Read Online Maria Hudgins - Lacy Glass 01 - Scorpion House by Maria Hudgins - Free Book Online
Authors: Maria Hudgins
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the third ring. She told them the bad news and said, “Can Virginia drive over to Friedman’s, right now? I’ll keep Joan on the phone until she gets there.”
Lacy was using the house phone because her cell phone didn’t work in Egypt. Graham told her she needed to buy a SIM card for it. A card specifically for Egypt. She called Joan back, kept her talking until she heard their doorbell ring and heard Virginia Swain’s voice in the background.
She made arrangements for Joan to fly to New York at noon and to Cairo that evening. It was still barely seven a.m. in Virginia so Joan would have time to pack a bag. She called Peter Swain back and asked if they could drive Joan to Reagan Airport in D.C. Her plane would arrive in Luxor late the following afternoon.
* * *
Lacy found Graham Clark sitting on the porch and pulled up a chair for herself. She turned it, like Graham’s, to face the western hills and sat. “Where is everybody?”
Graham nodded toward a dirt path that seemed to lead westward to a spot near a light pole and what might be excavation equipment. “Those two we met last night. Paul and what’s-her-name, Kathleen. They went over that way to the tomb. I don’t know about everyone else.”
Graham’s blue eyes squinted into the afternoon sun. He just barely missed being too handsome by having a nose a bit wider and larger than suited his face. His eyes were startling—pure blue fringed by thick, black eyelashes. He wasn’t known for being a flirt, however, even when actively pursued by undergraduate girls who signed up for his biochemistry courses in greater numbers than could be explained by their graduation requirements. Shelley, Lacy knew, was keenly aware of her competition.
This was the first time she had seen Graham in shorts and she noticed he had lean, muscular legs. At school he was usually in a chemical-stained white lab coat with acid burns on the sleeves. Like several other staff members, he lectured in his lab coat, wore it to lunch and only took it off when he went home. It felt odd, she thought, to see your co-workers in this rather family-like setting, sleeping across the hall from them, waiting for them to finish in the shower, sitting on the porch with them, staring out together at a foreign world of sand and rock.
“You’ve talked to Mrs. Friedman?” Graham asked.
“She’ll be here tomorrow night.”
“I can’t believe it. I can’t fucking believe it.” Graham shook his head. “He was so looking forward to this project! And he dies the first night here!”
Lacy said nothing.
“Had he been having heart problems lately?”
“No.”
“How did his wife take it?”
“I couldn’t tell, over the phone.” Lacy ran one hand over her face, squeezed the bridge of her nose. “Why didn’t he call out or something? Wouldn’t the pain have woken him up?”
“Seems like it would have.”
“We’d have heard him, wouldn’t we? I mean, these walls are thick, but still, we’d have heard him if he yelled.”
“I certainly would have. I’m a light sleeper and I thought I’d never get to sleep last night.” Graham turned his red-veined eyes to Lacy’s face. “What can I do to help? I’m no good at this sort of thing but you shouldn’t be doing all the work.”
“I’m not doing any work. I called his wife because I know her better than the rest of you do.”
“Joel was crazy about you, you know.”
“He helped me a lot. When I first came to Wythe, I was clueless about departmental politics. If it hadn’t been for Joel, they’d have given me an office in the broom closet.” Lacy noticed she was wearing flip-flops and wondered when she had put them on. She pulled at the bottom of her shirt, checking to see if it was buttoned right. All memory of getting dressed that morning was gone.
“Joel had the hots for you.”
Lacy made a derisive puffing noise. “He loved me like a daughter.”
“You are so naïve.” Graham turned to face her, cocked his head
Lacy was using the house phone because her cell phone didn’t work in Egypt. Graham told her she needed to buy a SIM card for it. A card specifically for Egypt. She called Joan back, kept her talking until she heard their doorbell ring and heard Virginia Swain’s voice in the background.
She made arrangements for Joan to fly to New York at noon and to Cairo that evening. It was still barely seven a.m. in Virginia so Joan would have time to pack a bag. She called Peter Swain back and asked if they could drive Joan to Reagan Airport in D.C. Her plane would arrive in Luxor late the following afternoon.
* * *
Lacy found Graham Clark sitting on the porch and pulled up a chair for herself. She turned it, like Graham’s, to face the western hills and sat. “Where is everybody?”
Graham nodded toward a dirt path that seemed to lead westward to a spot near a light pole and what might be excavation equipment. “Those two we met last night. Paul and what’s-her-name, Kathleen. They went over that way to the tomb. I don’t know about everyone else.”
Graham’s blue eyes squinted into the afternoon sun. He just barely missed being too handsome by having a nose a bit wider and larger than suited his face. His eyes were startling—pure blue fringed by thick, black eyelashes. He wasn’t known for being a flirt, however, even when actively pursued by undergraduate girls who signed up for his biochemistry courses in greater numbers than could be explained by their graduation requirements. Shelley, Lacy knew, was keenly aware of her competition.
This was the first time she had seen Graham in shorts and she noticed he had lean, muscular legs. At school he was usually in a chemical-stained white lab coat with acid burns on the sleeves. Like several other staff members, he lectured in his lab coat, wore it to lunch and only took it off when he went home. It felt odd, she thought, to see your co-workers in this rather family-like setting, sleeping across the hall from them, waiting for them to finish in the shower, sitting on the porch with them, staring out together at a foreign world of sand and rock.
“You’ve talked to Mrs. Friedman?” Graham asked.
“She’ll be here tomorrow night.”
“I can’t believe it. I can’t fucking believe it.” Graham shook his head. “He was so looking forward to this project! And he dies the first night here!”
Lacy said nothing.
“Had he been having heart problems lately?”
“No.”
“How did his wife take it?”
“I couldn’t tell, over the phone.” Lacy ran one hand over her face, squeezed the bridge of her nose. “Why didn’t he call out or something? Wouldn’t the pain have woken him up?”
“Seems like it would have.”
“We’d have heard him, wouldn’t we? I mean, these walls are thick, but still, we’d have heard him if he yelled.”
“I certainly would have. I’m a light sleeper and I thought I’d never get to sleep last night.” Graham turned his red-veined eyes to Lacy’s face. “What can I do to help? I’m no good at this sort of thing but you shouldn’t be doing all the work.”
“I’m not doing any work. I called his wife because I know her better than the rest of you do.”
“Joel was crazy about you, you know.”
“He helped me a lot. When I first came to Wythe, I was clueless about departmental politics. If it hadn’t been for Joel, they’d have given me an office in the broom closet.” Lacy noticed she was wearing flip-flops and wondered when she had put them on. She pulled at the bottom of her shirt, checking to see if it was buttoned right. All memory of getting dressed that morning was gone.
“Joel had the hots for you.”
Lacy made a derisive puffing noise. “He loved me like a daughter.”
“You are so naïve.” Graham turned to face her, cocked his head
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