He grabbed a tire iron from the trunk, then they held hands and ran to the place where Jake said the treasure was buried. He kissed her passionately, making her laugh, then he started to dig. The earth was crumbly and easy to move, so he quickly dug down a few feet – eager to uncover the treasure he’d been waiting for, for so long.
Anticipation swept through Astrid. “Your destiny’s right here, Jake.”
“It sure is, sweetheart.” He threw her that playful grin she loved so much. She opened her mouth to speak, but his tire iron clunked against something metallic buried deep in the ground. Astrid could barely contain her excitement as Jake pulled out an old metal locker – measuring roughly one foot deep and long. He rattled the rusted padlock, then grabbed his gun and blasted it open.
Anticipation seized Astrid, sending prickles of tension up her spine.
Jake glanced excitedly at her, gripping the lid, ready to reveal the contents to the world after all these years. But a voice behind him made him freeze.
“Not so fast. I want half of whatever’s in that box.” Daniel appeared, with his gun drawn.
Astrid’s heart sunk. No!
Jake’s expression was totally blank. He watched Daniel approach, smirking slightly.
Daniel halted in front of them. “Open it.”
“All right.” Jake flung open the creaking rusty lid, so Astrid craned to look, but she couldn’t see the contents. Jake gazed inside – remaining silent for a moment as the tension tingled around them. A playful grin crept over Jake’s face, before he let out a hearty laugh. As Astrid watched, she saw Jake slip something in his pocket, but Daniel hadn’t seen, because he was too busy trying to see what was in the treasure chest.
“What is it?” Daniel asked, hungrily. “Gold? Diamonds?”
Jake reached in and pulled out a gray rock. “You want half of worthless junk, Daniel? You can have it all.”
Daniel’s voice trembled. “What?”
Jack backed away. “There’s nothing of value in there. Look for yourself.”
“No treasure?” Totally baffled, Daniel lowered his gun and looked.
Jake grasped Astrid’s hand. “It’s full of rocks, Daniel,” Jake said. “Just like your fucking head.”
Daniel’s irritation cracked. “Rocks!”
“Yeah. You wasted all that time chasing us – fucking us over – all for rocks.”
Astrid was confused as to why Jake had spent all his time hunting rocks, but she was sure there was more to this than he was letting on. He aimed his gun and shot two of Daniel’s tires – but Daniel didn’t even notice, because he was rooting through the chest, desperate to find the real treasure.
“Let’s get out of here, sweetheart. I got what I wanted.”
“Did you?” she asked.
“I sure did.” He pulled her close and kissed her passionately. Astrid’s heart twisted with glee. They laughed, then held hands as they strode back toward Jake’s car. Astrid glanced over her shoulder and saw Daniel upending the box and tipping the rocks over the ground – still unable to believe there was no treasure. Somehow this revenge on Daniel seemed poetic. Even if there was no treasure, she and Jake had each other.
Jake opened the car door for her so she climbed in, realizing Daniel was now frantically digging in the ground like a dog.
Jake slammed the driver’s door and flicked on the engine. “He’ll be here a while, I think.”
Astrid turned to face Jake, as he watched Daniel with a satisfied smile on his face.
“You’re not really going to leave him stranded here, are you?”
Jake shrugged. “He’s totally occupied with trying to find something that doesn’t exist – don’t you think he needs to learn his lesson?”
“Maybe people like him never will.”
He kissed her. “Maybe. I’ll let him sweat for a while. Then send someone to pick him up later.”
“Okay.” They exchanged a smile. Nervous anticipation flashed through Astrid. She cleared her throat. “Er, you said you didn’t mind the box being empty because you’d gotten what you wanted?”