Into the Badlands. Caron Todd

swung open, and he stood before her, only inches away.

      “Dr. Robb,” he said lightly. “You’re never where I expect you to be.”

      Her good intentions evaporated. She forgot she’d ever had any. “Don’t you mean I’m never where you’ve told me to be?”

      He looked surprised, then cautious. “I suppose you could put it like that.”

      “Wouldn’t it make your life easier if you just stopped telling me?”

      “You might be right.” His voice had cooled. “In any case, I’m glad you’re feeling well enough to come to work. Would you like to sit down? It’s just a suggestion. You’re free to do whatever you like. I have a guest who’s been worried about you.”

      Susannah craned her neck to look past him. Sitting on a hard chair in front of Alex’s desk was Matt, happily examining a plastic triceratops model. He didn’t look like someone who’d been called on the carpet, but Susannah’s protective instincts flooded through her anyway. “You have a list of people to deal with today, I see. I know James was here earlier. Flexing your authoritarian muscle?”

      “I was going to leave you until you were feeling better.”

      He was close enough that Susannah could feel his breath on her ear when he spoke. Eager to put some distance between them, she made her way to his desk and sank thankfully into a chair near Matt’s.

      “Have you seen this, Dr. Robb?” Matt held up the triceratops model.

      “Not that particular model, but in my office I have a wooden hadrosaur skeleton that I made myself.”

      He nodded without much interest. “Look at this one. It’s really cool. You can take the skin off to see the bones. And Dr. Blake’s got a sand table where you can see how dead dinosaurs got covered up, and you can practice digging them up. Dr. Blake says the current in the river washes them downstream, and then they get caught where the river turns a corner, so that’s a good place to dig.”

      Dr. Blake says…? She and James had said the same thing on the first day of science camp. She looked from the sand table to Alex, lounging against his desk. Her eyes followed the long line of his body, from the sandy hair and broad shoulders to the firm stomach and casually crossed legs. Strong, tanned arms were folded across his chest, seeming to cuddle a bloodthirsty tyrannosaur that glared out of a silk-screened subtropical forest. The shirt was more appropriate for a kid like Matt than a man in his late thirties. It suited him, though.

      Alex’s attention was on the boy. “Where were we?”

      Matt shifted uncomfortably. “You were talking about a…contract.” He clearly didn’t like the word. “For me to remember the rules.”

      “How far did we get?”

      “I’m supposed to stay off the hills and stay with the other kids.”

      “Two things to remember,” Alex agreed. “Tough things, but I think you can do it. Now, my part of the contract is the consequences.”

      His expression mutinous, Matt stared at the floor.

      “Here’s the hard part. If you break the rules, I’ll send you home.” Alex waited for that to sink in. “But the flip side is that if you follow the rules, you can earn a reward. Would you be interested in spending an afternoon in the prep lab putting together a dinosaur skeleton?”

      Matt looked up. “A real one?”

      “As real as it usually gets. The technicians have been working on a triceratops—just like that model. They’ve made fiberglass replicas of the fossil bones. Would you like to help put them together?”

      Face glowing, Matt nodded.

      “Then it’s a deal. We both sign the contract, and we shake on it.” Together, they walked to the door. “Amy’s just down the hall. She’ll take you back to camp. Good luck, Matt.”

      Alex closed the door and turned to face Susannah.

      “A contract?” she said. “Isn’t that a bit cold?”

      He didn’t answer until he returned to his desk and sat down. “I suppose it could sound cold. My sister’s a teacher and she swears by contracts. She says they help kids stay focused and grown-ups stay consistent. The stakes are too high at the quarry. Matt won’t be safe there unless he remembers the rules.”

      Susannah nodded, thinking of the rocks on the sinkhole floor. “I’m concerned about your offer to take him into the lab.”

      “Oh?”

      “We’ve all learned what he’s like. There are tools and chemicals he could get into, and specimens he could break.”

      “I’ll keep an eye on him.”

      Alex’s attitude was frustrating but not unexpected. “Despite that disagreement, I appreciate the way you handled Matt. It’s easy to get mad at him. Your approach gives him a chance to learn.”

      “I know the type—from experience.”

      “Do you have kids?” She hadn’t noticed any family pictures around the office, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a family.

      He shook his head. “I was a lot like Matt—full of energy and enthusiasm. Rules were mere speed bumps. They just slowed me down a little as I ran over them.”

      Susannah didn’t have any trouble believing that. “You probably climbed a few hoodoos in your time, too.”

      “I couldn’t find any in North Vancouver, or I would have. There were other things to do, though, like jump into rivers from canyon walls.”

      She stared at him. “Lynn Canyon, you mean? But people die doing that.”

      He nodded. “That’s what my parents kept saying.”

      “But it’s illegal, isn’t it?”

      “They said that, too.”

      She tried not to smile. “You’re telling me you were bad.”

      “I was never bad. I just liked having fun.”

      The conversation had strayed far from the direction Susannah had intended to take it. “I came here to apologize—”

      “For the meeting? You already have. And I’ve accepted.”

      “All right.” He was making it too easy. “I wanted to thank you again for helping me yesterday. Taking me to the hospital and home, fixing dinner. The pills, too, and leaving the bottle open…” She paused, then continued with a trace of embarrassment. “And I saw this morning that you cleaned up after me…the sand, and the clothes. I’m really very grateful.”

      “But?”

      “But…I’d prefer a more professional relationship. I’d like you to stop deciding what I need when I haven’t asked for help. I didn’t want to sleep in today, and I don’t need to take time off.”

      Alex gave a brisk nod. “You’re right. We met in a strange way. I guess the sense of emergency blurred the usual boundaries.”

      “The situation with Matt…”

      “Yes?”

      “Nothing like that has ever happened before. I take full responsibility.”

      “So did James.”

      “I knew what Matt was like. I should have arranged to have him partnered with an adult.”

      “That’s a good idea. You don’t have to rake yourself over the coals about this, Dr. Robb. Accidents happen. James will step up supervision at the quarry, and the contract should help.”

      “Good. That’s settled, then.” She smiled uneasily. It was hard to reestablish control when he was so reasonable.

      “There’s