“My cousin is a gold digger—if you’ll pardon the pun—and she’s a user. Not drugs. The kind of user who’s willing to do anything to get what she wants. A fortune in gold certainly qualifies.”

“I can see why you don’t claim them as family.” He looked down at the list. “Dave Franklin and Caroline Stanfield. I know both of them. They’re curators at the Museum of Science and Nature.”

“King left the museum a number of valuable artifacts he brought back from various countries. He found the items before today’s more restrictive archeological policies were put in place.”

“Dave and Caroline are both very well respected. I can’t see them involved in the kind of treachery we’re talking about, but money can do strange things to people.” He looked back down at the list. “Clayton Reynolds. I’ve never met him, but I know he’s an expert on pre-Columbian and Spanish colonial art.”

“Mayan culture specifically. Clay and King were friends. My grandfather had some very nice pieces in his collection. Clay was at the reading to receive the gift for the Denver Art Museum.”

Gage studied the list. “Rudolph Weyburn is the name of your grandfather’s attorney?”

“That’s right. Rudy knew about the map. No idea if he knew about the gold in the box.”

“Or if your grandfather told anyone else.” Gage tapped the list. “At least we know who to keep an eye out for. I’d like to talk to your cousins, but we’re on a time clock here. It’s already the eleventh of March. By April, the temperature in the desert can climb into the nineties, sometimes higher. We need to get in and out before the heat turns the trip into a suicide mission.”

A shiver ran through her. A lot of people had died trying to find gold in the Superstitions. In such a hostile environment, the weather was often the cause.

“So what’s our next step?” she asked.

“We need maps. Lots and lots of maps. Old maps, new maps, aerial photos, satellite imagery, soil geology, regular old topo maps. Pretty much anything we can find.”

“I can help with that.”

He nodded. “I’ll give you a list of the places we use for digital mapping, and you can get started. You ready to go to work?”

She was more than ready. Her pulse was hammering with excitement. She couldn’t wait to get started, couldn’t believe her grandfather’s dream, now her own, was about to come true.

Or at least there was a real possibility.

She hoped King Farrell was watching from his corner of heaven.

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER EIGHT