It wasn't until after lunch that Henry, Jasper, and Maggie had the chance to go searching for Dr. Sorrosen's office. It was Maggie's free period and Jasper and Henry only had study hall, which they skipped. None of them anticipated a lengthy search. After all, how many offices could there be in the museum whose door was crisscrossed with yellow crime scene tape? In order to cover more ground they split up. Maggie took the west wing, Jasper the east, and Henry the north. If they found nothing they were going to meet back at the rendezvous point and check the south wing together.

Maggie, as a museum dosein, had access to many parts of the museum that Henry and Jasper did not. This included the security room and the device they used to make and issue the electronic key cards. In the middle of a rather nasty adventure during their junior year involving pirate treasure, she'd abruptly decided she was tired of scaling the outside walls and crawling through the air conditioning ducts to gain entrance to the offices. So during one of her shifts she'd snuck into the security room and made a copy of the security head's pass key. It was a master key that would open any door in the museum. At the same time, she'd also hacked into the computer and erased the electronic signature from it, turning it into a ghost key. This meant that she could swipe it anywhere in the museum and it wouldn't be recorded in the security records.

She had been able to justify this rather gross ethical breach by telling herself that as long as she was the only one who used the key, then it wasn't a violation of her contract with the museum. After all as a dosein, she was allowed to accesses almost any room. Her movements simply weren't being tracked when she used the ghost key. It was a tenuous justification, but it soothed her conscience.

Since she was the one with the master key, they'd agreed before separating that whoever found the office would text the others and they would meet up to search it together. Maggie was surprised to feel her phone vibrate against her leg so soon. She frowned, pulled it out of the pocket of her jeans, and checked the display. It was from Jasper.

Snagged by hms, tell H abort. Knw he's awol.

Maggie cursed under her breath. Jasper had been nabbed by the hall monitors. It was the nickname he'd given to the museum guards. Their duties not only included guarding the exhibits but also policing the students that had a tendency to see class attendance as optional. Jasper was being escorted to his dad's office this very instant, and the others would be on the look out for Henry. Thankfully, Henry was very, very good at evading capture.

She shot him a quick text letting him know what had happened and continued searching the small area of offices in the side hallway, just off of the room that contained the museum's permanent Egyptian collection. She was poking around the far end when her cell phone buzzed again. She took it out and checked the display. This time it was from Henry.

North end by the Intuits. Found it.

So they'd put Dr. Sorreson in one of the offices near the Eskimo exhibit. Maggie's brow furrowed. It was strange that he'd been put there. It was the most out of the way bank of offices and storage closets the museum had. Mulling this weird occurrence over in her head, she backtracked the way she came and made her way to the exhibit. She stopped short when she got there.

Ike, one of the guards she knew and one of the pair that had backed Henry up against Dr. Riker the night of the ball, was slowly circling the exhibit area. She shrank back and almost let out a yelp of surprise when a strong arm circled her waist, a hand clamped over her mouth, and she was pulled suddenly into a dark enclave behind one of the display cases. Maggie found herself pressed against, a very warm, very male body.

"It's me, Maggie." Henry whispered next to her ear.

"What the heck do you think you're doing," she hissed softly.

He shifted and the contact caused his chest to brush against her breasts. Her traitorous nipples drew taut. She bit her lip to hold back the low moan that threatened. Henry, curse him, seemed oblivious as he shifted, his arm still around her waist holding her close.

"Sorry, they were looking for me and I knew that if they saw you they would know that I had to be around."

Maggie nodded and he felt the movement against his cheek. Henry closed his eyes and resisted the urge to bury his nose in her soft hair. Holding her this close was an exquisite form of torture. He knew that if he turned his head just so, he could capture her lips with his own. He'd never wanted to kiss someone so bad in his life, but he refrained. It wasn't the right time, even though he knew that Maggie was as affected by their current position as he was. He could feel her body's response to his in the way she shivered slightly and by the subtle signs of arousal. It hearten him to know that she wasn't immune to what was happening between them, even if she was still denying it.

