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THIRTY-NINE
Terra had followed Jeremy into what he’d clearly designated as his private yurt. But before she and Jeremy could talk, a lovely young woman peeked inside to ask for his help. Jeremy stepped out with her, leaving Terra inside. She waited at a table where dirt-covered artifacts were laid out next to a box. Jeremy’s crew was obviously packing up the site, preparing for the winter, and then would probably come back next summer.
She stared at the items on the table, the stacked papers and tools, but her thoughts were on Jack and his reaction when he’d first seen Rae Burke. His eyes had lit up, and Terra’s gut reaction had been jealousy.
Jealousy. She needed to come to terms with the fact that she might still have strong feelings for the man or that whatever she’d laid to rest before had not completely died, and his sudden appearance back in her life served to reignite their past. Whatever. She detested the confused feelings wrestling inside her.
“Terra?” Jack called from outside.
“I’m in here.” She lifted the tarp attached to the domed tent, and he spotted her. “Over here.”
He picked up his pace and stepped inside. “Where is he?”
Jeremy entered behind Jack and smiled. “Were you looking for me? I’m here. I apologize. One of my students had a question.”
Terra couldn’t help but wonder if Jeremy was in a romantic relationship with the beautiful woman. She shoved the thought far from her. Not her business. She didn’t care. And interestingly enough, her relationship with Dr. Brand had been more recent than her romance with Jack, and no jealousy had surged when Jeremy spoke with the woman who appeared slightly enamored with her professor.
“Did you bring it?” Jeremy asked.
Terra realized both men were staring at her. Special Agent Terra Connors to Earth. She opened her bag and pulled out the box containing the artifact.
Jeremy donned gloves and carefully lifted the corner stone out of the box and placed it on his worktable. He switched on a magnifying light and stared through the lens.
“Terra tells me you might have some special knowledge to assist us,” Jack said.
“I hope I can be of some help.” Jeremy focused his attention on the piece. To her, it seemed he had already made a decision but for some reason was holding back.
“Dr. Brand, Jeremy, worked as an archaeologist for the Army.” She held Jack’s gaze, hoping he would understand her deeper meaning. Jeremy’s archaeological experience spanned the globe. “Plus, as we discussed, I know I can trust him.”
Did she imagine the slightest reaction from Jeremy?
He exhaled slowly as he pulled his gaze from the magnifying lens. “I’m going to need some time to confirm my initial thoughts and provide a general assessment about when and where this originated, but I can say with significant confidence that it’s from the Middle East. If you’ll look closer.”
Terra and Jack gathered in and peered through the wide magnifying lens. Jeremy pointed with a small tool. “These marks are cuneiform inscriptions, or what’s left of them. The ancient Sumerians created this style of writing, so this object—my guess it’s part of a tablet—could have originated in ancient Mesopotamia.”
Jack backed away from the lamp and locked gazes with Terra, a question in his eyes she could easily read. What is an ancient Middle Eastern artifact doing in Montana?
Back in the vehicle as they headed north to Montana, Terra tried to calm her swirling thoughts. Jack had insisted they stop at the main house of the guest ranch for a few moments to meet the rest of the McKade clan. If she was ever going to learn from him what had happened on his last FBI assignment that brought him home to work as a detective, now was that moment. She’d at least gathered that it involved Liam and Rae.
Jack must have been caught up in his own thoughts too. The silence wasn’t comfortable like she had hoped or expected. She reached for the radio, but Jack pressed his hand over hers.
“Don’t.”
“Okay, then. Um ... I enjoyed meeting your friends, the McKades. And Rae Burke. Want to tell me what happened? How it all went down?” Why it ended in you giving up the job you left me for?
Because that’s what it had been about, hadn’t it?It couldn’t have really been about Jack loving her enough to let her go because he didn’t believe he was good enough for her.
He leaned his seat back an inch. “You first.”
“Excuse me?”
“I want to know the story of what happened between you and Dr. Brand. Oh, pardon me, I mean Jeremy.”
She huffed a laugh. “You know how juvenile you sound right now?”
Jack crossed his arms. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“What, about how juvenile you sound?”
