Chapter 6

Ty foundit hard to keep his attention on what Cara was saying when she stood so close to him with her hand extended as she pointed toward the dip in the ground that she said was part of a moat that surrounded the site.

The indention was about eight feet across, and the depth was impossible to tell because it was so filled with dirt and forest debris.

"Come," she said, holding onto his upper arm. "They've excavated one of the bridges and a very small section of the moat. You'll get a better picture of what this would've looked like back in the six hundreds—not that they're sure of the site's age just yet. They're basing the dates on the style of the architecture and the types of artifacts they've uncovered so far. Sometimes, Mayan pyramids are built on top of older pyramids."

He let her ramble on as she led him, still holding onto his arm, toward a spot where a lean-to had been built over a hole in the ground. A rough wooden ladder led down into the hole, and some supporting beams were inside it to keep the dirt from caving in from the sides.

She let go of his arm and climbed down the wooden ladder. He followed, curious now to see what they'd found.

Once he stepped on the ground, he noted the flat stones layered on top of each other, curved on the sides, that had been stacked to form the wall of what looked like a narrow canal. The bridge was built with the same flat stones, stacked in an inverted V, and then topped by a thick stone cap, making a nice pathway across the moat.

Cara curved her hand over a stone. "I can't imagine how many people and how much time it had to take to make this moat. They're not yet certain how big it is because they haven't been able to take the GPR very far around it. They'll need to cut back more jungle and maybe bring in a bulldozer—if they can get permission to do it—to knock down any stumps. But they have their proof that at least a partial moat exists."

Ty pointed to the roof above them. "Is that going to be enough to keep the rain from bringing down the sides?"

She shrugged. "That's the hope. Come on, let's head to the pyramid."

She climbed upward, and yes, he couldn't be a gentleman and look away when her thighs and ass flexed so temptingly. At the top, she glanced down and gave him a grin.

Maybe she'd known exactly where his attention had been. He swiftly climbed, and together, they crossed the bridge into the site.

They moved beyond the moat. Some clearing had taken place in the interior of the site. There were no large trees, but tall grasses and bushes obscured several stone structures. Cara followed a pathway cut through the brush to the largest structure inside the perimeter of the moat.

He glanced upward. The pyramid wasn't particularly tall, but there were carved rocks with figures of birds, jaguars, and monkeys. There were what looked like writing, glyphs, he supposed.

After climbing ancient steps to the first level of the pyramid, they found Paulo and Professor Beacham standing beside a table, watching a laptop screen while Luca pushed the GPR slowly across a flat surface.

Paulo grinned when he saw them and waved them over. "Come see, come see!"

Cara let go of his arm and rushed over to crowd around the screen. "What is that?"

"It's another chamber," Paulo said, then pointed toward a fuzzy image. "Do you see that oblong object?"

"Yes, do you know what it might be? By its shape, it's not another mummy."

"We think it might be a throne. Perhaps jade, like the one found at Kukulkán."

"You have to be itching to get in there."

Paulo shrugged. "All we can do is document for now. We'll save the video so we'll know where to dig next winter. But yes, I wish we could stay longer."

The image on the screen went dark. Ty glanced at Luca, who stood by looking toward the professors. "Where to next?" he called out.

Professor Beacham strode toward him and led him away to another spot, farther on, at the edge of the raised area. Vegetation grew up from the sides, blocking the view of any structure that might be beyond it.

Luca pulled the GPR farther down the edge, then pushed it slowly forward.

The professor returned and joined Paulo as they watched the screen. At first, there were no discernable shapes, but then he could see a dark, straight edge and what appeared to be a deeper impression of perhaps another room.

As he continued to move the device, another straight edge appeared, and the professor signaled for him to stop and move the device over to continue mapping the same room, a narrow slice at a time.

Ty grew restless, although Cara stood enthralled with the others as they watched the room begin to fill in on the screen. They found no objects, but a huddled figure emerged—and then another. On an additional pass to fill in the image of the interior of the room, they discovered another figure.

