Sean kept his eyes alert as he and the other two made their way down the street toward a cafe where they’d meet their German contact. Thing was, she wasn’t actually German.
June Holiday was Tommy’s friend, the woman he’d kept secret from Sean and Adriana for the better part of the year. She’d grown up in the United States but had attended university in Germany. Identifying more with the culture there, she’d remained in Germany ever since.
Tommy had met her when he first arrived in the border town before he began work at the dig site in France. He’d been in Aachen for a day, touring the university, when the person giving the tour introduced them.
June worked at the university as a researcher. Her specialty was in genetics, which intrigued Tommy. His initial thoughts were how he could get June to help with some of his own projects at IAA. There were many times they had to outsource genetic testing of samples. She could be his connection in Europe.
Of course, it wasn’t just work that endeared Tommy to June. Her locks of golden blonde hair trickling down past her shoulders, her bright smile, the radiant blue eyes, and her enthusiastic personality made her impossible to resist.
Tommy just hoped he didn’t screw it up.
When he was in France, he’d slipped across the border several times on weekends to take her out for dinner or coffee. They talked mostly about work, which turned out to be fine since they had a mutual interest in each other’s careers. After the third date, however, things got more personal. During one conversation, the time passed so quickly they didn’t realize they’d been talking for nearly six hours — until two o’clock in the morning.
Their connection was unlike any Tommy had ever felt with a woman. Part of that was due to the fact he didn’t have much time to date since he was busy most of the time or out of town.
Being on the eastern border of France had opened the door to opportunity, and Tommy had walked right on through.
The three visitors rounded a corner and turned right down another street. A collection of black and white umbrellas sat over more chairs and tables in front of a cafe on the left a few dozen yards away.
“There it is,” Tommy said with a hint of excitement in his voice.
His traveling companions knew his exuberance wasn’t due to the meal they were about to have. It was the blonde woman sitting with her legs crossed, wearing a navy-blue sundress, tortoiseshell sunglasses, and a smile that seemed permanently stuck on her face.
She waved to the group and stood up from her chair in the corner. Tommy’s smile broadened as they approached. He ignored the hostess at the podium just outside the black railing surrounding the outdoor sitting area, and walked straight over to June.
Sean and Adriana paused and watched as the two hugged each other. There was a quick exchange of pleasantries before Tommy turned to his two friends lingering a few yards away.
He motioned them over and turned back to June. “June, these are my friends, Sean and Adriana.”
She smiled pleasantly to both of them and shook their hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. I’ve heard so much about you. Especially you, Sean. Tommy says you two have been friends since childhood.”
“Oh, I’m sure that’s not all he’s told you,” Sean said.
Her teeth gleamed in spite of the overcast sky. “He said you have a penchant for getting into trouble.”
Sean raised an eyebrow. “Did he tell you that he’s the one dragging me into trouble more often than not?”
June cast a sidelong glance at Tommy, who blushed and put on his best Who me? face.
“He omitted that part.” She turned to Adriana. “You, he wasn’t so forthcoming about. But he did have some complimentary things to say.”
Adriana nodded at Tommy. “Aww. You’re so sweet.” She reached out and squeezed his cheek with finger and thumb.
“Okay. Enough with the introductions. Can we please sit down?” Tommy said.
“Is he always this testy with you?” Sean asked June.
“Always,” she said, taking a cue from Sean.
Tommy gasped, but before he could defend himself the server came by and asked for their drink order. Everyone ordered coffee. Tommy got his with a little extra milk.
“So you’re here to take a look at the Charlemagne DNA,” June said while the others looked at the menus.
She didn’t beat around the bush. There less than two minutes and straight to business. Sean appreciated that.
“Yeah. Your friend here,” he motioned to Tommy, “thinks there might be a connection to an ancient weapon of untold power.” Sean ended the sentence with his best monster truck announcer voice.
Tommy scrunched his face at the comment. “What? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
June’s eyebrows shot up, and she twisted her head slowly until she faced Tommy. “You didn’t mention anything about an ancient weapon. Something you forgot to say to me?”
He tried to shake off the question, but her gaze was going nowhere.
“Wait,” Adriana interrupted. “You didn’t tell her your theory?”
“Theory?” June said. “What theory? Yes, please. Tell me your theory, Thomas.”
Tommy was cornered. And all three of his companions were enjoying watching him writhe.
“Yes, it’s just a theory. Okay? Probably incorrect,” he said finally.
“You sounded pretty sure about it when you told us back in the States,” Sean said.
Tommy’s face turned deep red. “Okay. Fine. You guys just love giving me a hard time, don’t you? Yes, June. I’m sorry. I do think there might be a connection between the DNA sample you checked out and a very old sword.”
“Not just any sword,” Sean added.
Tommy flashed him an irritated look. “Would you let me finish?”
Sean put up his hands in surrender.
“Like I was saying, I did some research, and there are some really interesting bits of information that coincide with one very specific sword from history.”
“Excalibur?” June asked.
Tommy’s eyes widened. “How did you know?”
She snorted a laugh. “Seriously? I’m no historian, but how many famous swords are there? Can’t be that many. I just guessed the one that sticks out most. What did I win?”
Tommy shook off his disbelief and scooted closer to her, more smitten than he’d been a moment before. “I’m impressed.”
“Thank you?”
Sean chuckled at the way she’d phrased it as a question. “I like this one, Tommy. Try not to screw it up. Otherwise, we might have to ditch you for her.”
Tommy tried to ignore his friend’s joke. “Anyway, I didn’t mention it because I didn’t want to sound crazy, but yes, I think there might be a connection between Charlemagne’s DNA and Excalibur.”
“Interesting. At some point, you’ll have to tell me where you came up with this theory. For now, you may as well have a look at the results from the testing we did on that sample.”
“Sounds good. We’ll just get something to eat and then head over to the university.”
June’s lips curled. “Actually, I took the liberty of bringing the results to you. Thought it might be best if we didn’t interrupt a murder investigation.”
“I could hug you,” Tommy said.
“You can,” she said. “After you look at these.”
She reached down and pulled a green folder out of her laptop bag next to her chair. She laid the folder on the table in front of Tommy and nudged it toward him.
“Go ahead,” she said. “Be my guest.”
He paused for a second, apprehensive about opening the folder, partly because he was afraid the results inside might prove him wrong. When he finally got up the courage to flip it open, he was dismayed at what he found.
It was mostly a bunch of numbers, columns, and data points he didn’t understand.