Kathlyn Trent, Marcus Burton 01 - Valley of the Shadow (27 page)

Mark was starting to get some color back into him, but he had a huge bruise on his cheek. Juliana and Kathlyn left him and returned to the antechamber where Gary was working away with his gimpy finger. He lured Kathlyn down into the mold and sand.

"How's your finger?" Kathlyn grinned at him as she sat down.

"Nothing that won't heal," he said. "Besides, it was worth it.  After what you told me about Dougray and Abrahams, I don't trust either of them. Maybe they'll think twice if they decide to pick on me, knowing I'm so damn feisty."

Kathlyn had to laugh at him. "It wasn't your fight, Gary."

"It doesn't matter. I had to help," he ran a brush over the pile in front of him. "I want you to take a look at this group. It's particularly interesting."

Kathlyn peered at the jumble of bones and decomposed flesh. "Why?"

Gary picked at it. "Because I've got several layers here, one of which appears to be a good deal of decomposed linen. Very, very fine."

She could see what he was driving at. "As in something only royalty or high priests would wear?"

He nodded. "Maybe that lady you said was buried alive. There's a good indication of something other than a slave here."

Kathlyn looked at the pile thoughtfully. "It makes me think of the Natron in the door.  I'm coming to think that it was put there to keep whoever was in this room from getting out, not prevent us from getting in."

"Keeping the valuable prisoners inside?"

She nodded. "Exactly. Those who weren't dead had to know the doorway was plaster and easily breachable if they picked at it enough. So whoever sealed them up made sure to put a booby trap in it so they couldn't get out easily."

Gary nodded with satisfaction. "It makes perfect sense."

Kathlyn lay on her side and helped him brush and pick for the rest of the afternoon. There were three bodies in this pile from what they could determine; Gary had uncovered three skulls and a hodgepodge of dirty bones that would take some time to piece together like the components to a macabre puzzle. The ancient linen they had discovered was so fragile that it literally turned to dust when they touched it. Gary, ever-prepared, took a can of industrial-strength hair spray from his bag of tools and sprayed it on the textile to try and keep it together.

Meanwhile, in the sarcophagus chamber, Marcus and the others had managed to get the frame up over the massive granite sarcophagus. They began rigging the lid with wedges of wood so they could sling ropes beneath it. Marcus figured out that the lid itself had to weigh a few tons, making them very careful with their fingers when working around it. It was very exacting, sometimes tedious, work and every once in a while a curse or a laugh would reverberate into the deathly-still antechamber. Things weren't quite so jovial in that gloomy place.

At some point late in the afternoon, McGrath wandered down into the tomb.  He meandered into the sarcophagus chamber, watching his people work with skill and accuracy. It was Burton and Davis at their very best, and Reams at his most happiest. What he was going to have to tell them wouldn't make them happy at all and he braced himself. He'd just spent the afternoon with Dougray and Bardwell. Abrahams had packed up around noon and had taken the first outbound flight for Cairo.  There were negative stirrings in the air and McGrath was the bearer of ominous tidings.

Marcus noticed him, standing by himself near the door to the antechamber. From the look on McGrath's face, Marcus was sure he was going to get an earful about the earlier fight. He was surprised it had taken McGrath this long to come down here.

He removed his heavy gloves as McGrath approached him. "So you've found your way down into the slave mine," he said. "We should have this lid wedged up enough by tomorrow to start slinging rope."

McGrath nodded, watching Davis and Reams work on the lid. "That's great," he said. "Can I have a word with you, Marcus?”

Marcus cast him a long look. "Sure," he turned to the people working on the sarcophagus. "I'll be right back. Don't break anything while I'm gone."

Lynn ignored him while Dennis might have actually flipped him a naughty finger. Marcus walked into the antechamber with McGrath, glancing at Kathlyn lying on the floor and meticulously working on what looked like a mud heap. He kicked her foot as he went by, winking when she looked up.  She stuck her tongue out at him and he smiled; her spunk was coming back and it pleased him immensely.

