Page 33 (1/2)

“I’m Chinese American”

“And?”

“I’m of the belief that artifacts should be repatriated no matter what country they’re from”

His e relaxed His dark eyes never left hers It was unusual for a Chinese to be so insinuatingly direct

“Mr Quon—”

“Dr Quon,” he corrected

“Dr Quon, are you an archaeologist?”

“Do I look like one?”

Of course he didn’t That hy she’d asked He was co,

and she included Stuart Miller in that assessment Michael Quon wore slacks, which had kept their creases even in the heat and humidity The top two buttons of his silk shirt were unbuttoned, and she could see his pulse throb in the hollow of his neck None of those stiff hiking boots for hiernails were clean and trimmed His hands were smooth and callus free And, she realized, not only did he acquiesce to her scrutiny but he seemed to savor it No, he wasn’t like the others at all

“I have an interest in archaeology,” he said at last, “but I’”

“Then what is your field?”

He considered the question “I guess you could say my specialty is mathematics”

“If that’s so, then why are you here?”

“It is so, and I’ next year I wanted to see this while I could—”