Free Perfect Specimen: Brietta by Kate Donovan Page B

joined him, he murmured, “Their skulls are bashed in? Just like my first guy? Very cool. Any theories yet?”
    “We’re kicking a few things around.”
    “Well, keep me informed.” He studied her wistfully. “At this rate, you’ll be done in a week. What happened to the famous twenty-step gridding process?”
    “Ten steps, not twenty. And we’ll be backtracking soon, because there’s still a lot of work to do on these first six graves before we start on the others. I just wanted to get some preliminary data for the permanent grid. Plus, I was dying to know if there were going to be any women. Or children. Or anyone who died from natural causes. So far, I’d say we’ve got twenty-one male specimens on our hands, all of them killed through violent, not natural, causes.”
    “And no tools?”
    “No tools, no weapons. I’ve never seen anything like it, Taggert.”
    “Well, keep me informed,” he repeated absentmindedly. “Good work.”
    “Did you find anything yet?”
    “Nah, it’s pretty barren up there.”
    “Well,” she said, feigning the same level of disinterest as he had shown in her work, “maybe you’ll find something soon. In the south, maybe.”
    “Right.” He eyed her curiously. “How’s the head?”
    “About the same. I mean, I’m sure it’s getting better, but it’s like you said—the dust and the altitude are slowing it down.”
    “Right.” He cleared his throat. “I need to go into town tomorrow. To do some Internet research. Do you want me to pick up anything for you? Any medicines?”
    She scowled. “I wouldn’t mind doing some research too. Plus, I’d like to send an email to my family. So they know I’m alive. Any chance of that?”
    He was silent for a moment. Then he explained, “I’m still trying to keep all this quiet. But sure, checking in with your family’s fine. If Hannan’s aunt doesn’t have Internet access, we can arrange for you to use the local school’s computers.” When she stared at him blankly, he chuckled. “He didn’t tell you? You’re all invited to her house tomorrow night for a home-cooked meal. No Sterno involved. And you can spend the night on real mattresses.”
    Real mattresses sounded pretty good to Brietta. “Just us, not you?”
    “Someone has to guard the site. I might not be as big and strong as Rambo, but I’ll do my best.”
    Brietta laughed. “No one’s as big and strong as Hannan, so don’t feel bad.” She hesitated, then touched his cheek. “Thanks again for all this. It’s the best ever, especially today.”
    “So things are good between you and me?”
    She nodded. “I’m even grateful you were a jerk the other morning. It would have ruined everything if you’d taken me up on that craziness.”
    “What are you talking about?” He pretended to glare. “If you’re saying you offered me sex and I turned it down, I’ll hit myself on the back of the head.”
    “I’m not saying I offered it, I’m just saying you turned it down. And you were right. So thanks.”
    “Unbelievable.” He flashed a frustrated grin. “Let’s go eat. But first, wash that orange gunk out of your hair. It’s like walking into a freaking cult.”
    “Be careful or we’ll get you too.”
    For a moment, he looked like he wanted to be gotten, and her pulse started to race. Then he ruined everything by asking, “What exactly do you plan on saying to your family? In the email, I mean. Just about your personal situation, right? About your headache and all. Not the dig?”
    Brietta rolled her eyes in disgust. “If I told my cousin Josh about this infection, he’d want to fly here and fix me. So he’d demand to know where we are, and then we’d have to kill him. So no, I’m not going to tell him.”
    “He’s a doctor? Maybe you should ask for some advice. This can’t go on much longer, Brie. I’ve got responsibility for all you guys, whether you like it or not.”
    She suddenly pictured an ambush at Hannan’s aunt’s house, and