Into the Fray (Daring Escapes #3) - Margaret Daley Page 0,40

head of the Interior Department before he went to work at his office. They’d visited Juan first since he was the official Tory worked with to garner support for the archaeological site. No one had been home at Juan’s house, which was located on the edge of a rainforest outside of the capital, and he hadn’t answered his phone when Guerrero tried calling him to learn his location. Giving up on finding Juan, they decided to try Sauto’s house.

If Sauto hadn’t been home, they would have gone to their offices, which would put Guerrero and Tory in danger. He didn’t want anyone to know they were in the capital. There were too many eyes watching the government building. Now they needed to convince Sauto to support the dig site with more money. Then they had to procure food supplies and get back to the Temple of the Stars before dark today.

Sauto shook their hands then gestured toward a hallway. “My home office is this way. What has brought you here?”

“I’ve uncovered several items that indicate the Temple of the Stars is a major site, but we need more support.”

Sauto led the way to the office. “Usually Juan is the one who comes to me about the sites.”

“We went to his house, and he wasn’t there. There was an attempt to kill Dr. Winters yesterday at the site. We’ll need to return to the Temple of the Stars as soon as possible, so I decided to see if you were at your house. As Dr. Winters has said, these artifacts change everything.”

“You’ve aroused my curiosity. I respect your opinion. Your wife was a renown Puerto Sierran archaeologist. I know you used to assist her, so I will make time for you two.”

Guerrero followed Tory and Sauto to the large office at the back of his home. She held her backpack in her arms. From what Guerrero had learned about Tory in the weeks he’d been working for her, she was a tough woman who would fight to the end for something she believed in. Like Anna. When Tory was shot at yesterday—an eternity ago—he thought he might lose her as he did Anna. It shook him to his core. He’d realized he’d cared for Tory—more than he realized. If he could find someone who could protect her and the dig like he had, he should walk away, but there wasn’t anyone he could trust. He wouldn’t leave Tory even if Sauto sent in soldiers.

Sauto waved his arm toward a round table. The interior secretary looked at Guerrero. “Do you have any idea who tried to kill Dr. Winters?”

Guerrero shook his head. “The guards found a trail of blood, but they lost the wounded man when he hit a stream. They searched the banks but couldn’t find an exit point.” He looked at his watch. They needed to get back to the archaeological site as quickly as possible. He nodded at Tory to take over the conversation.

She carefully laid her bag with the artifacts in it onto the table. “I found something that could change your mind about helping to finance the dig and to send help to protect it.” She unzipped the backpack, placed the two pieces of pottery, almost perfectly preserved, before Sauto.

He picked up the nearest one and examined the bowl with pictures of a man and woman with a black jaguar between them. “Beautiful, but I still don’t think—”

“I agree. These two bowls, which are intact, are special, but that isn’t what brought me here,” Tory said as she unwrapped the gold and jade headdress and carefully put it down on the table.

Sauto’s eyes grew round, and his mouth fell open. “It’s exquisite. The work is delicate and breathtaking. Jade has been used in this area before but not gold. How old do you estimate this artifact is?”

“Around 200 BC and 500 AD. This was uncovered inside a building under the Temple of the Stars, a Mayan ruin. It was in a small room, intact, that had been sealed off from the temple above for thousands of years. I’ve uncovered a woman who was probably a queen or a renowned woman of her people. I’ve cleared the top half of her skeleton. She wore a few pieces of good jewelry, a necklace, and a bracelet.” Tory shifted her attention to Guerrero. “Show him.”

He unhooked a pouch around his waist, unzipped it, and carefully removed the two items. “As you can see, the work is superb and not Mayan.”

“Where