Scorpions

Francesca is an ex-convict working as a caregiver to an eighty-seven-year-old man named Ruben Mayer. He is not who he says he is. Ruben is Victor Rangel, the last surviving member of an armoured-car robbery crew, and before he dies he tells Francesca where the money went — a mine shaft out in Death Valley.

Getting to it means bringing other people in, and other people are the problem. As the treasure hunt moves into the desert, the question stops being whether the money is there and starts being which of them will turn on the rest first — and whether the heat, the mine, and the scorpions get to them before that happens.

Rachel Howzell Hall's short story is part of the Never Tell collection of Amazon Original Stories.