Wilde One (23 page)

“Obviously Ainslee isn’t just a pretty face. I’ll pull out the age-discolored ones, and Griff can find the fragments with the straight lines running through them.” He pointed to an example. “Dad, a few of those up at the top seem to have sunset colors. Maybe you can pick out others like them. This shouldn’t take too long to organize if we work together.”

Five minutes later Ainslee had all the matte pieces spread out in front of her. Most included gray curves and some sort of flowering bushes. She frowned. Surely that was the side of a car. A second car had been cut in half. She fitted the two pieces together. If she worked to match edges and angles… Minutes later she glanced up from the completed photograph. “Mine’s a super winding street. No sign to identify it, though.”

Griff stepped closer, brows drawing together. “I could swear I’ve seen a picture similar to that one before.”

“How about yours?” Ainslee studied fragments of silver with blue along the straight edges then reached into the communal pile. “Here’re some more pieces the same shade of robin’s egg blue. It looks like sky.”

Griff grunted. “I thought the lines were straight, but they seem to go up at an angle. If these fit together…” He rearranged a couple of pieces. “Egypt, here we come. I swear that’s a pyramid.”

“The pyramids are brown, not silver.” Ainslee fitted a few more pieces of blue around the sides. “It’s a silver triangle on a blue background.”

“It’s the Transamerica Pyramid Building!” Boyd let out a whoop. “Probably the most distinctive feature on the San Francisco skyline. I remember admiring it when your mother and I were there on our second honeymoon.”

“Of course it is. I didn’t recognize it right away because Victor only included the very top of the building in the photo.” Griff fisted his hands on his hips. “Bastard, trying to make this harder for us.”

Ainslee glanced over at Boyd. “Isn’t there a famous street in San Francisco that’s super steep and winding?”

He nodded. “Lombard Street. I bet your photo’s a match to part of it. We can look up pictures online.” He turned toward his father. “What do you have, Dad?”

“A sunset over water. I’m missing a few pieces in the middle.”

Ainslee reached over. “Try these. They should fit.” She completed the photo and smiled. “I’ve never been to San Francisco, but isn’t that the Golden Gate Bridge?”

“All blurred around the edges. Looks like the picture is out of focus.” Griff scowled. “Again, Victor’s way of making identification more difficult.”

“Well, he didn’t fool us—except with mine.” Griff’s father scratched the back of his neck. “It’s an old Victorian house, but not one I recognize. Do you, Griff? Is it a famous landmark I don’t know about?”

He shook his head. “Not that I can recall. Maybe that’s our specific destination.” He tapped the scattered leftover pieces on the table. “Obviously there’s another picture or two still to put together. Hopefully they’ll help narrow it down.”

“We don’t have to figure them out tonight. Let’s tape together the completed photos then take a break.” Ainslee smiled at the older man. “You could tell us more about your father. I’d like to learn about the men who were Victor’s army buddies. My grandma doesn’t remember her dad at all. Only the stories her mother told her. She was just a toddler when he enlisted.”

“I was eight when my dad left. My memories are of a big man who laughed a lot. No matter how busy he was with work on the ranch, he always made time for me.” A smile lit up his eyes. “Sometimes we rode out on the horses and didn’t come back until dark, just my dad and me, alone for the whole day.”

A wistful sadness for a life cut far too short filled her. “Hartley sounds like a wonderful man.”

“He was.” Jasper glanced over at his grandson. “Of the three boys, Griff reminds me of him the most. Easy going and slow to rile. I got my quick temper from my mother.”

“I rile.” Griff stowed the remaining picture pieces back in their respective boxes. “Old Victor sends my blood pressure skyrocketing with his crazy clues.”

“After you called, I read through all the old letters my dad mailed home from Europe. He wrote a little about the man, how driven and intense he was. In one note, he mentioned Victor was from California, though he didn’t say where in particular.”

“The postmarks on the original letters we received were from San Francisco. It makes sense he would lead us back to his home.” Ainslee shrugged one shoulder. “Wouldn’t he want to keep his precious treasure close to him right up until the end? Maybe he waited and had someone he trusted hide it after he died.”

One of Boyd’s brows shot up. “So you think the photos are the final clue, the one that will lead you to the actual treasure?”

