Shadow Bones (3 page)

Her cousin's face was grimy with grease. He reminded her of her father with a white wing of gray hair on the right side of his black hair. About forty, he was the only son of Skye's Uncle Louis and was the only other member of the family to work at the mine. She'd never been close to him since he was so much older.

Skye's fingers tightened on the coffee cup in her hand. “You really think this could be it?”

He nodded. “You're the first one who noticed the kimberlites. Surely, you're not losing hope now.”

“The kimberlites don't always mean diamonds.” She didn't want to admit how discouraged she felt today. The kimberlites were special rocks that were often found in conjunction with diamonds. She could only hope and pray that was the case here.

“No, but you've never lost faith that the stones are here,” James put in.

“We've been searching for two years, James.” Her voice sounded weary, even to herself. “We're running out of money.”

“Ask Peter for more. He'll do anything for you,” Michael said.

“I can't keep taking handouts from him. At some point, I'm either going to have to find the diamonds or admit defeat. The assayer he hired a couple of weeks
ago found nothing.” She handed him a cup of coffee then poured one for James.

James's eyes widened as he took the coffee she offered him. “I've never heard you talk like this. What's wrong?”

She plopped into the old chair at the metal desk. “Am I fooling myself, guys? I've been chasing this dream so long I'm not sure anymore. Sometimes a dream is just that. I might have to face reality.”

Michael sat in one of the chairs. Her cousin was the only one of her father's relatives her mother still had contact with. His father, Louis Blackbird, never worked more than a couple of months out of any year, and he blamed Mary for the way his brother had run off. A big man weighing nearly two hundred and seventy pounds, Michael's sturdy strength was a constant source of support for Skye.

He propped his feet up on the desk. “Has someone been talking to you?”

Skye hesitated. “Mother is ready to shut down the mine.”

“It still produces garnets,” he pointed out. “This is our livelihood, Skye.”

“Yes, but we're losing money. We can't continue at this rate. I see her point.” James took a sip of coffee and grimaced. “I think this must have been made this morning.”

“I want to try the Mitchell tube,” Michael said.

“Peter doesn't want us to go there. He says it's too dangerous.” Skye had wanted to work in that tube for
years, but her stepfather had forbidden the venture. She knew the tube wasn't safe, but part of her longed to chance it.

“We could shore up the walls,” James suggested.

“It would cost too much.” She sighed and took the last swig of coffee and rose. “I have to get out of here for a while.”

“Take tomorrow off,” Michael urged. “You've been working too hard at the shop, spreading yourself thin with worry. After a little rest, you'll be your old self again.”

“I still have to face facts,” she said. Her steps dragging, she went past James and Michael and left the office, then turned down the corridor and stepped outside into the bright sunshine. She cocked her head as the sound of distant whoops and shouts echoed from the slope to her left. Frowning, she turned to see what the commotion was about.

Slipping and sliding on the loose rocks, she hurried along the path to the dig. At the top of the hill, she could see Jake twirling his sister around and around. They were both shouting. The other two workers were peering over the edge of the hole at something. Not good. Skye felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. She made her way to the dig.

“What's going on?” she demanded.

Jake turned, and his hands dropped to his sides. The elation on his face radiated a charm she wasn't prepared for. Skye felt an invisible wall go up. He took a step toward her, and she backed away.

The joy on his face diminished a few watts. “Look here.” He gestured toward some egg-shaped rocks.

“So?” She dismissed the rocks with a glance.

“We've found a dinosaur nesting site.” Jake nearly chortled with glee. He rubbed his hands together.

“What does that mean?” Skye had a dismal feeling it wouldn't be news she wanted to hear.

“Do you have any idea how rare a nesting site is?” His voice rose. “This is the find of the century.”

All her worst fears rose up to smack her in the face. The media would be on this like a frog on a June bug. Damage control, she thought frantically. How did she minimize the effect this would have on her mining operation?

“You're not saying anything.” The light in Jake's eyes faded even more.

“You have to keep this quiet,” she said.

His dark brows winged up. “Quiet? The entire paleontology community will be interested in this find.”

“And I'll lose the mine,” she said. She felt like she was choking. It was one thing to talk about giving up her dream and something else to have it forced on her.

It was time she faced the fact she would never find the diamonds. The Turtle Mine was just an aging garnet mine, not a diamond mine.

And her father was never coming back.

She felt the sting of tears and turned away. Jake's breath whispered against her neck, and his warm hands touched her arms.

“I'm sorry,” he said.

The funny thing was she believed he really did regret what his find would do to her business. Her mom's business, she corrected herself. Her mother didn't care, so Skye should just let it go. So why couldn't she do just that?

