Where We Fell

Part One. Chapter 5.

Dallas

I turn the rock over in my hands, trying to see if there's anything else on the rock. Chase took the rock from me and inspected it for himself.

"Let's get out of here," Tucker says. We walk over all the loose rock and dirt to the trucks.

"Do you want to go to my house to see if we can find anything else?" Chase suggests.

"Yeah, I'll meet you there." Tucker agrees. Chase and I hop in his truck and Tucker gets in his. The ride to Chase's house is quiet but comfortable. Chase lives a couple minutes out of town. The house is a modern size. It has a wooden wrap around porch and a wooden and stone theme.

The main cottage's great room is where the whole family truly comes together. Comfy kick-up-your-feet furnishings pull in the colors of the structure, from the alder kitchen cabinets to the reclaimed oak to the pale-cream of the Oklahoma Blend stone. All the rich textures are softened by drywall painted in a very light beige. And by combining pendant lights with table lamps and chandeliers to augment the extensive natural light, the 525-square-foot room feels bright and spacious.

For the kitchen, engineered random-width hickory flooring that was hand-scraped and wire brushed. The alder-wood cabinetry was custom built on site and lightly distressed. The island was painted a grayish-blue with a glazing technique and topped with absolute "Black Pearl" granite with a leathered finish, which gives it a rich honed texture rather than one that's highly polished. A huge pantry is located directly behind the kitchen and leads to the utility room.

To connect the log portion of the main house with its stone-encased counterpart, the owners incorporated this "music room." It provides a transition between the main cabin and the master suite. This sunny space is brightened by floor-to-ceiling windows and the reflective quality of the ceiling's antique oak beams and random-width decking in a natural finish. The master bedroom in the main cottage has random width, kiln dried hand-hewn and distressed eastern white pine log siding on the interior and exterior.

At the ridge, the room's ceiling soars 17 feet off the floor, giving the space a heavy helping of grandeur, and is encased in antique oak rafters and random-width decking in the same material. The small display loft, accessible by an iron library ladder, is positioned above the master bath.This quaint bedroom is located above the barn-style detached garage, hence the red-glazed sliding barn door leading to the bathroom.

In an hour, the three of us were sitting in the living room, around the square otterman. All of us had searched the rock for anything else and found nothing.

"Maybe this is the end of the clues," Tucker put forward. I shook my head.

"No way. He wouldn't just leave us on the end." I said. Everyone nodded.

"Maybe we just need to sleep on it," Chase suggested. Tucker took the rock and his brows furrowed.

"Wait guys, do you see that?" Tucker pointed something out on the rock. It looked like a small drawing of a wad of money.

"Money?" Chase muttered to himself. "Why would Austin leave us a drawing of money?"

"I don't know." I murmured, confused. I thought I saw a flash of fear over Tucker's face.

"Let's sleep on it, I gotta go. Bye y'all." Tucker got up and left. Chase and I shared a concerned look. I snuck the rock into my jean pocket and walked out with Chase. The ride to my house was quiet other than cars passing and Chase tapping on the steering wheel. I took this time to ponder my next moves. We have a knife that says Number One, a video of Austin saying "two" from his old phone, and a rock that says, Number Two with a drawing of cash. Realization hit me like a grenade. I gasped out loud.