Nobody spoke; they all just went quiet, wide-eyed, and gaped at Linda.
“Linda!” Martin breathed. “If that’s…” He pointed to her hand.
"If it is," Michael continued, "and Owen will tell us in about ten minutes whether you’re right, then by Florida law, this ground cannot be sold, developed, or transferred until the Division of Historical Resources completes a full archaeological survey of the site."
Linda let that sit for a moment.
"How long does that take?" Linda asked.
"Twelve to eighteen months," Michael answered. "Minimum."
Martin looked from Michael and Maggie to Linda. "The Wayne Group can't buy what they can't legally transfer."
Linda looked back at the pool one more time. At the earth ramp. At the section wall with its careful layers of soil and time. At the spot three feet below the broken concrete where a piece of fired clay with seven incised notches had been sitting in the dark for two thousand years, waiting for someone to find it.
Linda closed her hand around the fragment, her heart pounding like a bird trapped in a cage, blowing out a slow breath, trying to contain her excitement as she didn’t want to be let down on the fine chance she could be wrong.
“So not dinosaurs,” Jake piped up.
“But a small settlement,” Toby said softly, his eyes widening in awe. “Of people that lived long before even our grandparents, Uncle Michael, and Martin.”
The adults' brows rose as they stared at the nine-year-olds for a few moments before bursting into laughter, letting out the tension that had engulfed them for days.
Owen came across the back lawn of Hearts Hotel at a pace that was not quite a run but was not a stroll either. He was a tall man, broad through the shoulders, with a worn canvas bag over one shoulder, and his phone in his hand. His gaze was already on the pool area before he'd cleared the line of palms.
Linda watched him come waiting by the ramp. Owen reached the orange mesh perimeter as Ray stepped forward and lifted the fencing for him without being asked. Owen ducked under it and came to where Linda was standing at the top of the ramp, throwing a quick, polite greeting to the spectators.
His eyes went to the fragment in her hand first.
"May I?" Owen’s eyes lifted to hers, and Linda held it out to him.
He took it with his one hand while reaching for his glasses to perch on his nose with the other. Owen didn’t speak as he examined the object. He turned it, tilted it toward the light. His thumb moved across the incised lines the same way hers had, tracing the arc, finding the notches, and Linda could see he was doing the exact same examination she’d done.
Owen nodded slowly, still looking at the piece.
"Where’s the deposit?" Owen asked.
"Near the section wall to your left," Linda told him. "There are at least two more fragments visible in situ. Possibly a third further down in the profile, but it's only partially exposed, and I didn't want to go further without you."
Owen looked at the section wall, handed the fragment back to Linda, and walked to the edge of the excavation. They went back down into the pool where he crouched, pulling a small flashlight from his canvas bag, then angled it along the section wall, running the beam slowly across the soil layers from top to bottom.
Linda crouched beside him.
"There," Owen said, angling the beam at the second fragment. "And there." The third, lower down.
"Is it the same deposit?" Linda asked.
"It’s the same deposit," Owen confirmed. "Look at the color change. Everything above that line is disturbed, mixed, you've got construction rubble, concrete aggregate, probably some fill they brought in when they put the pool in. Everything below it is a different story."
"Dark, organic, undisturbed," Linda said.
"Undisturbed," Owen agreed. "This deposit has been sitting here a very long time, Linda. Whatever is in it went in before anyone put a structure on top of it." He moved the beam to the second fragment. "See the exterior surface on that one?"
"Burnished," Linda said.
"Yes, burnished," Owen confirmed. "It’s the same finish as yours. It’s also the same clay body from what I can see, sand and shell temper. And look at the edge there, that curve."
"It's from the same vessel," Linda said.
