by Louise Clark
“Now look here,” Don began.
Mike put up a hand to stop him. He raised his brows and smiled at Scarr. “Then you won’t be surprised when I let everyone who matters know that your arrogance and refusal to work cooperatively is the reason that the body of this creature was carved into pieces and separated. One half to you, and your museum; the other to me, and my customers. Each and every one of them.”
From the shocked expression on Scarr’s face, he hadn’t thought quite that far ahead. “No one will listen to you.”
Mike shrugged. “Some won’t. Others will.”
Scarr stared at him, his jaw working. Mike waited, let him stew.
Liz looked from Scarr to him, then back to Scarr again. “What if there was a contract?”
Scarr frowned. “What do you mean?”
The guy clearly wasn’t a fast thinker. Mike pulled his hat back so it again sat low on his forehead, and replaced his sunglasses. The glare of the afternoon sun was giving him a headache. Or maybe it was that idiot, Alfred Scarr.
“You know, a legal document,” Don said helpfully. “The kind that sets out rights and obligations that bind both parties so neither screws the other? A contract.”
Scarr shot him a furious look. “I know what a contract is.”
“A legal agreement between Mike Edmonds and you, Dr. Scarr, that sets out the terms for excavating this site,” Liz said, breaking in before the comments became an argument. “Mr. Edmonds is a businessman. If he signs a contract, I think he’ll abide by its rules.”
“A contract will take time to put together,” Scarr said. “I’ll have to get the university’s lawyers involved. One of them may have to come out.”
“Or Edmonds’ lawyer can go to the university,” Zac said, his tone and cherubic expression innocent
“Ah, yes.” Scarr strung out the words. He sounded pleased and he sent a warm smile Zac’s way. Having Mike’s lawyer go to his would show his power and put him in the top position. “Perhaps a contract would make this unfortunate situation workable.”
He had no idea, Mike thought. Mike had a lawyer on retainer. The man had negotiated lucrative contracts with shrewd international consortiums. He doubted a couple of university lawyers would be able to best him. “Whatever works,” he said to Scarr. “Dr. Hamilton and I can get started on taking measurements and reviewing the site while the lawyers do their thing. I’d like to get this skeleton out of the ground before the end of the dig season.”
Scarr looked like he wanted to object, but he couldn’t. The washout had exposed the skeleton. There was no telling what the harsh winter weather would do to it or what they’d find when the snow melted in the spring. He nodded. “Zac Doyle will do the work, however.”
Mike slowly shook his head. “No need to get the lawyers involved, then.”
There was a minute of tense silence, while Scarr glared at him. Doyle watched with an innocent stare and Liz had the sense to keep her mouth shut.
“Fine,” Scarr said, snapping out the word. “Hamilton stays. But Zac will work with her. That’s my last concession.”
He heard Liz release her breath in a relieved sigh. He wanted to tell Scarr to go to hell, but he didn’t think that would help Liz’s cause. He’d make sure that his lawyer understood that having Dr. Elizabeth Hamilton heading up the excavation on behalf of Dr. Scarr’s team was the only option he’d accept. He’d also make sure that it was stated clearly in the contract that Dr. Hamilton would be the one writing and publishing the field notes.
That was for later, though. For now he’d let Scarr have his little victory. Let him think he was the one in control. He’d soon find out he wasn’t.
Chapter 10
As earlier, Liz drove back to the campsite. The trip was one of loud grumbling that would rise to outright venting, only to fall back to a grumble again, before cresting back up into a vent. Dr. Scarr was not happy about the situation and Zac Doyle made sure to keep his anxieties on high. There wasn’t much Scarr could do to change it, though, no matter how many times he called Mike Edmonds a scam artist, a fraud, and pretty much any other slur he could think of. He’d have to rely on the university’s lawyers and hope they got him the terms he wanted in the contract with Mike Edmonds.
