close. What if something happened to him because of her? What if he couldn't bring any workers back, even a couple of them? What if he didn't return?
By the time exhaustion totally claimed her and she called it a day, she was consumed with anxiety. She descended the temple steps and laughed out loud. If anyone in this world could take care of himself, it was Guerrero. Even knowing that, she couldn't help how she felt. She would feel the same way about anyone who worked at the site. That thought made her pause. Was she telling herself the truth? Somehow the man had gotten to her and struck a chord with her.
For years, she kept herself so involved in her career she didn’t date much. She’d wanted to prove herself to her father, but right before she came to Puerto Sierra, her dad yet again made a mockery of the career she’d chosen. It was a waste of time to try and uncover the past. This time, it felt as if he’d stabbed her in the heart with a warrior’s spear.
The shadows of dusk blanketed the ground as she walked toward a gathering area for the dig site where tables and chairs were set up in an open-air canvas shelter. Dinner was being served. All about her, the jungle sang with animal and insect sounds, the air suffused with the scents of rich foliage and dank earth. Her clothes hung damply on her body, every muscle aching from squatting for hours in the cramped space in the tunnel. But she had never felt more alive. She knew deep inside of her that she was poised on the brink of a great discovery.
"Aha, Tory, we were just discussing the eccentric flint," Mario said as she joined the others.
She poured herself a large cup of coffee, knowing she would stay up until Guerrero returned. Sitting down across from Ramon, she took a sip. "The complex workmanship suggests an important ritual. I think possibly it was used in the termination rite of the temple."
"Yes, exactly. I haven't seen anything like it," Ramon said, excitement in his voice. "I wanted to examine it, but it wasn't with the other artifacts."
"Oh, I can get it." Tory placed her hands on the table and pushed herself up. Every muscle protested the movement, a stiffness having set in during the short time she’d been sitting.
She stepped outside, and the night closed in around her. She clicked on her flashlight to illuminate her way to her—no now—Guerrero's tent. The evening before he had shown her where he was keeping the valuable artifact but had made her promise not to tell anyone where it was. A brief surge of caution streaked up her body until she reminded herself that she wasn't breaking her promise, and they did have a right to examine their find.
When she entered her former tent, which Guerrero had taken over, depositing what few possessions he had on the crate that served as a table. A comb, several changes of clothing, and a picture of his wife were all he had brought with him. Tory stared at the photo, which was crumpled as if it had been carried around in his pocket. Anna was smiling at the camera, a look of joy on her face. She touched the picture and then snatched her hand back as if burned. The emotions swirling around inside of Tory were elusive.
Quickly she went to the chest that covered the box that held the eccentric flint. After she struggled to move the heavy trunk, she unearthed the box. A gasp escaped her lips as she stared at the empty container buried beneath the trunk. She shot to her feet and spun around to alert the others. She ran right into a solid torso. Her flashlight clamored to the canvas floor, the beam of light ricocheting off the tent walls. Her fingers latched onto thick muscular arms as she steadied herself. Her heartbeat stopped for a few seconds then surged to life.
"Looking for something?"
Tory responded to the tightly controlled anger in Guerrero's voice first with relief then guilt for being discovered in “his” tent. That only lasted a second until she remembered the empty box. "It's gone! The knife has been stolen!"
"It's safe."
"Safe? What have you done with it?" Tory tried to back up a few paces, but his hands clasped her upper arms, steadying her, his earthy scent swamping her.
He removed what appeared to be night vision goggles. "I took