“Knowledge? You mean like a book? A codex?”
“Impossible,” she said instantly.
“So is this room.”
Shaking her head, Lina held up her hand. “Let me think.”
Silently Hunter studied the glowing scales and eerie eyes of the massive serpent. No matter how often he told himself otherwise, the damned thing was alive. Not bad, not good, just unnervingly
“Remember the wood piece in the museum?” Lina asked abruptly.
Hunter thought back to the time before Jase had been shot. It seemed like a year rather than only days.
“The plaque was a new piece that we had on loan,” she said. “It depicted a Kukulcan figure and another masked figure like this one, reaching to one another. There was something between them, but whatever it was had been broken off.”
“Empty, like the niche.”
“I studied the wood. I made sketches and took photos. The sketches are back in Houston. The photos are on my phone. Maybe they can give us an idea of what was in the niche—if the narratives are the same.”
“Won’t know until we compare them,” Hunter said. “Is your phone in the backpack?”
“No. It doesn’t work here, so I left it at home. I was expecting a little walk around my favorite ruins, not this. I don’t even have my camera.” The last was said in something close to a wail.
His penlight clicked off and one of his arms went around her shoulders. “Easy, sweetheart. This has been here for centuries. It will be here when we get back with cameras and measuring tools and the whole dig thing.”
Her head thumped against his shoulder. “All I was thinking about was getting you alone. I’m an idiot!”
His other arm came around her and he held her close. “I like the way you’re thinking. And don’t call my favorite woman an idiot. You’re insulting my taste.”
She banged her forehead against his chest. “You’re softer than a wall. Barely.”
“Go lower. Things get harder.”
He heard muffled laughter against his chest. Then, more clearly, she said, “I like you, Hunter Johnston. A lot. Only you could make me feel good about being so stupid as to leave the most basic work tools behind.”
“Thank you. I think.”
Her arms went around him as she stood on tiptoe and brushed her lips over his. The touch lingered, deepened, became a sensual mating of tongues. After a long time Lina lifted her head and sighed.
“But I have my sketchbook in the backpack, and you to hold the flashlight,” she said.
Hunter sensed some long hours ahead. The look on her face kept him from protesting.
“Good thing you packed lots of food and water,” he said, sighing.
“UH, SWEETHEART, UNLESS YOU BROUGHT MORE BATTERIES, it’s time to go,” Hunter said.
Lina looked up, startled. “What time is it?”
“Time to go.”
Stretching her cramped fingers, she stood. And groaned. “Sorry. I forgot everything but sketching.”
“I noticed,” he said, smiling.
She blinked and looked around, reluctant to leave even though her flashlight was dead and his was losing intensity.
“You owe me a big favor for standing here like a floor lamp all this time,” he said. “Repayment will likely involve costumes and sexual excess.”
She looked intrigued, then interested. Very interested.
He groaned. “I should have thought about that hours ago. C’mon. I don’t want to mess up the religious juju happening here.”
She nipped at his chin. “Unlike other cultures, the Maya have almost no artistic tradition of depicting the act of reproduction. Likely, sex wasn’t that important to them as a culture.”
“Huh. No wonder their civilization fell.”
Lina laughed. “You are such a man.”
He smiled slowly. “That’s because you’re such a woman.”
With a shake of her head, she followed the light beam back to the entrance of the tomb. Most of the candles had burned out, but a few were still waiting for the faithful man or men who had kept the temple clean. Despite the subtle draft from the back of the hall, the remaining flames burned bright and straight, bending only when she passed them.
It took Hunter a few tries, but the stone slab door opened onto the jungle. He let his eyes adjust to daylight before he drew Lina out of the tomb and into the cover of jumbled limestone blocks.
There was no unexpected shadow lurking, no sense of being watched.
“How’s your neck?” he asked.
“Good.”
“Let’s go.”
They covered the distance back to the Bronco quickly. Again, the vehicle was untouched.
“I know a lot of places that would pay big money to have this neighborhood watch system,” Hunter said.
Lina smiled. “Want to drive?”
“How’d you guess?”
“The way your foot kept looking for the brake the whole time I was at the wheel.”
“Did I say anything?”
“No. You earned major points for it, too. Almost as many as you earned last night.”
He gave her a long, sideways look. “Yeah?”
“Oh yeah.” She tossed him the keys.
“That’s supposed to help me concentrate on driving?”
“Concentration equals more points.”
“Huh. Definitely costumes are on the schedule. Along with a few other things the Hindu culture was clever enough to illuminate in the Kama Sutra.”
Lina bit back a laugh and climbed into the Bronco. She didn’t have to give any directions as Hunter negotiated the confusing tracks that ultimately would lead to a better road. She relaxed into the seat, realizing that he was as good at backcountry driving as she had guessed.
“Sometimes I worry that you’re too perfect,” she said.
“What?” he asked, thinking he’d heard wrong.
She started to explain, then made a choked sound as he turned a blind corner and slammed on the brakes.
An old truck was approaching about fifty feet away. When the other driver saw the Bronco, he yanked the wheel and parked across the track, blocking it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THAT’S PHILIP,” LINA SAID. “BUT WHAT’S HE DOING HERE?”
“Stopping us,” Hunter said.
He eyed the growth on either side of the truck. Too thick and sturdy to muscle through. No other routes in sight, not even the faintest trace of a footpath.
“Wonder what kind of mood he’s in,” she muttered.
“What?”
“Philip can go from jovial to surly in a heartbeat.” She reached for the door handle. “Better get it over with. Waiting won’t improve whatever mood he’s in.”
She opened the door and got out with all the eagerness of someone heading for a root canal without anesthesia.
Hunter was one second behind her, then he was beside her. His glance swept the jungle before focusing on the man waiting in the truck. He was thick through the shoulders and tall enough that his head was close to the
