Dance or Die (White Oak - Mafia Series Book 3) (20 page)

He picked up the wire net and dropped if over his head. “If the top cables fell, then they would notice, and they’d probably panic, but until they get on their knees and crawl, they’ll be tangled in the mesh. So in the test runs we did on this, they drop to their knees and crawl pretty quickly. And oddly, crawling seems to reduce their panic.”

He started putting his show and tell items back into his backpack. “We only know this based on deliberate failures, because not one of my cables has ever broken in real life.” He handed her the cable as he put away everything else. Tess couldn’t imagine how it would break even if seven-ton elephants crossed the bridge.

“Is there any weight limit on the plastic boards?”

“No practical limit. You could line up four-hundred-pound linebackers across the bridge and these boards wouldn’t be close to their stress limit.”

“Which is what?”

“Eight hundred and thirteen pounds on one board, and then it might whiten in the center of the board. But I guarantee you it won’t in practical application.”

Tess smiled. “Well, thank you for your time. I have to run some numbers and present this to my boss and the governor, but I’m very impressed with your product and will call you within the week.”

He chuckled. “I’ve done government jobs before. I doubt you’ll get approval for several months, but I look forward to hearing from you. Just be aware, I will not install after August. If you miss that date, then we’ll do this after next April.”

She couldn’t blame him. A whole lot of things shouldn’t be done in the winter.

Once they led him back to his car and saw him off, she kissed Dan. Instead of returning her kiss, he set her back and nodded to a forlorn young man seated on the porch swing.

“Are you here to interview with Dr. Castile?” Tess asked.

He popped up and smiled. “Yes. Did I get my interview time wrong?”

Tess sent Dan on as she took Brandon Culp down to the meadows and asked what he saw. Beyond a ‘river’, he saw nothing. She pointed to the ridge. “How about over there?”

“Only a skinny trail that I hope I never have to climb. I’m afraid of heights.”

Tess led him back to the cabin, got his contact information, and asked him to resend his resume.

Another student was waiting. “It’s about time,” the guy snapped. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting?”

She explained Dr. Castile had left the country and asked for his contact information. The kid called her an amateur and left.

Annoyed, she posted up a sign on the door. It asked the candidates to leave their contact information and resend their resume. They would be contacted once a new archeologist was hired.

She’d discovered she only liked interviewing really impressive people. She smiled thinking of Alice. That one was a fabulous keeper.

She headed back down, curious how her gravel road came out.

Beautifully. They even laid the concrete culvert where their road met the main road and laid gravel over it as well, making the entrance into woods so easy, even a sports car could make it.

“How soon will we have the gate up?”

“Dan said it would be here tomorrow. We are so far ahead from our plan, that even with a rush order placed, they couldn’t get it done today. However, with the trucks going back and forth all day, we couldn’t have gotten anything done had it arrived this morning.”

She eyed the tire tracks beyond the gravel. “True and the trucks might have taken it out.”

Malcolm rubbed her back. “Don’t worry about security. My men put up all the cameras today, and we’ll work four-hour shifts tonight, keeping the park safe.”

She was about to say that wasn’t their job, but Dan didn’t have any people. “Are you okay with working for Dan as well?”

Malcolm grinned. “Yeah. We like Dan a great deal. And we like a change of work at times. Building those wood barriers is getting old.”

She laughed. “Should I hire some additional guys to do that?”

“No. We got it. Truth is, we like the variety in this job. If my men start getting stretched, I’ll let you know.”

She returned to the cabin and found a note from Dan in her bedroom.

Tess,

Gone to pick up Electro-Magnetic Pulse device. Be back before dinner. Don’t start your shower without me.

ILY

Dan.

What was ily?

Her brain searched for possibilities and stopped at one that warmed her heart.
I love you.
She laughed at his cryptic message.

She wished he’d stay here instead of returning to Secret Service, but she couldn’t ask him to do that. Only he could come to that conclusion. But honestly, running a state park had a whole lot of security issues.

She worked up the costs of alternatives to the platform, and the only option that was cheaper was to let visitors in the fenced in area and pay several rangers to stand and corral the people up and down the hill. However, that had a lot of negatives, including the possibility of someone slipping away and hiding until nightfall in order to do great damage to the site. Or stealing something and then walking out with it once they slip back into the visitors being herded.

She called her insurance company and asked for a quote if their state park had a thirty-five-foot suspension bridge.

“Depends on who puts it in,” the guy replied.

“Who has the lowest premium?” she asked.

“Don’t laugh, but a guy named Silas Mariner.”

“I’ve got a quote from him,” she stated. “Is it cheaper if I go directly through you?”

“In this case, no. He gets a discount which he passes on to the customer.”

“Okay, who is the second cheapest?”

She wrote the name of the builder and the premium for his. She then called the builder. The guy allowed tree attachments but also insisted on plastic bridge planks. He, however, used a half inch steel cable on the bottom and quarter thick cable to hold up the side panels. He didn’t use a covering. “Ruins the whole reason to have a tree bridge if you’re looking out through mesh.”

She got a quote for a thirty-five-foot long bridge attached to two platforms, added the premium, raising it three-percent each year for fifty years.

$1,230,890.

Silas was looking downright cheap now.

The phone rang and she answered it, thinking it was Dan.

A woman spoke. “Miss Campbell, I’m Dr. Julia Fields. One of my students interviewed with you today and was told Dr. Castile has returned to England. If you haven’t decided upon a new archeologist, I would like to be considered for the position.”

