Recipe for Disaster Pt. 02

"Please tell me this person isn't popular," I said but the girls just blushed. "Aw hell... there goes my doctorate right out the window."

"It's already got over twenty thousand hits," one of the girls stated.

I went to the white board and erased the questions. I gave out a take home test and left once everyone had arrived for that class. I went to the Chancellor's office and asked his secretary to see him. She smiled and told me he was waiting for me. I closed my eyes and whimpered. I tried to stand up straight and face this thing head on but failed miserably. I walked over and knocked on his office door.

"Come in," he said. I opened the door and the Chancellor looked at me and waved me over to one of the seats. "Have a seat son. I know this can't be easy for you but it is a shock to the entire university. We don't hold you to blame at all."

"Thank goodness," I said and let out a sigh of relief. "I was just standing there when..."

"What are you talking about," the elderly man asked leaning forward. "I was talking about the arrest of Professor Loveless."

"Arrested," I said in shock. "Why was he arrested?" Two seconds elapsed and it all made a sick kind of sense. "Oh my god, he was behind it all!"

"Yes, a female detective came in just a few minutes ago and took him into custody. She mentioned you specifically by name and how you helped her crack the case. Well done, I am glad we can put this ugly mess behind us. What did you want to see me about?"

I sighed and launched into the video the students had been looking at in my class. The Chancellor laughed and wiped tears from his eyes. He told me that what happens off campus is of no concern to him. It would blow over and this would soon be just a bad memory. He assured me my graduation wasn't at stake and to carry on. I left his office with mixed feelings. Why would Professor Loveless do all of this? It didn't make any sense. If he had hidden the second dynasty scroll he could have retrieved it at any time. He wouldn't have needed Graves' help or whoever he had convinced to break into my apartment last night. But what if he didn't know which scroll it was hidden beneath? What if he just found out about it? I had to find out.

I spent my morning between handing out the take home test for my other classes and looking into the life of Professor I.Q. Loveless. He went to school here at Miskatonic and graduated near the top of his class in 1966. He worked his way up the ladder until he made head of the history department twenty years ago. He has had a great career and some of his best students have made ground breaking discoveries in digs all over the world. Why would he suddenly toss it all aside to try and steal the scroll? There was something I was missing. I had delved into everything about Loveless that I could find.

"Am I interrupting?" Detective Harding asked over my shoulder. "I see you are looking into his background too."

"What brings you to my little slice of heaven Detective?"

"What is your impression of Professor Loveless?" She asked as she sat on the corner of my desk.

"He's always been level headed the years I have studied under him. He's so bland it's kind of scary really."

"He was very upset about his forced retirement. He asked me if I thought he was old, what a strange thing to ask a perfect stranger. We caught your burglar by the way, he told me all about Loveless being behind the thefts but he refuses to say what they were after. Did he say anything to you?"

"Not really, I heard him picking the lock and grabbed my baseball bat. I hid and waited for him to come around the corner. I hit him and he dropped the gun. We wrestled until Carol came out and told him that she had called the police. She threw him my backpack and he took that and ran off."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I got out of Ms. Manning. We've already searched your apartment thoroughly and I will admit it I am stumped as to what they are after."

"All the scrolls have been returned to the university, but you don't have to take my word for it." I said but she shot that idea down right away.

"No need, I have already spoken with the head librarian. She assures me the lists are all in order and everything is back home, as she put it. That old bird needs to retire. She's been in the stacks way too long."

"Yeah, I kind of got the same feeling," I said. "Coffee, I was about to get some fresh coffee from a place not too far from here."

"Not sure that's a good idea," she said her face making an odd expression. "Being seen in public with you again might tank my career."

"You saw it too," I said and she nodded. "Some of the girl's in my first period class were watching it. I am so sorry."

"Why, that you looked me over or that it was caught on video?" She said in an almost purr.

"Caught on video," I said licking my lips nervously. "I don't regret checking you out Detective."

"Call me Felicia since I'm off duty," she said leaning closer. "How about dinner at your place, I'll bring a nice bottle of wine and you bring... something to eat."