“I bet Ainslee’s right, Dad.” Griff stepped closer and gave her arm a squeeze. “I’m nearly positive we’ll find Victor’s confiscated loot somewhere in San Francisco. The only question is where?”

She smiled up at him. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah, but later.” Letting her go, he rubbed his hands together and turned toward the doorway as footsteps sounded on the hardwood floor. “Right now, all I care about is dessert.”

Dahlia entered the room carrying a pie. Eden followed with plates, forks and a carton of ice cream. Griff hurried over to clear magazines off the coffee table.

“Apple, your favorite.” His mother set down the dish. “Did you figure out where you’re going next?”

“San Francisco.” Griff bent and sniffed. “Smells delicious, and it’s still warm. I’m in heaven.”

“We heated it back up, just for you.” His sister cut through the flaky crust and lifted out a large piece. “Enjoy.”

“I will. Here, Ainslee.” He held out the plate.

She shook her head. “No way. Make my piece about half that size.”

“You’re like me.” Eden glanced up as she continued to slice the pie. “I don’t need all those calories, but Griff never gains an ounce.”

“Which is crazy considering the way he eats.” When Rocky jumped off the couch and headed toward the door, Ainslee stood. “Hold off on serving mine for a minute while I take Rocky out, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure.”

When Ainslee returned after a quick trip to the yard, Eden scooped ice cream onto her plate, and they all enjoyed their dessert with conversation about Griff’s latest completed salvage project and his plans for the future.

Boyd leaned back in his chair. “I know you mentioned California, but where exactly do you intend to go?”

“The Big Sur area. The
Wilde Chick
is currently down in Santa Barbara. The outfit who leased her will turn her over at the end of the month, so I’ll bring her north then.” Griff scraped his plate then licked one finger. “I’ve already leased the
Wilde Lady
to a company out of New York until the end of the year.”

Ainslee swallowed her last bite of pie and dropped her napkin on her plate. “Wait a minute. You have two boats?”

“It wasn’t economical or time efficient to shuffle the
Wilde Lady
clear down to Panama then back up the coast when I wanted to work on the opposite seaboard. This way, I simply rent out the vessel I’m not using.”

“Smart.”

He grinned. “I’m not a complete moron—despite some of the stupid things I’ve done and said recently.”

“Oh, I never doubted your intelligence. You may be a tad clueless at times…”

Eden choked and coughed. “You know him so well already.”

“We’ve spent nearly every waking hour together for over a week now.”

“And you haven’t killed him yet? Impressive.”

Ainslee’s smile faded. “
I
haven’t.”

Griff nudged her with his elbow and gave a slight head shake. “I hate to break up the party when Eden’s on a roll, maligning my character, but we need to get some sleep. Three o’clock comes early.”

“You really intend to leave in the middle of the night?” His mother’s hands stilled over the dessert plates she’d stacked. “Surely you can stay another day.”

“Sorry, Mom, but we need to get to San Francisco before one of the others beats us there. After chasing clues clear across the country, we don’t want to lose because we took a day off.”

“I see your point.” She sighed. “Maybe you’ll be able to visit again soon, and I hope you’ll bring Ainslee with you.”

“You bet.” He dropped a kiss on her cheek then gave his dad a back-slapping hug.

Ainslee received hugs all around before following Griff out of the room and up the stairs with Rocky trotting at her heels. “Your family’s terrific. For having a last-minute guest sprung on them, they certainly made me feel welcome.”

“That’s because they liked you so much. You impressed the hell out of my dad, and my mom is probably praying you don’t wise up and send me packing.”

She pressed her hand to her lips to keep from laughing. “Now, why would I do that?”

He slipped an arm around her waist. “No reason I can think of.” Steering her down the upstairs hall, he led her into a room decorated in shades of green with a queen-size bed. “This was my room growing up. Mom redecorated. Apparently she didn’t appreciate the poster collection I had taped to the walls.”

Hands planted on her hips, she studied the utilitarian pine furniture while Rocky sniffed the cream-colored dust ruffle before jumping up onto the green and tan quilt. A pair of tasteful woodland prints decorated the wall over the dresser.

“Rock stars, rodeo heroes or centerfold models?”

“Pirate ships.”

