The Navigators by Dan Alatorre Read Free Book Online Page B

Wincing like it hurt to get the word out, he gave his reply. “Half.”
    “Half!” A vein on Roger’s forehead made itself visible. “Half of what?”
    “Half of the technology rights.” Barry rubbed his neck. “Whether we can make it work or not.”
    “Half! And the rest of us share the other half?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Oh, you asshole!” Roger was steaming. He pounded his chest with his finger. “You had no right to give my share of anything.”
    “Yes, I did,” Barry said. His voice was now more even, less emotional. “It was my find. My dig site. Hell, I’m the only reason any of us were even there!”
    Melissa’s cell phone rang in her pocket. She checked it. “Shit, it’s Dean Anderson.”
    “So what? He calls me sometimes for updates and stuff.” Barry shrugged. “Answer it.”
    “Wait.” Roger eyed her. “He doesn’t call for no reason. What could he want?”
    It rang again.
    I was worried. “From what Roger said, if he finds out about the machine, it’s game over.” I glanced at Melissa. “We’ll never see it again. We’re finished before we even begin.”
    Melissa held the phone with both hands as it rung a third time. “What do I do?”
    “See what he wants,” Barry said, going to her. “But don’t tell him anything.”
    Roger joined the huddle. “Try to sound relaxed.”
    Melissa took a deep breath and pressed a button on her phone. “Good morning, Dr. Anderson.” She held the phone away from her ear and pressed the speaker button.
    “Melissa, I’m glad I caught you. Just heard the good news about your dad. It’s all over the radio. We’re all pulling for him, the whole university staff.”
    “Yes, sir. He knows it, and he appreciates it, too—your support.”
    Noise permeated his words, like he called from a car. “Good, good. Well, anyway, I just got off the phone with an administrator from Shands hospital in Gainesville. Seems they got a radio distress call from your crew yesterday. Something about an accident?”
    Barry nodded and gave a thumbs up, mouthing the words “Say ‘yes.’”
    “Uh, that’s right, sir,” Melissa said. “We did radio Shands from the mine site yesterday.”
    Roger put a hand to his forehead. Like calling 911, after he radioed Shands hospital about a possible drowning accident and then never showed up, Shands followed up to see what happened.
    “I see.” Dean Anderson’s voice crackled over the cell phone. “Is everything okay? Nobody hurt, I hope.”
    She looked at Barry, who shook his head.
    “No. Nobody hurt.”
    Anderson sounded like he was getting a little agitated. “Would it be asking too much for you to tell me what happened?”
    “Not at all, sir. It was really nothing. Riff slipped on a hillside and went into the water, the retention pond. Roger called it in as a precaution.”
    “Precaution! Seems a little extreme, doesn’t it? For a slip and fall?”
    “Well, yes, in hindsight.” Melissa appeared to be getting her balance. “But with the safety protocols and all, we thought it best to call it in. And you know Roger.”
    “Yes, I see…”
    It was a good bluff. Since we ultimately checked Riff into University Community Hospital by the campus, it would seem to add up.
    “Riff said he felt fine, but after we were halfway home, we could see he’d gotten pretty bruised up, so we took him to University Community. They admitted him.”
    “Really?”
    “Oh, for observation, they said. The doctor thinks Riff is probably fine. Just a little banged up, that’s all, and they want to be safe.”
    “Okay.” Anderson cleared his throat. “Well, as you know there is some paperwork we need to fill out for that sort of thing…”
    She nodded. “Oh, yes sir. In fact, I’m on my way over to see you. I wanted to get you up to speed and fill out the report.”
    “Don’t rush. I did an overnight fundraising junket in Tallahassee and I’m still on my way back. Just be sure to get the reports filed in a day or so.