They passed into Chamber E. Marcus didn't waste any time. "What's up, Jobe?"

McGrath tried to keep the tone casual; his gaze roamed the busy chamber as he spoke. "I heard about what happened this afternoon."

"And you're surprised?”

"Not at all. I thought this kind of thing would come much sooner than it did."

"So what's your point?"

McGrath looked at him. "We've got a bit of a problem, Marcus."

Marcus braced his legs apart, crossing his big arms. "And what's that?"

"I spent the last couple of hours with Dougray and Bardwell," he said. "Look, I'm not going to beat around the bush on this. You and I have known each other too long. The bottom line is that Dougray has terminated his sponsorship of your wife and he's convinced Bardwell not to have anything to do with her. She's unsponsored, unemployed, and considered a liability. They want her off this dig by this time tomorrow."

Marcus didn't react except to tighten his jaw. "My ass she's leaving. If I want her to stay, she's staying."

"Bardwell will move you out of here, too. Gary Crawford will be the new site director."

"Over my dead body. I'll talk to Bardwell."

"He doesn't want to talk to you, Marcus," McGrath flushed around the temples. "I just sat in a meeting with Bardwell and Dougray and listened to Dougray's bullshit for two solid hours. Bardwell was your ally when he entered that meeting, your opponent when it was over. You know how pliable that old man is, and Dougray worked him over good. He's got him convinced that Kathlyn is crazy and that she's got you under her spell.  Bardwell is ready to kick you right off the UCPR staff."

Marcus stared at him a long, painful moment. "You've got to be kidding."

"I wish I was. This is serious, Marcus. Kathlyn goes, or you both go."

"There's no question. We'll both go."

"No." Kathlyn walked up behind them, her green eyes wide and serious. She looked between Marcus and McGrath. "Marcus is staying right here. It's me they're trying to persecute.  If I leave, it will draw the heat off of Marcus."

"You're not going anywhere," Marcus snapped softly. "This is just plain stupid.  I'm going to talk to Bardwell right now and end this once and for all."

McGrath put up a hand to physically stop him. "I mean it, Marcus. He doesn't want to talk to you right now. Give me a little bit of time to soften him up. But you'd better go through the motions of packing your wife up – otherwise, Bardwell will have the Marines remove her."

Marcus began to grind his teeth. "He wouldn't dare."

"As the sponsor of this dig, he can have her arrested for trespassing."

Marcus was close to exploding.  Kathlyn stepped in. "It's no problem. I'll get my people packed up and ready to go."

McGrath's expression tightened. "It's just you, Kathlyn. Dougray and Bardwell still sponsor the team. They stay here with Crawford."

She felt as if she had been hit in the gut. To take her team away was like removing her spine. She looked at Marcus, struggling to be brave about it. She had to show she was relatively undisturbed or he would go nuts.

"That's great," she said convincingly. "They can stay here and keep an eye on things. Really, if I have to go, I think that's an ideal situation."

Marcus looked at her, sorrow in his eyes. "Kathlyn...."

She was determined to reassure him. "Marcus, it's perfect for them to stay here.  As a matter of fact, I can concentrate on re-routing my career knowing that my team is taken care of for the moment. I'm sure I'm not going to be doing anything for World Geography or The World of Exploration Channel now, so I can contact the people at Search for Tomorrow."

McGrath just stood there and shook his head. "You can't," he said softly. "Dougray contacted them a day or so ago and told them that you were unstable and untrustworthy. They agreed not to hire you based on Dougray's recommendation. It seems like there's a kindred brotherhood in the realm of educational cable programs that transcends any competition. No one wants a liability."

Kathlyn didn't know what to say. But her confidence was fading fast. "He's blackballing me?"

McGrath nodded sadly. "It looks that way. I'm so sorry, Kathlyn. It's like he's determined to be vindictive about this. He's going overboard about it."

Marcus's lips had that familiar whitish cast they got when he was ready to blow his top. "How long have you known about this?"

