Gideon Monahan is a man dedicated to what he does -- recovering stolen art -- to the exclusion of anything else, including a personal life. There's a reason for that, something that happened in his past that he can't forget.<br><br>Cole Newell is an archaeologist with a problem. He needs to find out who looted a dig he worked the previous summer, after one of the artifacts shows up at his gallery. Cole calls on Gideon to lend his expertise, which, much against his better judgment, Gideon does.<br><br>When one of the looters is murdered, they set out to find answers, with the help of Detective Quint Hawk. In the process, Cole realizes he's attracted to Gideon, even though he's certain the man is straight. After he helps Gideon open up about -- and accept -- his past, can the two men become more than friends? Both Gideon and Cole hope so, once they overcome the myriad problems facing them.

It Takes an Archaeologist

Wednesday afternoon, Quint returned to the gallery.


“I did as you suggested,” he told Cole. “Three of your five suspects are out of contention. From the way Davis and Alvarez acted, they had no clue who they were. However, despite the fact they claimed not to know Stuart Franks and Lee Phillips, I had the distinct feeling both names rang a bell.”


Cole nodded. “Meaning they at least met them at some point, whether at the dig—which is highly unlikely since we didn’t let anyone in who wasn’t associated with what we were doing—or in town.”


“I’d say that’s probably the case. They could have approached either man, felt him out about the possibility of, what? Getting a private tour of the site after working hours?”


“Possible, although both Lee and Stuart should have shut them down real fast on that idea.”


“Should have and did are two separate things, Cole.”


Chapter 12