We sat there for a moment, studying each other.
“That’s promising,” admitted Noah, “but it still doesn’t narrow it down. We need to know where to look, or at least get in your uncle’s head. Find out what made Travis think the way he did.”
It was already late, and getting later. As exciting as it was to think we could be standing a few meters away from a life-changing discovery, exhaustion was winning out.
“Well this is definitely something to think about,” said Chase carefully. “But for right now…”
“We need to check off the inspector’s list,” Noah finished.
“Yeah.”
It was overwhelming to me, that they were all still here. All still working so hard toward this near-unachievable goal. At this point, part of it had to be personal. Part of it, pride.
But I also knew a good part of it was loyalty, and friendship, and love. Especially the love part… because I felt it too.
I hugged Chase, then Noah, then Julian. Each of them felt amazing in his own special way.
“Well I, for one, am heading to bed,” I told them, rising from my chair. I could feel their eyes on my back — or more likely my ass — as I made my way out of the kitchen.
“Is that an invitation?” I heard Chase say.
I shrugged and smiled to myself. I was tired, sure… but not dead.
“It’s whatever you want it to be,” I called back coyly.
Fifty-One
MADISON
I woke up alone, which made little sense. Lately I’d been beating the guys. Rising well before they did, and acting as Queen of the Coffee Maker.
But not now. Not today.
Yawning, stretching, I made my way to the south-facing window. I could see Julian outside, hammering away at the gatehouse. He’d finished the courtyard days ago, and was now helping Noah and Chase with the carpentry.
I felt instantly bad, sleeping late. Only I hadn’t. It was just barely light outside. Almost too dark for them to see what they were doing.
Dressing quickly, I scored a cup of coffee on my way out the door. The rich brown liquid was lukewarm. That meant the pot was at least an hour old, which made even less sense.
I tripped over the calico while leaving the kitchen, spilling a good quarter of the cup all over myself. I cursed scathingly. Not so much at the cat — whose name I still didn’t know — but more at myself for not flipping the lights on.
“Stay,” I ordered, at the already sitting cat. When it licked its whiskers I nodded tiredly. “Good girl.”
I crossed the bailey to the sound of crickets, reaching the gatehouse on my third yawn. Chase was holding a thick beam. Noah and Julian were hammering away. I waited for a pause in the action.
“Why?” was all I could muster up.
“Getting an early start,” said Julian, without even looking. “You should rest. Gonna be a long day.”
“The day just got longer,” I said, sipping my coffee.
“Uh huh.”
Noah began hammering again, so I glanced at Chase. He smiled back at me, knowingly. We’d had some fun last night, the two of us. If anyone ought to be tired, it should be him.
“You guys need some more coffee?” I said, dumping the rest of my cup. “I’m putting a fresh pot on.”
It took a while, but I received nods all around. I decided to leave them alone. They were already busy as hell, no matter what time it was. The last thing I wanted was to slow them down.