The Tenth Cycle: A Thriller (A Rossler Foundation Mystery Book 1) (4 page)

~~~

“Really, Professor, you can’t be serious!”

“I’m quite serious, my dear.”

“Why is this so important to you, sir, if I may ask?”

“I have my reasons. One of which is maintaining good relations with the editor of the archaeology section at the New York Times. They can influence grants, public opinion of our institution and how much attention our research projects receive. It’s good business.”

“But, sir, my own research.”

“This should not affect your own research. I doubt it will take much time, and it’s just temporary. And now, if that’s all, I’ll leave it to you to contact him this morning. He’s staying at the Renaissance downtown, and he expects your call around 10 a.m.”

Sarah Clarke suppressed her annoyance with difficulty. This demand was infuriating! But, Barry’s vote was important at her tenure hearing next year and she already knew that a university was a political workplace. She would have to make the best of it. Sarah stood to go, not trusting herself to speak again after her dismissal. She marched briskly to the door, and took extra care to close it gently.

Honestly, couldn’t Prof. Barry have at least consulted her schedule before making that appointment for her? She would have to take control of how this, this
journalist
impacted her time. She had better things to do than babysit a reporter.

~~~

Daniel found himself at loose ends after leaving the meeting with Prof. Barry at around five p.m. the previous afternoon. After an early dinner, Daniel thought to check his email. While he had the laptop open, he Googled Dr. Sarah Clarke, thinking perhaps he could be better prepared for the meeting. He wasn’t prepared for the beauty whose picture came up. Was there ever a more perfect face, or a more brilliant smile? Daniel gazed at the picture on his screen for several minutes, noting the perfect skin, the lovely long dark hair and warm brown eyes. His head buzzed with an unfamiliar energy, which eventually coalesced into a thought his quirky brain instantly translated into a Looney Tunes character with its heart bursting out of its chest and shouting va-va-va-VOOM!

After a few moments spent in reverie about how closely he would be working with this woman and whether his policy against dating colleagues was applicable, Daniel set aside his baser nature and began to read with interest that Dr. Clarke had received her PhD with honors a little more than a year before, her dissertation shedding new light on Egyptian mythology.

