Their comments faded out as Tory made her way to her office. But as she neared it, the female student body count got higher and higher or more to the point thicker and thicker. She actually had to push her way through them.
Yeah . . . this wasn't right. She'd never seen so many people this interested in the Anthropology department before.
It wasn't until she neared her door that she realized why.
Ash was there. Dressed in a long black duster that made her wonder just how many ankle length coats he had, he leaned against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. His was a powerful nonchalance that was riveting. She looked down and smiled at his crossed booted feet and the ever present black backpack resting behind them.
Those dark sunglasses were in place and today his long hair was pulled back into a ponytail. And his silver nose stud had been exchanged for one that looked like a small red ruby.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, reaching her door.
"Waiting for you."
She glanced around at the traffic jam he'd caused. "Really, you should have called. I think the Fire Marshal would have issues with this."
A slow grin broke across his face. "Sorry."
She opened the door and stood back. "You better get inside while I hold them off."
Picking up his backpack, he laughed before he complied.
Tory turned toward the collection of students. "See how exciting Anthropology is? He's a leading expert in ancient Greece. Now you should all change your majors so that you can ogle men like him all day long. Or better yet, uncover naked male statues."
She closed the door to find Ash smirking at her. "Was that necessary?"
"Hey, I live to recruit students for the department. If I can make you good for something, then by golly I'm going to do it."
"By golly?"
She shrugged as she put her armload of books down on her desk. "Yeah, like you don't have weird things you say, too. So what can I do for you?"
"I want to go back to that 'make you good for something' statement for a minute . . . Why do you hate me so much?"
Tory squirmed a bit under his hidden scrutiny and pointed question. "I wouldn't say I hate you. The hatred has fallen down to a mild distaste."
"Why?"
She sighed as she returned some of her books to the shelves behind her desk. "Because everything seems so easy for you. Have you ever had a day in your life where people weren't lining up to take care of you?"
"Yes, Soteria. I have. I assure you, my life has never been an easy one and you should be grateful every day you live that you can't imagine what kind of childhood I had."
Tory paused at the note in his voice and the deadly sincerity of his words. "I'm sorry, Ash. I didn't know."
He set the backpack down on the floor. "It's easy to look at people and make quick judgments about them, their present and their pasts, but you'd be amazed at the pain and tears a single smile hides. What a person shows to the world is only one tiny facet of the iceberg hidden from sight. And more often than not, it's lined with cracks and scars that go all the way to the foundation of their soul."
He was right and it made her feel guilty that she was so quick to assess people. It'd always been a fault of hers that she tried not to give in to. "You are amazingly astute for someone your age."
He snorted. "I told you, I'm older than I look and I've never had anything in my life that I didn't pay for one way or another."
She shuffled a stack of papers into her inbox. "Now that I think about it, you'd have to be a glutton for punishment to keep coming near me given my acerbic personality where you're concerned."
Ash offered her his hand. "Truce?"
"Peace, my brother," she said shaking his hand. "Now why are you here?"
Sighing, he stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, I heard from a friend that some archaeologists in Greece had been arrested for excavating without a permit. I wanted to see if they happened to be your team."
She waved her hand dismissively. "Why would they be my team?"
"They were excavating a site they claimed to be Atlantis. Sounded like your guys to me."
"But we have all of our paperwork."
"If you're sure . . ." he let his voice trail off meaningfully.
She screwed her face up as if she realized her luck would have them in trouble. "Wait. Let me call."
Ash sat down in the chair in front of her desk and stretched his legs out while she dug her phone out of her purse.
Tory frowned at his backpack on the floor and the way he kept it within easy reach. "What's in that backpack, by the way? You're always guarding it like it holds national security secrets or something."
"Dirty underwear."
She rolled her eyes. "Thanks so much for that image."
"You asked."
Shaking her head, she dialed David's number. When he didn't answer, she rang Justina. Again, no answer. Her panic set in as she tried for Bruce.
"Tory?"
She breathed in relief as he answered. "Hey sweetie, I can't get-"
"They've all been arrested."
Disgusted and afraid, she glanced to Ash whose handsome face was completely stoic. "What?"
"The whole team. I stayed on land to wait and sign for the new diving gear that was coming in and the next thing I knew, the boat was impounded and everyone was taken into custody."
Tory let out a frustrated breath. "How is this possible?"
"They say our paperwork is forged."
"Bullshit! It's not forged. Solin helped us to get it renewed just last spring."
"Yeah and as usual Solin has fled the scene. We can't find him either. For all I know he's in jail alongside them."
"Oh good grief. Okay, you sit tight and I'll see what I can do." Hanging up, she looked at Ash who sat as still as a statue. "You were right. My whole crew. Gone. Arrested. Perfect. Shoot me now and save me the expense of a bullet later."
He let out a tired breath as he rubbed one large hand down his thigh. "Don't worry. I'll make a call and get them out."
"You can do that?"