"Multiple mummies?" Cara asked, her voice soft.

Paulo leaned closer to the screen. "I'm not sure. Magnify this object," he said, pointing to the screen. The professor moved his mouse and clicked to zoom in. The object appeared to be a shovel with a long handle.

Paulo drew a long breath. "We need to find the opening to that chamber. Now."

Ty stiffened. "I take it Mayans didn't use shovels that look like they came from Ace Hardware?"

Professor Beacham's mouth tightened. "No. This isn't some ancient burial."

"We should call the police," Cara said.

"Ramos?" the professor scoffed. "We need to see what's inside first. If someone's been digging here and stealing artifacts and then got trapped inside, they might have accomplices who don't want them found."

"So, we're keeping this to ourselves—just the four of us?" Cara said.

"We don't breathe a word to anyone who isn't here right now," Beacham said.

Ty cleared his throat and looked to Cara whose mouth tightened, but she gave him a nod.

When everyone turned toward him, he said, "I would suggest that you don't document this in your journal either."

The professor frowned, and his gaze narrowed on Ty. "What do you mean? And when have you seen my field notes?"

Ty blew out a breath that billowed his cheeks. "When I came here, I brought some surveillance equipment with me. Cameras. I installed them yesterday morning."

"Why would you do that?" Paulo asked, also frowning.

"Because of the kidnapping. Because I was hired to protect Cara."

"You're not her boyfriend?" the professor said.

"Who hired you?" Paulo asked.

"The person who asked for my agency's help was my brother, Bradon Quigley."

"Your agency?" Paulo echoed.

"I'm with the Brotherhood Protectors. We provide protection services."

"Bodyguards," Beacham said, his eyebrows drawing together.

"And other services like extractions."

"Just one bodyguard?" Professor Beacham said.

Ty shrugged. "Just one, because Cara isn't always surrounded by a group of people like when she makes trips into town for resupplies."

"So, you put up cameras," the professor interjected. "You saw something?"

"Two figures who made a beeline for your tent. They were only there for about five minutes. When they left, I couldn't see that they'd taken anything, so I went into your tent after you left this morning to try to figure out what they might've been after."

"This is egregious," the professor said, now frowning at Cara.

Ty didn't want her to take the blame or for them to know she'd been there, too. "This is on me. The point is, Professor, the only thing of interest I could see was the map of this site and your open notebook, which described your day's findings. If I'm right, they're keeping track of the dig because they don't want that discovered," he said, pointing at the screen.

"So, what do we do now?" Paulo asked, looking at Ty.

"I can't be in two places at one time. I need to bring in a buddy to split the time between watching this site and the camp. We also need to run a generator 24/7 so we can monitor the cameras around the clock. Once I have backup, we're going to find the entrance to that chamber and find out just how bad this is. Until then," he said, eyeing the two professors, "say nothing to anyone. Put the GPR away and continue doing what you have to do to protect what you've uncovered."

"How are we going to keep our team from knowing we're trying to get into that chamber?" Paulo asked.

"We'll have to do it at night. If you can find the entrance, I'll take care of getting inside it. I'll look for evidence of who they are—gather DNA and any identification they have on them—and then we'll decide who to bring it to. My organization can put us in touch with the right people."

Beacham rubbed a hand over his face. "I hope they didn't loot the chamber while they were at it."

Cara and Paulo looked at him. He must have realized how cold that sounded because he grimaced. "I'd hate to see our work put on hold, this site trampled and looted by sketchy law enforcement officials. So far, we've been lucky that no one's swept in while we were on hiatus. This place is remote, and that's worked for us, but if we have the place crawling with other people who don't know what they might be destroying…"

Paulo patted his shoulder. "I am concerned, too. But our safety comes first." He turned to Cara and Ty. "Do you think this could have something to do with Duncan's kidnapping?"

