by Rachel Lee
She sat up, realizing she was beginning to shiver. “I guess I need to hit the sack. I may not feel sleepy, but my body is beginning to tell me it’s done.”
“Go crawl in and get warm. I’ll stay up for a while and tend the fire.”
“You could just put it out.”
“Nah. I like it.” He flashed a grin. “It keeps the wild animals at bay, too. I wouldn’t mind conversing with a wolf, but I have a different opinion of bears, especially grizzlies.”
“I don’t think there are many grizzlies around here.” She rose, stuffing her hands into her pockets. “Although Gray Cloud would be likely to invite them and protect them.”
“Hah!”
His laugh still rang among the trees as she disappeared into her tent.
* * *
That guy clearly intended to sit watch tonight with that fire for company. Well, at this point that wasn’t much of a problem for Stockman. He’d been told not to do anything too soon after the rockfall, and he was frankly glad of that.
Did Broadus have any idea how creepy it had been to stand at the top of that cliff and work those rocks loose? Had he even thought that it would take almost nothing to make a landslide begin, but what if it hadn’t gone according to plan?
What if everything had bollixed up? What if Stockman had fallen with the rocks? He could be dead right now, but he supposed that wouldn’t make any difference to Broadus. Hell no, it’d probably give him the result he wanted without making it seem like an attack on the paleontologists.
Stockman began to wonder just how much he mattered to Broadus. A thousand dollars? An excuse not to make the second half of the payment? Or less?
Killing Stockman sure would get Broadus what he wanted without drawing suspicion to the site.
Cussing under his breath, Stockman headed back through the trees to the truck he’d parked a couple of miles away. Something wasn’t right, he told himself for the umpteenth time.
Don’t kill anybody. Just delay the work.
Huh?
That didn’t sound like much of a plan at all. He was not supposed to know what his betters were up to. He was supposed to be the dumb muscle.
But how dumb could you be to set up that rockslide so that it came down without killing someone? Huh? Sure, that kid had a broken leg, but Stockman had had a few of those himself. In a day or two the kid would be running around here again in a walking cast and a single crutch for balance. So yeah, no dummy could have accomplished that delicate a job.
He reached his truck, beat his battered cowboy hat on his leg to remove any loose pine needles, then slid into the driver’s seat, slamming the door with great satisfaction as he locked out everything. Broadus wouldn’t be able to get him tonight because he’d changed cell phones again. If a damn cell could even reach here. He had no desire at all to open the new phone to see if it found a signal.
Broadus was crazy, and he’d allowed himself to be talked into being crazy along with him. Always a good thing, right? No. Almost never. And the amount of the promised money shouldn’t have allowed him to be deluded, either. For the love of man, hadn’t he learned anything in his forty-odd years?
Then there was this guy he was supposed to meet, someone who didn’t want this dig, either. Bunch of damn bones seemed to be getting an awful lot of interest.
Stockman turned on the ignition and began to slowly roll away from the mountain. Damn mountain gave him the creeps, too. He could hardly wait to get away from here, and he didn’t think it had to do with the stories running around. There weren’t a whole lot of them, but the people who lived in these parts seemed to share the idea with the Native Americans that that mountain was alive.
Damned if it didn’t feel like it sometimes. Sometimes he wanted to bang his head on the steering wheel, just for being such a damn fool. Never should have taken this job. Never should have messed with that damn mountain, alive or dead. Shouldn’t have agreed to run some bone hunters off, or at least scare them away for a while.
What was the freaking point? The fossils were there and they weren’t going anywhere. They were on tribal land, which might as well have been surrounded by a neon “do not touch” sign. They weren’t about to let anyone do anything with that land unless they wanted them to.
Sure, you could take the land away or mine it if you got your papers in order. He didn’t quite understand how that worked, but he’d seen it done other places. But why would anyone want that heap of rock and fossils enough to risk trouble over it? Enough to pay a guy just to slow them down?
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he got. Stockman didn’t like working jobs where he didn’t know what was going on. Slow down the dig, keep them from pulling out any good fossils, don’t hurt anyone... He didn’t quite buy that bit about not hurting anyone. In his experience, people who got in the way often wound up dead.
Don’t hurt anyone. What the hell kind of plan was that? Why not just blow up the whole dig? That’d send them running for sure. And then there’d be no fossils.
Honestly, no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t imagine why those fossils were so important.
So it had to be something else. Trouble was, he couldn’t imagine what else. Gold had played out here years ago. He knew because he’d asked around. Occasionally some greenhorns would show up and pan the rivers and creeks. The jeweler in town said one guy had turned up just enough gold flakes from panning to make a slender band for his girlfriend’s engagement ring. A summer of work for that?
He knew some guys who hunted for other kinds of gemstones in the mountains, but not around here. And even when they found a rich deposit, they barely made enough to live on.
Not a great way to make a living.
Of course, his current method wasn’t yielding very good results, either. Stockman had always figured that he was destined to live on the water and smoke fine cigars while pretty women brought him drinks. Not exactly original, and he figured he’d die from the boredom, but this?
