“Good, sir. By the end of tomorrow, I hope to have the metatarsal uncovered enough to work beneath it.”
“Good. Good.” The man nodded and grinned. “At this rate, we should be able to win this competition with ease. That means bonuses for everyone.”
Men around him cheered.
Joe stood. “From what I’ve heard, the other team is small and poorly run.” He guffawed. “Their foreman is awoman, if you can even believe it.”
Derogatory comments about women echoed around him.
He cringed and opened his mouth to speak, but someone else beat him to it.
“A woman ain’t got no business in this field.” The man next to Jacob spit tobacco juice onto the ground. “Someone needs to tell her to give up now.”
More laughter and jeers rose up from the crowd in the tent.
Jacob took a sip of water and it went down the wrong way. He began to sputter and cough.
The foreman winked. “She’s probably some weak-minded socialite who wants to use up her inheritance to prove herself.” He shrugged. “Janker—Jankow—some foreign-sounding name. It doesn’t matter. We will win, boys! And win big!”
The celebratory noise was too much for him to shout over. Heat crept up his neck. Not only were they insulting women in general, but the foreman of the other dig. Whose name sounded all too familiar. Could it be that Martha Jankowski was working on a dinosaur dig of her own?
One guy’s shout rose above the din. “We should find this other dig and demolish it.”
“Yeah!” several others affirmed.
“Now hold on, fellas.” Joe held up his hands. “The ownerof the museum has given strict instructions that no foul play can occur.”
“But that doesn’t mean that we can’t spy on them, right?” The tobacco-spitting man beside Jacob sneered. “Maybe scare them a little?”
Jacob’s coughing continued and he stood, but no one took notice. They were too wound up. Hands fisted at his side, Jacob watched the crowd of men. It was impossible to get word to Miss Jankowski right now.
Was that even legal for him to do? If he exposed his own team cheating ... would that violate his contract?
It didn’t matter what happened with the contract. He’d lose his job, but it was the right thing to do. He knew it.
He walked back to his little area of the dig. Picking up his brush and chisel, he squatted in front of the large hole he’d been digging in for days. Less than ten feet from where the short, slender tibia was being dug up. He’d hoped the longer and bigger fibula was in this spot too. Had longed to work on it himself.
But his thoughts warred inside him. He’d signed an agreement that he wouldn’t talk about his dig or where it was. Surely the other men had as well. Not that he could imagine any of them being decent enough to abide by it.
Was that a requirement the owner of the museum had instated? Maybe Martha had done the same thing at her site.
If not ... he had to warn her.
But how?
NORTHOFDENVER
“Like I said in our previous conversation, the highest bidder wins the skeleton.” She spoke into the telephone. The antiquated man on the other end expectedherto come to him. Fool. He’d been calling every day since.
He coughed several times, making him sound even older and more decrepit. “I don’t wish to play games. You know I want it. Now what will it take for us to come to an agreement?”
“What it will take is for you to be the highest bidder. Rules are rules. No exceptions. Right now, your bid is ...underwhelming.”
He sputtered but she hung up her end of the line. As much as the convenience of the telephone had enhanced her life, it was also a nuisance. When the man was serious enough, he would come to her.
Good thing telephones were expensive. It would be chaos if any vagrant on the street had access to them.
Imagining the whole of Denver with telephones and the cacophony that would bring made her shiver. Foolishness, that’s what it was. Common people needed to stay in their place. Which was out of her way. Plain and simple.