"Since it happened," McGrath said guiltily. “I should have just told you, but I wasn't sure how to. I can't believe Dougray is going through all this trouble to destroy you. It just doesn't make any sense."

Kathlyn couldn't say anymore. She was speechless. Turning away from Marcus and McGrath, she headed back to the antechamber to collect her things. She had to go clear her thoughts and plan her next move. She was frankly more worried about Marcus than she was herself.  They were starting to come down on him, too, and she knew she had to distance herself in order to protect him. But it would be a painful separation.

She entered the antechamber and grabbed her old duffle bag that held her excavation instruments. The sack had been with her since her first year of college and it showed every year of its wear and tear.  As she put her things back into it, Gary watched her closely.

"What's happening, Kathlyn?" he asked warily.

Juliana was there, too.  She knew what was going on without being told. "They taking you out of here, aren't they?" she hissed. "Damn them!  Where are you going now?"

"I am going home," Kathlyn said, still stuffing things into her bag. "Bardwell wants me off the dig thanks to Dougray's influence. If I don't go, they'll remove Marcus as the site director."

"That's bull," Gary exclaimed softly. "You can't leave; this is your dig.”

Kathlyn realized how close she was to tears. She looked at Gary, grasping his hand. "My team is staying here. Gary, please take good care of them. They're your team now and I'm trusting you."

Juliana threw down the brush she held. "Like hell I'm staying here. Where you go, I go."

Kathlyn whirled to Juliana. "No way.  I won't let you jeopardize your career like that."

"But...!"

"No," Kathlyn's big eyes bore into her. "They're after me, Juli. If you continue to ally yourself with me, they'll destroy you. If I'm going down, that's one thing. But I couldn't live with the guilt of bringing my best friends down because they're loyalty to me outweighed their sense of their own good."

Juliana met her gaze very reluctantly. "You need our support now more than ever."

Kathlyn squeezed her hand. "I will feel much better knowing you're here, watching over my dig and watching over Marcus. I need you here, Juli. Please."

Juliana didn't like that request one bit. But she understood how much it meant to Kathlyn. She sighed, throwing her arms around her. "Whatever you want," she whispered. "But they can't take you out of the game. You're too good for that."

Kathlyn squeezed her and released her.  The tears were threatening to spill over and she blinked her eyes. "I need to take a break and think this out," she said. "But whatever happens, you know I'll come out swinging."

"I know."

Kathlyn smiled sadly and zipped up her bag.  Marcus entered the antechamber behind her, saw that she was packing up. "You leaving now?" he asked. “Finish what you were doing, sweetheart. McGrath is going to talk to Bardwell. We don't have to do anything tonight."

Kathlyn shook her head.  "I don't want to...."

Her words were cut off, strangely, as if she had been hit in the stomach.  She stood there a moment, her senses peaked, feeling something of a surge inside her chest. Then, she suddenly couldn't breathe, for the flow that so usually started as a slow, tingling feeling slammed into her and she doubled over in shock and pain. Her instrument bag hit the ground and she went down with it.

She didn't even realize she was on her knees, gasping for air, for all she could see was a weird, foggy vision of the woman in white.  But it was much more than that; the evil man who had buried the woman alive was talking to her in a much more intimate setting, pulling at her hands, trying to kiss her, but the woman in white remained chaste. She pushed the man away. Intermingled with this odd vision were flashes of Marcus' voice, of Juliana's voice, but Kathlyn couldn't respond to them. There was something going on in her head that was taking her along on a turbulent, frightening ride.

More than fear, she felt an intense curiosity about the scene carrying on before her. The evil man wanted something from the woman in white; that was apparent.  But the woman refused. Then, like the disjointed flashes from a bad movie, the evil man suddenly had something in his hand.  Kathlyn caught a glimpse of a watermelon being smashed by a club, the implied threat obvious. Then there was a distinct vision of a man in fine robes, lying in a pool of his own blood. The back of his head was gone and a heavy club waved above his head, wielded yet again by the evil looking man. The woman in white stood by, screaming and screaming.