Then he reminded himself he’d accomplished the first step in his mission. A few more steps and the bone folks would decide to take the rest of the summer off and he, Stockman, could leave that godforsaken mountain and move on to something that suited him better.
He couldn’t exactly figure out how he’d gotten involved in this in the first place, except a friend of a friend who worked for Broadus had suggested it would be easy money.
He sighed and gave up his internal squabble for one night. He’d completed the first step. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a cigarillo and stopped long enough to light it. The cigarillo would do. So would the next few days before he had to act again. Lull them. Then when another surprise happened they’d be even more shocked.
Yeah. Stupid job or not, he was good at everything he did. And maybe he’d never deliberately killed before, but he wasn’t against it if he needed to do it. He’d like it to be that Gray Cloud, but he’d settle for that self-important guy who thought he was guarding something at the fire.
One guy. Useless. Stockman was far better than that.
Chapter 9
The morning dawned slowly, or at least it seemed so to Renee. When she opened her eyes inside her tent, she wasn’t sure it was morning at all. Yet she could smell the rich aroma of freshly perking coffee.
Gads, Cope must already be up and at ’em. Of course, the thing about camping, which she’d learned years ago, was that your biological clock quickly tuned to the sun. It didn’t take long before you were rising early and falling asleep early. And the thing was, if you weren’t living by the clock, you didn’t even notice.
She quickly changed into some clean clothes. One thing she definitely did not like about camping was having to dress in the morning in chilly, damp clothes. Maybe she should roll them up and put them at the bottom of her sleeping bag the way her dad had suggested so long ago. Who out
here would care if she looked like she’d slept in them, not just above them?
A soft little giggle escaped her. Once her boots were tied, she eased out to greet the day.
The sun hadn’t yet risen above the eastern horizon but was busy announcing its pending arrival with streamers of gold and pink. The air smelled so fresh, of pine needles and aging loam, not to mention the fire and the coffee.
“Morning,” Cope said, appearing from the direction of his tent. He’d changed, too, into a bright blue flannel Western shirt and jeans that weren’t already covered with tons of dust and dirt. “Coffee’s almost ready. I waited to start making breakfast until you got up.”
“Thanks. I’ll help.”
In the pale dawn light, barely brighter than night, or so it seemed, he looked almost archetypal. Dressed for the woods, a geologist’s hammer and pick attached to his belt, wide shoulders and narrow hips...
Renee sighed at herself. Could she think of any better way than that to unbalance the team and create tensions? Nope. Getting involved with Cope was bound to put sensitivities on high alert and maybe make some think there was favoritism. No, it was best to put that on the back burner. The very backmost burner. Like out of her mind entirely.
But dang, he looked good.
He built up the fire, poured them coffee and asked, “You in a hurry to eat?”
“Nope. Coffee before all else.”
He laughed. “A woman after my heart. Hey, I was brushing my teeth a little earlier and I remembered a funny experience. A package of cheap toothbrushes arrived at the forward operating base, along with minuscule tubes of toothpaste. But what was so funny was everybody was happy to get a chance at some personal hygiene until they tried those brushes. Have you ever had to pick toothbrush bristles out from between your teeth?”
She gaped. “Seriously?”
“I kid you not. And there was a distinct lack of floss to help with the issue. One guy was threatening to burn them out of his mouth. We dissuaded him.” He shrugged. “I don’t think he really would have, but I can understand his frustration.”
“What an awful thing to do to you guys. Could you do anything about it?”
“We complained and then made a bonfire with them. One wag sent a photo of the fire to HQ.” He smiled as he remembered. “Took a couple of months but we got better toothbrushes after that. Sometimes the lowest bidder is just a con job.”
“More like war profiteering, from the sound of it.”
His smile widened. “Hey, that’s a time-honored tradition.”
Renee shook her head, smiling faintly, and sipped her coffee. Man, the first cup on a chilly morning outdoors was better than ambrosia. She closed her eyes, savoring the taste and aroma. Then, much as she wanted to enjoy the peaceful sunrise, she spoke. “Do you think that landslide was intended to kill?”
“Hard to know intentions.” He leaned forward, grabbed the coffeepot and freshened both their cups. “It could have killed, although it’s interesting that it happened at an end of that ravine where almost no one was working. Plus, it had to have been set up during the night or someone would have heard our perpetrator chipping at rock.”
“You’re right. No way to tell. It’s just making me uneasy.” In fact, now that the shock of it had passed, she felt a million butterflies in her stomach. What if something worse happened? What if one of her team got seriously hurt? She wouldn’t blame them at all for abandoning ship. And weren’t Tall and Short supposed to be on the lookout? Although in fairness, she supposed even they had to sleep sometimes, and they couldn’t be everywhere at once.
“How well do you know Gray Cloud?” Cope asked her.
She swiveled her head and looked at him sharply, the butterflies dancing more rapidly. “Are you suggesting something?”
“Absolutely not. Just casual conversation. We’ve met a few times. Nice guy. But your cousin is married to him, so I just wondered. He seems like an impenetrable box of secrets sometimes.”
