Kathlyn Trent, Marcus Burton 01 - Valley of the Shadow (11 page)

It was a very nice way of asking her to back down. She smiled at him. "Marcus, I think you're an even better diplomat that I am."

"I've watched you in action over the past few weeks. Nobody is better than you are."

"Lord, you're smooth."

He took her hand and kissed it, giving her a lop-sided smile. "Scared the hell out of me when I saw you sailing across that hole," he said, pulling her back towards the group.  "Where'd you learn to do that?"

She laughed. "I've had many occasions to do that. It doesn't get any easier, though."

Lynn and Juliana were standing together, watching the pair approach. "All well in Paradise again?" Lynn asked.

Marcus cast him a long look. He wasn't about to spout off the details of his personal life for all to hear. "Let's get moving,” he said, obviously avoiding Lynn’s question. “We've got at least another chamber to do."

"More," Kathlyn murmured. "I'd say a few more."

They all looked at her. "How many more?" Juliana asked. "And how are you feeling about all of this now that we're in the bowels?"

She paused, looking around the chamber. "Still kind of queasy, but the pain in my finger tips is gone. I feel uneasiness more than anything."

"Are you okay to continue?" Marcus asked.

She lifted an eyebrow. "I'm the one who jumped over that pit first, remember?"

He turned around, heading for the unbreached entry as he shook his head and muttered. "Stupid question."

***

The ornately painted entry opened into a great hall with twenty four vibrantly painted pillars supporting it. There were no more pits, and this chamber had vast quantities of possessions meant for the afterlife lining the walls; beds, couches, shelves of reed, now collapsed with age, that held copious quantities of wine.   There were boxes upon boxes that could only be assumed to hold things like shoes and linens, kilts and tunics.  Running down the middle of the hall was a square trench, painted with wavy blue lines like a river running down the center of the room.  Fish danced along the sides in a colorful display.

At the far end of this hall was another plastered-off entryway, flanked by two of jackal-faced Anubis.  The statues were about six feet high, covered in gold foil and semi-precious stones. Gold was everywhere and Andy was in his glory as he digitally filmed the room as if doing a music video. He panned in, out and sideways until Marcus good-naturedly admonished him to keep the camera steady. Researchers didn't normally watch music videos, because they tended to make them motion sick. Lynn, Juliana and Ed were spread out all over the hall, gathering initial observations, while Marcus and Kathlyn inspected the sealed doorway.

"It's got to be the burial chamber," Kathlyn ventured, turning to look at him.

Marcus read the cartouches on the plaster. "I don't know.  It's obvious that a good deal of wealth is planted out here so I can't imagine there would be several more large rooms filled with this stuff. We'll just have to get the drill down here and see what's there."

Kathlyn nodded, gently brushing a hand across the plaster. She looked up at Marcus with a smile on her face. "I'd say this has been a great day. One of the best I've ever had professionally."

"I'm glad we could share it."

It was a sweet thing to say coming from the nasty and formidable Marcus Burton, and she smiled up at him. "Me, too,” she said softly. “Thanks for inviting me along.”

He smiled back at her, the warmth in his expression obvious. “My pleasure,” he murmured. “It wouldn’t have been the same without you.”

Kathlyn was about to reply when a voice from the opposite side of the chamber caught their attention. Jobe emerged from the doorway at the far end, his blue eyes wide with shock at the spectacular sight.

Marcus?” he called out, looking around until he spied Burton. “I'm sorry, I couldn't stand it. I brought the ladder down myself.”

Marcus chuckled, waving him in with a big arm. "I don't blame you. You deserve a look."

McGrath was in awe as he and Andy brought the ladder over to the bottomless pit and laid it across the gaping black hole. Andy was the first one over it, crawling across with the self-assurance of a kid on the monkey bars, while Jobe followed him with a little less confidence.  The man didn’t like heights and he gripped the ladder with white knuckles until he was across. Standing up, he brushed the dirt off his pants as he approached one of the chariots, stunned by what he saw.  He just shook his head in wonder.

"This is more than my wildest dreams. Bardwell is going to be out of his mind with exhilaration." He looked at Kathlyn. "I'm so thankful you decided to stay with us, Dr. Trent. Without you, we would have never found this."

"I wouldn't say that," she said. "Marcus would have probably found it, eventually."

"But he was digging in the wrong place,” McGrath reminded her. “You said so yourself. Besides, Bardwell had threatened to pull the funding if you left. You were our last and only hope. I'm so glad Marcus was able to convince you to stay."

The smile faded from her face as she looked at Marcus. A sudden cold feeling swept her. "You had to convince me to...?"

Marcus felt like the kid who had just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. In his excitement, McGrath had a big mouth.

"It's not the way he makes it sound," he said quietly.

Kathlyn was having difficulty breathing again, this time for an entirely different reason. She focused on Marcus as if they were the only two people in the room.

"Let me get this straight,” she was suddenly very hurt, very angry. “Your dig would have closed had I not stayed, which is why you begged me not to leave? So all of that talk about not wanting me to leave was... oh, damn, and all the things you said were...?"

Marcus stood up, opposite her, an expression close to desperation on his face.  "Don't read into this, Kathlyn,” he said quietly. “You knew the dig was in trouble; I never made that a secret. As far as Bardwell pulling the funding, that shouldn't be any great surprise to you. I just didn't see any need to mention it."

She just stared at him. After a moment, she turned away, at a loss for words. The most exciting archaeological find was lying at her feet and all she could think about was how Burton used sweet talk to coerce her into saving his dig. If he had told her up front that Bardwell was going to can him unless she found the tomb, then that would have been one thing. At least it would have been honest. Instead, he led her to believe that he personally wanted her to stay, making her feel more needed than she ever had in her entire life. He played on her emotions. She suddenly felt incredibly stupid.

