“Sí, señorita.I also have supplies for the cantina.”
“Wonderful.Gracias.” She looked at Shane. “Welcome back.”
He winked and walked off with Graham.
Her whole body sighed until she remembered the two new additions. Spinning around on her toes, she gave them her best I am a serious academic and I did not just make a fool of myself in front of complete strangers smile.
“Right. Welcome toEl Tesoro. At least, that’s what we’re calling it until we find the actual name of the city. I’m Kinley Dunn.” She shook each of their hands as they introduced themselves.
“Daniel.”
“Brittany. Spelled like it’s supposed to be spelled, not with an I.” She blushed and looked down. “Sorry. I ramble when I’m nervous and I’m really excited to meet you, so I’m nervous and I’m rambling again.”
Kinley pulled her lips between her teeth to keep from laughing. She remembered being in that position, awestruck that she was meeting one of her idols. Hard to believe she was now that person for someone. “It’s all right. There’s nothing to be nervous about. I’ll take you to the administration tent and we’ll get your bunk assignments and you can get settled in. You won’t get your work assignments until the morning.”
They grabbed their bags from the back of the SUV and followed her across the camp.
“Can I ask you something?” Daniel asked.
“Sure.” Kinley braced, knowing what was coming since each new addition asked the same questions. It was almost comical at that point.
“Is it true Dr. Banks sacrificed her lover to try to open the hidden burial chamber?”
“No.”
“But she did kill him?” Brittany asked.
“Yes, that part is true,” Kinley said.
“Is it true you killed her?” Daniel asked.
It was always the men who asked that question. “No. She was killed when she tried to shoot me. Shane was shot protecting me.”
“He’s your boyfriend?” Brittany asked.
And it was always the women who asked that. “Yes, he’s my boyfriend.”
She heard Brittany’s heartfelt sigh and smiled.Right there with you.
She dropped them off at check-in and stopped by the cataloguing tent next door. She pushed the tent flap aside and ducked in. It always felt like organized chaos in there. Each artifact they found was cleaned, photographed, catalogued, packed, and sealed in crates to be shipped on to the Ministry of Antiquities. The smaller pieces, anyway. Many of the pieces appeared to have been carved in place inside the temple and other buildings they’d uncovered so far.
“Dr. Biert?”
He looked up from the stone piece he’d been bent over. “Kinley, come look at this.”
She smiled at the excitement in his voice. He was like that with every artifact they found.
Dr. Biert had been a revelation. She’d been less than thrilled when the Foundation had appointed him to oversee the excavation, but she hadn’t had any say in the matter.
He’d apologized within minutes of arriving at camp and finding her. When she’d called him from the airport in Flores, he’d just gotten off the phone with his ex-wife. The divorce had been far from harmonious and he’d taken his anger out on her. He told her he didn’t even realize what she’d been talking about until he saw it on the news.
He also claimed not to know about the emails or Christine’s plans, even though she’d told Kinley he was one of the team leads.
Kinley had been cautious and understandably guarded at the beginning, but Dr. Biert had shown her nothing but respect and had consulted with her every step of the way, even though she was technically one of the least experienced members of the team. It hadn’t hurt that Graham had run a background check on him and reassured her he was clean.
She let him ramble on about the significance of the piece, knowing he was wrapping up when he said, “It’s marvelous. Simply marvelous.”
“It is,” she agreed.