Maggie, unaware of the direction his thoughts had taken, was in turmoil. She'd recognized the same opportunity. All she had to do was turn her head and she'd be kissing Henry. She wanted to kiss him, but at the same time she knew it was a bad idea. She bit her lip.

"Do you think they're gone yet?" He shook his head slightly.

"I can still hear Ike's boots." She nodded and tried not to groan.

Henry shifted again and pure heat shot through her. He felt amazing against her; she could feel the defined strength of him, the flex of his arms, the ripple of abdominal muscles, and the feel of his hard thighs. He was toned in the way of someone who'd gained their physical perfection from the lifestyle they led and not the gym. He was her very own personal Tarzan, and he had no idea how heady that thought was to her.

This was why she tried not to get into these situations with him. She loved him, she'd finally admitted that to herself, and she was insanely physically attracted to him. Despite all that, she knew she couldn't allow herself to have a romantic relationship with him.

Years ago when she'd first met his friend Tomba, she'd said that boyfriendville was someplace she'd never go with Henry. Her reasons were the same now as they'd been back then. He was leaving and she couldn't live the kind of life he wanted to. Maggie admitted to herself that she enjoyed their adventures, but she wanted more from life. She had a plan, she had goals, and she had things that she needed to accomplish. There was no place for Henry in those plans.

Henry was drawn to trouble and mysteries. When something bothered him or seemed hinky and suspicious, he couldn't let it go. He had to investigate. It was true that over the past two years he was getting better at indulging in normal people fun, but that didn't mean he would ever be able to give up Henry fun.

Henry fun was often times dangerous, always harrowing, and sometimes just plain scary. Maggie may desire to enter what some may consider a dangerous career, but it was also a minimal risk one. Space exploration had a certain level of risk, but it also had years of science, engineering, and experience behind it.

Henry's risk involved charting the unknown, living by a person's wits, and making things up on the fly. He was an explorer and an adventurer and as much as Maggie was drawn to him because of that, she was practical enough to realize that those traits led to wanderlust.

If she realized her dream, she would sometimes be in space for a couple of months but she'd always come back home. She'd have a home base where she could lay down roots. If Henry pursued the lifestyle he wanted, he'd be just like his parents. He'd never have a home base, never put down roots; instead he'd always be looking towards the next quest, the next adventure.

Maggie preferred her adventure like she preferred her life…controlled. All these old arguments didn't seem to be cooling her down like they use too. He moved his hip and it pressed their lower bodies together briefly. Her breath hitched. He was…Oh God. She wanted to scream in frustration. She never should have admitted her feelings to herself. It was making everything a hundred times worse.

She was startled out of her thoughts when he leaned in.

"He's gone, we can go."

He pulled back and released her waist, allowing her to put some much needed distance between them. Then she made the mistake of looking up. The look in his eyes was mesmerizing. He stared deep into hers and then lowered his gaze to her lips. She bit her lower lip and his eyes flared.

"Henry?"

He moved his hand up and ran his thumb over the soft skin of her lower lip. She gasped slightly and released the pink flesh abruptly.

He pulled back and stumbled out of the enclave. "W-We have to go. Come on."

Maggie sighed and followed him. She was had a motley array of feelings swirling around her mind and body. She was unbearably aroused, confused, disappointed, relieved, heart sore, and discombobulated. She followed him silently and a new emotion started to simmer—anger. He couldn't be doing this to her. She had more control than this. They would be a bad idea. They'd end up hurting each other.

