My Spy 6: Private Eye

Treasure

Ryan woke up eager to get to the shed, so he had us up and out the door by nine. I sat in the passenger seat of his truck with my large yeti tumbler, filled to the brim with black coffee. He was excited to "treasure hunt" so I did my best to be a pleasant morning person. 

Tilly's property that she leased to Wanda and Len, the bed and breakfast owners, was a forty-minute drive and sat close to Ole Miss. It was also close to Lamar Park, so you could smell the lake water as we pulled up the path that lead to the cottage-like residence. I immediately spotted the charm of the place. It was a light pink two-story with white wooden grid windows attached to white planter boxes that had bright florals spilling over the sides. The wrap-around was connected to a white banister and rocking chairs and wicker furniture littered the deck. 

"This is adorable," I tell Ryan as we drive past and Len told us to park in the back, where it was a quick walk to the shed when we gave him a heads up that we would be coming. 

"Tell me again why Tilly has a storage shed here?" He asks me and I shrug, "I think she said this is what was left of my grandfather's stuff when he passed. She didn't want to toss anything but my momma or aunt didn't want it either." Ryan nods and he slides in between a lawn mower and an older GMC pickup. He grabs my hand after I slide out of the seat and we walk hand in hand past the property line. I glance around to see an elderly couple, playing croquet under the Spanish Moss trees and they wave to us as we move along the footpath. 

"Is it weird to think you own this land now?" Ryan asks me and I nod with wide eyes. 

"Weirder that I have never been here," I tell him and we continue down the narrow dirt path. After snaking around some smaller trees, we see a large wooden shed at the bottom of a small hill, in the middle of a clearing. It's not as dilapidated as I thought but it's still a simple wooden structure. 

"I'm thinking between the weather and bugs, we ain't gonna want anything from in there," I tell him with a frown as we get closer. There is no paint on the wood and I imagine no one has weatherproofed it in years. I can see the door is warped but it doesn't stop Ryan from wiggling it loose. He swings the bolt cutters he brought in front of him and I slide the giant padlock toward him.

"Here goes nothing," he says before slicing the lock off, but the rusty chain is more stubborn to get off. When he finally yanks it loose, he tugs the door open and years of hot air and dust blow towards us. I cough as I wave my hands around but Ryan just dips inside. From the dark, I hear him call out, "Looks like there is a sliding door around the corner!" He quickly comes back out of the dark entrance and is on a mission to get to the other door. I hear the chain being wrestled around and when I make it around the corner, he is already sliding it off. He nods me over to him and it takes both of us to slide the heavy wooden rolling door open. Sunlight floods the shed and there is a massive canvas tarp covering something in the center and piles of plastic tubs surround it. Ryan eagerly looks to me and asks, "Are you Frank or Mike?"

I laugh, "Is that an American Pickers thing again?" Ryan frowns before darting over to the tarp. He looks to me, excited and eager to see what's underneath. 

"On the count of three, I will reveal what treasure lies beneath this covering," he says, dramatically like he's a magician on a Vegas stage. I drop my hands to my hips and wait for him to count. On three, he yanks the canvas away and we both have coughing fits from the dust. We wave our hands to clear the air and I hear Ryan in awe, "I think there is a car under here." His tarp revealed another blue tarp underneath, but this one seems to be tucked around some sort of vehicle. He uses the bolt cutters to slice through the restraints and we both slide the blue tarp off. When another cloth covering is revealed underneath, Ryan looks to me, "How much you wanna bet that it's just 100 tarps covering a single sticky note that says, sucker?" I laugh as he eagerly looks around to find out how to remove the canvas. He finally finds the bottom piece and slides it up, which reveals a silver car of some sort.