“Well, it was silly of me to think I should stay out there alone. He was just trying to be helpful. Besides, Felix and Logan offered to stay behind, too,” Miri said.
“Okay, Miri. And so how’d things go at the bar the other night?”
“Fine, until Dr. Quinn showed up.” Miri rolled her eyes thinking back on it, then remembered his phone. “I have his phone, by the way,” she called out.
“You do?”
“Yeah, it was in his bag under the seat of the van. But I haven’t looked at it yet.”
“Where is it?” Anissa asked.
“It’s in the cargos I was wearing. They’re in here. You can come in.”
Anissa opened the door and dug around for the phone while Miri continued showering.
“Shoot, it’s locked,” Anissa said. “What do you think his password is? It’s only three numbers.”
“Probably something pompous.”
Dr. Quinn’s voice echoed in her head.Me, myself, and I. Numero uno. My favorite number.
No? He couldn’t bethatpompous.
“Try one-one-one,” Miri said.
She waited a moment, then Anissa called out, “Oh my God, that actually worked. How did you know?”
“Lucky guess.” Shedidalways have a knack for picking up on things others may have missed. “See anything interesting?”
Anissa was silent for a few moments. “Hmm…there’s a text string between him and someone named V.”
It could only be one person.
“What’s it say?” Miri asked.
“Let me scroll back. Hmm…well, Dr. Quinn was bitching about you changing course and talking about how you must have figured something out. And then this V person said to stop you, and Quinn said…er…never mind.”
Miri scrunched her face, pausing for a second in the shower. “What do you mean, ‘never mind’? What did he say?”
“Well, um, he said you have no idea what you’re doing and not to worry because he’d put you in your place.”
“Put me in my place?” Miri pushed the shower curtain around her face so she could see Anissa. “Fucking asshole!”
“Is it awful that I’m a smidgegladhe got injured?” Anissa asked, twisting her face to soften the dig.
“A smidge glad? I’m fucking elated!”Hope you’re enjoyingyourplace in that hospital bed, Captain Save-a-Dick!
How men like Dr. Quinn managed to score journal articles and prestigious speaking engagements while Miri was exiled to jobs like dig cleanup duty would forever remain a mystery.
“Oh my God, did Corrie ever tell you about that time when he said she was a ‘good archaeologist for a woman’ during that speaking panel?” Anissa said, resting her behind on the sink and holding the phone by her thighs.
“No, he didn’t!”
“He did. I mean, are you even surprised?”
Unfortunately, not really.
“So what did she do?” Miri asked.