She had to smile at that. “That’s what Mercy said, too, at first. I guess they got past that. I’ve talked with him several times over the years. We get together like family. Maybe because we are.” She shook her head, realizing her command of words hadn’t quite awakened with her, then laughed. “I’m sure there were easier ways to say that.”
His blue eyes twinkled, and his face reddened along with the sky as the sun poked over the horizon to the east. “It’s early. I need at least three cups of coffee to function.”
The shiver that passed through her as his eyes met hers had nothing at all to do with the temperature. “Anyway,” she said, trying to change the direction of her thoughts, “I always liked him. He doesn’t open up quickly, but once he decides he likes you? No better man. Mercy feels very lucky. And I agree with her. He’s truly honorable in a way that I often think died in the last century.”
“I don’t think it went completely out the window, but words like honor and duty aren’t heard very often anymore. Not in ordinary conversation.”
She eyed him. “But in the military?”
“Drilled into us.”
She nodded and leaned back a little, cradling her coffee and keeping her eyes on the day’s dawning. It was amazing how fast light washed the world when even the smallest bit of sun poked up. So honor and duty were drilled into him? She liked that. Her own family had been strong on those principles, and it sometimes troubled her that so many people seemed to think they were archaic words.
“What are you going to do?” he asked without warning.
Back to the problem at hand. No talk of starry skies or dawning days. Business. And he was right. “I’m not sure. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt, but at the same time, I’m not giving up that site. Priceless fossils are in there. New knowledge. Walking away would be a crime. If someone wants me out of there, I’ll pass along the location of the site and others will come after me.”
“Which is what makes this even weirder. Someone used a pry bar on a crack in the rock to loosen it. That rock could have fallen at any time, as we discussed, including the middle of the night. That basically announces no intent to kill. Frighten you away? Maybe. But why?”
“If it made sense, we’d know what to do about it.” Renee started to sip her coffee and realized it had gone cold. She tossed the liquid away onto the bare ground. As she started to reach for the coffeepot, Cope beat her to it. He refilled her cup and she cradled it in both hands.
“You ready for breakfast?” he asked.
She shook her head. Those damn butterflies wouldn’t leave her alone and her nerves were stretching like fine wire. No intent to kill, but clearly an intent to disrupt. If someone seriously wanted her and her team out of there, the situation could get truly dangerous. How long could she stay here without causing the disruption to turn into something worse? Like seriously injuring or killing someone. She needed to give her team a chance to just leave. They shouldn’t be risking their necks. That hadn’t been part of the job description.
But she thought again of the fossils up there, the promise of that egg to tell a previously unknown story. She could send her entire team away, but she would stay and keep digging.
Certainty settled over her, calming her nerves. She stood up. “They’ll have to kill me to get me out of here.”
She felt Cope’s gaze on her but ignored it and went to start breakfast. This morning she’d give her entire team a chance to quit with a high grade. They didn’t need to stick their necks out because they were afraid of a bad grade.
A few seconds later, Cope joined her at the cook table where she was trying to turn powdered eggs into something edible.
“Wish we had bacon,” he remarked. “I’m also thinking a bakery run might be smart in the evenings. Some croissants, some Danish...”
“Oh stop,” she said. “Gads, Cope, I’m looking at powdered eggs and milk that’s bee
n irradiated so it won’t spoil and you’re talking about Danish?”
“Because of certain past experiences, I’m not averse to eating well when I’m camping.” He winked at her. “Besides, you know we’ll need the calories. The work isn’t exactly a desk job.”
God, he made her laugh so easily, and she did now. “It doesn’t take much to talk me out of powdered eggs.”
“Okay, so every night someone will be the designated bakery person.”
Her smile faded. “If we have anyone left.”
“I think you’re going to be surprised.”
She so hoped he was right. She hadn’t chosen her interns based on physical courage, but rather based on their general knowledge of the subject and their willingness to work hard and get dirty.
Soon they had the “pretend” scrambled eggs ready—well, that’s how Renee thought of them—and Cope was proving yet again that he could make toast over an open fire. With strawberry jam, at least that would be delicious.
When they sat to eat, paper plates on their laps, Cope took her breath away. He said, “Apropos of nothing, you are one beautiful woman, Renee Dubois.”
She sat frozen, a piece of toast halfway to her mouth, and felt her heart skip several beats. Oh, man, did it feel good to hear that from him, but she didn’t exactly know how to respond. She lived her life inside her head, often dirty with dust and dirt, and had never made room for a guy, at least not since high school. She was definitely a single-track kind of person.
She turned her head slowly, swallowing hard, wondering if her heart were going to beat its way out of her breast.
He was smiling. “You don’t have to respond. I just needed to say it. You’re beautiful, especially in this morning light.”
Her voice cracked a little as she found it and tried it out. “Uh, especially when I’m cleaned up?”
He laughed and just shook his head. “Covered with the dust and dirt of the ages as well, but I’m through making you uncomfortable. I just felt a strong need to let you know. I like looking at you, so if you catch me, don’t wonder why. Now you’ll know.”