"Seven o'clock," I said just above a whisper.

"Perfect," she moaned. "See you around Professor..."

She got up and I watched her round ass as she walked away. Oh damn, another questionable decision on my part. The case was closed and I was just a footnote in her report. I was going to break her. Yes, I was going to fuck her into submission! I got up and walked to the nearest bathroom and splashed a lot of cold water on my face. I looked in the mirror and the hungry look was still blazing in my eyes. I needed to take my mind off of her for right now. I checked my watch and cursed. I raced to my office and changed into my dark suit. I slipped on the coat since it was overcast and headed out for the service and funeral of young Mr. Graves.

There were more flowers than I expected for such a young man. He was well liked and many of them were from clubs as well as his fraternity. I glanced down at my own fraternity ring and took my place in line to view the corpse. I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder and saw Carol right behind me. She gave me an encouraging smile and I nodded. I stood before the man that had broken into my home, trashed its contents and might have murdered me for a second dynasty scroll. I had mixed feelings to be honest. If it hadn't been for my mother's birthday it might be me in that coffin instead of him. I continued to a seat with the other members of the Miskatonic staff. Carol sat next to me and held my hand. There were a lot of students as well as friends and family assembled here. Once the parade of mourners had been seated the service began. The priest read a few passages from the bible and I saw his mother and family weep for the son they had lost. I felt so damn cold inside. I knew him fairly well and yet his last actions clouded all the good that came before it.

The priest finished his meandering monologue and I was grateful for that. A few people got up and told us what a kind and generous person he was. They all failed to mention that he had died by cop. No one said that he might have killed me if I had been home. I guess they wanted to remember him fondly. I wasn't going to. I kept my face neutral throughout these peeks into this misguided man's life. The service ended and we filed out slowly and quietly. I stepped out onto the steps of the funeral home and was surprised by his mother standing there. She looked indignant with the angry scowl on her face.

"It's your fault he's dead," she spat. "My son is dead because of you!"

"No, your son is dead because he broke into my home and decided to shoot at the police. I had nothing to do with his death."

"Mom," one of her sons appeared and guided her away. "He isn't the one. It was that crazy professor that did all of this."

I watched them walk into the cloud of drizzling mist. Carol appeared next to me and told me that it would be okay. I nodded but the image of my mother all in black leapt into my mind and I frowned. I went to my car and drove home. I had no desire to see his casket lowered into the cold wet earth. I didn't need that right now. I drove back to the campus to kill some time and take my mind off the Detective and Graves. I decided to visit the library. If anything was going to clear my head it was walking around that place. I walked out and the chill air helped snap me out of my depression. My breath was coming in puffs of steam as the weather turned and the autumnal storm took hold. I was clear headed by the time I crossed the campus and reached the library.

The warm interior was welcome even though the walk over hadn't been that uncomfortable. I shook off the chill and wandered around. I didn't know what I was looking for but I would know it when I saw it. I went from section to section but nothing leapt out. I plopped down in the reading section and grabbed a book left behind by someone and began to read. It was a romance novel and soon found its way back to the table. I leaned back and closed my eyes. What the hell was I missing? I cleared my head and took in the sounds and smells around me. Some people were doing research; others were just spending time together while others were using the free Wi-Fi to play online games.

"You look frustrated," a female voice said and I opened my eyes.

"Yeah, I hate riddles," I said to the gorgeous young woman in the dark jeans and the loose fitting top.

"Once you know the answer you always say, I should have gotten that. So what riddle is confounding you?"

"Why does a man who is so stuck in a rut for years and years suddenly change? What happened to him that alters his course so drastically?" I asked and she smiled.

"A rockslide," she said and waited for me to think about it.

"So you are saying that a river doesn't just choose to change its course some outside action or event forces it to change." I said and she nodded. "So maybe this isn't about him at all but someone he knew someone he was close to. Maybe someone close to him died?"

"I think you have it," she said and began to get to her feet.

"Thank you, but I never got your name," I said.

"We've already met," she replied as she walked away.

