Page 48 of Troy Story
“Not the wisest idea, but you know what her temper’s like. Somehow, he got her on board with this scheme. Used some kind of leverage over her. I’ll admit, it was a bonkers plan, but it wouldn’t have failed if you’d warned us before inviting Wagner to visit.”
Stuart’s exasperation rose to the surface. “I wouldn’t have invited him if you’d told me about it in the first place.”
“Dusty was trying to protect you in case something went wrong. She knows you’re incapable of lying. You should be grateful.”
“You didn’t even speak up for her,” TJ said. “That’s cold, man.”
Stuart turned in surprise. Where the hell had TJ come from? Had he snuck up on them just to get a few words in? “You knew about this?”
“I ran into the girls when I went to find them at the café. After they told me the scoop, I agreed to keep it quiet, but only so you and Kerim wouldn’t be implicated.”
Stuart should have known. Even if he hadn’t, he’d allowed Dr. Hughes to barrel over Dusty. And she’d taken it. Not only that, but she’d also claimed full responsibility, absolving Clarissa and Emilia of any blame.
“Who else was in on it?” he asked.
“Mort, of course,” Emilia said. “He said it was like being in a James Bond movie. If he were here, he would have stood up for Dusty.”
Stuart took off his hat and scrubbed his hand through his hair, which was damp with sweat. “What should I do? I can’t confront Hughes.”
“Why not? This is all his fault.”
As much as Stuart loathed his boss, the older man was still the one calling the shots. “I can’t risk losing my job.” When Emilia scowled at him, he stepped back and held up his hands. “But I’ll apologize to Dusty and try to get her back on-site sooner.”
It was a start, at least. Not good enough, but a start.
* * *
The restof the morning passed with agonizing slowness. To Dr. Hughes’ utter delight, his team found a second skeleton, which eased his fury over the confrontation with Dr. Wagner. If anything, he was in a better mood than he’d been all season, crowing about his inevitable victory over the Germans. Like this was anactualwar rather than just two rival excavations.
When Kerim returned from dropping off Dusty, he went back to his trench in silence. With Emilia, TJ, and Kerim pissed at him, Stuart felt like a total pariah.
Once they were back at the field house, the others went to wash up for the afternoon meal. Stuart made a beeline for the lab. Dusty was hard at work, wearing earbuds as she sketched a gold bracelet they’d found in Kerim’s trench last week.
“Dusty?” When she didn’t answer, he raised his voice. “Dusty?”
She looked up at him but didn’t remove the earbuds. She was pissed, all right.
“Can I talk to you?” he asked.
With a resentful sigh, she took out the earbuds and silenced her phone. But her stoic expression suggested she had no fucks to give. “Is it lunchtime yet?”
“Yes, but—”
She stood up. “Good. I’m starved.” Setting her phone in her back pocket, she tried to push past him.
He grabbed her arm. “Wait. Dusty, please. I’m sorry.”
She nailed him with a cool stare. “For what? For actually believing I’d do something that stupid on my own? Or for not offering to drive me back here so you could hearmyside of the story?”
Now he felt even worse. “For all of it. Em told me what happened. She said you did it to help Clarissa.”
“And because Hughes threatened to fire me. He told me I wasn’t needed because he could use Clarissa to replace me.”
“Wait. He said that? I didn’t think he’d actually do it.”
Dusty bristled. “You knew? You knew he was thinking of replacing me and you didn’t tell me? What the fuck, Stuart? Why didn’t you warn me?”
“I did warn you!” His voice had risen, but he didn’t care. “I told you to play nice. I told you not to confront him. I begged you to keep quiet. But Em told me you went off on him, anyway. Why didn’t you listen?”