She started walking for the door leading into Chamber D and didn't stop, even when Marcus called to her. He caught up to her just as she was about to cross over the ladder bridging the bottomless pit.

"Where are you going?" he demanded softly.

He had her by the arm. She yanked herself free, venom in her eyes. "God, how stupid can I be," she hissed. "I gave up everything I have worked for over the past fifteen years just to spend it with... oh, hell, it doesn't matter. Just leave me alone, Burton. You have your tomb. I need to go to Israel."

He grabbed her again, more forcefully this time. "I know this seems like a bad situation, but I can promise you that everything I've said to you is God's honest truth. I've never lied to you about anything, especially my feelings."

"Feelings?" she spat. "You don't have any. The only thing that matters to you is this goddamn tomb; not me, or my feelings, or anything else. You selfishly manipulated me into staying on just so you wouldn't lose your funding."

"That's not true. That was never true."

"Then why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

"I did tell you the truth,” he insisted. “The only reason I didn't tell you about Bardwell was because it wasn't that big of an issue to me. Digs lose funding all the time. Even if Bardwell hadn't threatened, I still wanted you to stay. I still do."

She gazed into his cobalt eyes, wanting so badly to believe him. But she was terrified. Tears stung her eyes and she struggled against them.

"You don't need me any more," she lifted her arm to their surroundings and let it slap back down again. "You've got your tomb. You've got a lot of competent people to help you. Gary Crawford will be here in a couple of days, and I'll just be in the way."

He was feeling unfamiliar pull of emotion. The pain in her eyes was stabbing at him. "You'd never be in the way," he said huskily. "But you're right; maybe I have been incredibly selfish. I've been so consumed with this tomb and my desire to have you stay that it didn't even occur to me what dreams you're giving up to stay here. You're like a beautiful, exotic bird, Kathlyn; you can't be caged or you'll die. I shouldn't even expect or hope to keep you here with me."

She didn't know what to say. But in spite of everything, she instinctively knew he was sincere.

"How long would you have me stay, then?" she asked softly. "A month, a year, ten years? Do you ever think beyond the day, Marcus, or does everything register to you in moments?"

He was silent a moment. "I think it's a little soon to be talking about long term."

He was right and she knew it. "As you said once, you and I do things a little differently. I'm always thinking of the future, ten steps ahead of where I am at the moment. If you want me to stay, I'll stay. But you'd better count on seeing my face for some time to come."

Dennis and Mark were coming across the ladder with the heavy drill for the sealed door in Chamber E. They grinned at Marcus and Kathlyn, excited beyond words at what they were witnessing. They congratulated the two archaeologists on the greatness of the find.  Mark even gave Kathlyn a big bear-hug. When they moved through the ornate doorway, Marcus turned back to Kathlyn.

"What do you want, Kathlyn?” he asked softly. “I only want you to be happy."

"I am happy here."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure enough. The question is, however, are you happy having me here?"

He answered without hesitation."I've never been happier. Sure, I'm content with my life, but I never really realized there was something missing until you came along.  We're so different in many ways, but it works. It's like we compliment each other."

She forgot her anger, feeling herself relent. "Even when you're ready sock me one because I'm a loose cannon?"

He flashed his brilliant smile. "Sweetheart, you're the spice of life. With you around, I know things will never be dull."

She laughed. He took her in his arms in full view of everybody and kissed her until all of her lip gloss came off. Even then, he continued to kiss her, finding a whole-hearted sensuality in her that was difficult to describe. He felt like a starving man being given his first true meal. His lips suckled her soft mouth, his tongue tasting her deeply.  He knew that they were more than likely being watched but for the first time, he really didn’t care.  They all knew how he felt about her and he didn’t give a damn about their public display of affection. He was proud of it. But the lust was increasing, swallowing them up, and they both knew this was no place for a more intimate display.

"Christ," his lips were on her face. "I’ve got to stop or I'll...."

She laughed softly. "I know. Me, too."

She deliberately stepped back, stroking his face as she did so. His cobalt blue eyes gleamed at her, intense with passion and emotion.  His Levis' weren't baggy enough to conceal his arousal so he walked away from her to distract himself, unwinding her rope and grappling hook from the pillar. Kathlyn walked up behind him, threw her arms around his trim torso and gave a tight squeeze. He put his hand over the clasped hands against his stomach, savoring the feel of her. It was a truly warm, affectionate moment without being filled with hormones and lust. 

Letting him go, she wandered back into Chamber E.

***

The plaster leading into the sealed chamber proved to be thick and difficult, and Marcus decided to hold off penetrating it until the next day. They already had thousands of things to catalogue, something Debra Jo, Otis and Ed immediately jumped in to. The SCA offered their services and soon there was a small army of experienced cataloguers at their disposal.  The entire area was sealed off like Fort Knox and the American Embassy in Cairo sent in a detachment of Marines to guard the find.  The Valley of the Kings soon became a military operation.

Kathlyn returned to camp in the early dusk to a hero's welcome. The media had been kept at bay since the scorpion incident and clamored at the camp barricades for a word from her. Normally she would oblige, but tonight she was exhausted.  After gaining clearance to her own camp from a Marine sergeant, she wandered into her tent only to find a stranger sitting at her desk.

The man was fair skinned and well dressed. He rose immediately and introduced himself.  "Please forgive my intrusion, Dr. Trent, but my name is Schmin Baras. I'm a deputy director for Israel's Department of Ministries and Foreign Affairs. Dr. Abrahams has asked me to come."

She had been startled at first but now she was simply annoyed. "How did you get in here?"