Page 77 of Troy Story
She asked you to do it last night. Remember?
At the time, he’d assumed she was kidding around. He didn’t think her animosity toward Dr. Hughes was powerful enough to merit this kind of reaction. But it must have been. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have left so abruptly.
“Stuart?” Emilia stood over him. “Any news?”
He held out the note, then looked away, unable to watch Emilia’s reaction as she read it. When she was done, she placed it on the bed beside him. He took a deep breath and forced himself to meet her eyes. “Did you know about Sardinia?”
“Yeah, but she learned about ityesterday. She also told me she wasn’t going to take it. She wanted to go back to Boston so she could be with you.”
“She did?” He allowed himself a small measure of hope.
Emilia nodded. “I think there’s something she’s not saying. Like what if…” She rubbed her bare arms, as though a chill had come over her. “What if this disagreement with Hughes wasn’t about her mother? What if he did something to Dusty?”
Stuart’s stomach twisted in knots. “He wouldn’t. He can’t stand her.”
“But sexual violence is about hate, not physical attraction.”
A white-hot rage blurred Stuart’s vision. His heart pounded furiously. “If he did…I…”
“Hold on. We don’t know anything yet. Go talk to him but do it calmly.”
“Right. Okay.” For all he knew, Dusty’s argument with the director had been nothing more than a heated exchange of words. Maybe her fiery temper had finally pushed him over the edge.
He walked over to the professor’s room, but when he tried the door, it wouldn’t open. He knocked on it. “Dr. Hughes? I need to talk to you.”
When no one answered, he pounded harder. He was thankful the others were already at lunch so that he didn’t have an audience.
The door opened and Dr. Hughes faced him, cranky and rumpled, sporting dark bags under his eyes. “Do you mind? I’m quite ill, and I’m trying to sleep.”
“What did you do to Dusty?”
“Nothing except making the unfortunate mistake of mentioning her mother. She yelled at me and called me a sexual predator. I’ve put up with a lot of nonsense from her, but that was the last straw. I had to let her go.”
Stuart rubbed his hands over his face. “Why didn’t you talk to me and Kerim first?”
“Because I’m the one in charge here. I gave Dusty plenty of chances, but this time, she went too far. Now it’s done. I drove her to the station in Çanakkale and put her on a bus to Istanbul.”
Stuart couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Sounds to me like you forced her to leave.”
“It was a mutual agreement. She said she couldn’t stand working around me. That I was a toxic male or some other millennial bullshit.” Dr. Hughes backed away. “It’s clear your emotions have affected your professionalism. I’ll let it go this time. Don’t let it happen again.”
With that, he slammed the door. Stuart stood there, frustrated and heartbroken, craving answers but coming up empty. Bringing out his phone, he texted Dusty again.I don’t know what happened with Hughes, but please tell me you’re okay. I’m worried about you.
He stared at his phone, waiting for a reply, but none materialized. Rather than join the others at lunch, he returned to the library, where Dusty had left her sketches. He shuffled through the medieval ones until he came to the drawing at the bottom of the pile—the one that depicted them drinking wine together. He picked it up, intending to keep it. No matter how much Dusty had hurt him by leaving, he wanted a tangible reminder of their night together.
But the drawing had changed. She’d added a heart around the two characters and the words “I love you.”
This was new. It had to be. If he’d seen these three words last night—words that were clearly meant for him—he wouldn’t have forgotten them. And he would have told her he felt the same way.
As he folded up the drawing and put it in his pocket, his mind traveled back to his last conversation with her. When he’d lured her outside to share a few kisses, she’d been as passionate as ever. She was the one who’d brought up Istanbul, saying they needed to make up for lost time.
Those weren’t the actions of a woman intent on ghosting him.
Heart pounding, he worked his way through the day’s events. The Germans claiming someone had tampered with their site. Dusty leaving abruptly with an illness. Dr. Hughes following her shortly thereafter, then kicking her off the dig.
Had she discovered something about him? Something so awful that he had to get rid of her?
Stuart needed answers. But this time, he wasn’t going to knock. All he needed was the key to Dr. Hughes’ room.
