page62 (1/2)

Jacqui leaned forward, eagerly “Yes, please, I’d like that very much”

Adil threaded his fingers together

“I ht the land and opened it up He’d found soems he wanted an expert opinion on, so he called h No, even then, he was a stubborn old grump”

He gave Jacqui a look that suggested he liked that quality in Bill Bauer and she gave him a smile in return

“So, I trekked all the way out to the mine, and sat in his tiny, uncomfortable office I asked hi more comfortable, and he just looked at me and said, ‘Why would I care what my office is like when my real work is in the mine?’”

Adil laughed

“Bill wasn’t happy unless he was out there with his guys, digging I think if he had been born a hundred years earlier, he would have been one your California gold miners, out on the frontier”

Khizar could tell that hearing about her great-uncle h

“I can see hihtfully

“Really?” Jacqui asked, unsure

He nodded “Your eyes And your determination You may not have known Bill Bauer, but you are definitely his family”

Khizar was grateful to his parents They’d given hiift, and another chance to show that he was serious about Jacqui

And when they left at the end of the evening and Khizar and Jacqui went to bed so that they could get so day, he felt, for the first time, like he was really home

Chapter 22

Jacqui

They left early the nextthat this trip to Alabama would be the final stop in their treasure hunt Jacqui was also hoping that it would reveal more of her family’s history, which was the more important treasure to her

It was a long flight, and so after they were in the air and Khizar had checked in with the pilot, Jacqui asked him to sit down so they could talk

“You knoe haven’t had time to talk about what happens next”

“You mean, after we find the diamond? Or whatever Bill left for you?”

Jacqui nodded “That, and what happens with us”