“I suppose I understand that,” Julia answered, and before she could ask anything else, she heard West returning.
West strode over to Kate and told her to stand. “Walk to that tree and sit down.”
Kate shrugged and followed directions. When she sat, West tied her to the tree, wrapping the rope around her chest and arms three times and then added two additional loops around her neck before securing her to the tree.
Julia walked next to West and asked, “Is that necessary?”
He nodded, “Yes, I have to go down into that cave and may need your help. I don’t trust her. She’s a killer, and as long as she doesn’t try to escape, she’ll be fine. If she does try to wiggle out of the ropes around her chest, the ones around her neck will tighten, and she’ll stop trying to get loose. Works every time.”
Julia bit her lip and looked between West and Kate and wondered if she would ever know as much about criminals as West did, and even if she learned, could she put it to use. A male criminal would have been much easier to deal with on her first case. She sighed and followed West to the chimney opening.
West tied another long rope to a nearby tree and then slipped it around his waist.
“I’m going down into the cavern and search for the chest.”
Kate called out, “If it helps since I’m never going to be able to sell it, you should find the chest near where you’ll land when you go down. Also, there’s an oil lamp close by to help you look if it hasn’t been damaged by falling rock. Be sure and tell the judge that I’m cooperating.”
“We will,” Julia assured, and West cast her a scornful look.
“What?” Julia whispered.
“Don’t promise anyone you’ve captured anything unless it’s to get them to tell you something you desperately need to know. Criminals are sneaky, and they’ll use every word you say against you if it helps them in court,” West snapped at her.
“All right, thanks for letting me know,” Julia said although she felt chastised and didn’t understand why.
When West disappeared into the chimney opening, Kate called out to Julia, “Your man sounds a bit boorish.”
“He isn’t,” Julia defended. “He’s only helping me learn what I don’t know.”
“Well, take my word, and the first time he hits you…run. Don’t wait for an apology or an explanation. Run and don’t look back. If he hits you once, he’ll do it again,” Kate said while wiggling to try and get comfortable but not strangle herself in the process.
Julia walked a few steps closer to Kate and said, “He’s not like that, and we’re not together that way.”
Kate laughed. “I can see the way you look at him. You love that man.”
Julia shook her head violently, trying to ignore Kate’s words but knew they were true.
Kate laughed again. “I see how he looks at you. I can’t say he loves you because I don’t believe any man is capable of love, but he wants you.”
Julia blushed and walked back to the chimney opening to call down to West and inquire about his well-being.
“I’m at the bottom and found the lamp,” Julia heard West call back.
Julia turned when she heard Kate roar with laughter.
“What is wrong with you now?” Julia asked.
“I was just sitting here wondering if I looked as sappy as you do when I first met that miserable excuse for a man that I married. I believed in him, too,” Kate confessed.
Julia tried to find some words to say, but when Kate’s laughter turned into heart-wrenching sobs, Julia decided to let her cry and wondered about the young woman’s emotional health.
West’s loud yells brought Julia back to the opening.
“I found the chest. I’ve tied it to the end of the rope. Pull it up and then toss the rope back down so I can get out. The other opening in this cavern is completely blocked,” West said.
When Julia pulled the chest up from the opening and untied the rope, Kate shouted at her.
“Don’t toss that rope back down. Let him stay down there. Untie me, and let’s take the chest. When we sell it, they’ll be more than enough money for me to get a child and then for all of us to go to California and live a happy life without men. You can be my daughter’s aunt.”
“I can’t do that,” Julia retorted.
“Why not, I just want a child,” Kate pleaded.
“Because he’s my partner,” Julia said emphatically before tossing the end of the rope back down to West.
When West climbed out of the opening, Julia called him over to her. She was kneeling next to the chest in the shade of the large tree West had used to tie off his climbing rope.
“The lock is broken,” Julia said, looking up at West.
West spun to look at Kate. “Did you tamper with this chest? Break the lock and hid the treasure or sold it?”
“No, the cave-in might have broken it. I never opened it. I heard the true value of the box was that it contained a treasure more valuable left unopened and felt with the heart instead of being held in the hands. I thought it was some religious nonsense,” Kate tried to assure West.
West bent over next to Julia and slowly lifted the heavy gold lid. He reached for the piece of parchment paper he saw inside.
Julia grabbed his arm. “Don’t. You have no idea how old that paper is. We may have already damaged it by exposing it to the light and air.”
West looked at the paper again and asked, “What does that say? Amare? One word is a treasure? I think this is some kind of joke.”
Julia slowly shook her head. “It isn’t a joke. Amare is Latin for love. Who knows how old this is? It’s priceless.”
“Priceless,” West asked. “How can the word love be priceless?”
Kate snorted
