quietly.
This would be a quick, in-and-out reconnaissance. But she did want to get anything curious on film for later study. Her eyes would miss a lot in the darkness that a camera could record.
Bending low and scampering across the grass, she headed for a mound of dirt dug up from the dig square. The spoil heap, which would eventually be sifted and sorted through before using it to backfill the site. The rich peat combined with abundant heather growing around the camp perimeter stirred a gorgeous perfume in the air.
To his credit, Eric followed silently. He scanned the camera across the grounds.
That gave her an idea.
Kneeling behind the spoil heap, Annja held out her hand. “Let me take a look with that, will you?”
He handed her the camera, and she scanned it across the site, noting the corded-off area where the diggers had cleared a surprising amount of turf and soil for the four weeks they had been there. They were using a grid to dig, unlike the other camp’s open square. Interesting.
Across the way, the camera marked out the tents and a makeshift trestle table with various shovels and brushes and a few artifacts scattered on it. There was no movement in any of the tents, but she felt sure someone slept inside. Whether security, or Michael Slater, she couldn’t know.
The truck was parked beyond the tent. It was about the size of a delivery truck, but had no company name or discernible markings on the sides. A small flashing green light inside the cab caught her attention.
Annja moved the camera from her eyes and squinted to see it was actually a red LED light. Must be on a stereo or GPS system. Another look through the camera found no movement in the cab. A scan along the bottom of the truck bed didn’t spy any boots casing the perimeter.
The camp was locked down for the night. And her scan didn’t spot any hidden cameras. Not that she would find something that had been cleverly hidden.
She handed the camera to Eric and gestured that they should creep over the spoil heap. She landed in the dig area beside the taut cord line that marked off one side.
Eric slid down the dirt and with a muffled grunt he stumbled deeper.
Annja clasped his wrist as he let out an abbreviated exhale. “Got you,” she whispered.
She held all his weight. He hung over a tarped-off section. If she let him go, he’d slide onto the tarp, make a lot of noise and possibly damage whatever find had been protected beneath the tarp.
In the dark her sense of depth didn’t exist. Annja felt about with the heel of her boot for leverage, found a sure footing, then leaned back to pull Eric up. He stumbled not so gracefully across her body and rolled onto his back, without making a sound. The camera he held above him, which had remarkably been spared.
Points for him for not sprawling on top of her. But she was worried they were destroying the site, and didn’t want to leave evidence they’d been here.
Grabbing the camera from his fierce clutch, she swung it toward where he had just been. Leaning forward, Annja lifted the tarp and scanned the grounds. “Nice.”
“There’s something in there?”
She handed the camera to Eric and gestured for him to film. She knelt before the artifact and dug in her pocket for her Maglite. Cautious to keep the tarp over the find, but lifting it so she could look inside and shine the light without the beam being noticed, she looked over the skeleton.
It had been dug out completely. It was likely the team would lift it from the ground and begin to label and mark the bones in the morning. It looked complete, sprawled on her side—yes, a female, for the flatter and proportionately larger pelvic bone. One arm had disconnected and lay a foot away, above the skull. Earth erosion tended to move skeletons all over the place. This one was remarkably well preserved and intact. She knew they could attribute that to the humid conditions of the peat bog.
Anna switched off the light. With a glance toward the
This would be a quick, in-and-out reconnaissance. But she did want to get anything curious on film for later study. Her eyes would miss a lot in the darkness that a camera could record.
Bending low and scampering across the grass, she headed for a mound of dirt dug up from the dig square. The spoil heap, which would eventually be sifted and sorted through before using it to backfill the site. The rich peat combined with abundant heather growing around the camp perimeter stirred a gorgeous perfume in the air.
To his credit, Eric followed silently. He scanned the camera across the grounds.
That gave her an idea.
Kneeling behind the spoil heap, Annja held out her hand. “Let me take a look with that, will you?”
He handed her the camera, and she scanned it across the site, noting the corded-off area where the diggers had cleared a surprising amount of turf and soil for the four weeks they had been there. They were using a grid to dig, unlike the other camp’s open square. Interesting.
Across the way, the camera marked out the tents and a makeshift trestle table with various shovels and brushes and a few artifacts scattered on it. There was no movement in any of the tents, but she felt sure someone slept inside. Whether security, or Michael Slater, she couldn’t know.
The truck was parked beyond the tent. It was about the size of a delivery truck, but had no company name or discernible markings on the sides. A small flashing green light inside the cab caught her attention.
Annja moved the camera from her eyes and squinted to see it was actually a red LED light. Must be on a stereo or GPS system. Another look through the camera found no movement in the cab. A scan along the bottom of the truck bed didn’t spy any boots casing the perimeter.
The camp was locked down for the night. And her scan didn’t spot any hidden cameras. Not that she would find something that had been cleverly hidden.
She handed the camera to Eric and gestured that they should creep over the spoil heap. She landed in the dig area beside the taut cord line that marked off one side.
Eric slid down the dirt and with a muffled grunt he stumbled deeper.
Annja clasped his wrist as he let out an abbreviated exhale. “Got you,” she whispered.
She held all his weight. He hung over a tarped-off section. If she let him go, he’d slide onto the tarp, make a lot of noise and possibly damage whatever find had been protected beneath the tarp.
In the dark her sense of depth didn’t exist. Annja felt about with the heel of her boot for leverage, found a sure footing, then leaned back to pull Eric up. He stumbled not so gracefully across her body and rolled onto his back, without making a sound. The camera he held above him, which had remarkably been spared.
Points for him for not sprawling on top of her. But she was worried they were destroying the site, and didn’t want to leave evidence they’d been here.
Grabbing the camera from his fierce clutch, she swung it toward where he had just been. Leaning forward, Annja lifted the tarp and scanned the grounds. “Nice.”
“There’s something in there?”
She handed the camera to Eric and gestured for him to film. She knelt before the artifact and dug in her pocket for her Maglite. Cautious to keep the tarp over the find, but lifting it so she could look inside and shine the light without the beam being noticed, she looked over the skeleton.
It had been dug out completely. It was likely the team would lift it from the ground and begin to label and mark the bones in the morning. It looked complete, sprawled on her side—yes, a female, for the flatter and proportionately larger pelvic bone. One arm had disconnected and lay a foot away, above the skull. Earth erosion tended to move skeletons all over the place. This one was remarkably well preserved and intact. She knew they could attribute that to the humid conditions of the peat bog.
Anna switched off the light. With a glance toward the
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