When they reached the camp, Liz let Scarr and Zac Doyle off, but didn’t leave the truck. When Scarr raised his brows and asked what she was up to, she said, “I have to call my sister in Boston to tell her not to pick me up tomorrow.”
Scarr pursed his lips and nodded. With no cell service at the campsite you had to drive a few miles away to higher land or hike out of the valley and up a rise if you wanted to call out. Since it was nearly dinnertime, the second option wasn’t viable.
As Liz drove to the spot where she’d be able to get steady, clear service, the emotions she’d been bottling up since last night fizzed free. There was so much she had to tell her sister she wasn’t sure where to start.
Faith didn’t answer her phone when Liz called, but that wasn’t a problem. They had worked out a system. If Liz needed to talk and Faith wasn’t available, she’d send a text. The more imperative the text, the more quickly Faith would phone back.
Liz grinned to herself as she typed. Urgent! Urgent! Urgent! Plans changed. Call ASAP! That should do it. She leaned back in the seat and waited.
Sure enough, a minute later Faith’s ring tone came through and her name flashed on the screen. Liz answered promptly.
“What’s up?” Faith said, without preamble.
“I’m a Traveler.”
“What!” The word was a shriek, then there was silence until Faith said, “Did I hear you correctly? You said you were a Traveler.”
“You heard right. I walked into a beacon last night. I met my grandson.”
“Are you sure you traveled? That this wasn’t something…else?”
“At first I wondered if it was the setting sun. Except it was in the wrong place. I was intrigued, so I got out of the truck and walked toward it. It was just like Uncle Andrew describes it. The light drew me, made me feel better, loved and safe. I walked into it and found myself in a high tech lab sometime in the future. It must be years from now, because the man I met is an adult and he’s my grandson.”
“Wow!” Faith laughed. The sound was warm and affectionate. “So how does it feel? You must be the oldest first time Traveler in our family.”
The time travel ability usually manifested at puberty. “Thanks a lot, sis, for making me feel ancient at twenty-eight.”
Faith laughed again. This time it was more of a giggle. “Seriously, when are you going back?”
Faith was a Beacon like Liz’s grandson, Mark. Her Traveler was their eighteenth century ancestor, Andrew Byrne. Andrew visited Faith weekly, if not more often. Though Liz liked the idea of a regular visit with Mark, she was still worried there was no way it could happen. “I don’t know. The place where I found him was across the line, on Mike Edmonds’ permit land. To get there I need access to a truck and Scarr isn’t going to let me use a vehicle for a pleasure ride. I want to go back again before I leave this area, though. I’ll work out something.”
“Talking about leaving the area, what’s this about plans changing?”
Liz stared out the windshield at the desolate landscape around her. “After I came back through the beacon, it was almost dark and there was a storm brewing. It broke on my way back to camp. I lost control of the truck on a turn and slid off the road.”
“Are you okay?” There was alarm in Faith’s voice.
“Yeah. I didn’t roll the truck or anything. The wheels got stuck in soft mud and I couldn’t get it back on the road.” She paused to chuckle. “The enemy rescued me.”
“The enemy?” Faith took a moment, then said, “Do you mean Mike Edmonds? Isn’t he an uncertified paleontologist who has the dig permit beside yours?”
“That would be him.”
“What was he like?”
“He’s gorgeous.” The description popped out un
planned.
“Whoa,” Faith said. “That’s a surprise. When you’ve mentioned him before, you made him sound like a wimpy wannabe. Gorgeous doesn’t quite fit.”
Had she talked about him that way? Probably. Before last night, she’d never met the man and, although she knew of his activities, hadn’t really thought about him. Scarr often complained about the man, but after the first few rants, she tuned him out. “All I knew about him is what Scarr has said. Now I have a different image of Edmonds and I’m confused.”
“Hang on,” Faith said. “I’ll do a web search on him while we’re talking. I’ll see what I can fill in.” Liz heard the clatter of keys as Faith said, “Now, tell me what happened after Mike Edmonds rescued you.”
