were deepening under the trees around them and they seemed to be a growing threat.
While the others chattered and made short work of cleaning up, she rose and walked over to Cope. His blue eyes snapped up to her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked quietly.
“Someone’s watching again. Maybe Gray Cloud’s men.”
It struck Renee that Gray Cloud would be unlikely to put men out here to guard them without at least introducing them so there’d be no misunderstanding.
“God,” she said quietly.
“What?”
“My cousin Mercy spent a summer on this mountain while she was researching her dissertation. Like Gray Cloud, she came to believe it’s alive.”
His face was set in stone. He didn’t disagree with her, but his gaze returned to the woods. “It’s gone now. And whether the mountain’s alive, this was no mountain I was sensing.”
She squatted beside him, holding her cup in both hands. “Do you think we’re in danger?”
The bold question popped out of her, and she wasn’t sure why she had asked it. Dinosaur digs weren’t the kind of things to result in murder or mayhem for any reason.
He sighed, relaxing visibly one muscle at a time. “No,” he said finally. “But I don’t like it when someone’s curious and won’t just come and say howdy, like that Butler guy did two days ago. That’s all.”
He had a point. She straightened and pulled her chair over closer to his. She didn’t care if her team wanted to talk about them. Nothing was going to come of it, and she and Cope were natural friends being so much older than the others.
Renee stuck her hand into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out her cell phone. No signal. Sighing, she stuffed it back in. “I can’t call Gray Cloud from here. There’s no signal at all. I don’t think it’s likely he’d ask some people to keep an eye out without letting us know who they are.”
“I’m not so sure. He said he was going to have a couple of men check the area out to see if anyone had been hanging around, so maybe that’s all that happened. No reason for formal introductions if they’re just going to slip by. Who knows? Maybe a wolf was checking us out. The curiosity wouldn’t be surprising.”
“I guess not.”
Then he turned a smile on her. “Regardless, it’s gone and my reactions may be a little exaggerated because of Afghanistan. This place reminds me of some of the places I served.”
She turned in her chair to look at him better. “Is this situation causing you trouble? Maybe you don’t want to be here with us.”
He held up his thumb and forefinger, indicating a small space. “It’s giving me that much trouble. Not worth thinking about. I’m just doing a self-check on my reactions is all. Always a good thing to do.”
Probably a good thing for her to do as well, Renee thought. She had a way of letting her enthusiasm take over. “You’re remarkable,” she said after a few moments. “How many tours over there?”
“Four.”
“Definitely remarkable. You make it sound like it was nothing.”
He laughed. “Only because you haven’t heard me rant yet. So what’s the plan for tomorrow?”
“We’ve got to finish laying out the grid and tacking twine to the rock face as well as we can without damaging anything. Everything has to be accurately sited in order to interpret our discoveries. Then we’ll be ready to begin releasing the fossils.”
“I like that term, releasing the fossils.”
It was her turn to laugh. “I like it, too. I’m sure it’s not accepted terminology, but I always think of the fossils as having been imprisoned for millions of years, and we’re bringing them into the light again.”
“I like the term, too,” said Mason, wandering over to join them. “A fire while we chat?”
It was getting chillier by the moment, and the idea of gathering around a campfire appealed to Renee. Besides, she couldn’t imagine that her conversation with Cope had anywhere else to go.
“I’m in,” Renee answered. “Cope?”
“Nicest thing on a chilly night. God knows I spent enough cold nights without one. I’ll help.”
* * *
Far back in the woods, from where the campfire could be only dimly seen, eyes watched and noted. He thought he had enough information now. With so few members of the team, there would be ample opportunity to disrupt the work and scare them off. The people he worked for needed some time to complete their plan.
And complete it they would. Those rocks held far more of value than some damn fossils.
Satisfied, he slipped away into the darker shadows, careful not to make so much noise that he disturbed animals and birds into making frightened sounds. A night forest coming suddenly to life would be a warning to that guy down there, the one who used to be a soldier. He’d be aware of all the things to pay attention to.
Yeah, it might take a bit of time, but he and the others would put a stop to this dig until all the pieces were in place. They were close now. Very close.
He also had a great idea how to use this mountain to his advantage. By the time he got done, the damn tribe would be calling the dig off. The ultimate success.
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