She leaned over and picked it up. “No. It’s perfectly dry. We can assume it wasn’t sitting here all night. Do you think that man left it? It has to be intentional. It couldn’t have fallen under there.”

“Give it to me. I don’t want you to open it.” He held out his hand.

“What do you think it is?” she asked, handing it over.

“I don’t know, but I don’t want you to touch it if it’s dangerous.” It didn’t weigh a thing, and he couldn’t feel anything hard inside.

“Maybe you shouldn’t open it, either. We could wait until we get back to town and let the sheriff deal with it. Technically, that man was trespassing.”

He was too curious to wait. He slid the zipper open and discovered some folded papers. “It’s a note.”

Sylvie sank to the rocking chair. “Good. Someone probably borrowed supplies and they left a note about it.”

He opened the paper and his heart sank. And a kernel of rage sparked. He was staring at his company letterhead. “It’s our bid for the Lowestone job. They’re a banking chain and they’ve been a client for years. Our contract was up and we have to place a bid on the job. This is our bid.”

“Why would it be . . .” She stood again, her arms crossing her chest and a hard look entering her eyes. “Charles has been coming out here on weekends. Is he supposed to be here tomorrow?”

“I don’t know, but it’s a good bet.” It was good to know his wife caught on quickly. “I’ll check the schedule when I get back to town. But I’m sure he’s not going to admit that this was for him. He’s careful, and he’ll point out that you and I were the only ones here at the time.”

“He’ll have a thousand excuses.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe he’s doing this to you. He would wreck the company so he can take the CEO job?”

A weariness threatened to overtake Rene, and he sank down to the rocker where his grandfather used to sit and watch the water. This place had been his grandfather’s space to relax and recharge, as he’d called it.

Now it would always be the place where he had to face the fact that his cousin would do anything to take him down. “It’s more about me than anything else. He’s always hated me.”

“I know you didn’t get along as kids, but you weren’t mean to him.” Sylvie sat down in the rocker beside him.

“I didn’t have to be. His father was mean enough, and he held me up as the example,” Rene explained. “I was the golden boy who could do no wrong, and Charles would never live up to me. I got better grades and I was better at sports.”

“That’s not your fault.”