I tossed the black toast out the door to the chickens then whipped us up a pan of scrambled eggs with salsa and melted pepper jack cheese, new toast on the side as well as a fresh pot of coffee. As Mark ate, he peppered Bishop with questions. Bishop answered them the best he was able. He’d not gotten a good look at the bone poachers given the mayhem of men and ATVs racing around the site in the dark. Also there was the small fact that one of the criminals had clunked him on the head, still on a four-wheeler, as they rode in like Jesse James and his gang on motorized steeds.
“The only thing I can tell you for sure is that they knew exactly which tent held the smaller finds, the ones that they could pack out with ease. And since we move things around on a weekly basis as we add more to the tally, that tells me one thing…” Bishop looked up from his half eaten breakfast to Mark.
“That there’s a rat among your hands,” Mark concluded as he looked at me.
“It seems so, but we have no idea who it is.” I sighed. My last few bites of egg not nearly as appealing as they had been.
“I’m going to have to question them all,” Mark stated before taking a sip of black coffee.
“Good luck with getting anything that way,” I said with candor. “Any chance you can ring up Loren Meneuz and ask him to speak with the men? He’s a constable on the reservation.”
“Mm, maybe. I know they’re swamped on most days with only two BIA officers to cover over thirty-five hundred miles. I’ll give him a call though.”
“If you can’t reach him let Perry know. I’m sure his grandfather will know the number.”
“Will do.” He downed the rest of his coffee as he stood. “Thank you for the food, Nate. Professor, if you think of anything else, anything at all, you can reach me here.” He handed Bishop a card, shook his hand again, and dropped his hat back onto his head. “I’m heading to the McCrary’s from here to see if they’ll be polite and let me and my deputy have a look around.”
“I’ve never known them to be polite,” I tossed out while studying Bishop. He looked washed out.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything. I’d never seen one of them come walking into my office to tell me that they had nothing to do with the first round of thefts either but lo and behold it did happen.” Ah yes, Shepherd. I had seen him leaving the sheriff’s office that day I was in town. “We’ll see how it rolls. Hope you get to feeling better, professor. Nate, I’ll let myself out.” Mark left his empty plate and mug on the island. After the front door clicked shut, I got up and began clearing the plates.
“I need to go to the site. Can you give me the keys to the—”
“The only place you’re going to is the sofa,” I tossed over my shoulder while scraping leftovers into the dirty frying pan to fling out to the chickens.
“You’re not the boss of me,” he parried with just enough whine to make me snicker.
“Respect your elders, young man.”
He blew a raspberry at my back. “Can you at least take me out so I can assist in cataloging what was taken and what we have left?” I sighed. “I’ll do nothing but sit in the shade and flaunt my doctoral authority all over the undergrads by making them do menial tasks such as running, fetching, and fanning my face with their thesis papers.”
“Two hours, in the shade, with the man who loves you at your side to ensure you don’t overdo.” I peeked over my shoulder and caught the eye roll but said nothing.
“Fine.” He’d given up far too easily, a sure sign he wasn’t up to snuff.
Once the kitchen was cleaned up and my chickens were feasting on toast crust and red peppers someone had picked out of their eggs, I helped Bishop with his hair. Pulling the thick mass up into his silly man bun tugged on the gash, so we simply tied it into a loose ponytail with a dark blue ribbon from Kailey’s box of hair accents. I was sure she would be happy to share with Bishop.
Kyle had gone to town with Perry and a few other hands to pick up a feed delivery so I rounded up Will and told him to search the supply sheds and barns for tarps and meet us at the dig. He tossed his shit fork to Ron Simmons, one of the newest hires, with a sigh of relief and a wince when he rolled his shoulders. Nothing like cleaning stalls to build upper body strength. Bet he wouldn’t appreciate the money we were saving him on a gym membership. Not that there was a gym within a thousand miles but the point was still valid.
* * *
Bishop wastrue to his word once we arrived. He supervised the clean-up and counting of artifacts. Were bones considered artifacts? Well, whatever. He sat in the shade or a torn tent and counted fossils, dark shades never coming off which worried me. Was his head aching? Probably so. Mine had for a few days, and it was nothing in comparison to the thumping Bishop had gotten.
I did the fetching for him, and the fanning, but didn’t use anyone’s thesis. I just used a battery-powered fan. Will rumbled up on one of our older four-wheelers, a mound of tarps strapped to the back rack.
“Sorry it took so long. I had to dig pretty hard to find these,” Will said as he handed out the tarps to the college students. He moseyed over to check out whatever Bishop was doing on a tablet, hands in his pockets, his busted lip dry and peeling, his left eye forming a dull shiner. “Did they take a lot?”
“Enough, the motherfuckers,” Bishop snarled as he typed.
“They’re stupid,” Will said, his gaze flitting over the only female on the dig team as she stretched up to secure a tarp over one of several holes in the ground. “I mean, they’re so blatant. Who rides up to a place you want to rob on four-wheelers? It’s dumb.”
“Rumor has it they’re from the next ranch,” Paula said as she went to tiptoe. Will’s gaze roamed down her backside and thighs.
“There is no proof to back up that rumor,” I pointed out.
“Well, if they take them to some old barn, they’re even stupider than I thought. No one with half a brain leaves shit lying around. If I were in charge of this operation I would have only run on paved roads so the cops couldn’t follow us so easily.” He swatted a fly that landed on his red neck. “Then I’d hightail it to Watson City where there’s a dude who deals in black market shit. No way would I leave something as valuable as a dinosaur—”
“Hold up, son,” I said, stepping away from Bishop for a moment. The sun was hot as hell, the air alive with insects. “Are you saying there’s a man in Watson City who fences stolen property?”