Page 22 of Tormented Hearts

He shifted closer, his voice quieter. “Is there a time he surprised you with his reaction? Like you thought you were in big trouble, but didn’t get punished?”

The question hit a memory she hadn’t considered.

Sinead went still.

Snow. Cold air. Blue sky. Her father’s face when he finally found her.

Not angry.

Not what she’d expected.

Her breath caught. “March fifteenth.”

Hawk watched her, waiting.

“I was found in the Swiss Alps.”

His brows drew together. “Found?”

“I wasn’t rescued. I wasn’t in danger.” She swallowed, the memory opening in bright, ridiculous detail. “I was spinning like Maria Von Trapp singing ‘Climb Every Mountain.’”

Hawk stared at her.

“What? I was eleven.”

He didn’t smile, but something in his eyes shifted.

Sinead typed the date with stiff fingers.

315

The PDF opened.

Chapter Five

Hawk had seen a lot in his time with the military. But actual buried treasure? That was a first.

Instead of answers, the box contained only an index card with a link. Another breadcrumb. Another puzzle.

Whatever waited at the end of this trail had been important enough for someone to kill over.

He was starting to question the kind of man Sinead’s father was or what he had hidden in these mountains. Apparently he hadn’t believed in handing over secrets without making someone work for them.

Hawk sat behind the wheel of the truck with the engine running and the heater pushing warm air through the vents while Sinead stared at her phone, the glow of the screen reflecting in her wide eyes.

“The PDF has another link.” She tapped the screen and she looked at him with wide eyes. “It opens to county land records.”

He leaned closer as the page loaded. “Find anything?”

A deed appeared.

She stared at the screen. “That can’t be right.”

“Can I see?”

She held the phone between them on the console, and they both leaned in, heads almost touching. Again, he caught the scent of citrus.

Hawk skimmed the legal information. “Mind if I blow up the image?”