Page 143 of Harnessed in Gold

“Ten-legged frogs?” Aaron laughs.

I tell him, “You have to see it to believe it.”

“Oh, I believe it.”

Topaz mutters, “Subworlders.”

Yeah, I suppose humanity deserves that.

Liv gasps and grabs Leo’s arm. “Look at this!”

“What?”

“Look!” She points to the screen. “Starting in 1962, here, see that? Almost every year since then, they’ve found dead fish there. And look! Look at what they died from!”

We all lean in closer, but none of us understand what we’re seeing.

“Neurotoxicity?” Leo asks.

“Yes!” She bounces in her seat, her excitement at odds with the subject she’s explaining. “Lead poisoning!”

In one blink, Leo’s eyes double in size.

“I mean, it could be other things,” Liv is quick to say. “But lead poisoning is a common cause. And look, it’s right in that area across the river.”

Leo jumps to his feet. “It has to be close to the river if the lead is leaching into the water.”

Rime drums his fingers on the table. “Browne probably buried it in the ground along the bank, not knowing the river would move or get wider.”

“I’ll bet it’s right on the edge of the water,” Liv agrees. “I mean, it has to be, doesn’t it? Otherwise, it would’ve washed downriver. But just last year they recorded the dead fish in the same spot.” She points at the screen. “Year after year, always the same spot.”

“So then why haven’t scientists found the box?” I ask. “Wouldn’t they be trying to figure out what’s going on?”

Liv shrugs. “It’s just a little poisoning. Believe me, they have bigger fish to fry.” She giggles into her hand. “Pun intended.”

Aaron fist-bumps her acrossthe table.

“Here, Leo—” She beckons him with wiggling fingers. “Give me your phone.”

He unlocks it and hands it to her, no questions asked.

Biting her lip and squinting her eyes, she rapidly taps away on the screen. A moment later she offers it back. “There. I dropped the pin in the center of the area, but it extends about twenty-five yards in either direction.”

A total of fifty yards. Half a football field. And to think, last summer when Leo and Robin began their search, they were combing an area as wide as four states. And now it’s up to me to narrow the field even further. I’m the scope on the sniper rifle, line me up and fire.

“Liv, this is brilliant.” Leo squeezes her shoulder. “Thank you so much.”

Topaz snatches her jacket off the back of the couch where, in her annoyance, she’d slung it. “So, can we go now?”

“C’mon, Betts.” Rime nods at Topaz, then steps back to nudge me toward the door. “Leo, give me your phone.”

I plant my feet. What is happening? Is Rime expecting me to go without Leo?

“Hawthorn!” Rime snaps his fingers. “Phone!”

Leo tightens his hands into fists. “No way.”

A hush comes over the room.