Preservation
Page 4
“There was a marathon of an alien conspiracy show on yesterday, so there’s probably ten or more episodes on the DVR.”
“Great. See you when you get out.” David turned, and she watched him head for the walk-in closet to put the purse away.
She walked into her own bedroom and closed the door behind her. Leaning heavily against the door, she again put her hand to her chest for a moment. Maybe she had left the hospital too soon. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. No, she’d be fine. Mariska cracked the door open and snuck a peek into the hallway. David was a stand-up guy, so why was she being so secretive about what she’d done? About what she had found?
As she was about to close the door, David emerged from the second bedroom. His effortless gait. The bounce in his step, despite the late hour of night. The way his rumpled tux clung in all the right places. He caught her staring.
“Everything all right?” he asked, stopping in mid-stride. His brow once again furrowed.
“Oh, yeah. I thought I heard you call my name.” She looked down and smiled—biting her bottom lip ever so slightly, before closing the door in front of her.
Mariska heard his footfalls, slow at first, pause at her door before continuing down the hallway toward the living room. She started to turn away but stopped. Looking down at the doorknob, she reached into the top of her dress and pulled out the pouch she’d stashed away in her bra. She’d managed to sneak them from her purse before they’d left the hospital. Had this discovery she’d made in the tombs this evening been related to her attack and the theft?
La Brea Woman’s remains were missing, but she still had this—a pouch filled with pieces of the puzzle. Contemplating their significance for a moment, she closed her fist around them and locked the door.
Chapter Five
The reflection in the mirror made her glance away. Eyes sunken deep into their sockets, dark circles punctuating her fatigue. Mariska looked like she’d aged years in the past few hours. The mirror showed the bruises were forming on her arms, legs, and back. There were scratches on her back and legs that were now red and inflamed. Had she been dragged into the elevator? But by whom?
The hot shower behind her was filling the small bathroom with steam. The mirror fogged over, releasing her from the trance she’d fallen into. She put the white evening dress on a hanger attached to a hook over the bathroom door. The steam would help relax the wrinkles that had multiplied on the delicate silk fabric. She turned the dress over and saw no less than five tears. She brushed her hand against the dark stains. It was ruined. She hung her head and massaged her temples.
Damn.
She sat on the toilet and took off one shoe at a time, massaging her toes and instep. The shiny red heels were beautiful, but hurt her feet more than she’d like to admit. She set the shoes down on the floor next to her and closed her eyes. An image of the gem-encrusted purse she’d gone back into the tombs to recover flashed into her mind. Had she left the purse behind, she wouldn’t have been attacked, but she might not have found the mysterious pouch that’d been left behind. The find had been unexpected, and there’d been no time to examine it. Mariska palmed the woven material, rolling it around in her hand. Soft and worn, the find had enough weight to make her wonder what it contained. She’d wanted to pull it from the skull, but knew better than to do it before having the official permission. But when she’d found it on the floor of the tombs, there hadn’t been time to think…or act with a scientific mind. The pouch was old and hand woven with a cinch at the top. Cloth material like this was not found in America ten thousand years ago, so it hadn’t belonged to the La Brea Woman. While old, possibly turn of the century, she suspected the pouch itself was not of any real scientific significance. But how did it get inside her skull? And why?
With extreme care, she opened the cinched top and emptied the contents into her palm. The unexpected surprise made her gasp. A large tooth along with nine crudely carved beads. Each bead was cubic in shape and of a different color and had a hole bored through. Part of a necklace? And a tooth? Shaped like a human eyetooth, it was far too big. At least three times too large. These artifacts had to have been related to the theft, why else would it have been there? Her mind swirled with more questions than answers, and she started feeling weak. She returned the mysterious items back into the pouch and hid it inside the vanity. Better take a shower.
Water hot enough to sting helped wash away the day’s devils. That and the cherry blossom bath soap her mom and dad brought back from their recent travels to Japan. Her skin was red and hot but had now adjusted to the temperature. It felt so good, the water massaging away the aches and pains. Soon her headache was gone—mostly. After turning off the shower, she stood for a moment, listening to the water circle the tub drain.
The slow drip of the showerhead kept her focused the problem. Where was the La Brea Woman? Who else wanted her? And who the hell had access?
A shiver brought her back to the here and now. The water had completely emptied from the tub, leaving her cold and wet. Goosebumps covered her body and the shivering intensified. She threw back the shower curtain and grabbed for the towel. Once she was dry, the fluffy terrycloth bathrobe slipped around her shoulders in a warm, comforting embrace. She snugged it tight and breathed in its freshly laundered scent. It was a wonderful, yet temporary reprieve from the terrible day.
She jumped at the unexpected knock on the bathroom door. She’d completely forgotten David was still there. Such a good man, agreeing to stay the night—on concussion watch. Even though it would’ve been nice to take a shower in peace.
“Are you doing all right in there?” David asked. Mariska could hear the concern in his voice.
“I’m good, thank you. Just about finished.” Hadn’t she locked her bedroom door?
“Good, just making sure. The doctor did say the steam from the shower could make you woozy.”
“Nope, I think it made me feel better.” Mariska began towel drying her hair. “Thank you for checking, though.”
