Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW

Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.

Chapter Twenty-Three

As Rhett and Scarlett stood up, he noticed there was only one check. He said, "I guess you expect me to pay for dinner even though you asked me."

"Yes, I will cook you a meal and we will be even."

"This surprises me. I didn't think you could cook."

Scarlett giggled and said, "I can't. I would order something and get Uber to deliver it to me then transfer it on to plates to try to make you think I fixed it."

Rhett laughed. He left a tip on the table and walked up to the cash register. He paid for the meal and the cashier said, "See you tomorrow or the next night."

Scarlett said, 'You betcha."

Rhett hurried Scarlett to his condo. She wondered why they didn't just drive, but she didn't take the time to ask. She was in a hurry to get to the condo also.

Rhett did not give Scarlett a tour of the condo. He just showed her to his bedroom. Which was fine with her. At that moment that was all she was interested in.

Afterwards, Rhett said, "I think you can finish your story now. I just couldn't wait another second."

Scarlett giggled and said, "First, how did you get so good at sex if you were only with prostitutes?"

"I had them teach me how to pleasure a woman. I assumed it would be the same for all women. You may not have noticed this about me, but I'm not very good at picking up non-verbal clues."

"Or verbal ones for that matter."

"That is one of the things I like about you, you just hit me over the head with what I should see or know."

"I try but at times I can't believe you can't see the obvious."

"Just keep assuming I am obtuse."

Scarlett smiled at Rhett. She was so beautiful especially naked and in his bed.

Scarlett said, "On with my story, I dumped Ashley after the Howard Epps disaster. He was happy that Epps was not going to be executed. He actually said to me that it has not been proven that all those bodies we found were Epps victims. I just couldn't be with him after that. He was so incredibly stupid. I just couldn't even stand the thought of being intimate with that weak man."

"He isn't weak he just has a different goal. His goal is to protect the poor and downtrodden."

"Epps was not poor or downtrodden."

"No, he wasn't, but that is where Ashley gets caught up in the fairy tale ideology."

"Fairy tale ideology?"

"That everyone on death row was wrongfully convicted."

"That's Ashley. I think Melly is getting tired of Ashley chasing after windmills. I think she just wants enough to eat."

"Now that you are not having sex with Ashley what is he going to do with his sexual energy?"

"After Melly had her appendicitis, she now can have a normal sex life. It is funny. She was fine before she gave birth to Beau. She had a c-section so there is no reason it should have affected her.. her.. her nether regions."

"Did she go under?"

"I think so. She went under with appendicitis, and everything is fine now. Do you think the anesthesia could have caused that in her?"

"I don't know. I'm just glad for her sake that she is cured. I now understand how you could have sex with your best friend's husband."

"But not anymore, I'm in a physical relationship with you."

"Indeed, we are in a physical relationship so let's get physical."

"Already."

"Yes, already."

The couple was physical again, but it was much slower the second time.

"I will be faithful to you as long as we are together."

"I thought you said we were going to be together forever."

"We are so I guess you are the only person I will be having sex with from now on."

"If we decide to take a break, don't do a Ross and go sleep with someone else right away."

"What!? Who is Ross?"

Scarlett laughed and said, "A character on TV."

"I told you I think TV is mindless babble."

"Yes, Dear, but don't go sleeping with any old professors from your past, either."

Scarlett had meant it as a joke, but immediately knew Rhett didn't find it funny. He said, "She tried to fuck me over on that case."

"At least, she fucked you a couple of times first."

"How did you know that? I never told anyone that."

Scarlett smiled and said, "Honey, when you came back from your lunch with her you told me you two were so busy catching up you didn't have time to eat. What horse hockey. You didn't even have a to-go box."

Rhett smiled back and said, "So that wasn't believable?"

"No. But, Honey, you can't blame her. She wanted to be the scholar that proved you wrong."

"Everyone is always gunning for me."

"That is because you are on the top of the heap. Everyone is always gunning for me because my solve rate is significantly better than everyone else's."

Rhett smiled. He said, "I guess that's what we get for being the best."

"No, what we get for being the best is each other."

Rhett smiled and said, "You are quite the amazing grand prize."

"You are too."

After some kissing, Rhett started giggling. Scarlett had never heard him giggle. She had not known he could giggle. She said, "What's so funny?"

"I call Georgetown and told them about the ethics charges she had against her."

"What?"

Rhett told Scarlett the story and she laughed also. She said, "Did Georgetown not call UT and ask about her. UT should have told them."

"Probably but UT wanted it hushed up as much as Belle did. That kind of thing can ruin a school's reputation. The agreement between Belle and UT was that she would go away and not make a stink and they would not tell anybody of what happened. It was what the young man wanted also."

"How did you find out all this?"

