AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Kyle disappeared into the kitchen and Jackson took a seat on one of the bar stools. He swiveled to face the main dining room, scanning the lunch crowd. Mountain View Pizza was a popular spot in town no matter the time of day so the place was bustling. Jackson caught sight of a few people he knew and acknowledged them with waves or head nods.
When his gaze settled on a table in the middle of the restaurant, however, he sat up a little straighter on his stool. Two men and one woman took up half the table. They all had on tan cargo pants and black T-shirts. Not unusual outfits for Vermont, but the fact they were all wearing the same thing gave them a team-like feel.
Then there was the older gentleman sitting across from the woman. The one who was dressed the same except he had a cargo vest over his black T-shirt. The one with a pair of glasses perched on the end of his nose. The one who pointed to a large, vintage-looking book open in front of him.
The one Jackson recognized as Doctor Leon Ward. Technically an archaeological colleague, but one who didn’t always do things by the book. One who didn’t blink twice at stomping on other archaeologists’ work.
The last two guys had Jackson sliding off the stool. One was Peter McCreary who ran an excavating company in town. The other was the dude from the logging tractor trailer who had given Noah attitude when they’d been turned away from Eugene’s property. It didn’t take Jackson’s big brain to figure out the cargo-clad group was an archaeological team assembled by Doctor Ward. They’d apparently secured some big machinery and the logging dude had given them a goddamn location.
His goddamn location.
Jackson had never had a site poached on him before, but he’d heard tales of it happening. Especially when Ward was involved. Sites where another team had descended and attempted to take all the glory for themselves. He didn’t care much about glory—he’d had his fair share of that—but he still didn’t want another team to butt into his work here in Maplehaven. It was his hometown for shit’s sake and he’d found the dagger first.
Technically, Blaze had found the dagger first.
He swiped the pizza box off the counter and grabbed the bag of calzones as soon as Kyle set it on the bar. “See that table over there?” he asked Kyle. “The one with the cargoes and the professor-looking dude?”
Kyle leaned over the bar a bit then nodded. “Yeah.”
“Keep them here as long as you can. I don’t care what you have to offer them. I’ll pay for any additional food and drink you send their way. Just don’t let them leave too soon.”
“Okay. Do I want to know why I’m doing that?”
“In the name of archaeology.”
Jackson didn’t wait for Kyle to reply. He quick-stepped to the door of the restaurant and spilled out into the parking lot. Sure enough, he spotted a McCreary trailer with a small excavator on it parked in the lot across the street along with two SUVs and a pickup truck. He hopped into his Wrangler and immediately called Isabel.
“Hey, Doctor Hunky,” she said when she answered.
“Hey. Did you or Eugene get any calls about the woods behind the cottages?” he asked.
“No. I imagine Noah is still working in Cheshire. You should have the woods to yourself for as long as you need them.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s true.” He caught her up to speed on what he’d seen at Mountain View Pizza.
“That logger is an opportunistic slug.” Isabel’s voice was full of disgust. “I know Noah wouldn’t have said anything to anyone.”
“Me too. It had to be the logger from the empty trailer. He’s the one who is here with that team, trying to get his slice of the pie.”
“How do we poison his slice?” Isabel asked. “Better yet, how do we avoid any of them getting their hands on the pie?”
“Well, they can’t dig on your grandfather’s land if he doesn’t give permission.”
“Easy then,” Isabel said. “No permission given.”
“Good. I wanted to make sure.”
“We only have one favorite archaeologist here at Pine River Cottages,” she said, using a promotional voice and making him smile. “No one else touches our dirt but you, Doctor Hunky.”
“God, I love you, Whisabel.”
Her laugh filled his ear as he started his jeep. “I love you too. Now hurry back with that food. I’ve got a cranky old guy here whining about pizza.”
“On my way.”
They hung up and he looked in his rearview to back out of the parking spot. As he did so, however, he caught sight of one of the cargo guys and the female exiting the restaurant.
Dammit, Kyle. Had his friend even attempted to delay these folks?
