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

“Shall we?” Keith said, and Cole saw that he, too, was holding a gun. He gestured to the office.


Here we go again, and me with no hot coffee this time. An insane thought, and Cole knew it, but it came anyway.


“Have a seat, and let’s get down to business,” Keith said after closing the office door. “I saw an interesting article in the paper this morning. Now I might be reading things into it, but my take was that you know the whereabouts of some items I’m looking for.”


Cole sat, perching on the edge of the one of the chairs by the coffeemaker chest. Keith took the other one, keeping the gun pointed at Cole.


“Why, Keith?” Cole asked. The professor and archaeologist he had known and admired was gone. In his place sat a desperate and very frightening man.


Chapter 26