Page 4 of Harnessed in Gold

I tap the note. “Who’s this?”

“Who? Oh.” He swallows and averts his eyes. “Remember back in the fall, when Robin and I went out of town for a week?”

Yes, although I wish I didn’t. That was right after the fateful Halloween party, Leo and Zander’s first face-off. No winners in this game.

Leo continues, “Dr. Logan was able to provide us with evidence that at least one of the Roanoke colonists had settled here in the mountains.”

“Here,here?” I point to the ground beneath my feet.

“Yes, Alderford or very close by.”

Topaz’s voice reaches us from the living room, “We need to debrief.”

Debrief? It’s everything I can do not to salute.

Leo is much more casual, waving me to the doorway. “Come talk.”

On my way to the living room, I grab my dress from the dining-room chair where I’d tossed it, and shove the poor, crumpled thing into my suitcase.

Leo sits beside Rime on the couch while Topaz relaxes in the wingback beside the sunny door. I sink into the overstuffed chair, fold my legs under me, and wrap my hands around my mug.

“So, this is cozy and all,” I say. “But I don’t understand. Why aren’t you all going after Brier’s team?”

Rime calmly sips his tea. “You said they left.”

“Well, yeah, but they left in the middle of the night. Doesn’t that suggest they know something and they’re on their way here?”

“Possibly,” Leo says. “But it’s more likely they’ve gone to Tennessee.”

“Tennessee? Why would they go there?”

“It’s where Robin and I ended up.” He sets his coffee on the end table and crosses one foot over his knee. “Remember that line of Spanish forts I told you about? That’s as far west as it goes. And logically, if an Englishman wanted to come this far inland, he’d follow the one trail made by other Europeans. Especially if he’d heard they’d found gold.”

Uh, sure,logically. I give my head a slight shake. “Okay, but isn’t it your job to hunt Brier’s guys down?” In Tennessee or Mexico or China or wherever they go?

Rime shakes his head. “It’s our job to find the weapon.”

“Just the three of you?”

Topaz shrugs. “You said there’s only three of them.”

“Yeah, but—” Why do I feel like I’m not speaking the same language as everyone else in this room?

Leo comes to my rescue. “We can’t waste time chasing them all over the countryside. Our safest bet is to find the weapon before they do. Because if this team fails, Brier will only send another, and another and another and another, until he gets what he wants.”

“What’s his endgame?” I ask, although I’m not sure I want to know.

“Endgame?” Rime tips his head like a curious cat. “What’s that?”

“Umm, like his ‘ultimate goal,’ I guess.” I’m too exhausted to define it any better.

Fortunately, he seems to catch the meaning. “To make Nàdar a monarchy and himself king.”

Oh, is that all?

“Nàdar’s been going through a drought,” Leo explains. “Not the worst one, but resources are scarce, and it’s causing competition and tension between the clans. It’s the perfect opportunity for someone as charismatic as Brier to manipulate people’s fears.”

“Whoishe?” I ask, leaning forward. “Is he, like, a billionaire or a genius or, I dunno, a rockstar or something?”