Darque Wants by Diana Steele Page A

organized of business partners.”  Amber looked at the remaining drawers and then held her hand up to them.  Mateo stood back and watched.
    “I’m going to see if my energy can just pick up on what drawer it might be.”  She stood still, scanning the cabinet with her palm.  Then she stopped and opened up a drawer on the left.  It was filled with erasers and pen caps.  “I think I’m close.”  She stopped and looked at the next drawer to the left.  “I think this is it.”  She locked her finger around the little round handle, and then pulled it open. 
    The red, folded map sat inside.
                  Mateo watched Amber as she pulled the map out of the drawer.  “What is it?”  He furrowed his brow and leaned closer, as curious as she was to see what it looked like once opened.  Amber held it for a second and took a deep breath.
                  “I think Sherriff Claiborne will find this very interesting.”  Amber smiled and then pulled one of the edges down, then slowly pulled the other.  She opened up the map and held it up for both her and Mateo to see.  Brodi cocked his head to the side.  The map was exactly as she had seen it in her vision, with several specific markings, and one big red circle on the end.  She tried to see what else was in the details, but it was smudged in areas, and torn on the side.  “This isn’t just any old map.  This looks like a map from Gold Rush days.  This is incredible.  I think we might be able to find out why this location is so significant.  There’s all kinds of little marks and circles on it.  You’ll have to take a look.”  Amber was wide-eyed and excited when she showed Mateo the map.
                  “What do we do now?”  Mateo looked interested and amused.  Amber smiled and then gave him a hug. 
    “We go back to your place and have another one of those beers.”
      Mateo laughed and then turned around, guiding them both away from the patio and back inside the studio.  Once inside, he turned off the lights and led them to the front door.  Then he locked up, gave Amber a kiss on the cheek, and walked outside.
    “If we can sit and look at this map, we might be able to figure out what Jeffrey and Christopher were up to.  This will be helpful in getting closer to resolving the case, right?”  Mateo tried to take a guess about what Amber was thinking. 
    “You must be a mind-reader.”  Amber smiled and then they started to walk to Mateo’s house.  Once inside, he cracked open a beer and then they sat down and looked at the map.  Before amber could say a word, Mateo was wide-eyed and pointing. 
    “I know exactly where this is.  It’s right on the west side of Salmon Creek.  I’ve been here.  There’s a huge boulder field where a lot of rock-climbers hang out, and the lake is on the other side.”  He looked at Amber, nodding his head.
    “Can we go there tomorrow?”  Amber wanted to see if the site felt familiar once she was standing there.  Mateo nodded his head.
    “I’ll do whatever I can to help, and if you want to drive to that spot, then let’s do it.  Why don’t we leave around eight?”  Mateo paused.  “You know, I have to tell you.  I heard Christopher talking one day about ruins out by Salmon Creek.  I never put much thought into it, but now it makes sense.  I think he could have been plotting something for a long time, Amber.” 
    Amber nodded her head.  “I heard that Jeffery’s wife has been running around and accusing a lot of the photographers from the workshop, too.  But it all points to Christopher now, especially if you can attest to the fact that he spoke about Salmon Creek before.  Now we have the map, and it’s a special one, for sure.  The only thing we don’t know yet is why Jeffrey was killed, but I think that if we can rummage around the site tomorrow, we might be able to find the missing piece.  Maybe there’s actually gold out