All the arguments swirled and she became more and more despondent and pissed with each one. To her relief, they reached Dr. Sorreson's office and this allowed Maggie to regain the focus she desperately needed. To her surprise the expected crime scene tape wasn't there. The only reason Henry had identified it as Dr. Sorreson's was because of the lingering scent of Bay Rum aftershave and pipe tobacco, signature scents that always lingered around his old friend. She retrieved her pass key, swiped it, and watched the electronic light turn green. She quietly pushed the door open and they both slipped inside. Stealthily, Henry made his way over to the desk and turned on the small lamp there, making sure to turn it away so the light couldn't be seen through the cracks under the door.

He was all business as he turned and said. "Check those file cabinets over there and I'll check the desk." She nodded and went to work. They worked silently for a few moments and the quiet was getting to Maggie so she asked.

"You never elaborated on what exactly you and Dr. Riker discussed."

Keeping his voice low and his attention on his task he replied. "Well after she finally determined I wasn't a threat to her and lowered the gun…"

Maggie's gasp cut him off. He looked up and she was gazing back at him, her dark eyes angry. "She pulled a gun on you! And you just finally decided to tell me about it now?"

He shrugged. "You didn't ask before."

"I shouldn't have to ask!" She exclaimed in a low hiss. "Normal people volunteer that kind of information, normal people don't consider being held at the point of a deadly projectile weapon just another ordinary occurrence, normal people…"

He cut her off, his voice slightly angry and a little hurt. "We've established that I'm not normal. Thanks for the reminder Maggie. Do you want to hear the rest of this or not."

She sighed, her anger deflated. She hadn't meant to be so callous with his feelings. She knew, that despite all his self confidence, it sometimes got to him that people considered him abnormal. She hadn't meant to lash out at him. It just frightened her sometimes how blasé he was about life threatening situations. She didn't want him to get hurt.

"I'm sorry, Henry…I didn't mean…please tell me the rest."

He grunted, somewhat mollified by her apology. He resumed searching through the desk.

"The reason Dr. Riker was so jumpy is become somebody left a little gift on her doorstep. It was an Aztec calendar dipped in animal blood."

She furrowed her brow. "You're sure it was blood?" He simply looked at her and she nodded. "Of course you're sure. The super sniffer doesn't lie."

He moved to the other end of the desk and opened the bottom drawer, rifling it. "Across her door someone had written the word Chaos with the blood. That is when she invited me inside for tea and she told me that the cult that Dr. Sorreson thought he'd found evidence of in ancient Aztec culture was still alive and thriving to this day."

Maggie's frown deepened. "Can she prove that?"

He shook his head. "No, but I don't think she was lying."

She knelt down and started going through the bottom drawer of the file cabinet.

"I don't know Henry. It all seems a little too convenient. Dr. Sorreson collapses from what appears to be a fatal heart attack, an artifact that may, or may not be the jaguar is taken, and there is a threat made against the only other person who would have motive to take the artifact."

"She is also the only one I can think of with any motive to kill Dr. Sorreson," he added.

She looked up. "We don't even know if he was murdered Henry. He was an old man. If what you believe is true then the shock of finding his life's work gone, might have caused his heart give out."

Determined denial turned his face mutinous. "I had Jasper hack into his medical records and autopsy report. There was no history of heart disease, no major illness beyond a little arthritis in his knees. He was healthy and active and they ruled his death as undetermined. They have no idea why he died."

"That doesn't mean he didn't die of natural causes," she pointed out, reasonable.

"That also doesn't mean he wasn't murdered. He…" Henry trailed off, and frowned as he ran his hand along the underside of the bottom drawer. He motioned Maggie over and she crossed the room to stand behind him.

"What did you find?" Henry didn't answer right away. Instead he applied pressure and pulled the manila envelope off the bottom where it had been taped. He exchanged a look with Maggie. She motioned for him to open it. He stood up, carefully laid the envelope on the desk, found a letter opener, and gently slid the sharp blade along the groove.

He turned it on its side and let the contents spill out. A broken stone half circle, a Polaroid, a sheet of paper, and a journal landed with a soft thud. Henry reached for the circle first and with a grim look, handed it to Maggie. She almost dropped it when she noticed the dried blood.