I checked her out as she walked away and there was something familiar. I looked at her and watched the measured steps, the ramrod way she carried herself and her hands. I had seen those hands before. She disappeared behind a book shelf and I realized I had been talking to the Head Librarian. So that's what she looked like without her mask and makeup. I followed her but lost her once she was out of sight. I did find something out of place. The book was sitting precariously on the top of one of the shelves. I took it down and glanced at the cover and almost cried out. It was a yearbook and it was dated 1966, the year that Loveless graduated. If he had friends they might be in here.

I wrote down the names of the graduating class and used that as my starting point. Next, I logged into Loveless' email account. I was his assistant of sorts after all and I had helped him when he got bogged down with messages from students. I checked his recent emails to see if any of the names corresponded with those of his graduating class. None of them did, however, there was a single email from someone nicknamed Squiggles. I opened the message and saw they had cut and pasted a long series of hieroglyphics into the body of the message. I translated the message on the fly before deleting it. The message was clear, whoever this Squiggles was he was a classmate of Loveless as well as the Head Librarian.

"Julia Barnes," I muttered to myself seeing the photo of a certain female student.

"That was my name," she whispered in my ear. "I left that behind me a lifetime ago. You'll do the same when the time comes. When you see a lover begin to age and they see that you haven't changed one bit. Twenty years with the same man and while he turns gray you are as unchanging as the sea. You begin to regret taking on lovers after a time except to scratch that itch. What about you, have you scratched that little itch yet kiddo?"

"I did a little scratching last night as a matter of fact," I said as I looked over my shoulder into those cold blue eyes of hers. "Does your 'back' need scratching darling?"

"In the worst way, but I have a scratching post thanks. Now take your list and go find Squiggles."

I checked my watch and saw that it was getting late. I had to get to the bank before it closed so I could get the scroll and burn it to ash as I had promised. I folded up the list and slipped it into my back pocket. I was on the road in a few minutes and felt a weight lifted from my shoulders. Once the scroll was destroyed this entire drama was at an end. I parked in the bank's lot and walked in. I had prepared the night before for today. I walked up to one of the desks and informed the clerk I wished to take something out of my safety deposit box. She got another employee to help me and we walked into the vault together. I produced my key and we opened the box and he took me to the viewing room. I waited until I was alone to open the safety deposit box. I took the cardboard tube from the inner pocket of my jacket. It would serve to protect the scroll until I lit both the tube and scroll on fire.

I lovingly took the artifact from the box. Five thousand years old, my hands were shaking at the thought of destroying such a valuable historical object but I had no choice. I unrolled it one last time and looked at the meticulously painted characters on the thin sheet of papyrus. I ran my fingers over the surface of the scroll and frowned. It was so thin and delicate I could see my fingertips from my left hand through the material. On a whim I held the scroll above my head and looked at it with the strong electric lights shining behind it. That's when I saw it. My jaw dropped open and I flipped the scroll over so I could see the design scratched into the surface of the scroll better. It was a map of some sort.

"I can't destroy you yet," I growled. "I need to get a better look at you."

I gently rolled the scroll up and tucked it into the cardboard tube. I returned the tube to my jacket pocket and closed the box. I walked out and looked at the bank's clock. I had two hours until Felicia would be showing up for dinner. I left the bank and returned to the University as fast as I could. I raced up the steps to the history building. I took two stairs at a time up to the third floor where the labs were located. Miskatonic was long known for its cutting edge equipment when it came to digitally capturing artifacts. I found the imaging lab empty and thanked whatever gods were at work in my favor.

I carefully placed the scroll between the two sheets of glass. I fired up the scanner and ran a full spectrum scan on the document. It would run from one end of the visual spectrum to the other seeking any and all of the scroll's secrets. I watched the monitor as the device worked its techno magic. It was near the infrared end of the spectrum that the image I had sought became crystal clear. I copied the image to a thumb drive of mine and shut off the scanner. I wiped its temporary memory of this scan and powered it down. I pocketed the thumb drive and returned the scroll to the cardboard tube. I turned off the lights to the lab and left.

