Look What the Wind Blew In (37 page)

So what happened if she cared about someone and then found out he’d been hiding part of the truth from her? Would Angélica ever trust him again?

While Juan inspected his work, pushing on the jack studs, studying the walls and ceiling, Quint pondered why earning Angélica’s trust mattered so much to him.

He wasn’t sure he liked the answer.

“You’ve got it bad, don’t you, boy?”

Quint grimaced. “Is it that obvious?”

“Well, you do get pretty bristly and territorial around her.” Juan pulled a pair of leather gloves from his back pocket. “Play your cards right, and you might win.”

He’d be smarter to fold and walk away.

It was time to change the subject. “So, what’s next in here? We move to another chamber?”

Juan clapped Quint on the shoulder. “Unfortunately for our backs, Mr. Photojournalist, we get to spend the rest of the day moving these rocks out of here.”

Studying the huge pile of limestone pieces taking up two-thirds of the room, Quint tried to figure out Juan’s goal. “How are you going to keep the ceiling from caving in further?”

“Using those timbers outside on the ground. We’ll shore it up as we go.”

“And you’re sure that’s safe?” Quint scrutinized the cracks riddling the ceiling.

“
Safe
is a term I like to use loosely.”

“Great.” He really hated this temple. “I’m a dead man.”

“Think of it as a new weight-lifting routine to build your upper body strength.”

“I’d rather stick with lifting a
panucho
to my mouth.”

“Pedro would agree with you wholeheartedly.”

“How long ago did this cave in?”

Juan shrugged. “I don’t know. It was like this when we started working at this site. We haven’t gotten around to cleaning it up until this year.”

That was typical of Quint’s luck. He should have come a year earlier.

“Normally, there would be about four more men working on this with us.” Juan kicked a small baseball-sized stone toward the pile. “As it is, we’re it.”

Quint’s back ached just looking at the pile. “Where do we start?”

“Grab that wheelbarrow I left around the corner. We’ll take a load of rocks out and bring in the timbers.”

Quint went out in the passageway, making sure the path outside was relatively smooth. When he wheeled back into the room, he found Juan standing off to the side of the pile of rocks, a perplexed look on his face.

“That’s curious,” Juan said.

Quint parked the wheelbarrow next to him. “What’s curious?”

Juan pointed his flashlight beam at where the pile butted up against the wall, about twelve feet back. “Near the very bottom there—do you see that?”

Quint leaned forward, noticing something lighter in color than the rest of the rocks around it. “What is it?

“I think it’s a hat.”

* * *

Finding what looked like a hat in the Dawn Temple was the top story at the lunch table. Who knew a hat could rouse so much excitement, Quint thought, as he described what it looked like to Pedro, which was mostly a dust-covered, smashed, barely recognizable hat. Juan figured it belonged to a member of Angélica’s crew from years before, maybe even from when her mother and he had run the site.

“What makes you so sure it’s a hat?” Steel asked, seeming to pay attention for the first time since he’d joined them fifteen minutes ago.

“We’re not,” Juan answered after swallowing his last bite. “But it’s definitely not a piece of the ceiling.”

Steel lowered his fork to his plate. “What sub chamber are you clearing?”

“L.”

“You never mentioned clearing that area of the temple in the plans you submitted to the university.”

Juan swallowed. “The university shortchanged me this year, so we had to modify our plans when money ran low for supplies.”

“You should have updated the board with your plan modifications.” Steel’s lips were pressed thin as he stabbed his food. “That’s standard procedure.”

“You’re right. I’d forgotten the university’s rules.”

“How far did you get on the pile?” Fernando asked.

“What do you think, Quint? About three feet in?”

“If that.”

Juan sipped from his coffee cup. “The darned wheelbarrow tire kept going flat. We had to stop and pump it up four times this morning.”

“I told you not to buy that cheap wheelbarrow,” Pedro told him. “This jungle will chew up a good wheelbarrow in a week.”

“You should have tried harder to convince me back when we were picking up supplies for this year’s dig.”

“So, it’s my fault now, old man?”

Juan grinned. “Isn’t it always?”

“
Sí.
” Pedro swallowed the last of his lunch, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “I’m working with Fernando this afternoon, right?”

