Everyone around the pool went quiet.
“I have to make a phone call and get someone here to help me with this,” Linda said, turning and walking a few feet away from all the eyes trained curiously on her. She pulled her phone out of her pocket.
She found the contact she wanted and pressed call. It rang for a while, and she was about to put down when a deep male voice answered.
“Hello, Linda,” Dr. Owen Reed greeted her.
“Hi, Owen,” Linda greeted back, glancing at the item in her hand. “Are you busy?”
“Not particularly,” Owen said. “I’m just closing up at the historical society, why?”
"I need you at Hearts Hotel. Right now," Linda told him, excitement creeping into her voice. “There’s been a find.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. She knew Owen knew what sort, but it was the kind of pause that told her he'd heard the seriousness in her voice and was already moving.
"What have you found?" Owen asked, his voice low like he already knew what she’d suspected.
"I think you should come here and take a look,” Linda prompted. “I think it might be what we once spoke about.”
Another pause, and she could hear his intake of breath. “Where did you find it?”
“Beneath the swimming pool,” Linda answered.
"Don't let anyone into the find area," Owen said, this time without any hesitation as his voice rose slightly. "Don't let anyone touch anything. Keep the perimeter exactly as it is."
"Already done," Linda answered.
"I'll be there in ten minutes," Owen told her. "Less if the lights are with me."
"I’ll go and ensure the perimeter is being set while I wait for you," Linda said.
“I'll be there soon,” Owen replied.
The line went dead, and Linda lowered the phone.
She stood for a moment with it in her hand, the fragment in her other hand and the late afternoon sun on her face, and she let herself feel, just for a moment, the full weight of what she thought she was holding. Not the legal implications, not the Wayne Group, not the meeting in a few days. Just the piece itself. The fired clay with the incised lines, the seven notches which could very well be two thousand years old, give or take, and her head turned to the swimming pool, wondering what else was down there. Then she turned around to find all eyes were still pinned on her.
"Well?" Maggie asked.
Linda glanced down at the item in her hand, and a smile lit her face.
"I’m not going to say until Owen's seen it and verified what I think this is,” Linda told them.
Maggie's eyes had widened, and her face dropped as it dawned on her. “No.” Her jaw slackened.
Michael frowned for a few seconds, and then his brow shot up. “Is that…” His eyes landed on the item in Linda’s hand.
“For the love of my sanity,” Martin hissed. “Can someone please tell the rest of us what is going on here?”
“Yeah, Gran,” Jake piped up. “We’re not all weirdly mind-linked to each other like you, Aunt Maggie, and Uncle Michael. We can’t tell what you are all thinking.”
“Yeah, that’s really creepy how they do that,” Toby added. “When I was little, I used to think they could read my mind too.”
“Yeah, I know, right?” Jake agreed. “It’s like just… weird.”
All eyes turned to the two preteens who had once again gone off in their own direction before turning back to Linda, who looked down at the fragment one more time.
"I think," Linda said carefully, "we may just have found a Calusa settlement."
