Cate DeLuca

What Bill is Due: Short Story Cate DeLuca

Was her father's death a suicide, or was it murder? It's time Tanny discovered the truth.

What starts as another great summer at the dig for Tanny, working alongside her beloved Jim and their children in the Italian countryside, quickly turns tragic with news of her stepfather's sudden illness.

A strange vision comes to her, implicating him in the death of her father. As she rushes home to say her goodbyes, her "Tanny-sense" is off the charts. Was her father's death not a suicide, after all? And why are sinister oil men lurking around the ranch?

Everyone Tanny talks to seems to tell a different story.

It turns out the logbook her father left behind has a coded message that will lead her to a heap of modern-day buried treasure if only she can correctly interpret the signs. Tanny and Jim must use all their archaeological skills to dig up the murderers, and-as in archaeology-sometimes unearthing the truth can release dangerous secrets.