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CHAPTER

30

ROBYN’S STOMACH WAS A BALL of knots, but she kept pushing the food into her mouth anyway, as if by eating faster, tomorrow would get there sooner. She was also trying to offset the champagne that had gone straight to her head. And she’d only had one small glass before changing over to water.

“Damn, this is good!” Cal shoveled another forkful of steak into his mouth.

“You might want to take it easy,” Alex cautioned. “You could upset your stomach.”

“The only thing my stomach is upset about is that it went hungry for so long,” Cal said with cheeks full of food.

Alex laughed, and so did Robyn and Matthew. Jasper remained stone-faced. Jeff and the four laborers had stayed to guard the dig site while the rest of them were at base camp stuffing their faces and celebrating. Before the champagne and food, they’d all washed up and taken showers. Robyn had also checked her e-mail, and her boss had sent seven messages. She had called with the sat phone and explained why she hadn’t replied to any of them. He had been surprisingly empathic about the entire ordeal she’d been through. Apparently, it only took a life-threatening situation to get that out of him.

Jasper put down his fork, his gaze straight on Alex. “I’m going to head back after dinner.”

“I’d like for all of us to get a night’s sleep before—”

“I’m fine, Alex,” he assured her. “I just want to go back and get the tomb rigged with lighting so it’s ready for morning. I can spend the night there, too, watch over it with the others.”

Alex’s jaw tightened. “Jeff and his men have it under—”

“I’m fine, and I’m going,” he ground out.

Alex’s cheeks flushed with anger. “You’ll leave us without a Jeep.”

“I’ll send Andres and Danny back for the night. Worst case, someone will come back and pick you up in the morning.”

“Fine.”

Robyn was curious why, as the one in charge of the dig, Alex was letting Jasper call the shots. Maybe it had something to do with the conflict between the two of them and Alex didn’t want to get into it in front of everyone. But if Robyn went along with Jasper, she could buddy up to him and maybe find out what had Alex and Jasper pitted against each other. She wouldn’t be getting that out of Alex, who was too busy sticking to Matthew’s hip.

“I wouldn’t mind going with him,” Robyn said.

Her declaration warranted a stern look from Matthew. “You should rest, too,” he said.

“I appreciate your concern, but like Jasper, I’ll be fine.” Matthew’s face didn’t soften, but she trudged on. “You know being involved with an expedition like this has been a dream of mine for a long time.” As she spoke, she started to feel miffed. Why was she defending herself to him? This was her life, not his. “I’m going with you, Jasper.”

Jasper nodded and got up. “We’ll leave in a bit, then? Say half an hour?”

“Sounds good.” She stuffed another bite of food in her mouth, then set her fork down. She really needed to stop eating for the sake of eating.

Jasper left the tent.

“Guess it will just be the three of us,” Alex said, nudging Matthew’s shoulder with her own and smiling.

The laborers who’d be coming back weren’t entering into Alex’s equation, and it was apparent she wished it were just the two of them.

“Guess so.” Matthew wasn’t smiling, though, and his gaze was on Robyn.

She pushed her plate away and tried desperately to rein in her temper. “What?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to spend the night here, and get up and at it well rested?”

“I’m an adult, Matt.” She lowered her eyebrows, silently petitioning him to back off.

He eventually nodded.

Alex was studying her, and Robyn could only imagine what was going through her mind. Maybe she was silently celebrating that Robyn would be a twenty-five-minute drive away. Not that her presence was stopping Alex from flirting with Matthew.

“I just can’t wait to get down there and light up that place,” Robyn said, hating herself for smoothing over her earlier attitude. It only made sense she’d be eager to get to work on the tomb.

“I can’t wait to see it that way, either,” Alex said.

“I look forward to finding the Tablets,” Matthew added.

Cal bulged his cheeks and patted his belly. “Whew, I think I’m done.”

Robyn chuckled. Leave it to Cal to lighten a tense mood. “I hope it stays down for you.”

“It will.” Cal grinned like a cat who had just eaten a mouse, or in this case, the man who had just eaten a chunk of cow.

“Well, I should probably grab some things to take with me.” Robyn got up just as Jasper slipped back inside the tent.

He grabbed some water bottles and then went over to a locked cabinet. He took out an assault rifle, which she guessed was an AK-something. And while Robyn didn’t know a lot about guns, she knew it hurt like a son of a bitch to get shot.

“To protect the site, the men need to be armed,” Alex explained, even though it wasn’t necessary. They’d been through this before—back when they had first arrived at the dig site.

