Chapter Thirty-Three
Ethan
Derek Montgomery pushes off the side of the car he’s been leaning against, smiles and holds his hand out.
“You must be Ethan Carter. I can’t believe we haven’t met in all these years.”
“Nice to meet you, Derek.” I’m confident my voice expresses the exact opposite as I take his hand in a brutal grip before crossing my arms. I flick a quick glance at Sadie that asks how she wants me to play this and get a micro-shrug in response. I’m close enough to see her eyes are a little glazed and her lips are quivering. But I’ve got her back. “Is there something we can do for you?” I ask, using ‘we’ very deliberately.
“I was hoping to take a look around the site, see what you’ve got my little girl up to. Make sure you’re not taking advantage of cheap labour.” He chuckles as though he’s making a joke with an old friend. Fuck. The front on this guy.
“This is a teaching dig, Derek. Every one of the students is being guided, and assessed on their contribution. You can rest assured Sadie’s studies are in good hands.” As if he cares.
When Bart came to me, worried a man was asking after Sadie and that she looked scared, it didn’t take Einstein to work out who it was. Although, not to brag, but we do share an IQ.
I legged it over to the dig entrance and found Sadie looking like she’d seen a ghost. She’s a strong woman, and I’m sure she can handle herself. That doesn’t mean she should have to.
“Oh, I’m sure they are. Any chance of a tour?” He hasn’t even glanced Sadie’s way since I walked up. There’s an agenda here, and I have a sneaking suspicion I might know what it is.
“Of course. Sadie and I would be happy to show you around. Wouldn’t we?”
Sadie nods reluctantly, and I hold out my arm to indicate welcome. We set off down the slight slope towards where the students and local staff are digging. I debate whether to position Sadie between us, or to run interference in the middle myself, but decide to make him work for my attention through Sadie. There’s nobody here other than myself and Tarek more able to explain what’s going on.
I step aside and surreptitiously pat her back, letting her know she’s got my support and I’ll be with her every step of the way. Literally.
“Sadie, why don’t you explain our plans to Derek.”
And she does. She’s articulate, concise and knowledgeable as she explains the way we’ve divided the site and how we’re cataloguing our finds.
To date, our finds have been scarce and insignificant, which is not surprising since we’re in a new section and have barely scratched the surface. Literally. In another few days, things should start to pick up.
The section Sadie has been working with Bart is quite large and they’re keeping it tidy. Both of them are impressively methodical and organised. Bart stands and shakes Derek’s hand.
“Oh, you’re from Cambridge. Interesting.” Derek’s chest is puffed out, his hands on his hips, feet wide in a master of the universe pose. “You still have close ties there I imagine, Ethan,” he directs to me, confirming what I suspected.
We’re interrupted by Riley, who sashays—there’s no other word for it—over with a sway in her hips and fresh gloss on her lips.
“Hello, you must be Professor Montgomery. It’ssonice to meet you.” She holds out a hand, and they both linger over the handshake.
Sadie turns away, rolls her eyes and makes a gagging face as her father shares an oily smile with Riley, looking for all the world like the wolf about to devour Red Riding Hood. For her part, Riley looks like that would be just fine with her. The other students appear and are introduced, but none get quite the attention Riley does.
“Would you like to come and see mysection, Professor?” Riley asks, with a sly look at Sadie.
“Lead the way,” Derek replies, putting a hand far too low on her back for appropriateness.
Sadie remains where she is, fists clenched by her sides, watching them as they stand a few metres away beside Riley’s dig section, chatting. About what I can only imagine, but I doubt it's dig related.
“What I can’t work out is why he bothered to come here. He has no interest in me.”
I’d like to knee this guy in the nuts and hurl him into the Nile. Shame about the lack of crocodiles.
“His loss, Sadie, not yours. Believe me, he has nothing to offer that you need.”
It doesn’t take long for Derek and Riley’s conversation to morph from friendly to something that looks a lot like flirting. She’s brushing her hair off her face and smiling at him through lowered lashes. He’s touching her arm and widening his stance. Sadie’s expression is becoming more thunderous by the second. Time to shut this shit down.
“Well, Derek, the students need to get back to work, so if there’s nothing else …” I leave my sentence hanging because I have a pretty good idea of what else he wants.
“Actually, a quiet word would be good.” He saunters over, and I lead him away, back towards the entrance to the dig site where we have a tent set up as a basic office and first aid spot. Sadie hovers for a moment and I tip my head, indicating she should wait over by Derek’s car.
