Secret of the Ankhs: A Maggie Edwards Adventure (Maggie Edwards Adventures Book 2)

by Nellie H. Steele

  “That’d be thanks to me, chicky,” Charlie answered as he rose from the bed. He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

  “He’s not wrong,” Henry agreed. “As I mentioned when I called you his program found our friend in the area of North Street. We checked out five lodgings before we found a sports car matching the description you gave us.”

  “Completely out of place,” Charlie chimed in. “Swanky sports car at some dive motel.”

  Henry nodded. “Parked outside of room 6. We…” Henry hesitated. “Let ourselves in. And after some finagling on Charlie’s part, we opened the room safe. Found the ankh inside.”

  “I can’t believe he left it there!” Maggie exclaimed. “But I am so glad he did! We should snap some pictures of this and make a plan to find the next two.”

  “You said you had a lead on that?” Henry questioned.

  “Not much of a lead, I’m afraid, but an idea.” Ollie recapped the clue he found to the second ankh in London and the theory the third ankh still lay hidden in Cleopatra’s tomb. “As I said, it’s not much, but it’s a start.”

  “We need to move on this,” Henry noted. “Especially with the opposition on the move for the other ankhs.”

  Maggie photographed the ankh with Henry’s phone before re-wrapping it and returning it to Henry for safekeeping. She shook her head. “We have some time.”

  “Maggie, they may have people closer than we are to that London museum. At least the tomb site is secure.”

  “They aren’t going to London,” Ollie replied.

  Henry’s brow furrowed. Maggie explained, “Uncle Ollie told him the second ankh was in a mid-size German museum and the third piece was in the Louvre.”

  “Did he buy it?”

  “Yes, I think so,” Ollie commented. “I showed him ‘proof.’” Ollie waved the notebook in the air.

  “Uncle Ollie’s notes are so scattered. I doubt he made heads or tails out of them, but it sure lent some credence to Ollie’s ‘theory.’ He bought it. They’ll be on the move in both France and Germany. Leaving us to explore London!”

  Henry smiled at them. “Great job, you two! All right, I’ll make arrangements for us to head to London tomorrow.”

  “Uh,” Piper murmured. “I hate to be a super-huge pain here but… I’m not exactly prepared to travel out of the country.”

  “You don’t need to be,” Henry answered as he tapped around on his phone. “You’re staying here.”

  A ruckus erupted at Henry’s comment. Both Maggie and Charlie objected along with Piper. “We can’t leave her,” Maggie objected.

  “Yeah, mate,” Charlie added. “I’m not comfortable with that.”

  “Neither am I!” Piper continued. “I almost got killed! And now you’re just going to ditch me and run off to London? Dude, no way.”

  “Their focus should be off Rosemont at this point. Piper was just in the wrong place at the wrong time earlier. You should be fine if you just lie low for a few days,” Henry contended.

  “Oh yeah, I trust that! Right! No way, dude!” Piper shouted.

  “I agree with Piper, Henry. We have no guarantee they won’t try to use her again. She could still be in danger here!” Maggie argued.

  “I feel responsible for her safety,” Charlie stated.

  “She’s safer with us,” Ollie commented.

  “All right, all right,” Henry answered, holding his hands up in defeat. “Travel for five.” He held the phone up to his ear and stepped into the bathroom for the call.

  Piper paced the floor as a knock sounded on the door. Maggie answered it and delivered three piping hot pizzas and soda into the room.

  “Nice, I am starving,” Charlie cheered. He popped open a box and filled his plate with two slices, biting into one before he sat down.

  “Me, too!” Maggie agreed. She grabbed a slice of pepperoni and poured herself a soda. “What kind do you want, Piper?”

  Piper continued to pace. “Piper?” Maggie tried again. “Mushroom? Pepperoni? Either? Both?”

  “Am I the only one concerned that I have no passport, clothes or anything I need to travel? I have zero desire to be left behind but… I can’t go traipsing across the globe with no ID!”

  “We’ll handle it,” Maggie assured her. “Now, pepperoni or mushroom? If you don’t answer, I’m going to pick it for you!”

  Piper stared at Maggie as though she spoke in a foreign language. “It’s okay, fair maiden. We have it handled,” Charlie added. “Relax and enjoy your pizza.”

