Page 83 of Troy Story
Dusty stared at him in awe. “You’d do that?”
“Without question. Stuart doesn’t deserve to have his reputation tarnished. If anyone should be called out, it’s Dr. Hughes.” Mort pulled a small notebook out of his shirt pocket. Dusty had seen him writing in it on numerous occasions. “When it comes to sexual misconduct, he’s the worst offender here.”
“What are you talking about?” Dr. Hughes demanded. “I haven’t laid a finger on any of the female students.”
“True,” Mort replied. “But I’ve noted every indecent, lascivious comment you’ve made about them, including lewd remarks about my daughter. In Englishandin Turkish.”
“You don’t speak Turkish,” Dr. Hughes said.
“Hayat does.” Mort graced her with an approving smile. “She made sure I didn’t miss anything.” He turned his attention back to Dr. Hughes. “At best, your remarks were crude and insulting. At worst, they’re evidence of your predatory nature.”
Dusty couldn’t hold back her grin. She wanted so badly to give Mort a hug.
Clarissa scowled at Dr. Hughes. “You’re despicable. You mess with Stuart or Dusty, and my dad willburyyou.”
Seeing sweet, lovable Clarissa go into attack dog mode stunned all of them into silence.
Clearly, her words affected Dr. Hughes just as powerfully because he gave a full-body shudder. “Enough. You win.”
Stuart held out his hand. “We’ll need the keys to your room. Otherwise, I’ll have Dusty pick the lock.”
TJ perked up. “We’re allowed to pick the lock? Can I try?”
“Hang on. I can open it.” With a laugh, Dusty pulled the spare set of keys from her pocket. She gave Stuart a sheepish grin. “Sorry. I used them to open Hughes’ room earlier but forgot I still had them with me.”
Before Stuart could chastise her for taking off with the keys, she dashed over to the professor’s room and unlocked his door. The tablet wasn’t on his bed, but she found the familiar green knapsack in the wardrobe. She brought it out, laid it on the coffee table next to the couch, and opened it. Inside was the tablet, wrapped in a towel. She slid it out and unwrapped it carefully. Once she revealed the tablet, the entire crew stared at it in silence.
“Holy fuck,” Emilia said. “Is that…cuneiform?”
“Linear B?” TJ asked. “Akkadian? Elamite? Hittite?”
“That’s not the issue,” Dusty said. “The point is, it came from Leo’s trench. After the Germans left the site yesterday, Dr. Hughes paid Mehmet and his brothers to keep digging there. Once they found the tablet, they brought it to Hughes. He was going to sneak it into his own trench later tonight and miraculously ‘uncover’ it tomorrow morning.”
“Bro, are you serious?” TJ said to him. “Ever heard of provenance?”
“Oh, shut up,” Dr. Hughes muttered.
Kerim cursed under his breath. “This is terrible. If the Germans press charges, the University of Boston could lose their excavation permit again. Not just for this season but for the foreseeable future.”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Dusty said. “Dr. Hughes told me if I reported him, then we’d all suffer. I didn’t know what to do.”
Kerim placed his hand on her shoulder. “You made the right call.”
“No, she didn’t,” Dr. Hughes said. When the others stared at him in horror, his bluster vanished, replaced by a pitiful expression. “Why can’t we keep this quiet? What harm will it do if you let me uncover it tomorrow? This way, we’ll all get to avoid a huge scandal and share in the glory.”
The pathetic look on his face was painful to witness. If he hadn’t just put Dusty through hell and threatened the man she loved, she might feel sorry for him.
“Absolutely not,” Kerim said. “Dr. Wagner needs to be alerted. Then we’ll deal with the consequences.”
TJ punched his fist into his palm. “This sucks. We’ve worked so hard this season.”
Dusty fought back a fresh wave of guilt. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want it to end this way.”
“Trust me, no one’s blaming you,” TJ said.
“The only one we blame is that asshole over there,” Emilia pointed to Dr. Hughes, “who put himself above the law.”
The others nodded, and TJ muttered, “Fucking treasure hunter.”