"It looks like Dr. Sorreson and Dr. Riker have the same admirer," she said.

He nodded. "It confirms something else Dr. Riker told me that night. She said that he'd been getting threats and that they were escalating. She'd even confronted him about them but he still wouldn't admit to having found the jaguar."

Maggie didn't seem convinced, but she didn't want to argue. Instead, she reached for the paper and the Polaroid that had fallen next to the journal. It looked like it had been torn out of a larger book. She opened it and started to read, her eyes went wide. She quickly turned the picture over.

Excited, she nudged Henry to get his attention. "Look, this is a sheet of paper torn out of a field log and this is a catalog photo from a dig site."

Henry took the items and a slow smile stretched across his face. Reverently, he touched the photo. It was of a picture of a statue of a jaguar made of hammered gold with inlaid silver spots and ruby eyes.

"He really did it Maggie. He found it."

She was less enthusiastic. "And if this all means what I think it means, then he also stole it. He took the evidence of it being cataloged and probably smuggled it out of Mexico."

Henry looked at the items in his hands. His immediate response was to defend his friend but he also had the sinking suspicion that she was right. There would be no other reason for Dr. Sorreson to have these items, to have hid them, if he hadn't done something unethical.

"I can't believe he would do something like that. You didn't know him. He was honorable and had an unbreakable streak of integrity. He wouldn't just steal a national artifact."

She ran her hand over his arm in a comforting gesture. "You hadn't seen him for awhile and people change, Henry."

He shook his head in the negative, but he didn't reject her touch. "Not that much they don't. Maybe this journal will have some…"

He abruptly trialed off, shut off the desk light, and pulled Maggie down. They both crouched. She'd parted her mouth to question him, when he suddenly placed his finger over lips, stilling them. She shivered slightly at the contact and met his eyes.

"Guard," he mouthed silently. She nodded and to her displeasure, he removed his hand. Maggie felt adrenaline coursing through her as her fight or flight response kicked in. She fought the need to fidget. She frowned at Henry. He was so…still, like a jungle cat waiting to pounce on its next meal. She had no idea how he could remain so composed in situations like this. She always felt like she was going to crawl out of her own skin.

The minutes ticked by and Maggie felt her nerves dance. She was almost ready to bolt when Henry shifted his weight, sat down so he was hidden under the desk, and pulled her to sit between his legs. His arms snaked around her and crossed over her abdomen. The light switch by the door clicked, illuminating the office, and the soft tread of booted heels clicked against the tile floor. Maggie felt her whole body stiffen and Henry instinctively tightened his hold on her.

"Relax," he whispered next to her ear. She couldn't and he started rubbing circles against her stomach. Awareness battled the fear in gut as she half melted against him. The guard took his time checking the room as both teenagers waited to be discovered at any moment.

It didn't happen.

As quickly as he'd arrived, the guard left, and both of them released a sigh of relief. It was then that Henry became aware of the position they were in. He had Maggie in his arms for the second time that day. Powerless to resist, he buried his nose in the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply. Her scent overwhelmed him.

"H-Henry," she stuttered, breathless. "What are you doing?"

He sighed deeply and let her go. She scrambled away and watched warily as he unfolded himself and stood up. He parted his lips to say…well he wasn't sure. Maybe to tell her he was in love with her and that he wanted to kiss her so bad it was all he could think about. Instead, he said.

"Let's go. Our next class is going to start soon and we need to find out how much trouble Jasper is in. We should meet up and mine and Jasper's house after school. I have a feeling that neither of us is going to be going anywhere for awhile."

She simply nodded and watched as he started towards the door. He checked the hall and motioned that the coast was clear. Maggie followed him, her confused emotions back again.

It was becoming clear that no matter how practically she tried to approach her feelings towards him, her heart and body had other ideas.

Henry Griffin was hell on a girl's peace of mind.