“I understand that,” Robyn said. And she did, but that didn’t stop her stomach from becoming a mess of fluttering butterflies. She was familiar with how to fire a gun, of course. Matthew often had them cart along a handgun on expeditions. It didn’t mean she liked them or ever adjusted to being around them.

“Just be careful out there.” Alex was being serious, and it shifted Robyn’s mind from guns to cobras.

But she’d be fine. She took a deep breath. She’d have the Snake Whisperer with her. “I will be.” She patted the table and passed one more look to Matthew, but he was leaning in toward Alex and laughing about something. Robyn shook her head and left the main tent, happy to be putting a little space between herself and them.

She grabbed a change of clothes, her pillow, and her sleeping bag from her tent and put them into her backpack. Jasper was waiting for her next to the Jeep by the time she got there.

“Sorry to hold you up.”

Jasper didn’t say anything, just got behind the wheel and turned on the vehicle. She tossed her bag onto the back seat and hopped into the passenger seat.

She looked over at him. “I thought I was the only one crazy enough to be in a hurry to go back.”

Jasper slid her a sideways glance. “We’re not crazy. We’re smart.” He looked forward again, and his scowl indicated he didn’t feel much like talking.

So Jasper was the strong, silent type. He wasn’t the first she’d run across, and he wouldn’t be the last. She wasn’t going to let him intimidate her.

“Do you think that Alex is crazy for holding off until tomorrow?”

Jasper’s scowl deepened.

“You don’t agree with her?” Robyn pressed harder, keeping her tone conversational.

“She’s the boss around here.” Jasper was staring intently ahead.

Robyn wasn’t going to point out that he’d come across as the one in charge at dinner.

The Jeep rocked as Jasper drove over the dunes at a fast speed. It had her reaching for the roll bar.

“A find like this and she wants to sit around? We’re talking about the Emerald Tablets,” Jasper said. “Once word gets out about them, we won’t have enough manpower—or firepower—to hold off the outsiders.”

Robyn noted how he’d said once word gets out. “You think other people are going to find out we’re looking for them?”

“I think too many people know already.” He punched the gas, and the tires spun, searching for traction.

“You’re talking about us.”

“No offense, but yeah.” The first part hinted at peace, but the latter part demolished it. He had a huge problem with them being here. Yet most of his derision had seemed projected at Cal until now.

“Are you worried we’ll share the find with someone?”

Jasper looked over at her. “Your friend is snapping pictures all the time. He does that for a living. You expect me to believe he’s not sharing his work online?”

“Not something like this,” she spat. Now it was her turn to be angry.

Jasper pulled back. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

It was the second time he’d made that claim in less than two minutes. “But you did. We’re professionals. We know what’s at stake when it comes to the Emerald Tablets and how their discovery—if they wind up in the hands of the wrong people—could destroy the world. Trust me when I say that’s not something I—or any of us, including Cal—take lightly.”

Jasper remained stoic, but he made a couple of rough adjustments with the wheel that jostled her like a ragdoll and had her wishing that she hadn’t eaten so much.

Robyn put a hand on her stomach. “Is this why you’re mad at Alex?”

He glanced over at her. “Who said I’m mad at Alex?”

He was a terrible actor. He wouldn’t even get cast in a B-movie.

She raised an eyebrow. Jasper wasn’t going to budge. “Fine, you’re not going to talk? It’s obvious you’re upset with each other.”

“We’re not upset with each other.”

She rolled her eyes. “He said through gritted teeth…”

Jasper looked at her again. “Do you really think it was a coincidence that Alex called up Matthew after all these years?”

“I’m not sure what you mean by that.”

Jasper snapped his jaw shut. “I’ve probably said too much.”

“Please, tell me what you mean,” she pleaded.

“Your pal has quite the reputation in the archaeological community. Actually, he has a reach beyond that. He’s known in certain circles as ‘the Legend Hunter.’” He made air quotes with one hand.

Robyn turned her body toward him. “This is my first time hearing that.”

Jasper hitched his shoulders. “Well.”

“Well, what?” Surely, he couldn’t just leave her hanging like that. But that’s what he did.

In fact, the rest of the trip passed in deafening silence. Of course, she had no idea what this man was thinking, but he was definitely hiding something. She continued to mull over the conversation they’d just had. She ripped it apart, including the words We’re not upset with each other. Did that mean only one of them was the pissed-off party? And how did that factor in to Matthew’s reputation as “the Legend Hunter”?

Jasper parked beside the other Jeep, and Jeff walked toward them, brows arched in curiosity.

“What are you guys doing here?” Jeff asked. But his gaze trailed over Jasper to Robyn, so more specifically, it seemed he didn’t understand why she was there.