“We spent the night together.” There was silence on the other end of the phone connection. Liz laughed. “In his truck.”
“Okay.” Faith drew out the word, caution in her voice. “He’s gorgeous and you spent the night in his truck. There’s a picture forming in my mind.”
“Well, haul your mind out of the gutter and erase that picture, stat. Nothing happened. The storm raged around us and we took shelter. That’s it.” Liz was glad she was talking to Faith on the phone, because her cheeks were red. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t had thoughts about the man she had spent the night beside. About the way his voice made her think of velvet sliding across her skin. What his body would look like naked. How his hands would feel on her skin. She swallowed hard. She was the one who needed to purify her thoughts, not Faith.
“Right. You have nothing to report. The incident was a non-event.”
Faith’s tone was mocking. Liz figured she deserved it.
“Tell me about the change of plans then,” Faith added.
Liz envisioned the find and elation bubbled into her voice. “The storm was wicked. It caused an enormous washout, miles long and really deep. It exposed some strata that were hidden. I made a find. An almost complete skeleton.”
“Way to go! That’s exciting, Liz.” Faith hesitated. “But—”
“Yeah, but I’m supposed to be coming home. Except I’m not.”
“So Scarr isn’t the jerk you thought he was? The find is yours, so he’s letting you excavate it?”
“Oh, Scarr’s a jerk all right. He planned to send me home and give my find to Zac Doyle.”
“That sounds more like the Scarr I’ve never met, but already dislike intensely.”
Liz laughed.
“So how’d you work the change in plans,” Faith asked.
“Mike Edmonds and I ganged up on him.”
This time it was Faith who laughed. “Mike Edmonds again. That must have been some night in that truck.”
“Stop!”
“You’re my kid sister. It’s my job to tease. Hey, I’m getting some info on Edmonds. Okay, let’s see. He owns a company called Discovering Dinos that works through a dude ranch in your area. The ranch specializes in paleo-tourism.”
“You’re making up words. Explain.”
“People can do trail rides to dinosaur dig sites, or they can participate in a dig, for a day or a week. The longest is two weeks at a dig site. The company also sells bones and casts of skeletons to…” There a pause, then Faith said, “Huh. The clients listed are mainly museums. A couple of small colleges, too. They also sell videos that seem to be about paleontology. There’s a list. According to another page, Mike Edmonds has a BSc. Oh, this is interesting. The site has a news and events tab. Let me see what’s there.”
Listening to her sister explore the Internet was excruciating. Liz itched to have a screen in front of her, so she could be the one to flip through the pages. It seemed to take an age before Faith spoke again, though it was really less than a minute.
“You know, Liz, this Mike Edmonds of yours may not be such a bad guy.”
“What do you mean?”
“He does a lot of public speaking at schools and libraries. For free. And he’s got a wad of testimonials from people raving about how great their experience was on one of his tours. How much they learned and how exciting it was to feel like they were part of unearthing the past. That sort of thing. Why does Scarr hate him so much?”
“Because he’s not part of the academic community.”
“Of course. He’s different. A perfectly good reason to refuse to accept someone.” Faith said. Sarcasm dripped from her voice.
Liz couldn’t disagree. “Listen, thanks for checking for me. I’m going to have to get back. I’ll keep you posted, but it looks like I’ll be finishing out the season after all.”
“Email me with all the juicy details,” Faith said.
Liz laughed. “I will.”
Just before she rang off, Faith said, quietly but with emotion, “And Liz? Congratulations on becoming a Traveler. I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks, Faith.” She had to swallow a lump in her throat as she disengaged the phone. For a moment all she could do was to sit and stare at the stark, beautiful terrain.
She had come into her abilities and become a Traveler. She’d discovered a skeleton that could be a career-changing find.
And she’d met a man who seemed to have more layers than an onion. He’d rescued her from the storm. He’s supported her against her bully of a boss. He was gorgeous and he intrigued her.
