Into the Badlands. Caron Todd

projects?”

      “Eventually.”

      “You want to put your stamp on all the work?”

      Alex looked puzzled, then a little angry. “That’s an odd thing to say. Is there something more going on here than you told me last night? You’re not just miffed about the job. Is it something about me in particular you distrust, or are you just paranoid?”

      Paranoid? How many judgments did he intend on throwing around? “It’s something about you, Dr. Blake.”

      “I see. I put your hostility yesterday down to shock. Is that still the problem?” When Susannah didn’t reply, he continued, “I can take a certain amount of unpleasantness, but you’re part of a team. This kind of behavior could sabotage the museum’s work if it goes on too long. Care to have it out?”

      That would be some conversation—make that some outburst. “There’s nothing to have out.”

      “Then I suggest you hold your bitterness toward me in check. I wouldn’t want it to be a barrier to the museum’s functioning.”

      It was a threat. How on earth had she gone from being Bruce’s anointed successor to being seen as an expendable liability?

      She stood up, as straight as she could. “I’m not confident that you have this museum’s best interests at heart, Dr. Blake. If you don’t, you can expect a lot more than a few hostile words from me. It’s really up to you how well the museum functions.” She wished she could stalk out of his office, but lopsided hopping was the best she could do.

      More than anything Susannah wanted to go home, but she was determined not to leave before closing. Or later. She was up to the rigors of her job, whether it was lying in the sand with a chisel or sitting at a desk with a keyboard.

      Slowly and painfully, she made her way to the preparation lab. She detoured around a crowd of visitors pressed shoulder to shoulder at the observation window. Another group was inside the lab, being shepherded around by a public education staffer. Charlie wouldn’t be happy. He didn’t like sight-seers taking up elbow room, getting perilously close to the fossils under his care.

      As she searched the long rows of metal shelves for specimens from the quarry, she couldn’t help overhearing a snippet of conversation between Marie and Carol, lab technicians who had been at the museum nearly as long as Susannah.

      “Did you notice his eyes?”

      “Mmm. So blue—so kind and amused.”

      “He’s got all that muscle and intensity of purpose and he just gleams with intelligence. I never could resist a brainy guy with a tan.”

      Marie raised her voice. “I hear Dr. Blake pulled you out of a sinkhole, Susannah. That must have made your day! Those strong arms wrapped around you. That broad, muscled chest—”

      And that broad, muscled ego. “I’m afraid it was wasted on me. All I noticed was light and fresh air.”

      “Too bad.” With pitying expressions barely hidden, the women pulled on their gear—gloves, masks, earplugs and goggles. Carol bent over a large chunk of rock. A quiet roar filled the air as she turned on a power drill.

      “Susannah!” Charlie made his way through the rows of worktables toward her. They moved away from the noise. “You don’t look much the worse for wear. Adventure must agree with you.”

      She gestured at the storage shelves. “I’m looking for my stuff.”

      He indicated one of the tables. “We’ve just unpacked the most recent specimens. Cretaceous flotsam and jetsam, most likely.”

      “I thought we crated some great specimens.”

      “At this point you’ve had a better look at them than I have,” he admitted. “We’ll see, once we get the plaster off and the rest of the rock chipped away.”

      “Is my skull ready yet?”

      “Carol’s been working on it. It should be ready sometime next week, I think. Unless Dr. Blake has lost it.”

      Susannah smiled at Charlie’s aggrieved tone. “How would he have done that?”

      “You can smile, but I’m serious. I found him in the storage room early this morning. He claimed to be doing an inventory. He left quite a mess.”

      “That’s odd.” Whatever she thought of him, she had trouble believing Alex would be careless with specimens. On the other hand, it hadn’t bothered him at all to drive through the gully, probably crunching fossils as he went. Only half-joking, she asked, “My skull’s still there, isn’t it?”

      “It’s there.” Charlie gave a sheepish shrug. “I’m exaggerating.”

      “Is it holding together all right?”

      “So far, so good. It’s fragile in places. You’re lucky it got safely past your herd of dinosaur fanatics. How can you stand having all those kids milling around?”

      “They slow down the work a bit, but they’re lots of fun. They think we’re an exciting bunch, you know.”

      “Naive little things.”

      “I don’t mean to rush you with the skull. It would be awful if it broke—I’m beginning to think we might find a complete skeleton. That doesn’t happen all that often.”

      Charlie smiled reassuringly. “We’ll be extra careful.”

      THAT EVENING, Charlie drove Susannah home. “You going to do this to yourself again tomorrow?”

      “I don’t think I can.” She was throbbing from head to foot. “I’ll probably have to take some time off, like it or not. I hate to look weak in front of Blake, though.”

      “To tell you the truth, Sue, you don’t come across as all that strong, wobbling around covered with bandages, looking like you’re going to cry.”