Burial Ground

adoptive home.

'Everything will be documented and catalogued in situ. Only once we've done so will I allow any relics to leave the site.'

'And what will become of them from there?'

'I imagine the museum in Leymebamba will happily clear space for them.' She read his next question in his eyes and answered before he could ask. 'There will be no looting. You have my word on that. Like I said, we aren't grave robbers.'

'What about Leo?'

'He promised that nothing would be taken, and I fully intend to hold him to it.'

Merritt nodded, but he still looked troubled.

'You don't believe me?' she asked.

'No. It's not that.' He paused to formulate his words. 'How well do you know Leo?'

'I've known him all my life. Granted, we don't see eye-to-eye on this particular issue and haven't been on the best of terms for the last several years, but I trust him. Despite all of his glaring faults, I've never had a reason to doubt his integrity.'

'But what about his motives? I mean, what exactly are we doing here?'

'We're searching for the ruins that Hunter discovered. I suppose that by doing so we're recreating his final days so that Leo can give himself a measure of closure. Hunter's death broke my heart, but I won't even pretend to understand how Leo must feel.'

'I can't help but think there's more to it than that.'

'How so?'

'Look at it objectively. We all know Leo's son died, but there were four other men in his party that no one seems to want to talk about. What happened to them? And no one's even mentioned why Rippeth took off in the middle of the night. He's a hard man with serious military training, not the kind of guy who tucks tail and runs when things get rough. The fact that he and the other men are even here speaks volumes about Leo's perception of the situation. Think about how much money has been invested into this expedition, and for what? Leo's a businessman. What's the return on his investment?'

'He's only human. He needs to know what happened to his son and he has the financial means to do so.'

'But haven't you noticed how he and Colton have withdrawn from the rest of us? They're definitely plotting something.'

'You're being paranoid.'

'Am I?' He sighed. 'Maybe I am, but I've got to go with my gut. Something's just not right here. There has to be another reason for this trek, and only Leo and Colton know what it is.'

'I already told you they promised not to plunder the ruins. What else could there possibly be?'

'I can't put my finger on it, but I think it has something to do with the missing members of Hunter's group and the whole reason their expedition was launched in the first place.'

'Leo would have told me if he had an ulterior motive,' she said. 'He's never been one to tiptoe around the truth, even knowing the kind of argument that might result. Believe me.'

'You're certain he told you everything?'

The tone of his voice betrayed his doubt.

'Do you know something that I don't?'

He didn't immediately reply. When he finally did, he spoke in a voice so soft she wasn't sure if he had meant for her to hear.

'I know we're following a game trail, and I haven't seen any sign of the animals that could have made it.'

VI

12:21 p.m.

The path narrowed and Merritt fell in behind Sam. He needed time to think. Too many things bothered him about the situation, and he was running out of time to figure them out. He felt a sense of inevitability, as though they were hurtling toward some unforeseen end. Despite what Sam said, he didn't trust Leo. Perhaps the time had come to have a little chat with Leo and Colton and see if he could determine what they were hiding.

Suddenly, he was hip-deep in the kind of problems he had sought to avoid. He had accomplished what he had set out to after leaving the Middle East. He had vanished from the face of the earth. As long as he kept his head down, the Army would never be able to find and extradite him. So why then had he stuck his neck out and risked drawing attention to himself after finding the body by the river? There hadn't even been any sort of internal debate. He had simply assumed responsibility because it had been the right thing to do. And now here he was, on an expedition he knew nothing about, miles into the untamed Peruvian wilds. The man whose son's effects he had taken to the Consulate out of the goodness of his heart had dragged him along under the threat of handing him over to the military, but had paid him handsomely to assuage his guilt. They had to be nearly fifty miles into a forest where even the animals feared to tread. The natives who had stalked them from the shadows insisted that he was dead already. And to top it all off, his feet were soaked from the blasted storm.

So why was he here? Why had he abandoned his life of comfortable anonymity to join this godforsaken party when he could just as easily have disappeared as he had already done once before?

Sam turned around and smiled.

And just like that, he knew.

He had known on an unconscious level since she had first hopped up into the copilot's seat in his plane and begun to annoy the heck out of him. Since he had first seen the sparkle of the starlight reflecting from her striking blue eyes as she stared past him toward the shores of Pomacochas.

'Crap,' he muttered under his breath. He kicked a rotting agave fruit into the forest.

The sound of jogging footsteps and labored breathing reached him from behind. He didn't need to look back to see who approached. It was his new best friend. He rolled his eyes as Galen fell into stride beside him, wheezing heavily.

If nothing else, at least this would prove a welcomed distraction from his thoughts.

'Got a second?' Galen asked. He was huffing as though he'd sprinted up the mountain, instead of stumbling along behind them at a snail's pace.

Merritt sighed. The path through the trees lightened ahead. They were about to lose their umbrella of vegetation. From a dozen paces behind him he heard the crinkle of plastic as Jay weatherproofed his camera.

'There's something I need to show you,' Galen said before Merritt could answer. The man's eyes were haunted, his expression pained. He held out two feathers and pressed one into each of Merritt's hands as they walked. 'Look at those two feathers and tell me what you see.'

Merritt decided to humor the birdman, and inspected the feathers. The one in his left hand was slightly longer and shimmered with green when he tilted it to the light just right. The one in his right had a slightly darker color, more black than brown.

'Other than the coloration, they're pretty much identical.'

'Now blow on them.'

'What?'

'Trust me, will you? Just bring them close to your mouth and blow on them.'

Merritt rolled his eyes, but placated Galen, who grew more agitated by the minute. He puckered and blew on the feather in his right hand first. It shivered between his fingers, but did little else. He eyed Galen, who gestured in a rolling motion with his hands to encourage him to proceed to the other feather. With a shrug, he blew on the iridescent green plume in his left. The feathery portion attached to the quill fanned out slightly, but fell back into place when he stopped to draw another breath.

'There,' Galen said. His eyes widened. 'Did you see that?'