“I’m just here to help,” she said.

“You’re eager to go back down?” Jeff shook his head. “You’re too pretty to be nuts.” It was said in a playful manner, but it grated nonetheless.

“This is too important a discovery to put off until tomorrow.”

“I’d have to agree,” Jeff conceded. “Well, make yourself comfortable. But there are only a couple tents for sleeping. You’ll have to bunk with someone. Unless you want to sleep with the mummy again.” He chuckled.

And the snakes…

“Ah, I’ll pass on that one,” she said.

“Good, then you’ll share with someone.”

“That’s fine.” As soon as she said the words, she realized that everyone here was male. It had her wishing for Cal’s camera to hide behind.

Jasper pulled a tent from the back of the Jeep. “She can sleep in this one.”

Jeff gestured to him. “Ah, good thinking.”

“What about you, though?” Robyn turned to Jasper. “You stayed up all last night.”

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” Jasper said drily but sprinkled in a brief smile. “And this is for you.” He extended a handgun toward her. “You know how to fire one, don’t you?”

“I do, but—”

“It’s for your protection. I can’t be around to save you from every snake.”

She took the gun from Jasper.

Then he addressed Jeff. “Alex needs you to send a couple of guys back to base camp so they have a Jeep for the morning. I said Andres and Danny would probably go back.”

“Sure, that’s fine,” Jeff said. “I’ll let them know.”

Jasper headed off in the direction of the two sleeping tents. He stopped once he got there and set down the tent he’d brought.

“It’s not just snakes you have to watch out for,” Jeff cautioned. “There’s lot that can kill you out here at night. Anyhow, make yourself comfortable.”

There’s a lot that can kill you and make yourself comfortable weren’t exactly two things she’d pair together…

“We’ve already rigged up most of the lighting,” Jeff went on. “The find is incredible.”

So she’d been able to talk with Jasper and get away from Alex and Matthew. And now she didn’t need to work tonight. Talk about win-win-win.

She looked toward the entrance. “I can only imagine it’s breathtaking down there.”

“Well, no need to imagine. Go down and take a look around. Just don’t touch anything.” With that, Jeff walked off toward the open-sided tent.

“Oh, Jeff?” she called out. He stopped walking and turned around. “How’s Reda? I know you told Alex that he made it out of the tunnel…”

“He got out just as the entrance collapsed. He’s a lucky man.” Jeff turned back around and spoke over a shoulder. “He’s going to be here tomorrow to look at the find.”

Of all the men to survive unscathed, and without the drama the rest of them went through… That right there debunked the validity of mummies’ curses. If anyone would have one on their head, it would be Reda, who had unearthed several tombs in his lifetime.

She headed toward the staircase when one of the laborers stepped in front of her. He was tall and gangly, but all muscle. He had black eyes and tanned skin, and an assault rifle harnessed across his chest. She couldn’t remember his name.

“Hi, ma’am,” he said.

“Hi. Andres, right?”

“That’s right, ma’am,” he said with a smile.

One ma’am she could get past, but two in a row? Ouch.

“Ah, mine is—”

“Oh, I remember your name, pretty woman. It’s Robyn.” He wasn’t leering at her, but a mild discomfort made her cringe inside anyway.

She pointed toward Jasper, thinking maybe she’d go with a change in plans. She didn’t really want to go down into the tomb with Andres, so maybe she could help Jasper with the tent. But when she looked at him, he was finished with that already.

Her gaze went back to Andres—more specifically to his weapon. He lifted it from his chest to show her. “It’s just in the case of grave robbers. We’ve got to protect what’s ours.”

A term any Egyptologist was well familiar with, but one she’d never heard used firsthand.

She looked over the makeshift camp, at the six men she was here with. Essentially, they were all strangers—and armed ones, at that—but on the upside she was away from Matthew and Alex. And she was here with a pharaoh’s tomb at her disposal. Not very many people could say that.

“Well, I’m gonna—” She jacked a thumb toward the tomb’s entrance and left Andres.

With each step she took into the earth, a creeping weight pressed down on her shoulders. It wasn’t from thinking about snakes but rather the weaponry that was involved with securing the find. Speaking of, she looked down at the gun in her own hands and hoped she’d never have to use it—on a reptile, animal, or otherwise. But with her mind on life and death, her conversation with Jasper came back to her, including his mention of Matthew being “the Legend Hunter” and his allegation that Alex had invited Matthew here due to that reputation. Finally, it sank in. Jasper hadn’t come right out and said it, but Alex was using Matthew.