Juan shook his head.

“Teodoro gave me a clearance to work, remember? The screwdriver didn’t go very deep. It’s mostly a flesh wound.”

“I know and I do remember what Teodoro said
and
you will be working this afternoon, but not with Fernando.”

Pedro’s eyes widened. “No!” He pushed his empty plate away. “I’m not going in that temple with you, you’re
loco
.”

Juan twitched purposefully several times. “I’m only crazy in the morning, boy. Come afternoon, I’m just slightly insane.”

Turning to Quint, Pedro said, “I count my ducks lucky every time I walk out of that temple alive after working with him in there.”

Juan snorted with laughter, which in turn made Quint start chuckling and even garnered a grin from Fernando. Steel, on the other hand, seemed bent on playing the straight man.

The sight of Angélica in the entryway quieted Quint. He noticed a rosy glow on her cheeks when she joined them, a plate of food in hand. For the first time in over a week, she was quick to smile, which seemed odd since today should be one of the worst days of her career.

“What’s so funny?” Her gaze traveled from one man to the next as she lowered onto the bench next to her father.

Wiping tears from his eyes with his napkin, Juan explained, “Pedro is being Pedro. Same as always.”

Pedro pointed at Juan, frowning at Angélica. “I’m not working with him,
Angel
. I’d sooner spend the day scrubbing down the latrines. Or working with Fernando.”

A grunt came from the foreman at Pedro’s backhanded compliment.

“Fernando is working with Dad this afternoon,” she said, tearing into her
panucho
. “So is Jared for that matter. We’re shutting down the work in the Owl Temple for the season to focus more energy on clearing and stabilizing the Dawn Temple.” She took another big bite, making quick work of her lunch.

“What about you?” Pedro asked her.

She held up her finger until she swallowed. “I’m going to close up the other temples for the season.”

His face suddenly sober, Juan tapped her on the wrist. “Did you tell them?”

“Yep. They’re packing as we speak. Not too happy about it either.” She grimaced at her plate before taking another bite.

Fernando stood with his plate in hand. “Full pay?”

She nodded.

“Plus the bonus?” Juan asked.

She nodded again, and then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “They earned it for their commitment, even if they weren’t able to stay through the end.”

“That’s expensive,” Steel said, pointing out the obvious.

“Yeah, well they were willing to put their lives at risk.”

“When are Teodoro and María leaving?” Pedro asked.

“Tomorrow morning. María wants to make us some extra food before she leaves.”

“One of these days I am going to steal that wonderful woman away from Teodoro, mark my words,” Pedro joked.

Angélica swallowed another big bite of
panucho
. “I don’t think you’re man enough for her.”

Looking at Quint, Pedro asked, “Why do I put up with this harassment?”

“Because you love us and we’re the only family you have,” she answered for Quint, laughing at the face Pedro made at her. “How’s the leg?”

“Sore, but healing. That goop Teodoro uses is magic.”

“He’ll be happy to hear that. He’s going to put together a first aid kit so I can take care of your leg after he’s gone.”

“So much for our nightly watches,” Steel said, dropping his fork on his plate.

Juan sighed. “It doesn’t seem right, ending it this way.”

Wiping her hands on a napkin, she grabbed her empty plate and stood. “It could have been worse, Dad,” she said, dropping a kiss on his temple. “Much worse.” She pointed her plate at Quint. “If you’re about finished, I need your help with something.”

Quint pointed at his chest. Holy chicken
molé
! Did she actually say she needed him? Was Rover flying around outside? “Me? Right now?”

“Yes, you. Since you refuse to leave with the rest of the crew like I ordered, I’m going to put your ass to work.”

God, he loved it when she got feisty with him.

He pushed to his feet. “Let’s roll!”

* * *

Angélica wasn’t kidding around; she really did need Quint.

However, rather than helping to close up the other temples, she needed him in the Temple of the Water Witch. Quint was the only logical choice of helpers since Pedro was injured. Her father and Fernando had to keep Jared busy and distracted. Besides, Quint acted as the perfect repellent for Jared. Her ex-husband had told her again yesterday how much he disliked working in the same room as Quint in the midst of lobbying once again for her to kick Parker off the dig site.

