Seven years after saving McKenzie’s life, Angela Bjork has a request. She’d like him to track down the Ankylosaurus skull valued at $6 million that was taken from a dig she was working near Powderville, Montana, before it had even been completely cleaned. Dr. Nicholas Larsen, the University of Minnesota professor who’s one of the project’s leaders, suspects that whoever carried off the skull in a stolen truck was getting inside information from one of the participants. If he’s right, that narrows the suspect list to 10 professors, graduate students, and undergraduate interns. Instead of spending time questioning them, McKenzie confers with Andrew Cooke, the wealthy, dying owner of the site, who’s determined to recover the skull even if he has to pay for it, and partners with con artist Heavenly Elizabeth Petryk, with some disavowed help from the FBI, to launch a proactive initiative to recover it by using high-profile fence Louis Bergeron—who says he knows who has the skull—to promise the thieves a ransom they have no intention of paying. McKenzie’s masquerade as Heavenly’s bodyguard grants him admission to a five-minute online auction for the ancient prize at the risk of some serious repercussions if anyone finds out who he really is. As McKenzie’s cop friend Bobby Dunston says, “I have to admit, this is different, even for you.” After a slow start, Housewright sweats the details and explores every new possibility of a double cross to produce high-stakes, low-tension entertainment.
