Mission: Her Protection (Team 52 #1)(19)

Lachlan touched the controls and the doors closed. The elevator shot down.

Way down.

They descended in silence. Rowan tried to estimate how far underground they were, when the elevator finally slowed. The doors opened and they exited into a huge, cavernous space.

Holy. Hell. Rowan looked around, her mouth dropping open. The black walls absorbed the light, but the place was well lit. To one side, stood huge, double doors that were tightly closed.

“That’s our storage facility,” Lachlan said.

He nudged her toward the left and through a doorway. They entered a corridor lined by glass-walled rooms.

One larger room looked like a rec room, similar to the one they’d had at the research base, except this one was sleeker and better equipped. The kitchenette gleamed, and there were tables and chairs, along with streamlined black couches.

“Welcome to Area 52, Rowan,” Seth said.

She nodded at him, taking in his cool tone. He clearly still wasn’t sure about her.

“Hey, you’re back.” A good-looking man wearing dark-framed glasses strode into the room. He wasn’t wearing a uniform, but instead, had on jeans and a tight-black shirt that showed off a muscled chest and tattoos down one arm. His shirt had “Pew Pew” written on it in Star Wars font.

He smiled at Rowan, a lock of brown hair falling over his forehead. “Hi, I’m Brooks. Brooks Jameson.”

“Hi. Rowan.”

“I know.” The man’s smile widened. He had a sexy, hot geek thing going on that worked well for him. “I do comms and intel for the team. I know all.” He fluttered his fingers.

“Where’s Ty?” Lachlan asked.

“In the lab.” Brooks’ face turned serious. “He’s waiting.”

Callie whisked Lars’ stretcher past them and down the corridor. Rowan had to trot to keep up with Lachlan’s long strides. Brooks kept pace right beside them.

“The boss is incoming, too.” Brooks’ eyebrows rose.

“Boss?” Rowan asked.

“The man in charge,” Brooks said. “Jonah Grayson. He’s the man in charge of Area 52.”

She wondered what kind of man was put in charge of an operation like this.

Lachlan led Rowan into a lab. She jerked to a stop and couldn’t help but drool a little. The place was amazing, and filled with all kinds of equipment designed to be a scientist’s wet dream.

“Where is it?” a deep voice demanded.

Rowan turned, her eyes widening as she took in the African-American man bearing down on them, his white lab coat flaring out behind his powerful body.

Wow. His dark hair was cut super short, his face was too rugged for handsome, and he had a sexy goatee. The man had a presence.

“Dr. Ty Sampson, Dr. Rowan Schafer,” Lachlan said. “And we’re fine, thanks for asking. Survived the mission with only minor injuries.”

Ty grunted. “You’re all walking, so I didn’t bother asking.”

“Hello, and welcome to our home away from home.” A woman joined them. Her long, black hair was loose and had a hint of a curl. She wasn’t wearing fatigues. Instead, she wore a long, fitted gray skirt, a pale-pink shirt, and killer heels. She looked like she’d just stepped out of the boardroom, or someone’s librarian fantasy.

“Hey, Nat.” Lachlan murmured.

“Hi,” Rowan said.

“I’m Dr. Natalie Blackwell.” The woman shook Rowan’s hand.

If Rowan wasn’t mistaken, the woman had a soft Australian accent and some Asian heritage.

“I’m the chief archeologist here, while Dr. Grumpy here is our technology guru. He’s also a medical doctor.” She looked at Ty and pulled a face. “Overachiever.”

He bared white teeth.

“Callie needs help with our patient,” Lachlan said.

Ty’s face turned serious. “I’ll be back.”

Seth hefted the containment box on the bench.

“I’m sorry about your ordeal,” Natalie said softly to Rowan.

Grief hit Rowan again, and she managed a nod. “I guess I should be grateful to be alive.”

As Lachlan stepped forward to open the box, they all crowded around. Natalie snapped on some gloves, then reached in and removed the artifact. She set it on a tray on the bench.

“Well, hello there.” Her face lit up and she was clearly completely absorbed.

Rowan watched the archeologist pull out some sort of device and start scanning the artifact.

“I’ve been running the history of Ellesmere Island,” Natalie said. “Trying to see if anything pops on who could have created this artifact.”

“I was telling Lachlan that the ice where we pulled the artifact from was about five thousand years old,” Rowan said. “About when the Pre-Dorset culture lived on the island.”

Natalie nodded. “Five thousand years ago, the temperatures were warmer than they are now.”

Rowan raised a brow. “That’s right. The ice samples we were pulling back up that theory.”

“It would have helped people flourish on the island.”

“But the Pre-Dorset were hunters of sea and land mammals.”

Nat nodded. “They didn’t leave much for us to find. A few settlements and stone tools. It appears they had the bow and arrow, and other tools that made them good hunters.”