The Runestone Incident (The Incident Series, #2) Read Free Page A

switching the phone to my left hand so that I could reach into the cookie jar for the last of the fudge mints. “I’m not sure what to do. I can’t get him a STEWie run like he wants, but we can’t let him expose Sabina either. It’s hard enough to be the new kid in school. Imagine how mercilessly she’ll get teased if the other kids find out that she’s from the first century. And if the media gets a hold of the story…”
    Though every historian at St. Sunniva University would have given an arm and a leg to sit Sabina down and hear what life had been like for an ordinary person in the ancient Roman Empire, something that rarely made it into the accounts that had survived into the present before STEWie, we had agreed that privacy trumped academics. Sabina had not asked to be brought here, and we were not going to make a celebrity out of her. If she decided to share her story with the world when she was older—well, that would be her choice.
    “You did the right thing, Julia.” Helen’s voice, trained by years of classroom lecturing, carried strong through the line. “And if he does break the news—well, the truth was bound to come out one day. When it does, Sabina will be fine. There might be some awkwardness for us here at St. Sunniva about how the whole thing was handled, but we’ll deal with it. Why does Quinn care about finding the runestone anyway? Historical finds rarely make anyone rich.”
    Helen knew Quinn somewhat, having met him at a few of the school functions we’d attended as a couple.
    “He seems to think the runestone would make a great pilot for a time travel reality TV show with him as the star,” I explained.
    “It might, I suppose, though I would have thought the JFK assassination or something of that sort would be more marketable. It’s the first idea that people always bring up.”
    “He’s saving that for a future episode. His grandfather played a role in digging up the stone, so he thinks that makes it perfect for the pilot.”
    “I see.”
    I slid the lid into its place over the empty cookie jar. “If Quinn asked for money so he could finance the reality show, I might have given him some. But not this, not an off-the-books STEWie run.”
    “I wouldn’t worry about it, Julia. Still, I suppose we should prepare Sabina just in case. We can talk more about it this evening.”
    I was hosting a get-together of our Pompeii family to celebrate Sabina’s first week of high school. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather you didn’t bring it up, Helen. I don’t want to ruin Sabina’s party. Plus, I don’t want…uh, the others to know that Quinn is in town.”
    “How are things between you and Chief Kirkland, anyway? Has he asked you out yet?”
    Nate and I had formed a friendship on the Pompeii run, but that was the extent of it. I obviously still had some Quinn-related issues, and Nate had personal stuff he needed to work through as well. At least we’d come back from Pompeii with him calling me Julia instead of Ms. Olsen . It was progress. He had been gone most of the summer, which was quiet time at the school, on a team-building retreat. I hadn’t seen him since the Fourth of July picnic.
    “There’s nothing going on between us,” I said into the phone. “Besides, he just got back.”
    “The course of true love never did run smooth,” said Helen, who was given to quoting the Bard at odd moments. “Do you need me to bring anything tonight other than the balloons?”
    “Let me check.” I moused the computer to life, closed the orientation booklet I had been working on, and opened the party to-do list. I’d already crossed off most of the items on it. “We’re looking good, if the weather clears up. I’m picking up the cake on the way home, and Nate is bringing the burgers.”
    Cooking and I did not mix, even on outdoor grills, so Nate’s offer of being the designated chef was a welcome one.
    “See you tonight, Julia—oh, wait, I have an idea. I should have