Fortune Hunter's Hero

“But you can’t be sure of that,” he retorted. “So all we have is a rough map of one canyon out of thousands and a bell that may or may not still be there….”

“And a cedar tree at the entrance to the canyon!” she finished for him triumphantly. “The Spaniards wanted to be able to find the mine easily, so they planted one of the cedar trees they brought from Spain to mark the entrance to the canyon. All we have to do is find that tree!”

Buck couldn’t believe she was serious. “This is a joke, right?”

“No, of course not,” she said automatically, only to turn wary when his question registered. “Why would you think I was joking? Granted, the tree could be dead after all these years, but cedars are hardy—”

“And prolific,” he added dryly. “There must be ten thousand on the ranch alone.”

She blanched. “Ten thousand?”

He nodded. “Possibly more. Cedars love this climate. They sprang up everywhere the wind blew. Haven’t you noticed? The canyons and the lower slopes of the foothills are covered with cedar as far as the eye can see.”

For a moment, he saw despair spill into her eyes, but just that quickly, she blinked and it was gone. She straightened her shoulders, her chin came up and determination glinted in her eyes. She didn’t have to say the words for Buck to know she wasn’t giving up. And he was damn impressed. Another woman might have been in tears, but not Rainey Brewster. She looked as if she was ready to take on the world.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t find it,” she said stubbornly. “The bell’s got to be somewhere nearby—”

“Not necessarily,” he argued. “Someone could have found it years ago and melted it down for bullets or something. Or the Indians could have carried it off. There’s no way to know.”

“Yes, there is,” she insisted. “There are no records of its existence after the landslide. And the Indians wouldn’t have come near it because it was in the haunted canyon. It just dropped off the face of the earth. It’s got to be there!”

She looked so determined—and desperate—he felt for her. “Rainey, love, you’re looking for a needle in a haystack,” he said gently. “You know that, don’t you? The odds on finding the mine—”

“Are immaterial,” she said promptly. “My father taught me a long time ago that you can’t consider the odds when you’re looking for lost treasure. That’s why other people give up.”

Frowning, he said, “I can appreciate your father’s philosophy, but at some point, you have to consider the odds and how cost effective your search is—unless you want to spend the rest of your life futilely searching for something and never getting anywhere. When you and I made a deal, I thought you had more information on the mine’s location.”