signatures look like kindergartners got a hold of it while his is one for the record books. When he finishes, he caps the pen and sets it next to the contract. “I’ll get this filed and give everyone copies.”
“Thank you,” I say, my voice deep with meaning. It’s just a piece of paper with three lousy signatures and one masterpiece on it but it means so much to me. More than I ever could articulate right now.
Maybe it’s because those papers are a physical manifestation of what’s been going on in real life. In real life, these guys have wormed their way into my every day. I’m well aware I’m past the point that if they left tomorrow, that I’d be stranded. Not just because of the lack of money, but because in such a short amount of time, they’ve made me feel more comfortable in my own skin than I’ve ever been in my previous twenty years of life.
I’m finally accepted.
I swallow the emotion down, refusing to let them see how much I’m affected by this. I don’t think they could understand. They’ve always had each other. They can’t possibly realize what it’s like to be me. Obviously, with Wyatt’s stunt last night, I realize they might all come with their own sets of baggage, but this is mine. And I can keep it close to my heart if I want to.
“I want to head up into the mountains on Saturday,” Stone says. “I don’t care if we don’t even have a destination, I just feel useless down here. I want us going through those papers of your father’s every night. I want that shit categorized and filed into something that makes sense. School is a priority, but these assholes aren’t going to let us sit back.” He leans back in his chair with eyes like ice. “They’re dangerous, and if we don’t start moving, I have a feeling we won’t like their response.”
“But they can’t possibly think we’ll be able to find the treasure just like that when it’s been missing for over a hundred years, Stone,” I say, trying to reason with him.
“I’m guessing they think if the motivation is strong enough, we will.”
I never liked Marilyn all that much, but she’s still Stone’s mother. He must be worried sick about her. The worst part is the not knowing. I understand that more than anyone. She could be at their whim. Or she could’ve just left, deciding to spend time by herself after my father went missing. We don’t know, but I have a feeling Stone thinks the worst.
If he’s right, I feel sorry for her.
“I might have something else,” I say, my voice pitching low. My father and I always talked about the safe in whispers, even though it was always just us. Dad was paranoid on the best of days. The guys move forward, resting their elbows on the table as they lock gazes with me. My stomach clenches. I’m about to tell these guys something my father never wanted out. He only ever wanted it for Wilder’s eyes only, but the circumstances have changed. If he wouldn’t let me use what we have to help save the guys in front of me, surely, he wouldn’t mind if I used it to help save me. I’m just as much in this as they are. “My father kept his most important documents somewhere else. I know where,” I say right away because I can just see the question on the tip of Stone’s tongue. “I’ll show you,” I tell them, but I point to the contract, my heart seeping a little for what I’m doing to my father right now. “This is in full effect.”
“You have our word.”
When I look around the table, I don’t even need to hear them say it to know it’s true. We’re in this together. From here on out, we deal with everything as a collective, not a single unit among others. And I’m almost frightened by the calm that comes over me when I realize that’s what’s happening. I’m no longer the freak, Dakota Wilder. Well, I still may be a freak, but I’m Dakota Wilder with her trio of guys, and we’re going to search for the treasure until we find it.
We don’t have another choice.
32
We sit in the car in front of the house my grandfather built. I haven’t made a move to get out yet, so I guess that’s why everyone in the vehicle with me hasn’t