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his neck. Her gaze drifted down to the front of his shirt, noticing the contours underneath the cotton fabric sticking to him.
    She turned away, picking at a loose stone on the opposite wall. It had been a while since she’d thought about a male as anything other than another body to help her achieve her goals for a dig season. If she were going to succeed this year in finding the proof she needed, she’d better keep it that way.
    Quint capped the bottle. “I thought you said at breakfast that we’d be working with Alonso today.”
    “Change of plans. Fernando needs him.” She flicked on her flashlight and led the way deeper into the temple. “Watch your head.” Quint was about six inches too tall to stand up straight in the tunnel. The ancient Maya people were mostly Angélica’s size or shorter. They hadn’t built these temples for someone of his height or shoulder width.
    “Any questions before we get started?” She checked the floor for fresh rat or mouse scat.
    “Do you ever work after supper?”
    Yes, she did. Alone. Almost every night. But only her father knew about that.
    “No. I’m not sure if you remember, but these temples soak up the heat throughout the day. By suppertime, it’ll feel like a sauna in here.”
    The sound of footfalls drew close, followed by the smell of cigarette smoke.
    “¿Listo?” She checked to see if Esteban was ready to get started.
    At his nod, she led them further down the passageway, checking behind her every few feet to make sure Quint and Esteban were following without trouble.
    Where the tunnel forked, she glanced at Quint. “That daylight you see up ahead on the right is the main hall. I’ll take you there this afternoon.”
    “It’s a date.” He took another swig from the bottle she’d given him.
    Did he always flirt on a job? Or was she being oversensitive and making something out of nothing like Harriet in Jane Austen’s Emma ? It had been a while since she’d slept with a man. Maybe her radar was rusty.
    Moving on, she headed down the cramped corridor on her left. A short way into it, she stopped. “Hold up a minute.” She shined the light on the ceiling and walls, and then studied the hard-packed dirt floor. “Okay, it’s clear.”
    “Of what?” Quint’s breath warmed her damp neck.
    “Mice, rats, snakes, and bats.” She stepped over a large chunk of limestone that had fallen from the ceiling last month, antsy to put more space between them.
    Quint followed. “Are you looking for tracks?”
    “Yes, along with waste and food remains.” She waited until Esteban had made it past the stone before moving on.
    “What do you do if you see a sign?” His tone had a slight edge to it.
    “Step carefully.”
    She chuckled at the litany of swear words he grumbled about the jungle and its many wonderful dangers. Quint Parker might be a hindrance, but she found herself smiling more during their trek through the dark temple than she had since the damned curse had shown up.
    The corridor opened into a small, rectangular room.
    Angélica grabbed two LED flashlights from the far side of the chamber. “Quint and I are taking the tunnel to Sub Chamber F,” she told Esteban, handing him one of the lights, and then motioned to the fresco-covered wall behind her. “You stay here and continue charting.”
    Esteban pulled a drawing pad from his pack.
    “If you finish with this before lunch,” she continued, “you can take over where Alonso left off yesterday charting the other tunnel.”
    He nodded, his gaze darting from one shadow-filled corner to the next.
    She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly and then handed the other light to Quint. At his wrinkled brow, she motioned for him to follow, trekking through a narrow archway into a separate room. She crossed the stone floor and slid sideways through a wide fissure in the far wall.
    He peered into the thick crack after her, holding back. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You call this a tunnel?”
    “I call