Ainslee sank onto the end of the bed and shook her head. “You’re one of a kind, Griff. No doubt about it.” She pointed to her suitcase lined up next to his duffle bag in the corner. “I could swear my bag was across the hall earlier.”

“I moved it. No one’s going to get bent out of shape if we share a room.”

“As long as you don’t try to bend me out of shape.” She stood and headed over to dig a T-shirt out of her suitcase. Long and baggy and completely un-sexy. “It’s a quarter to ten. If I have to get up at three o’clock, all I want to do is sleep.”

“Really? You’d choose sleep over…” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“In a heartbeat.”

“Fine. I’ll go take a shower—a cold one—to get the last of the blood out of my hair. I told my mom I got the bump on my head when I slipped and fell. I didn’t say anything about the rock-pusher.”

“I thought you had. Sorry. That’s why you gave me the keep quiet look earlier.”

“Yeah. No reason to worry them.”

“I agree.” She held up her toothbrush. “Before you hop in the shower, can I…”

“Go for it.”

Ainslee was still awake fifteen minutes later when Griff slipped into the room.

“Off the bed, Rocky,” he hissed.

The dog growled.

With a sigh, she flipped over and gave him a shove. “For some reason he thinks he owns the place.”

“You’re not asleep?” The mattress sank beneath his weight.

“Almost.”

He wrapped strong arms around her, and warmth encircled her along with Griff’s unique scent. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Maybe sleep was overrated…

“Get some rest. I set the alarm on my phone for a quarter to three.”

When she nodded, her cheek brushed against his chest, so she left it there. This was how she wanted to go to sleep every night. Griff’s heart beating beneath her ear. Griff holding her close. Griff’s lips resting on the top of her head, moving down to caress the side of her neck. He tilted her chin to kiss her, his breath minty as it fanned her face.

“Just one kiss.” His lips clung, explored and left her longing for more when he finally pulled away.

A shaky exhale slipped out. In the few short days they’d been together, liking for this man had turned to love. Sure, lust was involved. He was beyond hot with those hard-muscled arms and washboard abs. Not to mention the sexy green bedroom eyes that told her without words he wanted to taste every inch of her body then come back for seconds. His sense of humor and innate kindness held her heart captive, but she feared his free-spirited view of life would eventually push her away. God, she hoped not. She slid her arms around his waist and tightened them as she pushed her knee between his legs.

“Ains.”

“Hmm?” Her lips brushed his chest.

“I’m not going to be able to sleep with you wrapped around me like that. Not that I’m complaining, mind you...”

“I’m not as tired as I thought I was. My brain won’t settle.”

“No?” His fingers sifted through her hair. “I know a great tension reliever to relax you.”

She smiled. “A back rub?”

“Sure, we can call it that.” He eased her onto her stomach then straddled her. His hard hands dug into her muscles through the T-shirt, moving from her shoulders downward.

“Oh, God,” she moaned. Her eyes closed tight as he lifted the shirt up and over her head. The kneading continued on bare skin. Her limbs turned to liquid as she melted into the mattress.

When he levered himself up and left the bed, she mumbled a protest, but he returned before she had much of a chance to miss him.

“Protection.”

His breath tickled her neck as he shifted and lowered to cover her. He caressed her ear with warm lips as something even warmer slid between her legs and pressed into her. She pushed her face into the pillow to keep from crying out when the feeling tightening every inch of her body built at warp speed. An explosion of sensation rocked her while he shook and gasped above her then lay still.

“Holy mother of God, that was something.”

Ainslee’s lips curved upward as she turned her face to draw in a deep breath. “Now I know why they call it a happy ending.”

Laughter rumbled through him. He rolled to his side, taking her with him. “Are you relaxed enough to sleep now?”

“Oh, yeah.” Her eyes drifted closed. Breathing deep, conscious thoughts floated away. “Love you.” The words came out in a faint mumble.

The hand stroking her hair stilled. “What?”

What?
The last thing she heard as sleep took her.

The moon shimmered low on the horizon, covered now and then by a fast-moving cloud. A stiff breeze blew out of the west, rustling the prairie grass along the road. With the windows rolled down, Griff strained to hear any sound that didn’t belong. Tires on gravel popped like miniature firecrackers in the night. Every few hundred feet he rolled to a stop. No hum of an engine in the distance. Nothing but the sleepy chirp of a sparrow disturbed by their passing.