Untamed (17 page)

“But—“

“Because it’s already yours Ms. Whitehorse. Like I said, I was going to sell it on consignment but then when Mike died… well, I just took it down off the wall and… and I guess I just left it there because I didn’t’ t know what else to do with it.”

Ellie put her identification and the letter from the attorney back into her bag. “Thank you so much. This means so much. Thank you.” She picked up the painting and just then her phone rang.

She tucked the painting under one arm and answered her phone. “Hey Lily. Yeah, I’m at the antique store. I’ll meet you there.”

Ellie looked at Mr. Jones again. “Thank you so much.”

“My pleasure.”

Ellie hurried from the shop and made her way to the café. Lily and Clint were already at a table waiting.

“What’cha got?” Lily asked as Ellie approached.

“It’s one of my father’s paintings.” Ellie set down her shoulder bag and popped the painting on the empty chair at the table. “Mr. Jones at the antique store down the street had it. He said my father had given it to him to sell on consignment and when my father died, he took it down and didn’t know what to do with it. Anyway, he gave it to me. Wasn’t that nice?”

“He’s a nice man,” Lily agreed.

Ellie took a seat and noticed that Clint was staring at the painting. “It’s beautiful isn’t it?” She asked.

“Yeah, but what’s that?” He pointed at the painting. “In the horse’s mane. It’s like a jewel or something is attached to the mane. See?”

“You’re right!” Ellie exclaimed as she looked. Sure enough, a small teardrop shape looked like it had been attached to a strand of the mane. It glowed with a beautiful aqua light.

“Any of the others have that?” Lily asked.

“No. None. Wonder why he added that?”

“Why do artists do anything?” Clint asked, earning a chuckle from Lily.

Just then, the server arrived to take their order. Ellie kind of zoned out on the conversation after that. She was caught up in looking at the painting. It was hard to tell but she thought she detected a line running through the image.

She squinted, trying to follow the almost imperceptible line. It seemed to end at the jewel. What did that signify?

“Hey! Earth to Ellie.” Lily’s voice drew her attention.

“Oh, sorry. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Just asking if you were done?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s hit it,” Clint said.

“Ok. Hey, stop.” Ellie put her hand on his arm to stay him as he reached for the check. “Let me do that. Please?”

“I got it.”

“I know and I appreciate it but please at least let me do this small thing. You all have been so kind and… please?”

“Okay, sure. Thanks, Ellie.”

“Want me to carry the painting?” Lily asked.

“Yes, thanks. I’ll pay and meet you outside.”

Clint and Lily were waiting for her when she exited the café. Together they walked back to where Clint had parked the truck. Ellie climbed into the backseat, placing the painting beside her.

She listened with half an ear to the conversation on the drive back to Marsh ranch. She was thinking about photographing the painting and adding its line to the map. And taking a closer look at the photos to see if the tiny jewel showed up in any of them.

Ellie thanked Lily and Clint when they arrived, climbed out of the truck, and hurried to the garage apartment. She placed the painting in front of the largest window and snapped several shots. That done, she popped out the memory card and plugged it into her tablet.

It took a little bit of time to play with the colors to get the line to become visible but once that was done it only took a few minutes to isolate the lines from the painting and add it to the large file with all of the map pieces. Once it was in place, she studied it. Unlike the rest of the lines, this one did not connect at both ends. In fact, it dead-ended.

What did it mean?

An idea occurred to her. She created a complete copy of the map and used it as an overlay on top of the property map she’d drawn.

Excitement flared. Ellie jumped up and paced back and forth, glancing every few seconds at the tablet. This was a clue, a clue she needed to follow. “Oh my god!” It hit her. She knew where the new clue led.

Ellie grabbed her bag and tablet and ran out of the apartment. Lily was standing outside the barn.

“Can I borrow your truck?” Ellie asked.

“Uh, sure, I guess. Or I can drive you.”

“No, I appreciate it but I just need to run a quick errand.”

“Lily reached in her pocket but as she withdrew the key, she hesitated. “ Maybe I should drive you. Cam said it was important that you not go anywhere alone.”

“I’ll be fine. Please, Lily. Trust me.”

“Okay, just don’t make me sorry. Cam will kick my ass if—”

“It will be fine. Thank you!” Ellie grabbed the keys and headed for the truck.

It was not a long drive from the Marsh ranch to her place. She parked in front of the old house, jumped out and turned on her tablet to look at the image she’d created by combining the lines from the paintings with a map of the property.

She knew where to go. Ellie stuck her phone and the keys to the truck in her pocket and locked her shoulder bag and tablet in the truck.

She didn’t bother going in the house. Instead, she headed around the side and walked through the backyard. She knew where she was going.

* * * * *

“What do you mean she’s not there?” Cam asked into the phone. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know.” Lily answered. “She said she needed to run an errand and borrowed the truck.”

“And didn’t say what the errand was or where she was going?”

“No. We got back from town. Oh! She found one of her father’s paintings at Jones’ Antiques. When we got home she went straight to the apartment with the painting. An hour later, she said she needed to run and errand and wanted to borrow the truck. That’s all I know.”

“Shit. Oh, thanks Lily. Talk to you later.”

Cam ended the call and punched up Ellie’s number. It went straight to voice mail.

“Hey, it’s Cam. Call me?”

He leaned back in his chair and stared at the monitor on his desk. Where would she have gone?

Hold on. She found another painting.

Cam got up from his desk and hurried to his Lieutenant’s office. “I need to duck out for a couple of hours. Family stuff.”

