Into the Fray (Daring Escapes #3) - Margaret Daley Page 0,36
door?” she asked as she rose.
“I think by the end of the day I’ll have an idea of the size of the entrance. When I was chiseling the wall, the tool went through without any resistance. There’s a door on the left side.”
“Nothing on the right?”
“No, but the end of the tunnel could have more rooms beyond where we stopped.”
“I think there are going to be many. You’ve only begun weaving your way through the lower temple.” Guerrero stood and picked up her empty plate and bowl. “If the rooms you discover are intact, this could be a massive site. It could take many years to find all of its secrets. Most temples that are built over another are destroyed first. Why wasn’t this one?”
“Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to find out.” She waited while Guerrero put the dirty dishes in the soapy water.
“Or you will never discover the reason they didn’t destroy it. There are mysteries throughout the archaeological world.” He joined her, and they walked side by side to the temple. “I’m going to scout the surroundings, but I hope to see what you’re doing later as well as the breakthrough to the second room.”
“I can’t wait. It’s exciting every time there’s a chance to discover something that’s been untouched for hundreds of years. In this case, thousands.”
“I know. That’s how Anna felt. The look on her face was priceless.”
Tory stopped at the base of the temple and faced him. “I’m so sorry about what happened to your wife. I enjoyed reading the articles she wrote. She worked on this site when they restored part of this place that was built by the Mayans. They finished with the Temple of the Stars, but the rainy season came, and they stopped with the other possible structures, mostly hidden by the thick jungle.” She swept her arm wide, indicting the other structures.
“And if you find evidence of another people living here before the Mayans in this temple,” he gestured to the building, “it will be a significant find. Anna was the only one on the team that thought there was more to this site, but she wasn’t sure just what it was."
“And there may be a lot of evidence scattered all around here.” She pointed to the heavy rainforest on the south and west side of the site. “I wouldn’t be surprised that the vegetation has covered up a lot of it. The jungle has been here a long time.”
“I can attest to the difficulty of moving through certain areas that surround this site.”
She climbed the first few steps, glanced down at Guerrero watching her, and smiled. “I appreciate your help. I’m actually sleeping much better because of your presence here. Thanks.”
His expression went blank. “I’m just doing my job, which I need to do right now. I see Aapo. I’ll let him know we need more men.”
“If we need to pay them more, I’ll cover it.”
Tory continued her trek to the top of the temple. She paused and scanned the surrounding terrain. Her attention fixed upon the thick rainforest to the south. In the humidity of a hot day, she couldn’t stop the shivers running up and down her body. She was glad Guerrero wouldn’t be leaving with Aapo. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of brilliance to the west of her.
Something doesn’t feel right.
* * *
At the top of the temple, waves of suffocating heat bombarded Guerrero for the third day in a row. If he were a superstitious man, he would wonder if Aapo had brought the hot weather back with him when he recruited an additional five men for the dig site. Guerrero swiped his forearm across his sweaty brow.
Before going below to see the progress on the two rooms discovered so far, Guerrero scanned the area to make sure the sentries were where they should be. Doubling the guards eased Tory’s anxiety at least, especially since he knew a few of them. Most of the three days since Aapo returned to camp, she had been holed up in the temple, working painstakingly on the center of the first room found. When he took her lunch, she was excited that she uncovered what she thought was part of a jaw.
He descended into the temple and ducked into the room where Tory was kneeling on a pad while using a brush to sweep the dirt into a dustpan, carefully exposing more of the bone. She slowly made her way up the side