“Do you have to announce it yet?” she asked in a small voice. Her gaze stayed on the ground in front of her.

For a few moments she thought Jake wasn't going to answer. His grip slackened. “We can delay it a while. But I'm going to need help to fully excavate the site.”

She pulled away then turned and gazed into his face. “What about the other paleontologist who's working the other site? He could help you.”

He grimaced. “I can't do that.”

“He seems congenial.”

“Oh, he's congenial right up to the point where he'll treat your stuff as his own. He's also two-faced and greedy. He'll be sure to announce the find so it looks like it was his baby.” He shook his head. “I'll find some help in town.”

“So it's all about power and fame for you? What about the devastation you leave behind you?” She gestured to the hillside. “There won't be much left of this hill, will there? By the time you all get through, it will be an open grave.”

His lips pressed into a straight line. “This is more important than the paltry amount of garnets you're likely to find in this old mine.”

“It's not garnets I'm looking for,” she burst out.

“Diamonds.” Amusement lit his dark eyes. “What a pipe dream.”

“About as likely as finding a dinosaur nursery, right?” She heard the challenge in her voice and lifted her head. She wasn't going to give up without a fight.

A dull red crept up his neck and touched his cheeks. “Touché,” he said. “This is about knowledge and our history. It's much more important than diamonds.”

“To whom? I'm not looking for diamonds for the money.”

“Then what's the motive?” He took off his hat and rubbed his hand through his hair.

“You wouldn't understand.” She didn't bother to hide the contempt in her voice. There was no getting through his thick head. She wasn't sure she understood it herself. Her rational side knew finding the diamonds wouldn't bring her father back, but she still clung to the hope that he'd walk back through that door.

J
ake worked for three days on further excavation. He longed to call the media and rejoice in his find, but he restrained himself after promising Skye to keep a lid on it for now. This was everything he'd been working toward all his life. He would no longer be remembered as the scientist who was duped by a bunch of high school kids. As he unearthed more and more eggs, his smile grew larger.

He took Sunday off and went to church with his family. They were always nagging him about church. He wished he could join worship with the same joy he used to feel. The stark truth was that since his parents had been killed, he blamed God. And that was hard to get past.

He felt God constantly pressing him to let go of the anger and hurt, but it had been impossible for him to get past. He slid into the pew and felt the atmosphere of the old church embrace him. It felt like home, and he felt a little of his tension ease.

Skye Blackbird sat with her mother and stepfather in the third pew ahead of him. Her stepfather patted her on the back and smiled, then slid his other arm around his wife.

A lump thickened in Jake's throat. His own father used to look at him with that same expression of pride. Lucky Skye. Jake wished he could roll back time and see that smile of joy on his own father's face again.

Enough of that maudlin musing. He glanced again at the Metis family. Skye seemed different here. Of course, she wasn't arguing, so that was an improvement. Jake's gaze lingered on her. She really was a beauty.

Her sleek black hair flowed over her shoulders, reaching nearly to her waist in a shining curtain. Her olive skin glowed with health. She wore a red dress in some loose and flowing material that made her look like an exotic bird.

But it wasn't her physical beauty that intrigued him. Her passion for what she believed in was mesmerizing. He was used to seeing it in his sisters, but the other women he'd come in contact with weren't lit from the inside in that fashion.

His gaze kept straying to the pew ahead of him until the service ended. Jake excused himself from his family and moved toward the Metis family. The Ojibwa family walked down the aisle toward him, and he stepped out to meet them. “Good morning, Skye, Mrs. Metis.” He thrust out his hand to the man behind Mary. “We haven't met, but I'm Jake Baxter.”

“Peter Metis.” The other man took his hand in a vig
orous grip. His dark eyes looked Jake over and seemed to find him worthy. His smile warmed Jake the same way his own father's had done. “You're going to put us on the map, I hear. I was initially opposed to your dig, but it looks like I was wrong.”

“This site will be famous,” Jake agreed. He turned to Skye's mother. “Thanks for letting me dig, Mrs. Metis. You've done science a great service. This discovery will rock the world.”

Mrs. Metis smiled. “I hope so, Jake,” she said softly.

Skye stood quietly behind her mother. The two women looked much alike, and Jake could see Skye would age well. Mrs. Metis looked more like an older sister than her mother.

“I haven't seen any media around yet,” Skye said. “Thank you for that.”

“It won't last,” he warned. “They'll get wind of it pretty soon.”

“I know.” She sounded resigned. “We might have to shut down the mine.”

