James Rollins - Innocent Blood

Attaboy, Blackjack .

She kept her horse boarded at a set of stables outside of Palo Alto. She rode him whenever she got a chance, knowing he needed the exercise, but mostly for the pure joy of flying over fields atop the muscular steed. Blackjack hadn’t been ridden in a few days and was bouncy with energy.

She glanced back over a shoulder. Nate rode not far behind her, atop a gray named Gunsmoke. Growing up in Texas, he was a skilled rider himself and was clearly testing the mare.

She simply let Blackjack run out his high spirits, trying to concentrate on the wind across her face, the heady smell of horse, the easy connection between herself and her mount. She had loved riding ever since she was a little girl. It helped her think. Today she wondered about her visions, trying to figure out what to do about them. She knew they weren’t just PTSD. They meant something more.

In front of her, the edge of the sun touched the top of rolling hills.

“We should head back soon!” Nate called to her. “Sun will be down in another half hour!”

She heard the trace of anxiety in his voice. Back in Rome, Nate had been trapped in darkness for days, tortured in those shadows. Night probably held a certain terror for him.

Recognizing this now, she knew she shouldn’t have agreed to let him come along. But, earlier in the afternoon, after failing to reach Cardinal Bernard by phone, she had headed out of her office to burn off some of her anxiety. Nate had asked her where she was going, and foolishly she had allowed him to accompany her.

These last months, she had trouble saying no to him. After the tragic events in Israel and Rome, he continued to struggle, even more than she did, although he rarely spoke about it. She tried to be there for him, to help him bear the memories that had been thrust upon him. It was the least that she could do.

In the past, their relationship had been an easygoing one — as long as she pretended not to notice his attraction to her. But since she had fallen for Jordan, Nate had retreated into remote professionalism. But was it because of hurt feelings, anger, or something else?

Sadly, after tonight, it probably wouldn’t matter.

She inwardly sighed. Maybe it was just as well that Nate had accompanied her on this ride. This moment offered her the perfect opportunity to speak to him in private.

She slowed Blackjack with a slight tension on the reins. Nate drew alongside her with Gunsmoke. He grinned at her, which broke off a piece of her heart. But he had to be told. Better to tell him now, before Christmas break, to give him time to get used to the idea.

She took a deep breath. “Nate, there’s something I want to talk about.”

Nate tilted his straw Stetson up and looked sidelong at her. Their horses walked side by side on the wide path. “What is it?”

“I talked to the dean this morning. I suggested the names of other professors whom you might be interested in working with.”

His eyebrows pinched with concern. “Did I do something wrong? It’s been tough since we got back, but—”

“Your work has always been excellent. It’s not about you.”

“Feels like it might be, seeing as how I’m involved and all.”

She kept her eyes focused between her horse’s soft black ears. “After what happened in Israel… I’m not so certain I’m the best choice for you.”

He reached for Blackjack’s bridle and slowed both horses to a stop. “What are you talking about?”

Erin faced him. He appeared both worried and angry. “Look, Nate. The university isn’t happy that I lost two grad students.”

“Hardly your fault.”

She talked over him. “The dean feels that it might be best if I took a sabbatical to clear my head.”

“So I’ll wait.” Nate folded his hands atop his saddle horn. “Not a problem.”

“You don’t understand.” She fiddled with her reins, wanting to snap them and flee this conversation on horseback, but she let the hard truth hold her in place. “Nate, I think this is the first step toward the university letting me go.”

His mouth dropped open.

She spoke quickly, getting it all out. “You don’t need your dissertation tied to a professor about to be booted out. You’re a brilliant scientist, Nate, and I’m sure we can find you a more suitable adviser — someone who can open doors for you that I can’t anymore.”

“But—”

“I appreciate your loyalty,” she said. “But it’s misguided.”

Outrage flared from him. “Like hell it is!”

“Nate, it won’t help me if you stay. Whatever is going to happen to my career will happen.”

“But I picked you as my adviser because you’re the best in your field.” The anger drained from him, leaving him sagging in the saddle. “The very best. And that hasn’t changed.”

“Who knows? This may blow over in time.”

Truthfully, Erin didn’t expect it would, and down deep, she wasn’t even sure she wanted it to. Earlier in her career, academia had offered her a haven of rationality after her strict religious upbringing, but it didn’t feel like enough anymore. She remembered her difficulty with her classes this past semester. She couldn’t keep teaching lies.

And she couldn’t be any less truthful with Nate now.

“Even if it does blow over,” she said, “you will have lost valuable opportunities while it does. I won’t let that happen.”

Nate looked ready to argue, to protest. Perhaps sensing his stress, his mare tossed her head and danced slightly on her forelegs.

“Don’t make this any harder than it already is,” she finished.

Nate rubbed his top lip, unable to look at her. Finally, he shook his head, turned Gunsmoke, and galloped away without a word, heading back toward the stable.

Blackjack whinnied after them, but she held the horse firm, knowing Nate needed some time alone. She gave them a good lead before letting Blackjack walk back along the trail.

The last rays of the day finally slipped behind the hill, but enough light remained to keep Blackjack from stepping into a gopher hole. Uncomfortable, she shifted on the horse. She felt Amy’s lucky charm in her front pants pocket. She had forgotten she had put it there, still unsure what to do with it. She had considered returning it to Amy’s parents, but would that be doing them any favors? The chunk of amber would always be a reminder that their daughter had chosen a profession that ended up killing her, her blood spilling away on foreign sands.

Erin couldn’t do that to them — nor did she want to keep the talisman herself, this heavy token of her role in Amy’s death.

Still not knowing what to do with it, she turned her thoughts back to Nate. Back in Rome, she had saved Nate’s life, and now she would do what she could to save his career, no matter how angry that made him. Hopefully Nate would be more resigned to her request by the time she got to the stable. Either way, she would send him an e-mail later this evening with her list of names. They were solid archaeologists, and her recommendation would carry weight with them.

Nate would be all right.

And the farther he got away from her, the better off he would be.

Resigned and resolved, she patted Blackjack’s neck. “Let’s get you some oats and a good rubdown. How’d you like that?”

Blackjack’s ear flicked back. He suddenly tensed under her.

Without thinking, she tightened her knees.

Blackjack snorted and danced sideways, rolling his eyes.

Something had him spooked.

Erin took in the open grasslands with one quick sweep. To her right stretched a shadowy stand of live oaks, their branches hung with clouds of silvery mistletoe. Anything could be hidden inside there.

From the tree line, she heard crack! as the snap of a twig cut across the quiet evening.