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Surprised, Rhys stopped and looked at her. ‘He wanted Scott to do some work for him rather than wasting his holidays, and there was some trouble when his car got damaged.’
‘Damaged how?’
‘Remember I told you about the trouble Amelia’s dad caused? He vandalised some of the cars in the hotel car park.’ Rhys frowned down at her. ‘Why the sudden interest?’
Tasha’s eyes widened and he didn’t miss the way she glanced away as she said, ‘I just didn’t get a chance to meet him at the welcome party the other night, that’s all, and I wondered who he was.’ She raised a hand to her forehead. ‘Sorry, it’s been a long day and I’ve got a bit of a headache.’
She was looking a little pale. Concerned, Rhys raised a hand to cup her cheek. ‘Why didn’t you say something earlier? We could’ve gone straight back to the lodge.’
‘It’s not that bad and, besides, I didn’t want you to miss out on all the excitement.’ Raised voices came from the chapel area and they both looked over. It was hard to make anything out as although the whole area was illuminated by large free-standing spotlights, one was pointing in their direction, all but blinding them. ‘You’d better go and see what’s going on,’ Tasha urged. ‘I’ll find a quiet spot to wait for you.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes, I’m fine, I promise. Go on, Hope might need your help. I’ll go over there away from the lights.’ She pointed toward the large oak tree that dominated the riverbank next to the chapel that Rhys and Hope used to climb when they were kids.
‘As long as you’re okay?’ He didn’t like leaving her when she was clearly unwell, but he needed to help Hope defuse the situation.
‘I’m fine, I just don’t think those spotlights will do much for my head, that’s all.’ When he still didn’t move, she shooed him away with a laugh. ‘I’m fine,’ she repeated, more forcefully. ‘Stop fussing.’
‘You’ll come and find me if you need to go home.’ It wasn’t a question. Only when she nodded did Rhys forge ahead towards the chapel. A large group of people were standing to one side, watching Cam, who was standing between a red-faced Barnie and an impassive-looking Declan. Apparently the shouting had been mostly one way.
‘What on earth is going on?’ he heard Hope demand as she pushed her way through the watchers and went to join the other three. Deciding to let her handle it for the time being, Rhys stopped a few feet away but close enough to intervene if necessary.
Declan turned to face her. ‘I’ve just been explaining to Dr Ferguson and Dr Barnard that I’m closing the site for safety reasons due to the failing light.’
‘Failing light!’ Barnie burst out. ‘We’ve got enough spotlights here to illuminate Blackpool bloody Pleasure Beach!’
Rhys didn’t miss the way Declan’s eyes narrowed, but before he could respond, Cam rounded on his friend. ‘I swear to God, Barnie, if I hear one more word out of your mouth I’m going to throw you off this fucking site myself.’ There was an audible gasp from the group behind them and Rhys wasn’t surprised. He didn’t think he’d ever heard Cam raise his voice before, never mind swear.
‘Bu—’ Cam’s finger shot up and Barnie clamped his mouth shut. He glared mutely at Cam for a long moment then bowed his head. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know what got into me.’
Cam’s expression immediately softened and he clapped his friend on the shoulder. ‘Look, I get it, okay? If it was just us then I’d be down there all night but we’ve got to be the responsible ones here.’
Barnie pulled a face. ‘Do we have to?’ And just like that the tension over the group vanished. With a sigh Barnie moved over to Declan and offered his hand. ‘I’m sorry for being an arse.’
Declan shook his hand. ‘Don’t worry, we’re all used to it.’ A ripple of relieved laughter went around the group and Rhys found himself smiling as Barnie went over to the other members of the dig to apologise and exchange hugs with a few of them while Hope hurried over to hug Cam.
‘What’s going on?’ Hope repeated. ‘What did you find? Scott said something about a crypt.’
‘Come on, I’ll show you.’ Taking her hand, Cam led her towards an area where four lamps had been set up in a square. Rhys followed, as eager as his cousin to see what all the fuss was about.
‘Careful, Cam…’ Declan’s voice held a note of concern.
Cam stopped and held up his hand. ‘I’m just going to show them and then we’ll close up for the night, I promise.’
Declan nodded and took a position next to the large rectangular hole in the centre of the spotlights. He bent to retrieve a large torch and shone it down into the darkness. ‘One at a time,’ he cautioned as Rhys took an instinctive step closer, suddenly eager to see what was down there.
‘Sorry.’ He made a point of moving well out of the way while Cam led Hope closer. He looked around to check on Tasha but she was turned away from the action and looking out over the river. The lights must really be bothering her. Resolving to take her home as soon as he knew what was going on, Rhys turned back in time to see Hope and Cam crouching near the hole.
Cam pointed into the darkness in front of them. ‘See there? It’s a sarcophagus.’
‘Oh my God.’ Hope’s voice was an awestruck hush. ‘Who is it?’
Cam shook his head. ‘No idea. We haven’t done much more than stick our heads through the hole and flash the torches around, but it’s definitely ecclesiastical from the robes and the pose of the effigy. We don’t know how large the crypt is, but there’s at least half a dozen down there that we’ve spotted so far.’
Half a dozen unknown tombs? No wonder Barnie had been desperate to get down there. ‘Can I take a look?’ Rhys asked, unable to contain his curiosity.
‘Sure. Hang on.’ Cam helped Hope away from the hole and she stepped back while Rhys edged forward.