“It's for the best,” Peter said, his expression soft. He patted her shoulder.

Skye bit her lip. She didn't look happy about it, and Jake told himself it wasn't his fault. He thrust his hands in his pockets and moved uneasily. “Would you all care to come out to the site and see what I've found?”

“I'm eager to see it,” Peter said, his hand on his wife's back. “But we've got lunch plans today. We'll stop out and look it over soon.”

“Are you calling the discovery anything special?” Skye asked.

“I hadn't thought that far ahead,” Jake told her. “Maybe the Turtle Mountain site?”

Her dark eyes met his. “I was thinking maybe the Blackbird site, named after my father.”

Mrs. Metis clapped her hands. “That's a wonderful idea, Skye.” She turned to Jake with an eager look. “Would that be all right?”

“Sure.” He watched Skye's face light up. She must have really loved her father. Wonder what made a man tick that he could leave a beautiful wife and daughter? Another woman, maybe? Or wanderlust of some sort, though he should have kept in touch.

Jake bid the Metis family goodbye and followed his grandmother outside.

“Dinner should be ready,” Gram said, taking Jake's arm.

His tension eased at his grandmother's touch. She'd been a rock for him and his sisters since the loss of their parents.

He patted her wrinkled hand. “I think I'll just grab something here in town and head out to the site,” Jake said, ignoring the cries of disappointment from his sisters.

He saw a familiar blue truck drive past. Cameron Reynolds. Luckily, the other paleontologist hadn't come back to Jake's site, but it was only a matter of time before Cameron stumbled on what Jake was doing.

He kissed his sisters and grandmother goodbye
and went to his SUV. He stopped for a burger at the local greasy spoon, then drove along the dirt road out to the mine.

He found his thoughts drifting to Skye Blackbird. She intrigued him, and he wasn't sure he liked it. He made it a point to steer clear of women. A new dig rarely left time for dating, and he hated the way other men put a rush on a woman for a few months then walked away with hurt in their wake. Better to be lonely than to hurt someone.

He parked and walked up to the site. As he rounded the curve in the trail to the site, he thought he heard something. A sliding noise off to his left. He paused then continued. The path sheared away to his right, a steep drop that made him dizzy to look over.

Something caught at his ankles, and he stumbled. Throwing out a hand to catch himself, he encountered nothing but empty air. His arms flailed, and he tried to wrench his body toward the rock face and away from the cliff's edge, but he was too off balance.

He pinwheeled at the top of the cliff then pitched over the edge.

Feetfirst, he hurtled down the slope. He tried desperately to grasp tree roots as he shot past them, but his reaching fingers slid off. He tore a fingernail loose before slamming into a pine tree about halfway down. Spread-eagled along the steep cliff, he grabbed hold of the rock and tossed one leg over an outcropping. His slide down the mountain's face stopped, and he lay among the rocky rubble trying to catch his breath.

The sheer rock face rose above him. The steepness of it looked impossible to climb. How was he going to get up there? He peered around the tree that had stopped his plummet to destruction. The way was even steeper and more impossible down. His arms ached from hanging on to the rock.

The family wouldn't come looking for him for hours. They'd think he just got caught up in his work and was spending the night as usual. He was going to have to figure this one out on his own.

Tightening his grip, he worked his legs around so his feet were braced against the tree. The trunk seemed fragile and too weak to hold him for long, and he feared his weight would tear the roots from the shallow soil.

His body hurt from a dozen shallow cuts and bruises. Dust coated his tongue and lodged in his eyes. He was in a world of hurt, and his prospects weren't looking good.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, he glanced around for a finger-or toehold. There, just above his head, he spied a cupped rock he might be able to get his fingers around. He reached out and grasped it with throbbing fingers, then shoved himself up using his feet to push against the tree trunk.

The trunk tore lose just as his knee found a small indentation to fit into. Jake had never felt so vulnerable as he lay in the hot afternoon sun with nothing substantial to hang on to. Panting, he threw out his left hand and found a small root poking through the soil. Slowly and laboriously, he inched his way up the slope. Several
times, his fingers missed their hold and he slid back down a few inches.

Finally, he reached the path at the top. With a final, monumental effort, he reached out and found a finger-hold then pulled himself onto the level path. His face pressed into the shallow dust-covered path, and he lay almost too exhausted to move.

He'd thought he was a dead man. Rolling to his back, he pulled in a few deep breaths. He licked dry lips and reached for his canteen, now that he had a free hand. The metallic taste washed the dust from his tongue, and he swished the refreshing water around in his mouth before spitting it out. Another deep swallow brought relief to his tight throat.