Ty shrugged. "His kidnapping might've been staged to frighten you away and get the site closed early if they knew you were getting close to that chamber. But that's just a possibility. It could be unrelated. We have no idea how long those bodies have been down there. In the meantime…" He tilted his head toward Luca, who was still rolling the device.

Beacham stepped away and whistled to get the student's attention. He made a cutting gesture across his throat. Luca waved and turned off the machine.

Ty looked at Paulo. "Maybe this evening, you and I can come back and try to find the entrance. We won't breach it, but I'd like to figure out where it is."

Paulo nodded.

Cara cast a glance at the professor. "Is there something you can do to occupy the students and Raul while they're gone?"

Beacham nodded. "We're due to box up more artifacts for transporting. Tomorrow, we can have Raul and a couple of the students accompany him back to the university."

"Do you always send the same students with him?" Ty asked.

"No. Not at all. They like having a break to see friends."

"Good."

"Were you thinking that some of the students might be involved?" Paulo asked.

"At this point, I don't trust anyone."

Paulo scrubbed both hands over his face. "Now, I wish we could simply quit for the day. I can barely think of what to do next."

Cara put her arm around his back. "We'll get through this. The right authorities will be notified, and next winter, we'll be back to normal—only worrying about how we can replace equipment that's broken or has been stolen."

Paulo huffed a laugh. "Stolen equipment sounds so unimportant now." He reached across to save the image of the chamber they'd just mapped and saved the file before exiting the program.

The somber group shared glances.

Then Ty drew a deep breath. "I'll see you after dinner, Paulo."

He and Cara walked away from the quiet men.

When they were far enough away not to be heard, Cara asked, "Do you really think we shouldn't alert the rest of the camp that we've had intruders in their midst?"

Ty sighed. "Maybe tell Cookie I saw two people and asked you about it and that you had no idea who they might be. That should be alarming enough for her to spread the word so everyone is on alert without having to explain what's happening out here."

"And your ‘boyfriend' status has to stay intact for now."

Something about her tone drew his gaze.

There was heat in her pretty hazel gaze. "We still need to figure out which way to lean," he said, his lips curving.

Her eyebrows bobbed up and down. "Let's practice on the way back."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him as he strode toward the rock bridge. "If I'd known that danger turned you on…"

She snickered. "I just liked seeing you take charge. It was so natural. All of us looked to you to tell us what to do. It was very reassuring that you had a plan."

"Not much of one."

"Roy and Paulo take hours to decide how to approach excavations of a doorway. Figuring out the next steps when you've discovered bodies is way out of their wheelhouse."

"And not yours?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Protection isn't my thing. Organization and logistics are. I mean, I've got some close combat skills, but I've never seen real action. I'm also good at taking advice from people better qualified in a certain skill set than I am."

"It's part of what makes a good leader."

She smiled at him. "Almost to the car."

Out of sight now, they broke into a run, arriving at the SUV only slightly winded.

Ty gripped her waist and backed her up to the side of the vehicle, knowing this might be his only chance and that he had to make it good.

Her smile faded, and her gaze dropped to his mouth.

Invitation given.

He bent toward her and leaned his face to the right while she leaned hers left. They both grinned. Then he pressed his mouth to hers.

It was meant to be a gentle kiss. Something to express his hope that they might find other opportunities. He didn't want to rush her.

Instead, the moment their lips touched, they both gasped, and their bodies pressed hard against each other. When her full breasts met his chest, he felt his dick stir, and one hand dropped to her backside to bring her closer so she could feel what she was doing to him.

When her tongue glided along the closed seam of his lips, he opened, greeting her with his. Soon, they were grinding together and apart, their mouths circling, lips sucking.

Ty pulled back and looked down at her, noting her pink cheeks and blown pupils. He was pretty sure he looked the same way.

"That was some kiss," she whispered.

He closed his eyes for a brief second, trying to tamp down his need. "Wrong place," he gritted out.

They kissed again—this kiss gentler and full of yearning.

He rubbed his thumb on her lower lip before stepping back from her. "When this is over…"

She raised her chin and gave him a quick nod. "It's a date."