As she led him into the Temple of the Water Witch, she explained all of this to him. But she waited until they had reached their destination—the chamber with the curse glyph that had started the whole mess—to show him what she’d found.

“Guess what?” She grabbed his arm and towed him over to the wall adjacent to the glyph-covered wall. “This morning, a mouse showed me where the king’s tomb is hidden.”

He raised one eyebrow. “Were Minnie and Donald Duck with him?”

“No, smartass.”

He leaned over and peered into one of her eyes and then the other. “How much sleep did you get last night?”

“Enough.”

His eyes narrowed to a squint. “Were you out gathering magic mushrooms in the jungle this morning?”

“Parker, I’m not hallucinating. I threw the mouse a piece of one of María’s tortillas that I was planning to take back to Rover. The mouse grabbed it and slipped through that thumb-sized crack over there.” She pointed her flashlight at the crack. “The king is on the other side.”

Quint squatted in front of the wall. “Right here?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t think he has a little burrow in the crack?”

“No.” She dropped onto her knees next to him. “For one thing, it’s too narrow for a mouse his size.”

“True. I imagine those big yellow shoes of his would cause problems in that tiny crack.”

She punched him lightly in the shoulder.

“Ow, you brute,” he complained, chuckling. “You’re going to need to kiss that better later. And while you’re kissing places on my body, I have another spot that needs your—”

“Anyway,” she interrupted, ignoring his flirting. “My theory is that there is a cavity on the other side of the stone block.” The thought of the artifacts that might be hidden there made her heart zing. Maybe she’d even find the shell, which could possibly save her career after this year’s dig site fiasco.

“No wonder you were so happy at lunch.”

“I was that obvious, huh?”

“Well, I was paying close attention.” He ran his hand over a different carving of the king in which he was getting his tongue pricked with a stingray spine. “So how do we break through without ruining the carvings on this wall?” He surveyed the wall from floor to ceiling. “Or bringing the whole thing down on us?”

“That’s the tricky part. Normally, I’d have Dad in here with me, and he’d have all of these ideas on what is the safest bet structurally. But he has to babysit Jared, so you and I are on our own.”

He looked at her, his gaze smoldering, giving her all sorts of naked ideas.

“Knock it off, Parker. We have a lot of work to do.”

“That’s too bad. All work and no play makes me hot and sweaty, and not in a fun way.” He grabbed the small hammer and chisel from her tool pouch. “Okay, boss lady, show me where to start.”

“I think if you loosen the joints on this block,” she pointed at the one with the crack, “you’ll hit the edge of these two glyphs. I’ve already photographed and made charcoal rubs of this section in detail, so I’m willing to take the gamble that whatever is behind this wall is worth the possibility of marring it.”

… An hour later, Quint had the two-foot square block wiggling.

Angélica put down her notepad and scooted over next to him. “How are you doing?” She held out the jug of water she’d brought along after lunch. The back of his shirt was soaked, but he hadn’t spoken a word of complaint. “Want me to take over?”

“What? And have a woman do a man’s job?” he joked. “Maybe in a little while.” He swigged a drink of water.

She inspected his work, appreciating his care with the surrounding glyphs.

“You know what I don’t get?” He handed the water back to her. “If you compare the joints on this wall to those on one of the walls in the Dawn Temple, the workmanship is as different as night and day.” He pointed at one of the joints. “See how smooth and tight this is? Someone worked very hard to practically mold these together. Hell, if this stress crack hadn’t developed, I bet this wall would’ve lasted for another millennium without a problem, especially since it’s protected inside the outer temple walls. So, what’s the difference? The builder? Or is the Dawn Temple centuries older than this one?”

She tucked her pencil behind her ear, happy to share her ideas about what had happened here long ago. “According to the glyphs in this room, the king who had this chamber built seemed to be paranoid about his wealth and possessions. My guess is that this wall was purposely designed and built to keep strangers like you and me out.”

“I hope that guy got paid well for his hard work.” He swiped the sweat from his forehead. “You really think the shell is behind here?”

“I sure hope so. I’m out of places to look if it’s not, and probably out of a job. You interested in hiring someone to carry your tripod?”