Daniel jotted down a few notes to set the information in his memory, so he could appear well-prepared. Then he allowed himself to gaze at the picture again. If she had a personality to go with those looks, he might get a bonus out of this. He appreciated women as much as the next man, and despite his loftier standards, was not unaffected by looks. He just didn’t like to be a caveman about it.

~~~

By the time the phone rang in the hotel room at precisely ten a.m. the next morning, Daniel had determined to take advantage of John’s instructions to ‘take his time’. While he was here, he would attempt to meet with Dr. Clarke and persuade her to see his side of things. Her voice on the phone was as warm as her brown eyes, further cementing the attraction for Daniel even before he had met her. He maintained his professionalism, though, as he asked to meet with her before he left town. As if it were an afterthought, he asked if she would like to have lunch with him, assuming it didn’t interfere with her lecture schedule.

Sarah was at first reluctant, but, taking into account that he had been courteous enough to give her a way out, accepted after all. This Daniel Rossler had a nice voice, and he hadn’t been pushy. Maybe he wouldn’t turn out to be the run-of-mill jerk reporter that she had imagined. Nevertheless, she would have to be firm about the working relationship. Agreeing to meet him at Fat Belly’s Providence, which she assured him had good food at modest prices and an atmosphere that would allow them time for their meeting, Sarah ended the call with optimism. She intended to make short work of this assignment.

At the appointed time, a carefully-groomed Daniel was already waiting and watching for the attractive woman he expected from his online research last night. She sailed in on a breath of spring air precisely one minute late. Daniel’s breath caught in his throat. In person, she was even more lovely, her body slender but shapely, and her eyes sparkling. The reality was so much better than the picture that Daniel kept his composure with difficulty. Only his strict self-discipline and his upbringing kept him from looking her up and down and emitting an appreciative wolf whistle. Dr. Clarke’s smile did indeed light up the room. He stood to greet her, impressed with her firm handshake, and then seated her in a booth, thinking he may have to do a column sometime on the concept of love at first sight.

“I hope a booth is okay, I thought it might give a little more privacy. The subject of my story is confidential.”

“That’s fine. Just what is the subject of your story? Prof. Barry was a little vague.”

“Why don’t we leave that until after we order? It’s a bit complex, and I want to do my best to help you understand what I’m after.”

“Very well, but you must understand Mr. Rossler, that my time is valuable. In fact, I must be on campus for my next class in only an hour.”

Sarah was discreetly giving Daniel an appraising look, and thinking that for an annoying assignment, at least the man was easy on the eyes. But, going on personal experience, it would be better to keep this on a professional level. Her eyes flicked to the menu just as Daniel’s came up to look at her.

“What would you recommend?”

“Excuse me?”

Daniel lifted his menu slightly.

“Oh, you mean recommend to eat? Everything is good here. I’m partial to the pulled pork, but it’s messy.”

“Messy it is, then. And what will you have?”

Sarah couldn’t help the small smile that played around her lips. It was impossible to dislike this guy, despite her annoyance at being saddled with him. “Oh, I’m having the pork.”

“Two orders of messy, coming right up.” Daniel was confident he could charm her into at least liking him, if not the assignment. At the moment, that seemed to be more important to him than the assignment anyway. Down boy, he thought. Keep it cool. She didn’t seem to be the type of girl who could be rushed off her feet, and that wasn’t his style anyway.

Their orders for food and drink settled and the server dismissed for the moment, Sarah tried again.

“Mr. Rossler, I’m sure you know that with my class and research schedule, I have no time to waste. Please tell me what this is all about.”

“Okay, Dr. Clarke. At its essence are facts brought to my attention by an article in ArchaeoScience Journal regarding the mystery of the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza.”

“Oh, no, not that again!” Why would Prof. Barry have even given this the time of day?”

“Please, Dr. Clarke. I’m beginning to understand that this is a touchy subject. The last thing I want to do is write a speculative story that stirs up controversy. Have you read the article I mentioned?”

“No, it isn’t really my area of interest, although of course I respect the journal. What does it say that got you interested?”

“Well, at first I was interested because they brought out some facts about how the construction could not have happened, and I verified them. That got me curious about how it must have been done, but the article was neutral on that subject. It merely raised the questions. The more I read, though, the more questions I had. My job is to bring archaeology to the layman in such a way as to make him think, ask himself questions, and hopefully find some answers if I can provide them.”

“And what is your expertise, to think you can find those answers?”

“To be honest, my degree is in journalism. But, I’ve been interested in archaeology since I was a boy. My grandfather is a noted archaeologist, Nicholas Rossler.”

If Daniel hoped Dr. Clarke would recognize the name as Prof. Barry had, he was disappointed. But, it wasn’t surprising. His grandfather had been retired for fifteen years, since she was barely a teen. The name didn’t mean a thing to her, obviously.

“Why did Prof. Barry involve me? What is it that you want from me?”

“He didn’t tell you?”

“No, he was quite vague.”

“My editor, John Kingston called him. Evidently they’re old friends. Prof. Barry seemed to want to make sure that the article was well-vetted, so as to reflect well on John.”

“How curious. Do newspaper articles typically require scientific oversight?”

There was that word again, oversight. Time to put the kibosh on it. “No, not at all. I rather had in mind that you would help in the research, make sure I steered clear of crackpots for my expert opinions, that sort of thing.”

“I see.”

When their lunch was done and Sarah indicated her need to hurry to her next lecture, they made plans to meet again the next day to iron out how they would proceed. She still betrayed both annoyance and reluctance, but at least she was cooperating. Daniel stood as she got up to leave, and asked her to please leave the check to him when she started to reach into her purse.

“Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Her voice, though the words were curt, betrayed some warmth already. Maybe she was just a nice person, but Daniel wanted to think he had made some inroads on forming a friendly relationship. He watched her as she made her way to the door, for once allowing himself the luxury of gazing on a most pleasing and shapely backside and pair of legs, then was embarrassed to be caught as she turned at the door and waved. Was that a mischievous smile curling her lips? When Sarah was all the way out the door, Daniel gave a happy grin, a fist pump, and a heartfelt “Yes!” to the amusement of several people around him.

