk in.

I poured myself a glass of iced tea and Mollie and I ventured out to the patio. Dialing Mel’s number I contemplated what I’d say to her but I didn’t have much time to think as she answered on the second ring.