“Cheer up,” Caitlyn said. “It’s not like we have anywhere to go.”
“Not yet. Do you have everything you need to install those cameras into our new gear?”
They had lost some of their gear in the hurry to leave Mexico.
“Sure. I can make do. Plus, they’re bound to have some kind of electrical supply store around here.”
Rosie returned with their drinks. Crouch immediately slid Healey’s map before her. “Do you live in Kanab, Rosie? Do you recognize any of these landmarks?”
The waitress looked a little bewildered. “You guys don’t look the treasure hunter types.”
Crouch grimaced. “You get asked that a lot?”
“Three hundred sixty days a year, honey. Though I can’t recall seeing something quite like this.” She squinted at the drawings. “That one looks like the Tower of Babel, a long way from here but quite distinctive, whilst that one looks like the Fiery Furnace, quite close to the Tower. Can’t be sure though. Oh, and that one could be a view of Grandview Peak and Little Black Mountain together. You live around here long enough you see all the famous views time after time. Pretty close, I’d say, but don’t quote me on it.” She reeled off several more landmark sites. “Some can look pretty much like another. You get these from a children’s book?” Her eyes twinkled.
Alicia snorted at Healey. “Kind of.”
Crouch spoke again before Rosie could turn and leave. “I guess we won’t stand out in Kanab as being any different?”
Rosie grinned. “Tourists. If I had a dime for every would-be gold digger that drifted through here I’d be a millionaire.” She nodded toward the shiny counter. “And several more o’ them gold diggers are back there, honey. Watch yourself.”
She spun and walked off, hips swaying, leaving Crouch staring after her in surprise. Alicia leaned across the table and held his hands.
“Calm down, Michael. You look like you’ve never been hit on before.”
Crouch blinked. “It’s been a while.”
“Maybe we could ask her to be our guide?”
Crouch collected himself and threw her a look that clearly said, ‘behave’. “Let’s move on. Caitlyn — the laptop.”
The tech was already on it, tapping at the keys to bring up Google Maps. Once she’d enlarged a map of Utah she located the geographical map and started to scrutinize the topography. Rosie returned, took their menu order, and made a point of offering the group slices of free apple pie.
Crouch jumped at the suggestion, hooked by Rosie’s twinkling eyes. Healey and Caitlyn were snagged too, but Alicia and Lex managed to decline.
Russo only grumped. “Huh, I’m allergic to cake.”
Alicia squinted through one eye. “To cake?”
“It gives me a sore throat,” Russo declared.
Rosie winked and wandered away to start tapping their order into a terminal. Caitlyn looked up from the computer screen.
“I have the three landmarks that Rosie mentioned and others. They’re all pretty accurate if I’m being honest. Of course, this is a land of crags and hoodoos, odd shaped formations and weather-beaten rocks. My guess is there could be even more similarities.”
Crouch took a swallow of coffee. “Find them.”
Alicia watched the girl work, thinking that one of the obvious things they now needed was more laptops. But she was enjoying it, this learn-as-you-go adventuring with the new team. This new venture was nothing short of building an entire unit from the ground up, discovering mistakes and correcting them for the next go round, determining what worked and what didn’t, and adapting in mid-stride. It was a busy, engaging creation, peppered with danger and troublemakers and if this was their first run out — she couldn’t wait for the second.
Rosie placed their meals on the table and noticed what Caitlyn was doing. She placed her hands on her hips. “Y’know, I have to say. A lot of them prospectors come through here lookin’ for gold, they don’t come back. End up finding their bodies weeks or even months later, picked at by coyotes and crows. This can be a harsh part o’ the world for the unprepared.”
Crouch looked up at her. “Thanks for the advice. We’ve been in worse places.”
“Just sayin’. Some folks put it down to the land. Some put it down to the militia. Only thing I know is most that come lookin’ for a heap of gold get a heap of dead. Stories been around these parts for hundreds of years.” She fixed Crouch with a hard gaze. “There ain’t no damn gold.”
“Wait.” Crouch had stopped eating a while back. “Wait. Back up. What militia?”
“Some of the land out there ain’t all national park y’know. Some’s considered to be privately owned, at least by those that dwell on it. They call themselves the High Desert Militia; peculiar lot. Come into town sometimes spouting their beliefs and waving their guns. Plain jealous and plain bitter they are. All as straight as a three dollar note.”
Healey’s face creased in thought. Alicia twirled her finger around her ear. “She means they aren’t. Tell me, Rosie, where do these boys hang out?”
Rosie waved a hand in a northerly direction. “Across that way. You can’t miss ‘em. Got a fence around their property, but if you ask around we got plenty of guides in town. Most of ‘em will be happy to show you around for a fee.”
“Maybe we’ll do that. Thanks for your help, Rosie.”
“Anytime.”
“Wait.” Russo spoke up. “This militia. What’s the worst thing they’ve done?”
An odd question, but Alicia knew why the big man was asking it. Simply to determine the threat level. For the first time since they entered the restaurant Rosie’s face grew guarded, her movements cautious.
“I dunno. Folks don’t talk overmuch ‘bout the militia.”
“You said earlier—”
“You heard that? So what you asking for when you have an answer? I wouldn’t want to wander into their compound, put it that way.”
Crouch thanked Rosie again and then addressed Caitlyn. “What have you found?”
“The many formations unique to Utah are in fact mostly one of a kind. The weather has molded them, shaped them. It does so differently with each part of the landscape and even each rock. The Tower of Babel is highly distinctive and incomparable. The Fiery Furnace is special too. Now, if either Grandview Peak or Little Black Mountain were formations on their own you couldn’t tell them apart from a hundred other landmarks, but put them together, and again they’re exceptional.”
“And the Aztecs relied on this.” Crouch nodded.
“Sure. They believed they would be following the map back within months, I would think. And though there are many escarpments and stepped monuments and odd towers, each one is an individual. I see only five matching objects to the ones on the map — and only three follow its actual lines.”
Alicia smiled. “Like having your cake and eating it too.” She clapped Caitlyn on the back, then shot a look over toward Russo. “Except in your case, Rob. Don’t wanna get those allergies going now, do we?”
Healey tapped on the table. “I feel like saying — saddle up!”
Caitlyn gave a gleeful little laugh. “Me too!”
Now Cruz grinned.
Alicia groaned. “Shit, why do I keep feeling like a Friday night babysitter?”
Crouch did nothing to dissuade the sudden upsurge of excitement. “The gold’s out there, guys. I’m sure of it. Imagine — my first venture into treasure hunting yields Montezuma’s famous gold. Damn, I’ve dreamed of this my whole life.”
“Is that why you collect old things?” Alicia wondered, remembering Crouch’s affectation for past-history souvenirs and relics. He had a reputation as a sentimentalist and, when not working, often pulled out a photo album packed with snaps as wide-ranging as his Corgi Ferrari Daytona 365 GTB/4, his Lee and Ditko Amazing Spiderman #4 special edition, his working Betamax and Honda CBX motorcycle. Other favorites included desk ornaments, paintings and restaurant keepsakes — the older within his own lifetime the better.