"That day that you told me what she was doing, I made some phone calls. I still had some friends there, especially in the anthropology department. I also have some power in the field. People were happy to give me the dirt on her. It seems she thought she was bullet proof because she had tenure. It seems ethics trumps tenure. Every year she picked some lucky young man for her to mentor. People were aware of what she was doing, but none of the young men appeared to be unhappy about the situation so nobody said anything. At least, until she met Jacob Smith. He is a very bright young man who is happily married. He told Belle he was married, and he was not going to cheat on his wife. She threatened him that if he didn't sleep with her, she would give him a C in her class. He had a three point nine five GPA, and a C would have destroyed that. He knew a lot of institutions will not talk to anyone without a remarkably high GPA. For the Jeffersonian to talk to a person the applicant has to have a three point eight five or better."

"Wow. No wonder you all are a bunch of brainiacs."

Rhett smiled and said, "Don't you have a three point eight six GPA from Georgia?"

Scarlett smiled and said, "As a matter of fact I do. I don't think I am going to like the fact you had me investigated. You know all my secrets."

"You know all of mine too."

"Back to my story, when Jacob saw the C on his report card, he went to the Dean himself. Long story short the Dean believed Jacob. He had heard rumors too, but he couldn't fire Belle because of her tenure. Also no one had filed a complaint against her so it was only rumor up until Jacob's complaint. Therefore, Belle was out. She technically wasn't fired, but that was only because UT and Jacob wanted it kept hush hush."

"That was how they got around the tenure. She wasn't fired. She quit."

Rhett giggled again and said, "But she was fired from Georgetown."

Scarlett smiled at his giggling. She said, "Where is she now?"

"University of Alaska."

"In Fairbanks?"

"Yes."

"Was that the best job she could get?"

"I'm not sure, but I know she wanted to get far away from me."

"Rhett, what else did you do?"

"Besides calling my contacts at UT and a man I know at Georgetown; I didn't do anything else."

"Nothing else?"

"Nothing."

"Spill it."

With a big smile, Rhett said, "I can't help it if people talk."

Scarlett smiled at Rhett and said, "No, you can't. I just have one more question. Did you make sure the biggest gossip in the Forensic Anthropology field knew about the rumors?"

"Scarlett, how can you even suggest that!" Then Rhett started giggling again. Scarlett did the only thing she could do. She started giggling too.

The next morning after being physical, Rhett and Scarlett put their clothes back on from the night before. He walked her to where her Bronco was parked in Rosie's parking lot. He said, "Next time we plan to have supper at Rosie's we will just meet at my condo."

"I don't know why we walk to your place instead of driving there in the truck."

"It was more romantic to walk to the condo."

"No, it was because you weren't thinking straight. All you were concerned about was getting me to your condo."

"Guilty. I may be flattering myself, but I don't think you were thinking about anything else either."

Scarlett smiled. She neither denied nor confirmed his statement. She said, "Next time I will just drive us to your condo."

Rhett was smiling as he walked back to his condo.

When Rhett walked into his lab an hour late again, Emily simply looked at the clock on the wall. He smiled at her and said, "I'm late for the same reason which again I won't share."

Emily laughed and said, "Whenever you are ready, I have John Doe 19190124 on the table."

After Rhett and Emily had been working for a few minutes, he said, "Do you know what the numbers mean?"

"No, Sir."

"This body was found in 1919 on the twenty-fourth day of January. He was found in France. The Europeans put the year in front of the month and day."

Emily stared at the date and finally said, "Why are we working on someone so old?"

"Because everyone deserves to be buried under their own name."

"I guess so."

"While I was working to obtain my PhD, I did a rotation in Hawaii."

"Hawaii?! That must have been fun."

With a smile Rhett said, "No, it wasn't fun. I spent two months over there and all I saw was the inside of a lab. I went to the lab seven days a week for twelve hours a day. It was two months away from my little girl. At the time I didn't know how valuable those two months would be."

Rhett recalled on his return he had said to Heather, "Are you ill or is the pallor on your face because I have been gone?"

"I am ill. I didn't miss you. I wish you hadn't come back."

"Just leave my check book, though. Go take a shower, Heather, you look awful. I'm going to spend some time with Bonnie."

"She probably won't remember you."

Rhett had not replied. He had kept on walking to Bonnie's room. Luckily, his daughter had remembered him. In reflection, he knew that was when Heather started getting high.

Emily didn't want to talk about Dr. Butler's daughter, so she asked, "What part of Hawaii were you at?"

"Pearl Harbor. Do you know they still have bodies that haven't been identified"?

"You're kidding."

"Ms. Addy, have you ever known me to kid about anything."

"No, but I have never known you to be late before, and you have been late three times recently."

With a smile, Rhett said, "So, I have. No, I am not kidding. Let us get down to identifying him. What do we know?"

"Male, Between 184 and 180 cm. ….."

Rhett and Emily worked through the day and got two John Does identified.