A local might be able to pinpoint the exact location, but I decided against compromising the document by the presence of an outsider. 'The journal notes aren't clear as to the landmarks. The word rang like a chime in John's head. 'It will take us a day or so to examine them and perhaps another day to extract the unit. 'We've identified three possible sites,' Spider was saying. Yet the fruit of his labors, the prize, lay locked in the binder in the crook of Spider's arm, and John knew better than to trust Spider's seeming felicity. He had done well, and Spider appeared content. A fusion, and a relatively stable one at that, in less than a month. And he expected impossible things in an impossible timeframe. He was reasonable, but only when circumstances permitted understanding of difficulties, yet completely unaffected by them. He could almost feel the slick leather against the pads of his fingers.

He braided the fingers of his hands together to keep from reaching for it.

The very idea of what it might be hiding made John light-headed. The things he could do, armed with that binder.

The binder was full of translated notes, the thoughts of a genius mind. They strode side by side along the hallway, the binder swaying gently with Spider's smooth pace. 'The smell is truly abominable,' Spider said. It commanded John's attention, and he couldn't keep from staring at it. A thick leather binder lay in the crook of his right arm. The lean man blinked against the light and raised his hand to shield his eyes. JOHN watched the door swing as Spider emerged from the bowels of the laboratory into the sunlight-flooded hallway.

Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews