A Trick of the Moon

by Melinda Barron

  “This one looks good,” he said as Declan looked over his shoulder. “I imagine her room is at the end of the hall.”

  Declan walked past him to the other room. “Think again. This is hers, unless I'm mistaken.”

  Dario peered over Declan's shoulder, noticing the perfume bottles and makeup case on the dresser. The brass bed looked fit for a woman, covered in a wedding-ring quilt.

  “I bet this was her room as a kid,” Dario said. “Notice some of the posters are teenlike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Titanic. All stuff from when she was in high school.”

  “Yes, that's my room.” They turned toward her voice and Dario noticed the

  “tease me about my posters and die” look on her face. He put his hand in front of his mouth to hide a grin. He pushed past Declan and headed toward the room he'd already picked out.

  “This one's mine, then. Deck can take the other one.”

  “Thanks for making my decision for me,” his friend said as Dario disappeared inside his room, flopping his bag on the bed. He'd stayed in a lot of dumps while working undercover and this place was like Buckingham Palace to him. A large, comfy bed and a bathroom right down the hall. Add to that the beautiful woman right next door, and this place wasn't a palace; it was heaven.

  He shook his head to remove the image of Maura under him, groaning as he slipped in and out of her. He'd made a promise to Declan and he would keep A Trick of the Moon

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  it, no matter how blue his balls got. And from the tingling he was feeling, they might be midnight blue by the end of the night, when he could greet Rosy Palm.

  This might turn out to be a very long day.

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  Chapter Three

  Declan eased up on the reins, dropping behind the other horses just a bit.

  Maura was in the lead, chatting amiably with Dario. She looked gorgeous in the saddle. But then again, she looked gorgeous anywhere.

  She's cut her hair short since they'd been out of school, and he liked it, although he preferred it longer. She still looked beautiful, though. Being out of the city and living in the country seemed to agree with her.

  Or maybe it was just the fact he was there that kept her smiling. Declan could only hope that was the case. Watching her laugh and joke with Dario right now made him remember his overblown reaction to Dario's pronouncement that Maura was delicious. He'd only been telling the truth, after all, and Declan had gone overboard, thinking that Dario was going to go after her.

  He knew Dario was much more adventurous and outgoing than he was about sex. Not that he hadn't had girlfriends, but Dario, Declan knew, participated in activities such as bondage and group sex that was more than a ménage. The most he'd ever done was a ménage à trois. There were other things he'd like to try, especially with Maura.

  That idea made Declan pull a little on the reins. The horse whinnied in protest and he loosened his grip.

  “You okay back there?” Maura turned a brilliant smile his way and he returned it.

  “I'm doing just fine.” Just imagining what it would be like to have sex with you, and then have Dario join in. “How much longer?”

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  “About fifteen minutes or so. Your butt getting sore?”

  He chuckled lowly. “We've already been sitting in a car all morning long, and now we're in a saddle, so the obvious answer is yes. Plus I'm anxious to see the site.” He prodded his horse forward, pulling up next to Maura.

  “Dario, have you noticed anything out of the ordinary so far?”

  “Not a thing. You?”

  “Nope.” Declan cast his gaze over the landscape. The loose dirt was covered with sagebrush and a few cacti. The land was fairly flat, but in the distance he could see buttes and rock formations that provided the beautiful scenery this area was famous for. They'd already seen one rattlesnake and given it a wide berth as they passed by. It had barely seemed to notice them as it slithered through the dirt.

  “Is there a canyon around here?”

  “Yes, just up the way about another fifteen minutes past the kiva. Why do you ask?”

  Declan glanced at her. “Has the area been checked for cliff dwellings?”

  “I would imagine so,” Maura replied. “I didn't ask my father that question.

  I can call him tonight and ask.”

  “Cliff dwellings?” Dario glanced over at him. “I thought those were up at Mesa Verde.”

  “There are dwellings scattered all around,” Declan replied. “We don't really know what happened to the ancient Puebloans after they left their home. This is close enough that some of them might have ended up here.”

  “Are you talking about the Anasazi?”

  “The common term nowadays is ancient Puebloans,” Declan said. “But yes, that's the people I'm referring to.”

  “Tell us, Professor, about the ancient Puebloans,” Dario said. “I'm afraid I might have slept through one or two of my history classes.”

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  “Huh. You mean you were awake for one or two of them and slept through the rest.” Declan shot his friend a look, happy that both he and Maura laughed. “Now class is in session, so pay attention, boys and girls. The ancient Puebloans were a race of people who lived in this area from around AD 100 to AD 1300. The times are not precise because there are no written records. There are just people like me who examine things and come to conclusions.”

  “A time cop,” Dario said. “How many of them lived around here?”

  “Again, there's not an exact number. We estimate thousands upon thousands, though. Some big sites have been found, like Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon, which is not too far from here. But there might have been smaller settlements that have not been located yet. This area is not exactly well populated, you know. There's no telling what is yet to be found in the desert.”

  He gazed at Maura, who was looking at him in wonder. “You sound like you want to be the one to find it all.”

  “I think it would be cool,” he said. “I like exploring the ancient ruins.”

  She turned her horse north and he and Dario fell into step beside her again. “Do you mean to say this could be real?”

  “It's very possible, Maura.” Declan patted his horse. “The gathering areas and Chaco Canyon would be the largest settlements in this immediate area, but smaller cities were around. This area would be prime for ancient Puebloans.”

  Dario held up his hand. “Professor, if I may? I thought these people lived in cliffs. There doesn't seem to be a lot of them around here.”

  “They lived in cliffs at the end. We're not exactly sure why they went there, either. Things pop up everywhere.”

  The pensive look on Maura's face tore at Declan's heart. “What's wrong?”

  “I just wonder what drove them to the cliffs; to me it seems so dangerous.

  And what brought about their demise?”

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  “Nobody really knows, Maura.” Declan tried not to show his confusion.

  This was something he'd always wondered about too. “There are many different theories, about drought or plague or famine. There's the idea that there were raiders from the south who came up from Mexico to trade and then things turned nasty. I don't think we'll ever really know for sure what happened, but it's fascinating to explore.”

  “They just disappeared…” Maura's voice trailed off. “It's so strange.”

  “Well, modern Puebloans are descendants of the ancient ones. Something big happened to them to diminish their numbers, but we're not exactly sure what.”

  Maura pulled up her horse and pointed to an area about one hundred feet away. “There it is. We marked it with the stick and yellow flag to make it easier to find again.”

  Declan dismounted, then hurried over to the area she'd pointed out.

  Excitement coursed through him as he neared. Studying ancient s
ites always made his blood flow faster, and knowing he could be the first archeologist here was a real rush.

  He dropped to his knees near the opening, then lay down, unmindful of the sharp weeds and plants sticking into his stomach. “Dario, bring me a flashlight!”

  His friend was beside him in seconds, handing over a powerful flashlight.

  Declan flicked it on, then cast its beam into the hole. His heart beat even faster as the light hit pieces of broken pottery that littered the floor.

  “Hot damn.” He jumped up and made for the pack on his horse.

  “Well?” Maura turned as he walked past her. “What do you think?”

  “It looks promising,” he said, as he grabbed the pack, then dropped it on the ground. He undid the ties and pulled out the item he was looking for. He'd made sure to put it right on top when he'd packed his tools.

  “What is that?”

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  “Well, I'm going to drop a length of rope down inside to see if I can measure how deep the cavern is. Then I'm going to secure a rope ladder, with Dario's help, and go down inside to look around.”

  “Oh no, you're not going down there,” Maura said. “I think that's an incredibly bad idea.”

  “Why? Didn't you go down?”

  “No.” The look on her face said she thought he was a moron for asking. “I came alone to get a better look. I've kept people away since then.”

  “Of course you didn't go down by yourself. You're too smart for that. Plus you're not a trained archeologist. I am. I know what I'm doing.” He made to step around her, but she blocked his path.

  “Don't you think more study is needed before you just plop yourself down into a huge hole in the ground?”

  “No, what I think is that you hired me to do a job. Please don't question the way I do it.”

  Resignation came over her face and he slung the rope over his shoulder, then gently tipped her chin up, lightly touching his lips against her cheek.

  “Relax, I'll be fine.”

  He walked around her, dropping the rope at Dario's feet. The cop stood looking down into the opening. “It's not very deep, judging from what I can see, Deck. I'd say about eight, ten feet.”

  “That's about a normal height for them.” Declan began braiding his hair.

  “Do me a favor and scout the area for hardness, see if there's an area that's tough enough to support spikes to attach a rope ladder.”

  Dario nodded and started off. He turned a few feet away. “I saw you kissing the boss. If you get a raise and I don't, I'm going to file a grievance with somebody.”

  He moved off and Declan grinned as he finished his braid. He hadn't really kissed her, although he supposed from Dario's point of view it would have A Trick of the Moon

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  looked that way. He picked up the rope and turned to watch as Maura walked up.

  “Hold the flashlight for me?”

  “Sure, although I'm still not in love with this plan.” She took the flashlight.

  “Seems to me we need to study things more before jumping in feetfirst.”

  “Better than jumping in headfirst,” Declan replied. She didn't smile, and he sighed. “It's going to be fine, trust me. Just relax.”

  “This ground is pretty hard,” Dario said as he came up to them.

  “Unfortunately it's also very dry, which means I'm not sure about securing stakes. Of course that depends on how long they are too.”

  Declan nodded as he contemplated the size of the stakes. “About twenty-five inches probably,” he said.

  “But how thick are they?” Dario wiggled his brows. “I would have come better prepared, you know, with stakes that can get the job done right.”

  “Are you insinuating my stakes won't pass muster when the need arises?”

  Dario shrugged and Declan groaned. He looked at Maura, who turned away to hide the grin that had come up at the exchange. Before Declan could think of a decent reply, she was clearing her throat.

  “One of our trucks has a winch on it. We can drive it out here and secure the rope to it.”

  As much as he didn't want to admit it, Maura had the better idea. It was best to have something mechanical on site in case something went wrong while he was down there and Dario couldn't pull him out.

  “You're right,” Declan said, turning to walk back over to the entrance. “I'd say Dario could lower me and pull me back up, but I'm not sure he has the stamina to get the job done right. Sometimes bigger equipment isn't always better.”

  “Not a problem,” Dario retorted. “Give me something challenging to do and I'll worry about it. But lowering you down into the hole? Easy as pie.”

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  “If you could bake.” Declan dropped the rope near the entrance and turned to Dario. Maura stepped in between them, and he inhaled her scent; it was intoxicating and it prevailed over everything, even over the sagebrush and horses. She used orange shampoo, and it stirred his senses. One quick look at Dario showed it did the same thing to him. His friend's eyelids looked heavy, and he was gazing down at Maura as if she were lunch.

  “If you two are done with your pissing contest, can we come to the conclusion we need to bring the truck out here?”

  “Yeah.” Declan swallowed a laugh. “But I still want to look.” He dropped to his knees and grabbed the rope, then tied a slipknot at the end. Then he attached a large bell to the knot, threading the hook through and making sure the latch caught.

  “It would be helpful if you gave me the beams from two flashlights down.”

  He indicated the horses. “Dario, there's at least one more in my pack, if you please.”

  Dario nodded and left; Maura dropped to her knees, then lay down on her stomach, sticking her head out enough to look through the opening.

  “Do you think this is old?”

  “Yes and no.” Declan mimicked her moves, his body touching hers. “I'd say this kiva is old, but someone in modern times excavated it and is using it for whatever purpose.”

  “Why do you say that?” Dario plopped down on Maura's other side and Declan noticed his body pressed tightly against hers. She didn't seem to mind being pressed between the two of them, though, so he didn't ask his friend to bring his flashlight over to Declan's other side, which would put him near the roof, and could prove dangerous. There was no telling how sturdy the structure was, or if the dirt ceiling was reinforced from the inside. One false move and someone would see the inside of the structure after falling through the top.

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  “Over the years this room would have filled with dirt,” Declan replied.

  “Sometime in the not-too-distant past someone cleaned that dirt out, and because I don't see any piles of it anywhere around here, they also hauled it away.”

  “Which brings about the question of who did it and why.” Dario's voice had taken on what Declan called his “cop tone.” He was shining his light in the entrance to the kiva, studying the ground. “I'd love to get down there and see what's inside.”

  “Me first,” Declan said. “And not until we get the winch truck here, per the boss's orders.”

  Maura's satisfied nod made Declan wiggle his shoulder against hers. She smiled at him, the glow on her face an obvious sign she enjoyed the contact, or at least he hoped that's what it meant. She turned on her flashlight and aimed it toward the bottom. The light from both the instruments lit up the inside and Declan's breath caught. He hoped he was right in thinking that what he saw littering the bottom was pottery shards and not someone using the hole as a convenient place to throw their trash. It would support his theory about this being an actual ancient site.

  He lowered the rope over the side and began to feed it gently inside the opening. “Let's stay quiet and listen for the sound of the bell hitting the bottom.

  It will tinkle as it moves, but when it hits bottom it should make a nice heavy sound. Then we can ma
rk the rope and draw it back up. The mark will help us estimate how deep the kiva is.”

  Their silence showed they understood. He lowered the rope slowly, the soft tinkling sound of the bell growing more distant. The three of them remained silent, and when he heard the tinkle of the bell and Dario say, “There,” he stopped his movements, then pulled a marker from his pocket and slid it across the rope.

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  He pulled the rope up quickly, then handed one end to Dario. They both stood and pulled the rope between them as they backed away from each other.

  Maura turned onto her back, her gaze moving between the two of them.

  “We were right,” Dario said. “I'd guess it at eleven feet.”

  “About right.” Declan relaxed his grip on the rope at the same time Dario let his drop. The rope draped across Maura's stomach as she propped herself up on her elbows.

  “That's an interesting picture.” Dario's voice was deep, and Declan fought the urge to either agree with him or tell him to shut the hell up.

  “Don't get any ideas,” Maura said, as she ducked under the rope, then stood up. “I'm the boss, remember, and a comment like that could be construed as sexual harassment.”

  “Can an employee sexually harass the boss?” Dario began gathering up the rope. Declan let his end fall to the ground and walked toward Maura, who watched Dario carefully.

  “Oh yes,” she replied. “It could mean a dock in pay, or something equally bad, like going to bed without dinner.”

  “Hmm. How about going to bed and then getting dinner?” Dario licked his lips and Declan cleared his throat. He glanced at Maura, whose face had turned a nice shade of red. It spread under her shirt and her full breasts seemed to be moving faster. It was definitely a nice sight. He looked at Dario to see his friend's gaze fastened on the same spot Declan's had been just moments ago.