Conard County Watch. Rachel Lee

she want to be disrespectful. Gray Cloud had shown her an extraordinary amount of trust by bringing her here and giving her permission to pull together a team and start peeling back the layers in that rock face. Her fellow professionals dreamed of such opportunities.

      “Did you notice anything yet?” he asked.

      Her excitement level rose again as she pointed. “That looks like an egg with the fetus still in it. When we work it out, we’ll know.”

      “It could help prove your theory.”

      “That these saurians actually lived in family groups? It could. Either way we’re going to learn an awful lot.” She raised her gaze, scanning the rock yet again. “There’s so much here, Gray Cloud. I’ll have to figure out what happened here long ago to leave so many fossils behind.”

      “Maybe the mountain swallowed them.”

      Her gaze snapped toward him and she saw that he was smiling, but behind that smile were worlds of possibilities she didn’t accept. Before she came to paleontology, as an undergrad she’d studied quite a bit of anthropology. She had some grasp of how important mysticism was to the human race. She wasn’t going to question his. Still, the mysteries those dark eyes seemed to offer made her aware that there might be some things missing in her logic-oriented life.

      Then, almost abruptly, she realized she’d been missing an important part of the morning. Closing her eyes, she listened to the breeze ruffle the treetops so far above, and to a chorus of birdsong that sounded happy to be alive.

      Excited as she was to be here, the natural world reminded her that it still existed and that it was beautiful.

      “Renee?”

      A distant cry floated up the side of the mountain. She recognized the voice. “Up here, Cope. Do you need me to come down?”

      “Nah, I can find you.”

      Carter Copeland was a college professor of history who’d been a friend of hers since he left the Marine Corps behind over a year before. They’d met at a conference and had kept in touch with irregular emails. The instant she told him about this project, he volunteered. Not exactly a paleontologist, but he said he learned fast, and he was willing to do the most menial of jobs. Better yet, he’d told her with a laugh, he was free so she could apply her grant money to more important matters. Considering how small most grants were, she felt no urge to look a gift horse in the mouth. Anyway, most of her interns would need to learn a lot, too.

      Waiting for him, she allowed her eyes to look higher than the rock face, into the sunlight-dappled trees that swayed so gently, catching sight of a small bird winging from one branch to another. Idyllic. Soon to become an active swarm of people at work.

      At last she could hear the sound of feet on the scree just below, then Carter Copeland emerged into the clearing.

      The Marine Corps had put him in a physical condition that any man would have envied. Broad shoulders, narrow flanks, flat belly. Even in khaki work clothes he looked damn sexy. A cowboy hat rode his head, shadowing his face, but Renee didn’t need a clear view to fill it in. A strong jaw, a straight nose, cheeks carved by his past experiences. Amazingly blue eyes. He was only in his late thirties, but experience at war sometimes made him seem far older. Right now, however, he was smiling and looking as if he’d enjoyed the steep climb.

      As he stepped farther into the clearing, he paused and stared at the rock face. “My God. That’s incredible! And you said it just opened up? It’s like something out of Aladdin.”

      Then he caught himself and turned to Gray Cloud, offering his hand. “We’ve met a few times before. Good to see you again, Gray Cloud. As you can tell, Renee’s been kind enough to let me do some basic tasks around here.”

      Gray Cloud smiled and shook his hand.

      “You’re Renee’s cousin by marriage, right? And the wonder worker who got her permission to explore this.”

      Gray Cloud nodded and Cope returned his attention to the vertical fossil bed.

      “Incredible,” he said again. “To think that no one’s laid eyes on this for millions of years. Well, obviously.” He laughed, his blue eyes dancing a bit. “Weren’t any humans around in the Late Cretaceous. But what an opportunity! It’s like the mountain swallowed up a chunk of history and then decided to spit it out for exploration.”

      Renee’s gaze jumped to Gray Cloud and saw the humor in his dark eyes. “My thought exactly,” he said.

      “Two against one,” Renee said lightly.

      “What do you mean?” Cope asked.

      Gray Cloud answered. “She doesn’t believe the mountain has purpose. Or sentience.”

      “Ah.” Cope looked at her. “In theory, neither to do I. But can you think of a better way to explain this?”

      Renee sighed, letting go of a difference of opinion that would have no resolution. “I’ll let you know. In the meantime, all I can say is that Mercy, my cousin, would agree that this mountain is...”

      “Sentient,” said Gray Cloud.

      Renee fake-scowled at him, making him laugh. He patted her shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Renee. That’s when you should be bringing your team up here, yes?”

      “Yes,” she agreed. “We’re supposed to gather at the diner in Conard City this evening and plan our next steps.”

      “Then I’ll see you in the morning. Nice to meet you, Cope.”

      Then Gray Cloud strode away, melting into the forest’s shadows quite quickly.

      Cope looked at her from those amazing blue eyes. “Were you two having a disagreement?”

      She shook her head. “He’s a mystic, I’m a scientist. Those disagreements don’t mean much as long as we treat his and his tribe’s beliefs with total respect.”

      “I don’t have a problem with that. When I was overseas in the Corps, I saw plenty of disrespect for people’s monuments and treasures. I hated it. And I might as well disappoint you and tell you that in the mountains of Afghanistan I sometimes felt those towering rocks were aware.”

      He moved, and for the first time she realized he was wearing a backpack. He swung it from his shoulders and set it on the ground. “So we can’t touch yet, only look, right?”

      “Right. All the groundwork has to be laid.”

      “Well, it’s early. In the military I learned to eat whenever I had the opportunity, and I just happened to have a bunch of goodies in my pack. Join me?”

      She’d been in such a hurry to get up here before dawn this morning she hadn’t brought any food or beverages with her. After all, she figured she’d be here for a couple of hours at most, taking photos.

      But Cope opened a tall insulated bottle and the aroma of coffee won the day. “That smells so good.”

      “And I just happen to have two cups. Grab a stone to sit on, Renee.”

      Five minutes later he’d found another flat rock to use as a table. She watched with delight as he laid out two cups of coffee from his bottle and some paper containers from the bakery that held offerings of cinnamon rolls and croissants. Pats of butter lined the containers and plastic knives waited to help.

      “This is so neat,” she said honestly. “You thought of everything.”

      “I try. Anyway, about this site. I gather that it’s sacred and secret?”

      “I’m not sure how secret it is, but I don’t think Gray Cloud wants it headlined. It is sacred ground to his people, and they don’t want it being trampled by lookie-loos.” She waved her arm. “Look how narrow this space is. We’re going to have trouble working in here, never mind having outsiders trampling through. Then, there’s a river below. All this rock couldn’t have