“I’ll meet you in the living room. Ancient Aliens is on, and they’re talking about the Annunaki. I swear the commentators are nuts, but I do agree the Sumerians knew more than we give them credit for.”
She couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. “Sounds good. I’ll be out in five minutes.”
She smiled. David was such an open soul. Believed in everything from aliens and Bigfoot to the Loch Ness Monster. Maybe even mermaids. She loved that about him. While she was someone who believed there were still many mysterious things that haven’t been proven, seen, or explained, she still had trouble admitting it to anyone other than David.
Guilt nagged her belly as she dug the pouch out from the bottom drawer of the vanity. Why didn’t she tell David about it? It was for his own protection. No sense in risking implicating him in what she'd done. But if there was anyone in this world that could and would truly appreciate the potential find, it was him. Yes, she’d tell him about them—eventually. But not until she had a better idea of what it all meant. After all, if she was still somehow awarded the grant, he would be her right-hand-man. But for now, it would stay her secret.
She walked out of the bathroom and straight over to the bedroom door and locked it. On the long dresser under the window, there was a small decorative box. It was covered in multicolored glass mosaic tiles. It had a trick lid that popped opened when the bottom was pulled down. Opening the pouch, she took out the beads and palmed them. She placed the beads into the box and closed the lid. There hadn’t been room for the pouch and tooth, so she needed a second hiding place.
She took a moment to examine the fossil. It didn’t fit any animal she’d ever seen before. Too long to be from a dire wolf, too short to be from a saber-toothed cat. Possibly a bear, but at three inches from tip to base, it didn’t fit any of the usual suspects in that area of California. What was that? Mariska held the tooth up to the light. A tiny hole on each side of the base. Part of a necklace? Had the La Brea Woman be
en wearing the beads and this tooth when she died?
There wasn't the time or equipment in her apartment to give the tooth a proper scientific examination. That’s when she spotted the perfect hiding place. On the bookshelf, there was a geode she’d picked up at a local flea market. The felt bottom could be pulled back to reveal a hide-a-key opening. She padded across the room and opened the secret compartment. After putting the tooth back into the pouch, she placed it inside the geode and replaced the felt bottom.
A jiggle of the doorknob made her jump. The knock that followed pissed her off.
“I’m getting dressed,” she said.
“Sorry, just checking on you.” David’s voice was soft, kind.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. With nothing to be upset about, she put the bookend back on the shelf and got dressed into her matching green and white Zed the Mammoth pajamas. The long sleeves and pants were made of a thin, soft, cotton-blend and they always relaxed her nerves when she wore them.
Hurrying out to the living room, she sat next to David on the leather couch, pulling the throw off the back and onto her legs. Despite the summer heat, her apartment was always cool inside. She snuggled into his side a bit further.
The two of them sat comfortably together on the couch, watching television, and it felt amazing. Good enough for her mind to wander to the long term. Could she and David be…a thing? No. David was a great guy, and there might’ve been a time where they could’ve been something more, but they both decided that their friendship meant too much.
“You feeling any better?” David asked.
She slid over and rested her head on his shoulder, “Yeah. I am now.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Good. I’m sorry the gala turned into a nightmare for you.”
“Me too.” She sighed. “Dr. Snyder was going to give one of us the go-ahead to start our research on the La Brea Woman. He was supposed to make it official with an announcement tonight. Not that it matters now.”
David tightened his arm into a hug. “It still matters…and he pulled me aside just before the gala started and told me it was you who was getting the green light.”
“Me? He told you that?” Her heart raced at the idea, but a pit formed in her stomach. I’ll probably never get the chance to do it now.
She tilted her head and arched her eyebrows. “David?”
“Yeah?”
“I didn’t tell you everything that happened when the detective questioned me.”
He looked at her, his forehead crinkled, deep furrows forming between his brows.
“He tried to say that—”
Mariska’s cell phone rang. She grabbed for it. “It’s Dr. Snyder.”
“Better answer it. Maybe he’ll still give you the grant?”
She took a deep breath and let it out, slow and controlled. “Hello, this is Dr. Stevenson.”
“Dr. Stevenson, how could you?”
The unexpected volume of his voice caused Mariska to pull the phone away from her ear for a moment. “Excuse me?”
“You’ve stolen museum property.” Each and every word was a dagger straight into her gut.
“I…I didn’t.” There was no way he knew about the beads. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know damn well. The La Brea Woman is gone. You’ve stolen her. Even the police think you’re involved.”
“No, I—”
“You did.” Dr. Snyder’s voice came through as scratchy bursts of anger. She could envision the spittle as it left his violently shaking jowls. “The detective told me he interrogated you at the hospital. Clearly, you have to admit they think you’re involved somehow.”
“The police told you I did it?” Mariska felt sick and struggled to keep her voice steady.
“The detective didn’t say you were guilty, but it’s obvious to me you’re a suspect.”
“If I’m a suspect, then we both are. You were at the Museum Gala, just as I was…sir.”
