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Sam grabbed his binoculars and zoomed in on her. Sam lowered the binoculars and looked sideways at Remi. “You’re not going to believe this. It’s Crouching Tiger, Scary Lady herself,” he said. “Zhilan Hsu.”
Remi grabbed her camera and stared snapping pictures. “I don’t know if I got her,” she said.
Hsu stopped suddenly, whirled on the assembled workers, and began shouting and gesticulating wildly. Remi closed her eyes, trying to catch the words. “Something about thieves,” she said. “Stealing from the site. Missing artifacts.”
Hsu stopped abruptly, paused, then pointed an accusatory finger at one of the workers. The guards were on him immediately, one slamming the butt of his rifle into the small of his back, sending him sprawling forward, a second guard heaving him back to his feet and half dragging, half walking him forward. The pair stopped a few feet before Hsu. The guard released the man, who fell to his knees and began chattering.
“He’s begging,” Remi said. “He has a wife and children. He stole only one small piece . . .”
Without warning, Zhilan Hsu drew a pistol from her waistband, took a step forward, and shot the man in the forehead. The man toppled sideways and lay still.
Hsu began speaking again. Though Remi was no longer translating, it took little imagination to understand the message: if you steal, you die.
The guards began shoving and prodding the workers back up the ramp. Hsu followed, and soon the pit was empty again save the man’s corpse. The klieg lights flickered out.
Sam and Remi were silent for a few moments. Finally he said, “Whatever sympathy I’d developed for her just went out the window.”
Remi nodded. “We need to help these people, Sam.”
“Absolutely. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do tonight.”
“We can kidnap Hsu and feed her to—”
“With pleasure,” Sam interrupted, “but I doubt we could do that without raising the alarm. We wouldn’t make it a mile before we’d be caught. The best we can do is blow the whistle on King’s operation.”
Remi considered this, then nodded. “Pictures won’t be enough,” she reminded him.
“Agreed. One of those trailers up there has to be an office. If there’s any hard documentation, that’s where we’ll find it.”
After waiting until they were fairly certain the commotion had died down, they visited each of the tunnels in turn, Sam standing watch as Remi took pictures.
“There’s a Chalicotherium specimen in there. It’s in almost pristine condition.”
“A what?”
“Chalicotherium. It’s a three-toed ungulate from the Lower Pliocene era—a long-limbed horse-rhino hybrid. They died out about seven million years ago. They’re very interesting, really—”
“Remi.”
“What?”
“Maybe later.”
She smiled. “Right. Sorry.”
“How valuable?”
“I’d just be guessing, but maybe half a million dollars for a good specimen.”
Sam scanned the ramp and clearing for signs of movement but could see only one guard patrolling the area. “Something tells me they’re not so worried about people getting in as they are about people getting out.”
“After what we just saw, I’d have to agree. What’s our plan?”
“If we stay low, we’ve got a blind spot almost to the top of the ramp. We stop there, wait for the guard to pass, then sprint to that first trailer on the left and dive under. From there, it’s just a matter of finding the office.”
“Just like that, huh?”
Sam gave her a grin. “Like taking a fossil from a billionaire.” He paused. “Almost forgot. Can I borrow your camera?”