The Treasure Hunters

Evernight
Publishing ®

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright©
2014 Beth D. Carter

 
ISBN: 978-1-77233-128-8

Cover Artist: Jay
Aheer

Editor:
JC
Chute

ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this
copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced
electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are
fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or
persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

Many
thanks to
Evernight
Publishing.
 
To Stacey, to my editor Jane.
 
To everyone behind the
scenes.
 
Big thanks to Jay for a
beautiful cover.
 
And special thanks to
all the readers…truly. I’m blessed with having so many encouraging people
giving me a thumb’s up.
 
This book is a
personal favorite so thanks for sharing Ruby’s journey!

THE TREASURE HUNTERS

Beth D. Carter

Copyright
© 2014

Chapter One

October 23, 1929

Ruby walked through the rounded iron-filigree
doorway, where a large crystal chandelier buzzed with warm light. A mirror hung
on the foyer wall and she caught a glimpse of herself, taking a moment to make
sure everything looked perfect. She wore an Asian dress of green silk that
buttoned up her throat but left her arms bare. Her strawberry red hair was
piled on her head, wispy curls dancing around her temples, held up by black
feathers and wooden chopsticks. Her lips were red, and her eyes smoky dark. She
felt beautiful.

There was no denying the party was
in full swing. Music spilled from somewhere deep inside the mansion, and people
held glasses full of bubbly liquid. Her friend Merridie, and Merridie’s fiancé,
Robert, stepped up beside her and the overhead light glinted off the huge rock
on her friend’s finger.

“That’s what I’m heading for
first,” Robert said with a smirk.

He forged ahead, cutting a path
through the revelers, pulling Merridie along. Ruby followed them, moving slowly
as she waved and greeted people she knew. The New York upper society wasn’t
that large, so she knew everyone by name. Dancers were strewn all about, doing
the latest craze. Laughing, chatting,
singing,
all
combined into a cacophony of noise that she loved. The quietness of her house drove
her up a wall, so she was constantly finding things that made lots of noise.

Ruby saw the hostess, Joyce, and
waved. She hurried up to Merridie.

“There’s Joyce. I want to ask her
who decorated tonight. This place looks fantastic.”

The house was a subtle blend of
rich hues and dark mahogany furniture that reeked of elegance and wealth, two
things Ruby certainly appreciated. Merridie turned her head and narrowed her
eyes as they locked onto Joyce. Joyce glared back. Ruby realized there was
something going on she didn’t know anything about, just as Joyce shifted her
gaze to Robert and lingered.

“Oh, goodie,” Merridie muttered. “Now
I get to play
keep Robert away from the
big bad witch
.”

Ruby went to open her mouth when a
flash of white caught her gaze and she turned to see Eden
Cariker
,
their other friend, hanging on the arm of her latest infatuation Beau
Redmont
, as he talked to a few people. Ruby was only slightly
jealous. Beau was from Philadelphia, and while she didn’t know what they used
to grow the men there, she certainly appreciated the beautiful specimen.

She leaned over and waved, catching
Eden’s attention. The diminutive blonde smiled brightly and waved back. Each of
them was so different, and yet all three had been best friends since they were
little. Eden was beautiful, petite and maintained a childlike innocence even in
the midst of lively partygoers passing around illegal liquor.

Ruby grabbed Merridie’s arm and
pointed. Merridie tugged on Robert and all three of them walked over, arriving
at the end of Beau’s speech.

“…Now, it’s like what Coolidge said.
‘The business of America is
business’
.”

Eden stared moony-eyed up at Beau,
and Ruby’s lips twitched.

“Isn’t he just so…smart?” Eden said,
a bit breathless.

“You call me boring when I talk
business,” Ruby teased her.

“That’s because it isn’t
your
business she’s fascinated with,”
Merridie replied in a dry tone.

Merridie and Ruby laughed and Eden
continued staring, not fazed by her friends. Robert rolled his eyes in a
snobbish gesture, which caused Beau to flush. The laughter died abruptly,
leaving behind an awkward silence.

