“Which led us to a calendar page and a request that we talk to Robbie about the day before Dad’s arrest. Also, that we ask June about a poem—which turned out to be about Carla.” Suddenly, the cold seemed to invade her bones.

“The clues weren’t just meant to take you from Point A to Point B,” he stated.

“No. They were purposeful. It’s almost as if he wanted to . . . explain.” They’d uncovered a porthole-sized view of the buried gold, but they’d yet to uncover the full length of the stash. “What I don’t understand is why he’d leave this for me.”

“To provide for you?”

“He already provided for me in a law-abiding way. I have all that I need.”

“Was he a . . . fan of the Confederacy?”

“He was a Civil War buff. He knew a lot about the war, but no. He was not a supporter of the Confederacy’s ideals. In fact, the opposite.”

“I’m guessing he didn’t find this on his own land. If he had, he’d have left it buried there for you.”

“Correct.”

“Which means this was taken from someone else’s property.”

“Stolen.” Dad. What were you thinking?

She forced her thoughts to organize. “Part of me is shocked that he would take this.” She was loyal to her father. At this point, though, it wouldn’t do her any favors to wrap herself in a blanket of denial and refuse to acknowledge his flaws. “The other part of me can admit that this isn’t totally out of character for him. He was a bit of a maverick. He’d been pursuing the unsolved mystery of the gold most of his life, ever since his mother told him about it. When I picture him finding this, I can also picture why it would have been hard for him to go through the proper channels and hand it over.” Sighing, she shook her head. “I really wish he had. I don’t see how he could have thought I’d want anything to do with this.”

He watched her, his brows drawn together.

This gold was no doubt worth a fortune. A mind-boggling amount of money. A frightening, soul-destroying amount. “I have integrity.” Her voice quavered. “I would never want to take possession of anything that’s not rightfully mine.”

“I know.”

She’d always yearned for someone to see her and value her, just as she was. Luke did, and that truth quieted some of the turmoil within.

“What do you want to do?” he asked.

She crossed her arms, trying to find comfort by lacing them tight. “I joked earlier about the size of the backpacks. But now I’m glad they’re big. I suppose I want to carry all of this out of here and take it to the nearest . . . I don’t know? Police station?”