“What’s on your plate?”

“Nothing at the moment. I’ll mark it off my personal time.”

“Fine.”

Cam hurried outside to his truck. He was betting that Ellie headed for her dad’s place. He just hoped she didn’t find anyone there when she arrived.

* * * * *

Ellie stopped at the stream. This had to be the place the line on the map led to. But what was here? She looked up and down the stream, and across it. Nothing caught her eye.

But there had to be something. She sat down beside the stream and stared into the water. The crystals sticking up from the sand glimmered in the water. Her eyes moved, noting the different shapes and sizes of the crystals and the way they were scattered along the bottom of the stream.

Suddenly her eyes jerked back to a spot she’d just moved over. What was that? It was dark and not at all like the other crystals. Ellie jumped up, tossed her phone and keys on the ground, and stepped into the stream. At that point it was shallow, so she was little more than knee deep at the center point.

She knelt down, heedless of the cold water that rose about her as she reached down toward the bottom. It felt like the edge of something— a corner. She plunged in both hands, leaning forward and soaking the front of her body as her fingers dug at the sand and dirt around the object.

It took a couple of minutes, but she was able to free it. A small box that looked like it had been carved from onyx or some other dark stone. She waded back to the shore and sat down.

The top of the box had an ornate design engraved into it. She didn’t recognize the pattern, but could discern that it was woven around the letter W. How did it open? There were no hinges. She turned it over and around. There was an almost imperceptible line, a space where the bottom and top half met.

Try as she might, she couldn’t pull the two halves apart. She sat there for a good half hour trying before she gave up. She gathered up her keys and phone and headed back toward the house. Maybe she could use a knife and pry the top up.

Just as she reached the edge of the backyard, she heard the sound of a vehicle. Her heart gave a funny lurch and her stomach knotted. Ellie hurried to the back of the house, eased to the other side and then down the opposite side of the house so she could peer around the corner at the driveway.

Cam’s truck stopped, turned off and after a moment, he got out. He started for the door and she called out to him.

“Cam?” She rounded the corner and started toward him.

“Ellie? What the hell. You’re wet. Are you—“

“I’m fine. I found something Cam. I found a painting in town at—“

“Lily told me.” He interrupted.

“Oh, okay, so I shot it and added the image to the map and it led to a dead end. Not to the house but somewhere else so I—“

“Borrowed Lily’s truck and came here by yourself. Nice, Ellie. After being attacked and beat all to hell, you leave and come here by yourself.”

Ellie stepped back, surprised by the tone of his voice and the anger on his face. “I told Lily I—“

“That you had an errand to run. You lied. This? This isn’t an errand. It’s coming back to a place where you were almost killed.”

“I’m sorry. I just needed—“

“You could have waited.” His voice had grown increasingly louder and angrier. “You could have called me and told me and I’d have brought you when I got off work. You could have asked Lily or Clint to come with you. You could have told the fucking truth!”

“I’m sorry.” She reached out to touch him but he jerked away. “Cam, I’m sorry. I… you’re right. I wasn’t thinking. I… I just had to do this.”

“Why?”

“Why? How can you ask that? You know why. And I found something, Cam. Look.”

She held out the box. He gave her a hateful look then glanced down at the box and before his eyes could move back to hers, he looked down again. “That’s not something you find just lying around the woods.”

“I know. And I didn’t. It was in the stream. Right where the map led.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that—“

“I know!” Ellie yelled and at the surprised look from Cam, softened her voice. “Look, I know and I’m sorry, but— but let’s set that aside for a moment please?”

“Fine,” he said in a somewhat begrudging tone. “So, let’s see this box? Have you opened it?”

She handed it to him. “I tried but I couldn’t. Maybe you can open it.”

The box looked a lot smaller in his big hands. He gripped it top and bottom and pulled. Nothing happened. Cam turned it over and looked at every side. “Hey, look here. On the bottom. There’s a hole.”

Ellie looked at it. Sure enough in one of the bottom corners was a small hole. “What do you think it is?”

“A keyhole?”

Ellie pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight on it. She pointed the light at the hole. “I can’t see anything that looks like a place to insert a key.”

“Well maybe we just need something small to stick in there and press. Maybe it’s a latch or something inside that releases.”

“I don’t think I have anything. Unless there’s something in Lily’s truck.”

“Check the glove compartment. I’ll check my truck.” Cam handed her the box and went to his truck.

Ellie set the box on the hood of the truck and searched the cab. She didn’t find anything. “Nothing, you?” She asked as Cam walked back over to her.

“A toothpick?” He held out his hand.

Ellie shrugged. “Worth a try.”

She picked up the box and turned it over. Cam inserted the toothpick and pressed. Nothing happened. Just then, a big grasshopper landed on Ellie’s chest. “Oh ugh, get it off!” She turned her head to one side with a grimace. “Get it off!”

Cam flicked the bug away with a thump of his finger and then she felt a tug on her necklace. “Ellie. What about this?”

“My necklace?”

“The bell. It’s about the same size.”

“Here.” She handed him the box then reached behind her neck to unclasp the necklace. She gripped the top of the tiny bell and guided it to the hole.

A yelp of surprise accompanied the sudden jump she made when the bell suddenly sucked right down into the hole along with a half of inch of chain. She hung onto the chain and looked up at Cam. “That was a little freaky. What now?”

He shrugged. “Try pulling it out.”

She did and felt the chain stick. She tugged a little harder and not only did the chain release, but they both heard a soft click. Clint turned the box right side up and lifted off the top.