The first couple of hours, they rehashed everything that had happened. Terra hoped she would remember something more about the man she’d seen. Some small clue that would give them insight into who he was, but he was good at creeping around and keeping his face in the shadows. Neva, Jim, and the cabin were entangled, and Terra strongly suspected the man she’d seen running from the cabin was the same man she’d seen running from Neva’s home.

“We’re driving three hours so you can show the artifact to your expert friend. You know, you could have let the Billings Curation Center look at it. That’s sort of out of the circle of locals.”

“That’s Bureau of Land Management’s repository. Not forest service.”

“So? Think of artifacts discovered when an oil company is drilling, and the BCC holds stuff for all kinds of agencies. They could have kept it for you, and their archaeologists could have looked at it. No need to spend six hours driving.”

“Are you trying to tell me you don’t like being in the car with me this long, after all? I mean, you insisted on riding along.”

He chuckled. “Not what I mean. You know what I’m saying.”

Terra passed a car on the curvy two-lane road leading into Jackson Hole—the valley between the Wind River and Teton ranges. Home to Grand Teton National Park and gateway to Yellowstone National Park. Gorgeous place.

“Look, that’s still local as far as I’m concerned. And as I mentioned, I trust this guy, at least where artifacts are concerned.” Oh, great. Terra hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud.

“Sounds like there’s more to the story.”

“There’s no story.”

“If you say so.”

Terra hadn’t wanted to drift into personal territory during this drive, but she and Jack shared a volatile past. One they’d never talked through or worked out. In a way, it was just left there hanging with no true closure, and here they were together again in a completely different capacity.

She opened her mouth to give at least a heads-up about her expert friend. Her openness would head off any knee-jerk reactions on his part, though she couldn’t know he would have any reaction at all.

She sucked in a breath to speak—

“That’s it.” Jack snapped his fingers. “That must be it.”

“What are you talking about?

“Neva Bolz’s connection. We were talking about the curation center.”

“What does she have to do with the curation center?”

“Not the center, but the oil and gas. Think about it. Artifacts can be discovered when oil and gas wells are being drilled. Federal or private, aren’t archaeologists called in at that point? Maybe Neva was somehow involved with the looting of a drill site turned archaeological site.”