“I kinda thought that was your thing,” Cody said, going back for seconds.

“You’re both dead to me,” Dean said. “Wouldn’t the gold belong to whoever owns the land?”

“That’s the best part,” Silas said, winking at Maggie. “If you’ll look closely at a much later date when you don’t feel like barfing bile and liquor on our major clue, you’ll notice that it matches up with the sixty acres that the Campbells left in a trust to the town of Kinship.”

“Hang on,” Michael said, picking his head up off the countertop. “Are you guys really engaged?”

“Why do you think Anna/Ava only took half of the gold?” Dayana asked with one eye closed.

“Cody, what happened when the main character in Canyon Secrets finds the gold?” Maggie asked smugly.

“Can’t you just tell us?” Dean moaned. “Are these theatrics necessary?”

Cody’s eyebrows winged up. “The cowboy main character finds the gold and only takes half of it. He doesn’t need it all, and he hopes that someone who needs it will benefit from it,” he recited.

“Is anyone going to get to a point in this century, or can my boyfriend and I go back to bed?” Michael demanded.

“I love that you can finally say ‘boyfriend,’” Silas told his brother. “Welcome to the family, Dean. If you cause my brother a moment of suffering, I will destroy you.”

“So noted. Same goes for Maggie. Blah blah blah,” Dean muttered.

“Understood,” Silas said, grinning.

“Back to the gold,” Maggie announced brightly. “Since the land is still in the trust, and since the bank’s initial claim was paid by insurance, any gold found on it would technically belong to the town.”

“Really?” Dayana asked now with both eyes closed.

“Really,” Wallace said.

“If Anna/Ava took half of the gold, that means there’s still half to find,” Maggie explained.

“How sure are you?” Michael asked.

“We’re not certain,” she said.

“But we have a real good feeling about it,” Silas told them.

“I brought a shovel,” Wallace added.

“You’re ‘shovel sure’?” Dean asked.

“Yes.” Maggie nodded emphatically. “So, who wants to come with us?”

“Now?” Dayana moaned.

“Why wait?” Wallace said.

“If half of the gold is still there, what’s the harm in leaving it there for another seventy-two hours until I’m human again?” Dean wondered.

“Okay. So Cody and Wallace are in,” Silas said, swiping a piece of bacon off the plate. “Who else?”

Maggie winced. “Well, there’s one other person I should probably call.”

48

48

“Maggie, is now a good time to talk to you about my idea of having you personally renovate the Canyon Country Townhomes?” Kressley Cho asked as she adjusted the angle of her beach umbrella. The ice in her glass rattled and made Maggie want to hit the woman with the shovel she held with blistered hands.