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He shook his head. Now that he’d accepted the blame, he’d take the consequences. No matter how bad things got, they couldn’t be worse than Palaikastro.
“Was anything stolen?” TJ asked Grant.
“Fortunately not,” Grant said. “I don’t think these were expert thieves. Just a bunch of teenagers out for a wild night. We got very lucky. But all this could have been avoided.” He leaned in closer, addressing Rick in a low voice. “And to think, I almost felt guilty because I didn’t introduce you yesterday.”
Rick flinched but maintained a stoic facade. He’d be damned if he let Grant break him. “Again, I apologize. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Once Dr. Roth is done with the police, he’ll want to talk to you. I hope he fires you.” Having said his piece, Grant turned to the students. “For now, we’ll work at the lab stations. With any luck, we can resume excavating in a few hours.”
Rick stood rooted in place, feeling helpless, as the others split up. He wanted to talk to Olivia, but she was busy herding her team over to the pot-washing station. When Dr. Roth approached him, he forced himself to meet the professor’s eyes, hating the disappointment he saw. “I’m so sorry.”
Dr. Roth sighed. “I know this gate is tricky. It’s not the first time this has happened. But Juno said she showed everyone how to lock it.”
“She did. It was my fault for being in a rush. If any tools were stolen, you can deduct the cost from my salary.” Even if the offer would eat at his meager savings, it carried more weight than a mere apology.
“Looks like we got lucky this time. Everything’s accounted for. But it could have been so much worse. You know that.”
“I do.” No matter what anyone else thought of him, Rick had always taken his responsibilities seriously. That was why the rumors from Palaikastro had been so devastating. For all the times he’d cut loose or hooked up, he’d done it after hours. He’d never let his personal life interfere with his work life.
He swallowed, trying to clear the painful knot from his throat. “If you want to let me go, I’ll understand. I’d rather stay for the last two weeks of field school, but it’s your call.”
Dr. Roth kicked a stray rock out of the way. “I don’t want to fire you. Not when you’ve done such a great job with the students. So, I’ll keep you on until the end of the project.” He paused. “But I can’t recommend you to my colleague. Not in good conscience. I’m sorry, Rick.”
Rick’s stomach clenched. Even with his job in Turkey on lock, he’d still wanted that reference from Dr. Roth. Without it, he’d have a harder time finding work if he returned to California. Maybe this was a sign he was meant to keep traveling.
“That’s fine. I appreciate you letting me stay until field school ends.”
Dr. Roth clapped him on the shoulder. “For now, you should head back to camp. Given how tense things are here, your presence might not be appreciated. Olivia told me a couple of students are resting there because they’re not feeling well. You can keep an eye on them. If you have time, finish your survey report. I still need a full write-up on that Neolithic site you found.”
How humiliating. Instead of working at the excavation site, he was being asked to babysit. He dredged up a semblance of a smile. “Sure. No problem.”
“You can return tomorrow,” Dr. Roth said. “By then, everything should be back to normal.”
The thing was—nothing would ever be back to normal.
Now that his reputation had taken another hit, Rick wasn’t just back to square one; he was worse off than he’d ever been.
No matter how many times Olivia checked her watch, she couldn’t make time go faster. With each hour that passed, she grew more worried about Rick. Though she’d known Dr. Roth was upset with him, she hadn’t expected the professor to kick him off the site.
She still didn’t understand how Rick could have messed up. He’d been there during Gategate. Like her, he’d paid attention when Juno had shown them how to finesse the lock. But yesterday, he’d been in a rush to make it to Polemi. His team had arrived so late they’d had to sneak into the back row. Maybe he didn’t think anyone had noticed, but she’d been aware of it.
During her first break, she sent Rick a series of texts. She sent another one at lunch and one more during her mid-afternoon break.
He didn’t respond.
She could only imagine how awful he must feel. Though he hadn’t been fired, he’d probably lost his shot at gaining Dr. Roth as a reference.
As the teams made their way back to the parking area, they had to reconfigure their usual seating since Rick had taken one of the cars. Olivia ended up riding with Juno, Logan, and Alisha. Seated up front with Juno, she was so tense her stomach ached. She tried to calm herself by focusing on the scenery. Anything to avoid obsessing over Rick. But her ears perked up when Alisha mentioned him.
“It’s not fair. Rick always gets the shaft. First, Grant didn’t give him credit for his big site, and then he blamed him for the gate.”
“Gategate Two,” Juno muttered. “Rick should have been more careful. He was there when I showed everyone how to lock it.”
“But he didn’t lock the gate,” Alisha said. “Marisol did.”
Olivia whipped around to face her. “What are you talking about?”
“Remember?” Alisha said to Logan. “You were there. Rick wanted us to hurry because we were running late for that boring-ass presentation at Polemi. Then Marisol had to go back and get her pack because she can’t go anywhere without her damn phone. Her parents are super-protective, and they freak out if she doesn’t text them back immediately.”
