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

“I’ve only talked to him a couple of times, but he doesn’t seem to be jumping at shadows from what I can tell. You could call and ask him yourself, you know.”


“No. If you say he’s okay, I’ll take your word for it. I’ll start digging into Mr. Brooks and let you know if I find anything interesting.”


“And that’s where things stand at the moment,” Quint told Clay over dinner that evening. He’d kept his partner apprised about the case. He often did that, especially if it was one that involved any facet the art world.


“So Gideon thinks this Keith Brooks hired Elliot and the others?”


“At this point, it’s a logical conclusion—at least in his mind. Everyone else seems to have been eliminated.”


“Unless one of the looters got their hands on a set of the keys,” Clay pointed out.


Quint shrugged. “One of the guards at the site was involved. I’ll have to ask Cole if they had keys, too, although I think he’d have said something, if they did.”


Chapter 16