Ellen James - Forbidden

“How’s it going?” she asked in a conversational tone.

“Okay,” Tim muttered. He stared at his half-eaten mango as if he had neither the energy nor inclination to finish it.

“It does seem hotter than usual today, doesn’t it?” Dana remarked. “It’s a sort of closed-in feeling…as if there’s a storm pressing.”

Tim exerted himself enough to glance up at the sky. “It’s sunny.”

“Yes, but even so I think a storm is coming. I knew days like this in Missouri…. My dad always liked to joke that I could predict weather better than the weatherman.”

This elicited only a shrug. Despite Dana’s efforts to draw him out, Tim was short-winded in the extreme. It became a challenge to get anything out of him at all.

Dana wondered wryly if she was losing her touch with younger people. She’d made no headway in her attempts to befriend young Daniel so far, and now Tim resisted her endeavors.

“So–I’m from Missouri,” Dana tried again. “How about you?”

Tim gave her an indifferent glance. “Colorado.”

“Hey, Tim. Tell her about that trust fund of yours.” Pat called out this remark from nearly a dozen feet away. Evidently even distance couldn’t contain her inquisitive nature. “What a shame you can’t get at the principal,” she continued. “Then you could be vacationing in Cancún instead of sweltering away on this poor excuse of an island.”

Robert immediately began to chastise her. “You’re an incredibly nosy person, Pat. Tim’s financial status is his own concern.”

“Nosy… I’m not nosy in the least. I just like to be informed….”

As Robert and Pat started in on each other once more, Dana tried to give Tim a reassuring smile. “She doesn’t mean to be rude. I think in her own way, Pat believes prying into people’s lives is a way to make friends.”

Tim’s shoulders seemed to raise another fraction or so. He was quiet for so long, Dana thought he might have forgotten she was there. Then finally he looked straight into Dana’s eyes and spoke up. “I never wanted my parents to leave me that damn trust,” he said in a low voice. “Sometimes I just wish they’d thrown the money away. And I wish they’d thrown away all their expectations along with it.”

Tim rose to his feet with surprising agility and went to the forest’s edge. He stood there, staring through the trees as if he longed to lose himself among them. Dana wondered just what expectations his parents had bequeathed to him. They must be heavy, indeed. Even now his shoulders were still hunched, as if he actually carried some invisible burden on them.

But then the vine-laden branches nearby rustled again, and this time it was Jarrett who emerged into the clearing. He looked worried.

“Something’s happened,” he said without preamble. “Something unfortunate. Nick wants to see all of you–right away!”

D ANA COULD TELL THAT Nick was very angry. He paced back and forth in front of the huts, his expression grim. The entire crew had trooped back from the new site and now stood clustered before him. Young Daniel had also joined the group, but he stood slightly apart, his expression guarded as he watched Nick.

“Someone has stolen artifacts from the lab,” Nick bit out at last. “The painted water jugs we found last week are missing–as are the two unbroken grindstones and remnants of seeds.”

Dana listened in growing dismay. The larger of the huts served as a field lab, where finds and records were kept in careful order. Even the slightest disturbance could mean a loss of essential information. But actual theft… The ancient grinding stones and water jugs had been some of the most precious discoveries made at the dig–surviving unharmed all these centuries. And recently Nick had unearthed a pit that had contained carbonized seeds and maize cobs surely at least a thousand years old….

“It’s clear someone is trying to send a message,” Nick said harshly. “First the attack on Jarrett, and now this.”

“Are we sure the incidents are related?” Robert asked. “They are disparate in character, after all.” Robert didn’t seem overly disturbed. He showed merely curiosity.

“Malice was involved each time,” Nick said, his voice dangerously quiet now. “I intend to find out exactly why these things are happening. If any of you has something to tell me, you’d better do it now.”

“It could have been done by anyone on the island,” Dana said. “Anyone at all.”

Nick gave her a cutting look. “I’m well aware it could have been anyone,” he said, his voice still quiet. His eyes were an icy blue. But surely he couldn’t suspect her…. She stared back at him, her own resentment beginning to spark.

Apparently Pat had been silent too long, and words began to spill out of her. “Robert doesn’t know what he’s talking about–of course the incidents must be related. They could be an expression of resentment, or–”

“I’m not asking you to speculate. I’m just asking you to tell me what you know.” Now Nick’s repressive gaze centered on Pat. She made as if to say more, but then clamped her mouth shut.

Jarrett spoke in conciliatory fashion. “I’m sure all of you are distressed by what’s happened. But no one is accusing you of anything. We just want to get to the bottom of this in the best way possible–”

“I don’t need an interpreter,” Nick said impatiently. “And they can handle this, Jarrett.”

The flash of hostility across Jarrett’s face was unmistakable. It was also quickly replaced by Jarrett’s usual obliging demeanor.

“Of course,” he said. “Just trying to help, Nick.”

Pat gave Dana a significant nudge. “Look out,” she whispered. “Dissension among the ranks of management.” Maybe Pat was trying to be jocular, but she looked nervous and keyed up. Dana felt keyed up herself, and distressed over what had been lost. In its own way, the theft seemed as vicious as the attack on Jarrett.

Nick paced again. “Since no one is forthcoming, we’ll do this the hard way. I’ll need to know each of your whereabouts since last evening–starting with you, Ms. Morgan.”

Dana stiffened. Nick was going too far now, treating all of them as if they were criminals. It was especially humiliating to have him treat her like that.

But did she really expect special consideration from him? Just because of that day on the temple steps when he had put his arms around her and drawn her close….

“Pat and I ate dinner together at the café in the village,” she said coolly. “Afterward we walked around the plaza, then went back to the hotel for a game of cards with Robert. I went to bed around eleven, got up once to have a drink of water–no witnesses there–and then slept soundly till six. Since then, I’ve spent all morning working with Pat. Is that a sufficient alibi, or would you like me to elaborate?”

“As always, you’re very thorough, Ms. Morgan.” Nick’s tone was dismissive and he moved on to Tim. “What about you, Mr. Reese?”

If possible, Tim paled even further under Nick’s ruthless gaze. “Uh…I went back to the village with the others. I stayed in my room all night.”

Nick continued his interrogation. No one escaped it–not Pat, not Robert, not Jarrett. Then Nick came to young Daniel, and he was just as brusque, just as rigorous in his questions as he’d been with the others. It was one thing to treat the adults so dictatorially–putting a child through the third degree was something else again. Daniel stood unflinching as he gave his answers, but at last Dana could tolerate no more. She stepped close to Nick and spoke to him in a low voice.

“Daniel’s just a boy. Lighten up, will you?”