Mom folded her arms. “Fine. But I’m not putting a six-year-old through this. Celeste, mija, come on. You want to go play Speculus? Maybe watch Mickey?” She took my little sister’s hand and led her into the master bedroom.

I awkwardly wandered into the kitchen, slumping down onto one of the chairs in the breakfast nook. Erick followed, helping himself to a mug from the dish drainer and pouring some coffee out of Mom’s eternally-plugged-in coffee pot. He took a swig and grimaced. The thing had been on all day, so I was sure it was probably lukewarm and stale.

A moment later, Mom bustled into the kitchen. “All right. Spill. So you’re saying the body was not Raymond?”

Erick shook his head. “Definitely not. It’s not… well, fresh enough.” I winced, and he glanced apologetically in my direction.

Mom sighed and leaned against the counter. “How long has it been out there, I wonder?”

“It’s hard to say. I wasn’t able to get a very good look at it before the police closed the site off. That skull was definitely old, though. It almost looked… fossilized. I’d have to actually study it to be sure, of course. But that’s how it looked to me.”

I sat up. “How could a fossilized human skull be buried out there? On Mars?”

“I don’t know. This whole scenario is so bizarre. It could be that the illegal antiquities trade has gotten a foothold here. There has been quite an increase in the amount of”—Erick paused, trying to think of a tactful way to put it—“wealthier people here in the peninsula over the last several years. And that is your typical clientele for black market dealers.”

“So you’re saying that smugglers might be using the survey site to stash their goods between buys?” I wrinkled my nose. “But why? Not only is it really far from town, it’s also an area that people are digging at, every single day. I mean, that’s like asking to get caught!”

Erick nodded, gnawing his lip. “I can’t say. Maybe the site was in use as a cache before we started the excavation, and that’s an item they missed when they cleared out.” He shrugged. “It sounds far-fetched, but I can’t think of a better explanation.”

I looked down at the table and started scratching at one of the myriad dried coffee rings with my fingernail. There was one person who might know for sure, but I sure as hell didn’t want to track him down to find out.

I just wondered how long it would be before he came looking for me.

◦ • ◦

After Erick left, Mom came and found me in my room, where I was lying flat on my back on the bed, staring intently up at the popcorn ceiling.

“Hey, papi,” she said from the doorway. “How are you feeling?”