get him to trim his eyebrows. “I understand you’re from Nevada. A town called Searchlight.”
Not something she necessarily liked to think about, but slowly she nodded, her curiosity skyrocketing.
“Our Nevada office has received a request from the University of Nevada Las Vegas to use some Sanax land located about two hours outside of the city near a place called Laughlin. Are you familiar with that area?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.” He slid the memo across the desk toward her. “The archeology department wants to establish a dig on our property, and I want to examine the ramifications. I want all the specs on the land—possible uses, value, demographics. Make certain that if anything of significance is uncovered, it won’t hamper any potential revenue.”
It took her a moment to wrap her head around the direction of the conversation. It was so out of left field, but she wasn’t about to show Sandhill she wasn’t quick on the uptake. “I assume the dig is focusing on Paiute artifacts?”
She caught a hint of a smile, which disappeared so fast she might have imagined it. “That’s correct.”
“I see.” Her thoughts turned to her days at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She’d majored in business but studied archeology for one semester during her junior year because of the hunky teacher.
Although it had been five years since she graduated, she wasn’t likely to forget Dr. Philips…try as she might. She’d made such an ass out of herself. But so did half the other girls in his class, which had been predominately female. He hadn’t so much as flinched at any of the attention. The general consensus was that he had to be gay.
“Ms. Albright?” The sharpness in Sandhill’s tone startled her and she realized she’d drifted.
“I was just wondering,” she said quickly, “what makes them think there are any artifacts of significance left? The area has been pretty well scoured in the past few decades.”
“They admit as much but apparently it’s the digging experience they want for the students. Be that as it may, I don’t want them finding anything that would preclude us from using the land.”
“Which is slated for…?”
This time he did smile, albeit briefly. “Nothing at the moment. I assume you know the history of the corporation?”
Karrie nodded. She’d written tomes on the very subject. Sanax was bought from the heirs of a private owner about seven years ago, and had gone public under the new management. The previous owner had had more money than financial sense. He’d used company profits to buy up all kinds of land on speculation. A small percentage of it had paid off but the rest was just sitting there while branch managers all over the world investigated the profit potential. “So this land is still in limbo.”
“That’s correct, although the preliminary findings haven’t been encouraging. It is in the middle of the desert.”
“So was Laughlin once,” she said.
“Which is one of the reasons I want this land assessed.”
Her gaze strayed out the window as she enjoyed a brief daydream about having her own corner office with this awesome view. If she played her cards right, this could be her chance to shine. She looked back at him and found annoyance in his eyes. “I have a few questions,” she said. “First, may I ask why the Nevada office isn’t handling this?”
“I have them busy on another matter.”
“Fine,” she said, knowing from his tone that the subject was closed. “My understanding is that the office there is having problems with Clark County over water rights.”
He nodded, frowning. “Very touchy.”
“If we do decide to let the University have their dig, we could parlay that into an excellent PR opportunity. If played well, those water-rights issues may take a sudden turn.”
Sandhill’s eyes lit up. “I can see that we made a wise choice having you head up the project. Look into it and report back directly to me.”
“Yes, sir.” She rose when she realized his attention had already shifted to something else on his desk.
“Ms. Albright?”
She paused halfway to the door and looked at him. It dawned on her that his perpetual frown didn’t mean he was unhappy, just that he was deep in thought. She filed that tidbit away for further study.
“My secretary will make your travel arrangements. Tell her you’ll be leaving tomorrow.”
Karrie lost the smile. “Pardon me, sir, you want me to physically go to Las Vegas?”
This time his frown wasn’t pensive. “Is that a problem?”
“I believe I can handle the entire investigation from here. I’ll simply coordinate with the Nevada branch, and have the report for you in—”
Impatience drew his bushy eyebrows together.
“Sir, I’m in the middle of a project for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and—”
“That can wait,” Sandhill said. “This matter can’t. We have to get back to the University with our answer as soon as possible.”
She took a deep breath and swallowed several arguments that were on the tip of her tongue.
“Ms. Albright, I’m giving you the chance to put your best foot forward. If we do support the dig, I don’t simply want a press release. I want you in front of the news cameras extolling our generosity.”
“Ah, I see, sir.” God, she did not want to go back to Las Vegas. Not even for a single day. “And I do appreciate the opportunity.”
“I’ll expect to hear from you next week. In the meantime, show the community we at Sanax are team players.”
She barely held her tongue at his flip use of we. “I’ll update my supervisor and plan on leaving tomorrow.”
By way of dismissal, he picked up a file folder and opened it. “Gerda will let our people in Vegas know you’re going out there.”
A funny feeling niggled at her. “Who’s my contact at the University?”
He didn’t look up but glanced at the memo. “Dr. Philips. Dr. Rob Philips.”
R.P.
Karrie couldn’t move. She simply stared at the top of Sandhill’s graying head, her stomach doing flip-flops as the words of Madam Zora came back to haunt her.
ROB GOT OUT OF HIS CAR and looked down at his shoes. Great time to check and see if they matched. The Sanax representative was to meet him in five minutes. He hoped she wasn’t late. A dozen midterm exams waited grading in his office.
He hated this part of his job. Having to schmooze with corporations for either endowments or land use. The only thing worse was dealing with academic bureaucracy. But he played the games so that he could have freedom
