Page 135 of My Fated Alpha: The Royals
It’s loud without ear coverings. I’m glad for the noise. The morning runners were having trouble getting past the fence. The decibel level along with the trucks and dumpster parked along the road will keep people away.
“Want to look at any of the debris before we move it?” The park administrator asks over the whinybeep-beep-beep.
The crew prepares to use a small loader to move the rubble into the dumpster.
“Anything unusual?” I squint, leaning in. Based on how the maintenance crew is treating our mere presence, they would’ve alerted Chaim or me if they uncovered something strange. We’re more concerned about what’s under the surface than above, anyhow.
“Negative. Is that good news or bad?”
“Depends who’s asking.” Chaim chuckles, receiving a weak smile from the administrator.
The detritus removed, the park crew gets back to work. They pull up the sidewalk where they began the day’s work. It’s the opposite of where I want them to dig. The morning passes agonizingly slow. The sun is high in the sky and the humidity is creeping up. The tree canopy provides decent shelter. It’s as if we’ve had nothing better to do than scroll our phones for hours. Chaim is as bored as I am and takes our trash to a bin. My cell dings with an incoming email as he moseys back into the walled areas. I pocket it instead of reading.
“What took you so long?” He’s gone as long as the longest construction crew member’s break was.
“Restroom by the parking lot.” His grunt is as good an offer as any for me to take a break.
I get back as the cement cracks in half on the first of two square pavers we’re interested in. The ones whose sides Morris painted fluorescent orange that make the vee. The second one crumbles, and the crew moves the chunks. And then they stand there looking between the compact sand and Chaim and me.
“Christ.” I roll up my sleeves and grab a shovel.
“How far down are you digging?” one crew member asks.
“Not a clue.” I grit my teeth, stabbing the tip into the ground.
“We can pull up a layer at a time. A few inches?”
“That’d be great.” I throw the shovel to the side, frustrated when I shouldn’t be.
It doesn’t change my mind about wanting to date Rae Lee, but this could be where things go awry. When she finds out we followed her leads, it can’t be to a dead end. The problem is it’s not even about my pride. Or perhaps it is. Is it selfish to want to uncover proof of Rae Lee’s gift so I can tell her how proud I am of her?
Except, I also want it for Susan Turner, who’s waited over a decade for answers. And most of all I want it for Pearl.
The loader skims a fraction of the sand away. I snap on gloves and rummage through the bucket. It’s mostly gnarls with an occasional stick. Morris mentioned the ground shifts when it rains, so I chalk it up to that. Chaim inspects the remaining ground. And we start over until hitting a layer of dirt. That’s when we notice it’s mixed with the sand and uneven. It resembles a rock outcrop on the highway that has fallen over on its side.
The crew stays on the grass watching us. I use the shovel to loosen what I can. Sure enough, the largest bump has an unusual u-shaped indent and bulge where the vee was. Chaim and I agree to have additional layers skimmed. We sift through that too. Nothing. All this effort is proving pointless.
We’re standing in the hole deciding what comes next. The administrator tells us that the city wouldn’t have excavated for a sidewalk any lower that what’s been dug.
I rub my tight neck, attempting to loosen the tension in my shoulders. I happen to look down as the park administrator shifts his weight. I see something move under his shoe.
“Move! Move!” I yell, crouching down to lift up a blue plastic corner.
Another tarp.
It yields a worn grommet and woven side, roughened by the elements. Before processing what I’m doing, I claw at the dirt. Dirt and wrinkled, weathered tarp lift away.
And then I stop.
“What do you have?” Chaim’s shadow falls over me.
“Partial skull. And molars.” Lower mandible is my best guess based on years of training. “I think we found her.”
Chapter Eleven
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RAE LEE