She laughed a little at that thought. If she wasn’t who she was, Dr. Liz Hamilton, apprentice paleontologist, desperate to create a career for herself, she might almost think she was smitten with the man.
The thought drifted through her mind.
Smitten. Could it be?
She sat up straight and started the engine. No. It could not be. She was career-focused. She didn’t have time for a relationship.
She set the truck in motion and headed back to camp. Thoughts about last night and today chased themselves through her mind. As she turned into the lane that led to the camp, she grinned.
A relationship? No way. But sex with a gorgeous man? Who knew? She’d see how things went.
At the moment, though, she was open to sleeping with the enemy.
Chapter 11
At nine in the morning the sun already beat down with merciless power. To keep from burning her skin to a crisp, Liz was wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans. As a concession to the heat, the front buttons were open, exposing the thin t-shirt beneath. A flat-crowned straw hat, the brim pulled low to shield her eyes, protected her head and on her feet she wore leather boots to keep out any small critters that might lurk in the dirt and rocks at the washout’s bottom.
She and Zac had already been at the site for an hour. They’d come early to work in the relative cool of early morning. They’d take a break and find shade when the sun was at its highest, then snatch a few more hours as when afternoon eased toward night and the heat dissipated.
They were mapping the skeleton, analyzing the rock to see how friable it was, and how difficult it would be to remove the bones. At this point they weren’t actively trying to identify the creature, but Liz was keeping a sharp lookout for clues. She desperately wanted to find the head. It was the key and so far, not in evidence. Somehow, over the millennia, it had been separated from the rest of the body. Without it the find would be interesting, particularly if it appeared to be a new species, but not definitive.
Figuring out where the animal had died was an important step. If it was in an ancient streambed, water could have washed the skull away from the body. If it was on land, it might be close by and just a matter of clearing away some of the hillside not exposed by the washout.
The creature, whatever it was, was one of the giants that lived at the end of the dinosaur era. It had large bones and strong hind legs. The neck was medium length, which meant that it wasn’t one of the long-necked sauropods, but it might be one of the other herbivore species. Or it might be a carnivore. Now that would be exciting.
“Iguanodon family,” Zac said, standing back to look at the whole creature, not just the rib cage where Liz was busy takin
g measurements.
“Possibly,” she said. “I’m not ready to make a prediction yet.”
“Unless we find the head, it’s most likely that the final decision will be made in the lab. I’ll let you know before we publish.” He smiled when he said that, the cruel baring of teeth showing Liz that the jab was deliberate.
Creep, she thought. She hoped Mike Edmonds had thought to instruct his lawyer to include lab rights in his contract demands, because if the creature went back to Scarr’s lab, he’d take all the credit for its find and the analysis of the remains. That was certainly the way Zac was thinking, and equally clearly, he planned to be part of the lab team.
She didn’t reply. She kept her eyes on the dinosaur bones and tried to imagine what the area would have been like when this creature had lived. Over in the valley where Scarr was camped they’d found evidence that showed that 70 million years ago, this whole area had been on the edge of a waterway and covered in vegetation. There would have been plenty of food and water for the herbivores and lots of herbivores to feed hungry carnivores. Wouldn’t it be great if this creature was a rare carnivore, not one of the many herbivores? Carnivore finds were unusual because the animals were apex feeders. In life they were few. In death they were almost never found.
“You’re right. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. This might be a hadrosaur. Or even a parasaurolophus,” Zac said, taunting.
“Yup,” Liz said, and went back to her envisioning of an ancient world. No matter how brutal that distant time might have been, she figured it couldn’t be much worse than working with the hyper-competitive Zac Doyle.
The sound of a truck engine, no, many truck engines, had her stepping back and straightening. She arched her back and stretched as she turned toward the sound, which was coming from the direction of Highway 25 on Mike Edmonds’ side of the rift.