“Excuse, me?” Dr. Snyder’s voice cracked, betraying his surprise at her defense. There was a moment of silence where she assumed he was gathering his composure. “The museum has suffered a great loss—an assault really. I do not have proof that you’re directly involved, but you’ve been so obsessed with the La Brea Woman, I can’t just dismiss the possibility. Maybe you acted with an accomplice, but I believe you’re involved. Somehow you found out you might have been passed over for the grant money and you just couldn’t bare the idea of giving up your research.”
Mariska’s stomach sank, and she swallowed back tears. “I didn’t get the grant? I thought it was set in stone. I had no way of knowing it wasn’t. You’ve got to believe me. I’m sorry this has happened. I want you to know I have had nothing to do with this…I swear to it. I’ll take a polygraph—whatever it takes.”
“I think in the public eye, it’s too late for that,” Dr. Snyder said before clearing his throat and putting on his boss’ tone of voice. “I want you to resign from your position. I want the negative spotlight off the museum. Every day that goes by without a resolution…coupled with your continued employement, puts the museum—and the funds that keep her afloat—at risk.”
“Please, Dr. Snyder.” She clenched her fist to keep her emotions in check. “I was attacked…I’m a victim here.”
“No, the museum’s the victim. And as much as this pains me to say, if the police prove your part in this, expect that you will be pursued with every resource we have at our disposal.”
“I’m going to be cleared of any wrongdoing. I would hope you’d use the museum’s resources to find the culprit who committed this horrible crime. This witch-hunt is a waste of their money, your time, and is beneath the reputation of the museum.”
“I am so incredibly disappointed in you, Doctor Stevenson.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. What could she say to that?
Dr. Snyder huffed. She could image him sweating, shaking with pent up hostility and unsaid comments he was forcing to remain that way. He’d never liked her. He’d railed against her initial hire and then again, her promotion to lead paleontologist. He would soon be retiring as head curator, and it must have hurt him to hear her name floating around as a possible replacement.
“If there is the slightest bit of evidence you’re involved in this, Dr. Stevenson, your career is over. And until this investigation has been completed, you are not to touch, access, or research anything at the museum that is related to the La Brea Woman. I don’t want your name associated with anything that is linked to the remains. Period. You mess up at all, you’re done. Are we clear?”
“Crystal.” She hung up the phone and sank further into the sofa, her head resting against David for comfort. “He—”
“No need to say anything. I heard that smug asshole, loud and clear.” David wrapped his arm around Mariska and held her tight. “I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Do you think he’s making it up about the grant? It’s like he’s trying to pin in on you.”
She would have cried if she wasn’t so pissed.
Chapter Six
Mariska hunched over a backlit table sifting through bits of dirt, bone, and tar-covered debris from Pit 23. The pit adjacent to the one La Brea Woman was found in over a century ago. The strain in her lower back was spreading up her spine and into the back of her head. David’s warnings about returning to work too soon after the attack had fallen on deaf ears. If she didn’t take a break soon, she’d end up with a migraine. She sat up, arched her back, and stretched her neck from side to side. The throbbing in the back of her head made her eyes and teeth hurt.
“Are you okay?” her college intern, Theresa Krieger said. She was a graduate student from USC and had proven a solid scientist. She stood and reached up overhead and stretched her back. The young woman wasn’t extremely tall but was as lanky as they come. Long spindly legs, shoved into skinny-jeans, and long blonde hair made her appear even skinnier than she really was.
“I’ll be fine. Just a bit bruised and sore from last night. Still can’t believe what happened.”
The pain ebbed a bit once she was standing and moving around the dark laboratory. But her mind wouldn’t shut down, or even slow, for that matter. Who took her, the La Brea Woman? And, why? There had to be something incredibly valuable about her…and it couldn’t have been her historical or educational value.
There was a coffee pot outside the lab. No food or beverages were allowed inside to avoid contamination. She thought about how she’d already done so much to hurt her career. Shaking her head, she sighed. What made her think it had been okay to take the woven pouch in the first place? To touch it without gloved hands was iffy, but to take it from the museum was something else entirely.
Mariska turned to Theresa, who was still hunched over a back-lit table, sifting through bits of material. “I’m going to step out for a second—clear my head and take a walk around.” She opened the door and walked out into the dark storage area of the Tombs.
She took a sip of coffee and looked back through the glass wall into the lab and saw the clock inside read ten o’clock. It was way past closing time. She and Theresa were the only souls in the building. Thankful for the company, it helped keep the creepiness of the Tombs at bay. Long, dark aisles of shelving with storage boxes filled with the remains of long-since extinct animals and plant life. Each box holding a new discovery, yet to be analyzed and recorded. But whenever Mariska closed her eyes and was alone among the remains, she felt the collective energy of this makeshift mausoleum. Not someone who identified as a religious person, or had a belief in souls or the afterlife, Mariska couldn’t deny there was an energy that flowed through this place.
Maybe it was the fact she’d been attacked there less than twenty-four hours ago, but she felt like there were eyes on her. She looked up and spotted a security camera. That was new…wasn’t it? The dust from a freshly drilled wallboard dirtied the floor below it. Definitely, new. Had it already been hooked up? She took a step to the right and a couple to the left. The camera didn’t move, the glowing red light the only indication it was even turned operational.