Elisha's Bones - Don Hoesel [35]
The ringing of my cell phone brings me back from my musings. I pull the thing from my pocket and check the incoming number. It’s not Duckey. He’s called several times since I hung up on him in Rubio, and I have yet to answer. I’m enjoying the fact that I’ve got something on him—that I’ve driven a splinter into his vacation. I’ll call him again before the twenty-fifth, so he can enjoy Christmas unencumbered. But for now I’m taking pleasure in messing with my boss’s head.
“Hello, Gordon,” I answer with a forced cheerfulness. I never liked having to give periodic accounts to the backers when I was out in the field, and I find that five years of separation have not made this part of the dance any more palatable. Still, it is his money.
“Hello, Jack,” returns Reese. “How are things progressing?”
It’s interesting how a few days can change the appropriateness of that question. Before Espy and I connected Gordon’s research to Quetzl-Quezo, I would have assured him that I would have an answer for him soon. Now the query has no appropriate response. To do this by the book will take years, and while I know my benefactor is not paying me to conduct this as I would a normal dig, I can’t think that I will have any useful data soon. Even if I discover something here, it will be another piece to a larger puzzle.
“We’re making some progress, Gordon. But I’m not sure how quickly I’m going to have anything for you.”
There is a silence that lasts perhaps a half beat, then he says, “You’ve reopened Quetzl-Quezo.”
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that he knows. I am using his credit card, and if viewing his research has taught me anything, it’s that he’s smart enough to look at the growing list of items flooding into his accounting department to determine what I’m doing. And I’d bet anything he’s familiar with all the documentation from the original excavation.
“I found something I think merits investigation,” I say. “I’m not sure how long it will take, but I think it’s important enough to warrant the time and expense.”
I can almost see him waving away concern for the cost. He probably has wine that is worth more than what I’ve spent so far.
“You’re the expert, Jack,” he says with a chuckle. “I wonder, though, if this means that you will not make it back for the start of your semester?”
“I’m not sure I can answer that. It’s still my plan to be there, but I can’t project how long it will take to finish things here.” And that’s assuming that things end here, tied up with a nice little bow. But I can’t think about where I’ll be in two weeks; I can’t do that and devote my full energies to this project. I know I will need to make that determination soon, yet I can put it off for a little while longer.
“Of course, I understand. But I’m hoping that it will not be long before you find something of value.” A pause, then, “I’m counting on you, Dr. Hawthorne.”
From any other person I’ve spoken with, those words would be a simple admonition for an increased pace of operation. From this man, though, they carry the weight of desperation—only because I would not have expected them from him.
I’m still pondering this after I’ve ended the call, and as I hear footfalls coming down behind me—softer sounds than those made by clunky work boots. And even as she has been working as hard as any of the men, there is still a slight smell of flowers that precedes her.
“We’re finished.” She sits down next to me on the step and reaches for my water bottle. She almost drains it before handing it back. “Are you all right?”
“Just fine.”
She nods and swats at a bug that has left the swarm and come too close.
“Then why are you sitting out here by yourself?”
“I’m resting.”
“You mean you’re thinking.”
“Almost the same thing.”
She wraps her arms around her knees and looks out over the clearing. “What do you think we’ll find in there?”
“I know what we’re going to find.”
“Yeah, I was wondering about that. You’ve already been here; you excavated this place. If there’s nothing else, and if you’ve already seen this carving you’re so interested in, then