Ruby cleared her throat. “I’ve been
hearing talk that the safety of American business isn’t as secure as we’d like
to think.”

Beau nodded his head and she could
tell he felt back on safer ground.

“According to fluctuations in the
economic trades, I’m afraid it’s a fact, Miss…?”

“Ruby Talcott.”

“Beau,” Eden said softly. “You
remember me talking about Ruby. Her father branched the family’s shipping line
to America from the homeport of England, and since his death, she likes to stay
on top of affairs at the office.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your
father,” Beau murmured
.
“Thank you,” Ruby said with a nod of gratitude. “I’m more of a figurehead,
really––but I like to think I’m knowledgeable about what’s going on in the
world.”

“Admirable,” Beau replied. “So tell
me, Miss Talcott, what do you make of the unsteady market?”

Ruby shrugged casually. “I think
people put too much faith in speculation. The market has been up and down
before, proving instability is just temporary.”

“But there’s panic with investors
right now,” he stressed. “It was only a month ago that the London Stock
Exchange crashed down, with the arrest of Clarence
Hatry
.
It’s weakened the American market optimism. That’s not speculation.”

Ruby narrowed her eyes while a
devilish smile played around her lips. Oh, how she did love a good debate.

“I’m afraid there will always be
panic and speculation when people take large chunks of money and plop it down
in the market, especially in an economy based on credit. But any panic can be
met. For instance, 1907: The Dow fell fifty percent from the previous year, but
J.P. Morgan stepped in and took care of things.”

“So, what you’re saying is, the
reason we’re seeing so much shifting has nothing to do with money?”

Ruby shrugged in an agreeing
manner.

Beau continued. “Then it
is
a matter of whimsical spending, and
how much wealth one can possess?”

“It will always be about wealth,”
she said. “Take a look around you, Mr.
Redmont
. You’re
in a room full of people who know nothing else.”

“Nor do I want to know anything
else,” Merridie injected, teasing. She swallowed down the rest of the bubbly in
her Champagne glass.

“Oh, please,” Robert injected
snidely. He raked Beau a glance up and down. “This is the most inappropriate
place to conduct a conversation on matters of a monetary nature. Such vulgarity
suggests a lack of social polish, Mr.
Redmont
.”

Ruby wanted to slap the ‘smug’
right off Robert’s face. Honestly, she didn’t know what her friend saw in him. Beau,
however, looked angrily at him but managed to refrain from biting back with a
retort, which she gave him kudos for. Robert could be an ass.

“I don’t know, Robert,” Merridie
replied, winking at Beau. “Vulgarity can be quite sexy.”

Robert glared at her and yanked his
arm away. Without another word, he turned and marched off into the crowd.

Merridie sighed. “He’s becoming
quite a bore.”

“I’m sorry,” Beau said quietly. “I’m
afraid I love the debate over economics. I’m sorry for bringing it here.”

Eden patted his arm. “Listen,
darling, one rule of society is never
say
you’re
sorry.”

She
clinked
her flute glass to his.

“Quite right, Beau,” Merridie said.
“Listen well to Eden…she is the social pariah of us all.”

Eden playfully stuck her tongue out
as if to denounce Merridie’s words before holding up a man’s wallet.

“As well as the procurer of odds
and ends,” Eden said proudly.

Merridie narrowed her eyes and
snatched the wallet from Eden’s hand. “Give me that,” she said sternly. “Now,
please excuse me while I find my annoyed fiancé, so I can return this to him.”

Beau nodded his head to her and
then shot a quick glance at Eden before Ruby saw him covertly patting his
pocket, no doubt making sure his own money clip was secure. Eden was a little
thief, but she only stole from people who annoyed her, which made Beau safe.

She winked at Eden and decided to
go in search of more alcohol. No one liked prohibition, and although she wasn’t
normally a drinker, tonight she felt a little edgy . . . restless, even. It’d
been a feeling burning through her for a few days now, ever since the last time
she’d stopped in at her father’s office. She couldn’t shake the feeling that
there’d been something wrong, maybe because she thought they were hiding
something from her.