In honor of Halloween, a little "Skeleton"
seemed appropriate!
The Skeleton Canyon Treasure
When Camille Dagneau surprises a strange man in the college
machine shop she runs, she is ready for battle. Ryan MacAllister seems equally
suspicious of her, but he insists he’s merely looking for his missing uncle,
who has disappeared while hunting for a lost treasure. He believes Camie is the
key to finding the treasure, and his uncle. But Camie – beautiful, brilliant,
and prickly – isn’t about to trust this oversized geologist, or the attraction
she feels.
Following the clues in the missing man’s journal will take
Camie, Ryan, and the cat Tiger on a trail through New Mexico and Arizona.
They’ll visit the Tombstone graveyard at night, uncover clues in museums, and
ultimately wind up in Skeleton Canyon, where rumor says nineteenth-century
cowboy bandits secreted their treasure in a cave. To rescue Ryan’s uncle,
they’ll face steep cliffs, twisty tunnels, and worse dangers in human form, but
trusting each other may be the biggest challenge. And they’re running out of
time….
Excerpt: In this scene, the team discusses the
legendary treasure:
Ryan held a
small, leather-bound notebook, turning it over and over in his hands. “Does
anyone here know anything about the Skeleton Canyon treasure?” he asked.
“I looked it
up as soon as Camie told us the name,” Erin said. She grabbed a book from the
coffee table and flipped through it as she spoke. “Skeleton Canyon is in
southeastern Arizona, near the New Mexico border. But the treasure came from
Mexico.” She frowned. “Lost treasure stories usually involve some pain and
death, but this one seems excessive.”
“No honor
among thieves,” Ryan said.
“Right,” Erin
agreed. “It started with Mexican bandits, the Estrada gang, who looted banks
and churches in Monterey, Mexico. Gold bars, diamonds, gold statues – millions
in treasure according to some stories. Other researchers say no way, there’s no
record of that kind of heist in Monterey. Whatever they got, the gang tried to
smuggle it into the U.S. through Skeleton Canyon, loaded on mules.”
Ryan nodded.
“But a gang of Arizona bandits, weird name–”
Erin glanced
at the book. “The Curly Bill Brocious Gang.”
“Yep. One of
them heard about the Mexican gang’s plan. They set up an ambush.”
Rebecca
murmured, “I take it these weren’t good guys playing Robin Hood.”
“No way,”
Erin said. “Not good guys, and not an especially good plan either. They shot
the Mexicans off their horses. Horses and mules scattered. To stop the mules
from running away with the treasure, the Americans shot the mules.”
“During that
fiasco, some of the treasure got scattered around the canyon,” Ryan commented.
“That’s probably why a few random coins have been found.”
Camie
wondered if he was annoyed by Erin taking over some of the explanation.
Apparently the treasure part of his story was true – or at least as true as any
of these legends. If he’d planned to fudge the details, Erin’s quick research
had killed that option. But if he’d planned to fake things, he’d have been
better off faking the whole treasure, not using one that had been reported in
books and on the Internet.
He seemed
relaxed enough as he went on. “The American bandits now have the treasure, but
no mules to transport it. So they bury it.”
“Most of it,”
Erin corrected. “They allegedly divided up some of it and took it with them.”
“And never
got around to coming back for the rest?” Sam asked.
Erin gave a
sly smile. “It’s much more dramatic than that. Two members of the gang–” She
glanced down at her book. “Zwing Hunt and Billy Grounds – decided to
double-cross the others. They hired a Mexican who had a team of horses, went
back to the canyon and moved the treasure, and then killed the Mexican.”
“Wait, so the
treasure isn’t even in Skeleton Canyon anymore?” Camie asked. “Assuming it ever
existed?”
“They moved
it to another spot in the canyon, or at least nearby.” Ryan met her gaze and
smiled. “Assuming it ever existed. Some self-proclaimed experts claim it
must be within a day’s ride of the original ambush spot. Hunt and Grounds
hid out in a cave in the canyon for months, but eventually they were
killed by a sheriff’s posse.”
When Erin
opened her mouth, Ryan held up a hand to forestall her. “Fine, one of them was
killed right away and one was badly wounded, if that matters. The injured one
supposedly made a map before he died.”
“Which of
course disappeared, if it ever existed,” Erin said. “The treasure itself may
not even be real. Or it could’ve been small enough that they divided it up at
the beginning without burying anything.”
“Hunting it
seems like a waste of time,” Camie
said.
Ryan
shrugged. “That’s not really my concern. “I’m not trying to find the treasure,
I’m trying to find my uncle.”
Was he
protesting too much? Something about buried treasure gave even the mildest
people – of whom Ryan was certainly not one – dreams of swashbuckling
adventures. For some it was the fortune, for others the idea of being the one
to solve a century-old mystery. Ryan’s ambivalence was in itself suspicious.
Camie leaned
forward. “So what exactly do you want from us?”
Ryan held up
the notebook. “This is what my uncle sent me. It has the list of clues and
notes that got me this far. I’m sharing it in a gesture of good faith. I want
to follow his trail and find him.” He grimaced, as if he didn’t like what was
coming. “And I need help.”
If you love suspense and romance, don’t miss this gripping adventure! The Southwest Treasure Hunters novels include The Mad Monk’s Treasure and The Dead Man’s Treasure. Each novel stands alone in this series mixing action, adventure, and romance.
If you love suspense and romance, don’t miss this gripping adventure! The Southwest Treasure Hunters novels include The Mad Monk’s Treasure and The Dead Man’s Treasure. Each novel stands alone in this series mixing action, adventure, and romance.
“The Skeleton Canyon Treasure is a light, breezy
action/adventure/romance that's perfect for summer reading.”
"A great mystery, love story, and search for a
treasure.”
Visit all the Book Hooks from #MFRWHooks - You might find
your next great read!
Kris Bock writes romantic suspense novels set in
dramatic Southwestern landscapes. Whispers in the Dark brings
a gothic drama to an archaeology dig at ancient Southwest ruins. In What
We Found, a young woman’s life swiftly changes when she finds a murder
victim in the woods. In Counterfeits, an artist heads back to the
children’s art camp she once knew well – but danger awaits.
The Mad Monk’s Treasure follows the hunt for a legendary treasure in the New Mexico
desert. In The Dead Man’s Treasure, estranged relatives must follow
a series of complex clues in a competition to locate a buried treasure.
In The Skeleton Canyon Treasure, reader favorites Camie and Tiger
the cat help a mysterious man track down his missing uncle. Each book stands
alone, with no cliffhangers.