He got to his hands and knees and shook his head to clear it. His attention was caught by something along the path. He peered closer. Was that a wire? Touching it, he ran his fingers along it until he saw where it had been attached on each end to sticks pounded into the ground.

The wire stretched across the path in front of him, put there deliberately to make him trip. At first he couldn't believe it. Someone had tried to kill him. It made no sense.

Then it made perfect sense. Cameron Reynolds. If Jake were dead, Cameron could easily move in and take credit for the find, since it hadn't been announced yet. Cameron must not have realized Wynne had been working closely with him.

He was going to have to break his promise to Skye
and put out a press release. It was the only way to stop Cameron.

His racing thoughts stopped. Skye. Could she have done this to try get rid of him? He didn't want to believe that, but he couldn't dismiss the notion.

Once on his feet, his vision swam and he shook his head to clear it. He needed help. His hand went to his pocket, but his cell phone was gone, lost in his slide down the mountain. The sheriff needed to be brought in on this, so he was going to have to drive to town to get him.

He hesitated. What if the wire was gone by the time he got back? He shrugged. It was a chance he'd have to take.

Walking like an old man, he turned and went back to his SUV. His vision kept blurring, and he found it hard to keep the SUV on his own side of the road. Another vehicle stopped in front of him, and he slammed on the breaks. His head snapped forward, then back and he sank into darkness.

 

The dusty SUV had almost T-boned her. Shaken, Skye gripped the steering wheel and tried to quiet the sudden thumping of her heart. Whoever he was, he'd run a stop sign and hit a rock. She threw open her door and hopped out onto the macadam road. Steam was escaping from the SUV's hood. As she neared the vehicle, she recognized the man inside.

Jake's head lolled to one side, and he was covered in blood and dirt. Skye ran forward and opened the ve
hicle's door. “Jake!” She touched his face, but he didn't respond. Her cell phone was in the truck.

Racing back to her truck, she scrabbled for her purse and found her cell phone. She dialed 911 and told the dispatcher to send an ambulance. Her father had always insisted on a first-aid pack in the truck, but Skye had never had occasion to use it. She opened the glove box and rummaged inside. She found antiseptic wipes, antibiotic ointment and Band-Aids.

Jake was moving restlessly by the time she got back to his SUV. His eyes fluttered, and he moaned when she cleansed his wounds with the wipes.

He sat up. “What happened?”

“You tell me. I found you passed out cold after you nearly hit me.” Skye dabbed ointment on the cuts around his eyes and forehead. His lips were cracked, too, but she didn't think he'd take kindly to greasy ointment on them.

“Someone tried to kill me.” He leaned forward onto the steering wheel. “I think I'm going to throw up.”

Skye massaged the back of his neck. “Take deep breaths,” she advised. She didn't like his pallor under the dirt. Trying not to hurt him, she probed his thick hair for lumps. She suspected he had at least a mild concussion.

“Ouch!” He jerked his head away. “I'm fine, quit fussing.”

“You're not fine. And where's your hat?” she added, feeling like an idiot for asking the question. He didn't look the same without his hat. His vulnerability tugged at her heart, and she didn't like the way it made her feel.

“Fell off when I pitched over the cliff,” he mumbled. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headrest.

He'd fallen over a cliff? What if he had broken something? She touched his forehead, and his skin felt clammy. “Hang in there, Jake. Help is on the way.”

“Should have run when I took one look at you,” he mumbled. “So beautiful.”

Her heart took a sudden leap like a deer running from a bear. He thought she was beautiful? She swallowed hard and stepped back as she heard the
wah-wah
of the ambulance in the distance.

Jake's eyes snapped open, and he stared at her. Skye was drawn into the dark depths. What made him tick? He seemed so driven about his career, so passionate.

He reached out his hand and touched her long braid with grimy fingers. “You tied your hair all up again. I liked it down.” He closed his eyes again.

She would have sworn he wouldn't notice her hair in church. She didn't understand this attraction she felt toward him. He was a roving sort of guy, and she craved stability above all else. Men like him could chew her up and spit her out faster than she could react.

The ambulance's siren grew louder, and she turned to see the plume of dust behind the vehicle as it came toward them. The paramedics jumped from the ambulance and ran to Jake's SUV.

Jake opened his eyes again and sat up, waving them away. “I'm fine, just fine,” he mumbled.

The paramedics ignored him, put a collar on his neck
and proceeded to check his vitals. Once they were finished with the preliminaries, they started to load him in the ambulance, but Jake balked.

“I'm not going,” he said, his jaw thrust out.

“You'll have to sign a release,” the older paramedic said.