I got home by six o'clock. I walked out the backyard and tugged the barbeque into place. I took the grill off and poured briquettes and formed a pyramid with them. I doused them with lighter fluid and lit it with the burning end of the cardboard tube containing the scroll. I held the tube until it was mostly consumed. I dropped the blazing remains into a nearby metal garbage can and let out a sigh of relief. I went inside and let the coals burn down a bit until I was ready to cook over them. I took a quick shower to wash the cold sweat off my body and dressed in more casual clothes. I returned to the backyard and leveled the red hot pyramid and scattered the coals to form a nice even heat. I placed my hand over the fire to find the hot spots for the steaks. I placed the potatoes that were wrapped in aluminum foil directly on the cooler coals and plopped the frozen steaks onto the grill. The heat would sear the flavor in and make for a great meal I hoped.

I opened the cooler and took out a beer and removed the cap and took a healthy swig. I needed that. Felicia arrived a little early and walked to the backyard with a six pack in her grasp. I waved her back and she opened the side gate. She walked over and kissed me before doing anything else. We both gasped when she broke the kiss and looked at each other with that hungry look that had nothing to do with food. She removed one of her beers and placed the rest in the cooler. We drank but when I asked her about Loveless she shook her head.

"Even though he confessed it's still an ongoing investigation," she said and redirected the conversation away from shop talk. "How are you holding up?"

"Better now," I replied and she smiled. "I should graduate, if my thesis is accepted well, as early as the end of this year."

"That's fantastic, what happens after that?"

"I am looking into going on a dig," I said my thoughts on what may be a map in my left hand pocket.

"That sounds exciting," she replied.

She watched me cook and I could tell she had other things on her mind than food. There was a hunger there that I felt would reveal itself once we finished eating, if we got that far. I asked her how she liked her meat and she actually giggled as her cheeks burned scarlet. My landlord appeared on his second floor porch and told me how good it all smelled. I looked at Felicia and she nodded.

"I think we can spare some for a man recovering from a gunshot wound," I told him. "I will bring it up when it's done."

"Thank you," he said and smiled from ear to ear.

"You are his hero," Felicia said leaning close. "I can't wait to show you how heroes get rewarded."

"Are you going to strip search me Detective?" I asked and the second kiss was far more intense than the first.

I pulled her close and moaned into her mouth as her body molded to mine. I cupped her ass cheeks and she broke the kiss and growled in my ear. She warned me about the food and I reluctantly let go of her, very reluctantly. I flipped the steaks and took a knife and cut one in half. It was cooked to perfection. I removed the steaks as well as the potatoes. I placed the half steak and a potato on a plate and knocked on my landlord's back door. He came down and thanked me for my generosity. I walked back over to the grill and closed it. I handed Felicia the food while I grabbed the cooler and led her inside.

The back door had hardly closed when she set the platter on the kitchen table and I nearly dropped the cooler in my rush to take her back into my arms. The third kiss was volcanic. We were trying to undress and yet maintain the kiss. It involved some serious maneuvering at first. I unbuttoned her blouse and pushed it over her shoulders and off of her. She was working on my belt and pants at the same time. I kicked off my shoes and when my jeans hit the floor I stepped out of them. As I removed her slacks she unhooked her bra and lost it. We broke the kiss long enough to tug my shirt up and off of me. She pressed her tits against my naked chest and renewed our embrace. We were down to panties and underwear at that point. I scooped her up and off her feet as I carried her to the bedroom.

"Oh god, we are really going to do this," Felicia panted in my ear.

"Yes we are," I growled as I tossed her onto the bed.

I tugged off my boxers before I climbed onto the bed and lay over her. She was trembling and I wondered how long it had been since she had gotten laid. I kissed the side of her neck and planted more kisses as I moved down to her full perky breasts. When I captured a nipple between my lips her back arched and she cried out. Her hands went up and held the back of my head as I teased her nipples. Felicia squirmed beneath me and when I began moving further downward she placed a finger between her teeth and chewed on it nervously. I kissed my way down to her panties and she squealed as I slid my fingers into the waistband and tugged. She lifted up her ass as I removed her damp underwear. I got my first look at her shaved sex.