Alvarado Gold by Victoria Pitts-Caine Read Free Book Online Page A

churches.”
    David Darrow smiled. “Oh, yes. His project.” The answer created another question in my mind that I didn’t want to deal with at the moment. I didn’t pursue it. “And, I have something for you, Ms. Brown.” He handed me a long, thin legal envelope. I turned it over in my hand, but nothing about it looked familiar. Since my own name glared back at me neatly typewritten on the ivory paper, there was no clue as to who sent it.
    “Who is this from?” I questioned him.
    “Donnie left it for you.”
    I shot Mel a long look. “Donnie? Was he here?”
    “Yes. He came the day after the will was read. The day I called Mel and told her Donnie didn’t want you to find him.” Mr. Darrow’s eyes narrowed. “Is there something I should know?”
    Mel joined me at the corner of his desk. “Maybe there is something you should tell us, Mr. Darrow. Why did Donnie have a private eye on us?”
    “I wasn’t aware of an investigator.” David Darrow cleared his throat. “Donnie’s resentful. He’s afraid you four will take something away from him. I don’t know what but he isn’t happy.”
    Resisting the urge to throw the envelope and its contents into Darrow’s faux walnut trash can, I ripped it open. The contents brought out ire in me I didn’t know existed.
    “He’s brought it upon himself, then. We’ve been looking for him for years and evidently he knew it. I really don’t care what his problem is and you can tell him that. He’s getting his share of the money from the house. We brought him some of Grandfather’s things. If he thinks he was left out, then he should have shown up and helped.” I could feel the flame in my cheeks and decided I’d keep my mouth shut before I said something I’d regret.
    “Ms. Brown, I ...”
    I waved my hand in front of Darrow. I’d heard enough. “We have flights to catch. We need to leave. If Donnie wants to talk with us, he knows where we are.”
    We drove to the Houston airport in silence. The others had never seen me blow my stack before; I’ll admit not a pretty sight.
    Clay took the ticket from the dispensing machine and hunted for a parking place in the day lot. He carefully eyed me and asked, “Mind sharing that letter with the rest of us?”
    “Oh. No. Not at all. I got so mad I wasn’t thinking; the contents are important to you guys, too.” I realized the letter was still tightly gripped in my right hand I opened it and began:
    Addie,
    I want you to leave me alone. You and Clayton’s bunch stay away from Barnesville. I know you’re aware of the gold and I also know you have no claim to it. My father left the key with me and I intend to find it. It’s rightfully mine. The family has been looking for the last 120 years. Two of our great uncles nearly killed each other over it. Dad and Uncle Clayton argued, too. When they went down there, Dad wanted to keep looking but Clayton gave up. As far as I’m concerned he gave up his rights, too. Stay away. I’m warning you.
    DJB
    “Am I missing something here?” I shook my head. “We barely knew about the gold until this past week. Why is Donnie so upset?”
    “We’re going to find out eventually.” Mel pulled her bags out of the back of Clay’s van and talked between distributing our luggage. “When are we coming back?”
    “Is Labor Day weekend good for everyone?” I asked.
    Susan shifted from one foot to another. “Do you think we should come sooner?” I’d noticed any confrontation made her nervous. “Maybe we should try to find the gold before Donnie.”
    “My bet is he isn’t going to find it without us. We’ll give him a head start. Everyone plan to meet back here the first weekend in September.” I rummaged around in my purse and found my ticket for San Jose. Susan and I would go together as far as Sacramento. We all hugged each other good-bye. Mel headed off to another terminal for her flight to Virginia, Clay struck out for Arizona and Susan and I boarded a flight to