Tess frowned. “Which student told you about…what exactly did they tell you about the site?”

“Alice Long. Not to worry, you successfully swore her to secrecy. All she would say is that she desperately wanted to work there. So I’m thinking you must have paleo-Indian mounds, given the proximity to Harpers Ferry. Are you still looking for a head archeologist for your site?”

“I believe Tom Barkman is hunting for someone.”

She sighed. “Well, he probably won’t consider me, due to a past issue.”

“And what was that?”

“I applied for the position at Harpers Ferry. They hired a guy because I lack Middle-East experience. I lack that because no college thinks a woman can lead a group in the Mid-East. However, I pointed out sifting through sand is nothing like a dig in Iowa. For one, we have soil, which has to be filtered differently or you’ll miss important clues. Secondly, our artifacts tend to be less obvious. An ax head can look very much like a chipped rock.”

“And you have experience in this type of work?”

“Twenty-years worth. I’ve worked on every site in this state
except
Harpers Ferry. And since all they’ve done is highlight their mounds in white stone, I’m rather glad I didn’t get the job. However, at the time, I accused Tom of catering to a misogynist.”

“Was he truly a misogynist?”

“Oh yeah. When I went for my interview, the Forest Manager, Donald Sakes, told me that females were good for only one thing, and that was birthing sons. Otherwise, they were the bane of mankind.”

“He sounds horrible.”

“I take it you’ve never met him?”

“No, and I don’t think I want to now.”

“Just so you know, he’s already trashing you, calling you unqualified and forced upon the state.”

Tess tensed. “Can we talk about your experience? That sounds like a more interesting topic.”

And it was. She really wanted to share what was on her mounds, only she needed to talk to Tom first and get his view. “I am interested in pursuing this possibility. Can I have your contact information?”

She wrote the information down. “I’ll talk to Tom tomorrow and tell him I’d like you to be added to his list.”

Julia sighed.

“I can’t go around Tom. But I don’t think that will be a problem. Tom works very hard to match personalities of people who have to coordinate their work efforts. That may be why he didn’t force the matter when this guy wanted a lesser archeologist.”

“I didn’t tell you he was lesser.”

“Based on what they’ve done with their sites, he’d better be lesser.”

“Complete dolt. I promise you, I won’t disappoint you. You want to make your park the best in the country, and I want to help you do just that.”

“Then I’ll talk to Tom and let you know how it goes.”

“Call me any hour of the day. And even if Tom gives me a no go, you really need to snare Alice. She is hands down my best student…ever.”

“She knocked my socks off. I can’t imagine anyone not wanting her on her staff. Oh, one thing on Alice. Can you tell me how she can have a double major, one being forestry when the last I knew, Iowa state doesn’t have a forestry management major?”

“We don’t. However, we began a program with Minnesota this last year. Alice takes her forestry programs online.”

“That clears that up nicely. I’ll get back to you as soon as I talk to Tom. Thank you for calling me. I have a good feeling about this.”

She called Tom the moment she hung up.

“Are you calling me about your million-dollar bridge?” he asked.

“Who told you it would cost a million dollars?”

“Some ass who decided to circumvent you today. He called me direct to assure me I did not want to stare at the world through wire-mesh. It took me fifteen minutes to figure out what he was talking about.”

“Well, according to my calculations, his bridge, when insurance is included, would cost $1,230,890.”

“Does that mean you’ve decided against the bridge?”

“No, it means I’ve decided we need people to stare through a wire mesh that ensures nobody is falling or purposely climbing out the bridge.”

“And how much is that?”

“Don’t you want a PowerPoint on this?” she challenged.

“How long do I have to wait for that?”

“Two hours.”

“I can wait two hours.”

“Thank you. Now, the reason I called is because a very nice woman named Julia Fields just called me and asked to be considered for the archeologist position.”

“Ahhhh. So I’ve got people going around me as well.”

“Well, she thinks she might have poisoned the well from the Harpers Ferry job opportunity.”

“She threatened to sue the parks division.”

“But did she?”

“No.”

“Then, can you forgive her? She sounded promising on the phone.”

“She’s not a big name in the field.”

“But she sounded highly experienced with Paleo-Indian sites.”

“You haven’t met the others,” he sighed.

“And I want to. I just want her on the list as well, so I can make the best decision for this park.”

“All right. I’ll put her on the list.”

“You’re a very good boss.”

“You may want to hold that claim until I see your analysis on this bridge.”

“In two hours, you will be pleased,” she promised.

***

Tess sat on her bed, creating her PowerPoint, cursing the program when it wouldn’t do what she needed, when hands gripped her shoulders.

She jumped slightly and leaned back as she caught Dan’s woodsy scent. She looked up to find him focused on her PowerPoint.

A short burst of laughter erupted from him. “And I thought Silas was pricey. Turns out to be the best viable option. That last one is not an option and I would like it removed.”

“I know it’s a bad option.”

“And one we would never do. So it’s not an option; it’s just a really bad idea.” He turned her to face him. “If you present people with non-viable options, you run the risk of them choosing it. If they think of it themselves and ask why it wasn’t considered, then you explain why it isn’t a viable option. End of discussion.”

She turned back to her presentation and removed Option 5, making the bridge the best security solution and the lowest cost.

“I still think the governor will ask about it.”