~~~

Energized both by the acceptance of his story idea and the opportunity to work with the lovely Sarah Clarke, Daniel threw himself into the research, carefully documenting his sources as he built a database of facts, speculation and potential answers. For the first couple of weeks, he and Sarah had a Thursday morning Skype conference to give her an overview of what he’d researched and have her systematically knock down his conclusions. It was frustrating professionally, but on a personal level he was stunned to realize he looked forward to just seeing her.  When her smiling countenance appeared on his monitor, he dared hope that she even looked forward to seeing him, though it didn’t stop her from ruthlessly destroying his logic.

Daniel’s growing attraction to Sarah led him to make a trip to Providence over the last weekend of May. He had all his facts, and he had questions. Unfortunately, he was no closer to finding the answers that were a prerequisite for publication with the blessing of the Joukowsky Institute. Without that, Kingston would be reluctant to publish as well.

Nevertheless, Daniel’s research had convinced him that there was some sort of message being conveyed with all of these facts, almost like a flashing neon light saying ‘look here’. Maybe he was looking at the sign instead of what it pointed to, he decided, not realizing he had hit the nail on the head.

He considered the weekend a success when he persuaded Sarah to see him on Saturday evening for a date, rather than a research meeting. As was his habit, he was the perfect gentleman, sensing that a woman like Sarah couldn’t be rushed. Conveniently, an open-air concert in a local park was on tap, so after a pleasant dinner, they listened companionably to light classical music, before Daniel escorted her home.

On Monday they met at her office to look at everything he had produced so far and also report to Prof Barry. That’s when she burst his bubble.

“Daniel, you have to admit that all you have here is a rehash of the original article. Sure, you’ve documented the claims, but there are no answers here. I’m sorry, but I simply have no more time for it.”

Daniel’s voice was tight as he risked the next question. “What about me? Do you have any more time for me?”

Sarah’s eyes flew to his. “What do you mean, Daniel?”

“I mean, I value our friendship. Can we stay in touch? Is that too much to ask?”

In truth, Sarah’s thoughts had too often turned to Daniel already. She had to admit he was different, not only from her stereotype of a journalist, but also from any man who had caught her interest. He admired her intellect, unlike her former fiancé. Fit, good-looking, articulate and thoughtful, he was someone whose friendship she valued, too.

“Of course not, Daniel. I’d like to stay in touch.”

Daniel had been holding his breath for her answer. Now it whooshed out of him forcibly, causing Sarah to raise her eyebrows.

“I live in my own little world,” he explained. “They know me here.”

Laughing, Sarah pushed at him hard enough that he had to catch his balance. “Only call me if you can refrain from those terrible jokes.”

“I’ll do my best, ma’am,” he returned with a mocking smile. She had no doubt she had just given him incentive to coin even more of them.

But, the more Daniel thought about the waste of time and the questions he would still like to answer, the more he determined that this would become his ‘pet project’. Maybe that Pulitzer wasn’t such a long shot after all. As he prepared to discuss it with Kingston when he reported that the story couldn’t be written yet, Daniel made sure to make some well-targeted remarks about the valuable contact he had made in Sarah, as well as her indication that she would look favorably upon introducing him to others at the Institute for interviews and articles about their latest research, including the paper that would be her ticket to tenure next year if her hopes panned out. The latter point was a bit of an exaggeration, but he had no doubt that he could make good on the claim. The bonus, of course, was that he would be able to have a good excuse to continue to see her. This much Daniel knew: Sarah was open to that. There was no other way to interpret what she had said.