yet.” With that, Gilley bounced his eyebrows at Heath, who cleared his throat uncomfortably and moved a little closer to me.
I sighed. We didn’t have time for Gilley’s games. “What is it about this particular journal that tells you Kincaid may have preferred men?”
Gilley held his hand out for the journal and I gave it back to him. Turning to the middle section, he pulled out a folded letter, which he then handed to me.
I looked at it for a moment before unfolding it and held it so that Heath could read it over my shoulder. It read:
Dear Alex:
If you’re reading this, I’m probably dead, and if that’s the case, then I’m really sorry that I insisted we come here. I know I haven’t always been honest with you, and I also know it’s been tough keeping you in the shadows so that no one found out about us, but I want you to know that I love you.
Loved you.
And, wherever I am right now, I’m probably still head over heels for you and only you. Those groupie girls never mattered to me; they were only to keep up appearances and I hope you know that. I knew you were the one the very first time we met, and I’ve never doubted it. I’m so sorry I left without telling you to your face. I hope you understand that once this job was over, I planned on telling the whole world about us. I meant what I said last week. I wanted to marry you and I don’t give a damn what my parents think. And if we had come back with the gold, well, we could have lived an amazing life together, away from prying eyes and judgment.
Anyway, the one thing you have to do for me if I don’t come back is get off this stinking rock and never, EVER come back. I’ve figured out where Dunnyvale hid his gold, and it’s not anywhere we thought. It’s in a place that’s kind of impossible to get to, and I can’t risk taking you with me because if anything happened to you, I couldn’t handle it. I’m going in alone, and I really hope I come back to you. If I don’t make it past the phantom tonight, then you have to leave, because you will have been right—this job was too much for us.
The note ended cryptically there with just Jordan’s signature, and I felt my heart go out to the man I’d assumed was just another shallow rich playboy, living off his trust fund. I also had to agree with Gilley—the letter really did point to Kincaid’s preference for men ... or Alex at least.
I sighed and folded the letter carefully back up. Tucking it into my back pocket to review later, I said, “So what happened to Alex?”
Gil shrugged. “Dunno. The last journal entry was written to Alex as well.” Gilley flipped through the pages of the journal and handed this to me again. I read the entry out loud so that everyone could hear.
“‘Dear Alex. I know you waited until I was asleep to sneak off to the crypts, and I know you think they’re safe from the phantom, but I woke up to tell you that the answer came to me in my sleep. We’ve been looking in all the wrong places, and I now realize exactly where both the disk and the gold are. I see you’ve only left me a few spikes, but I’m going for it. If I don’t make it back, this letter is for you.’”
“Crypts?” Heath asked. “The castle’s got crypts?”
“Disk?” Kim said. “What disk is he talking about, and where did he think the gold was?”
I turned to look at Gilley, hoping that he might have a clue, but he only shrugged and shook his head. “Got me,” he said. “I haven’t had a chance to look through the whole journal yet. I just got finished reading that letter when you guys all sneaked up on me.”
I remembered the ghost of Lord Dunnyvale, and his instruction to start with Alex. But I couldn’t commit my team to such a dangerous undertaking as ridding the castle of the phantom right now.
“We need a plan to deal with this phantom and get Gopher back,” I said to the group when I realized they were all looking at me expectantly. “But first we need to get
I sighed. We didn’t have time for Gilley’s games. “What is it about this particular journal that tells you Kincaid may have preferred men?”
Gilley held his hand out for the journal and I gave it back to him. Turning to the middle section, he pulled out a folded letter, which he then handed to me.
I looked at it for a moment before unfolding it and held it so that Heath could read it over my shoulder. It read:
Dear Alex:
If you’re reading this, I’m probably dead, and if that’s the case, then I’m really sorry that I insisted we come here. I know I haven’t always been honest with you, and I also know it’s been tough keeping you in the shadows so that no one found out about us, but I want you to know that I love you.
Loved you.
And, wherever I am right now, I’m probably still head over heels for you and only you. Those groupie girls never mattered to me; they were only to keep up appearances and I hope you know that. I knew you were the one the very first time we met, and I’ve never doubted it. I’m so sorry I left without telling you to your face. I hope you understand that once this job was over, I planned on telling the whole world about us. I meant what I said last week. I wanted to marry you and I don’t give a damn what my parents think. And if we had come back with the gold, well, we could have lived an amazing life together, away from prying eyes and judgment.
Anyway, the one thing you have to do for me if I don’t come back is get off this stinking rock and never, EVER come back. I’ve figured out where Dunnyvale hid his gold, and it’s not anywhere we thought. It’s in a place that’s kind of impossible to get to, and I can’t risk taking you with me because if anything happened to you, I couldn’t handle it. I’m going in alone, and I really hope I come back to you. If I don’t make it past the phantom tonight, then you have to leave, because you will have been right—this job was too much for us.
The note ended cryptically there with just Jordan’s signature, and I felt my heart go out to the man I’d assumed was just another shallow rich playboy, living off his trust fund. I also had to agree with Gilley—the letter really did point to Kincaid’s preference for men ... or Alex at least.
I sighed and folded the letter carefully back up. Tucking it into my back pocket to review later, I said, “So what happened to Alex?”
Gil shrugged. “Dunno. The last journal entry was written to Alex as well.” Gilley flipped through the pages of the journal and handed this to me again. I read the entry out loud so that everyone could hear.
“‘Dear Alex. I know you waited until I was asleep to sneak off to the crypts, and I know you think they’re safe from the phantom, but I woke up to tell you that the answer came to me in my sleep. We’ve been looking in all the wrong places, and I now realize exactly where both the disk and the gold are. I see you’ve only left me a few spikes, but I’m going for it. If I don’t make it back, this letter is for you.’”
“Crypts?” Heath asked. “The castle’s got crypts?”
“Disk?” Kim said. “What disk is he talking about, and where did he think the gold was?”
I turned to look at Gilley, hoping that he might have a clue, but he only shrugged and shook his head. “Got me,” he said. “I haven’t had a chance to look through the whole journal yet. I just got finished reading that letter when you guys all sneaked up on me.”
I remembered the ghost of Lord Dunnyvale, and his instruction to start with Alex. But I couldn’t commit my team to such a dangerous undertaking as ridding the castle of the phantom right now.
“We need a plan to deal with this phantom and get Gopher back,” I said to the group when I realized they were all looking at me expectantly. “But first we need to get
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