  Piper stared at Charlie for a moment. “Mushroom,” she replied as she sunk onto the bed next to Charlie. “Thanks. You make me feel so much better.”

  Maggie screwed up her face as she loaded a plate with two mushroom pizza slices. “I literally just said the same thing!” She handed the pizza off to Piper as Henry emerged from the bathroom. “All set?”

  “All set,” he answered. “On our way to London out of Chicago tomorrow morning.”

  “Chicago?” Maggie questioned. “Like on a real plane? Please tell me it’s not a cargo plane.”

  “Cargo plane?!” Piper exclaimed.

  “Not a cargo plane,” Henry confirmed.

  “Thank heavens!” Maggie exclaimed.

  “We’re not actually ever going to fly in a cargo plane, right? That was a joke, right?” Piper pressed.

  “It’s not, don’t ask,” Maggie answered.

  “Just get some rest,” Henry counseled. “We leave tomorrow morning at three to make our flight.”

  Piper fidgeted as she stood next to Maggie, Charlie and Ollie in the airport terminal. She raked her hands through her rainbow-colored hair a dozen times as they waited for Henry to retrieve their tickets from the ticket counter.

  “Will you stop that?” Maggie scolded.

  “Sorry!” Piper whispered. “I’m nervous! I still don’t see how we’re going to get to London with no passports!”

  “Henry has it covered, just trust me.”

  “Sure, right, dude. I’ll just trust you. The last time I did that, I almost got killed!”

  “But you didn’t. You could stay here and take your chances on your own!” Maggie countered.

  Piper sighed. “Fine, fine. Okay.” She inhaled deeply, blowing the air from her lungs in a slow and controlled manner. “I’m fine. Calm. Composed.”

  “I wouldn’t put you in any danger, fair lady,” Charlie assured her.

  Henry approached the group, tickets in hand. “All set,” he said. He directed them to an unmarked door in a corner of the terminal. The door opened and a security guard waved them inside. They traversed the halls, following the guard who led them to a plane waiting on the tarmac.

  “We have a short layover in New York,” Henry informed Maggie as they settled into their seats.

  Maggie glanced behind her. Piper and Charlie sat a few rows behind them. Piper stared out the window. She bit her lower lip, a nervous habit. Charlie showed her something on his phone, drawing her attention from the window. She smiled at him and he offered her an earbud.

  Uncle Ollie sat across the aisle and two rows back. The plane rolled back, then lurched forward as it taxied to the runway. Within moments, they were in the air.

  “Another trip to London,” Maggie said. “I’m so glad this one isn’t starting with a cargo plane.”

  Henry smiled at her and kissed her forehead as she laid her head on his shoulder. “We need a plan when we get there. Ollie’d be the best to go. He could identify the ankh easily.”

  “Uncle Ollie said he can’t go.”

  “Can’t go?” Henry questioned.

  “He said he’d be too easily recognized.”

  “All right, so one of us has to go,” Henry concluded.

  “Or both of us.”

  “Perhaps Charlie and I,” Henry countered. “We may need technical backup.”

  “Uncle Ollie said it’s not on display. If it’s in the Natural History Museum, it’s in storage. That should make ‘borrowing’ it much e
asier. There probably aren’t as many security cameras in the storage areas.”

  “Fair point.”

  “And someone needs to stay with Piper,” Maggie added. “She’s most comfortable with Charlie.”

  Henry smirked. “Yes, she seems quite attached to him.”

  “All right, well, we may still need some of Charlie’s expertise. We need to get into that museum first and see what we’re working with. What time do we land?”

  “Not until ten tonight,” Henry answered with a sigh. “Anything we attempt will have to be tomorrow.”

  Maggie sighed. “At least we’re one step ahead of the bad guys.”

  “Thank goodness for small mercies,” Henry agreed.

  When they landed in London, Piper’s nervousness resumed. “Please tell me there’s a guard to sweep us through the back halls here like there was in Chicago,” Piper whispered to Maggie as they traversed the terminal.

  “We’ll be fine,” Maggie responded. She glanced at Piper, who bit her lower lip until it was colorless. “Let’s hop into the ladies’ room before the customs queue.”

  Maggie guided Piper into the ladies’ room, leaving the men to wait for them outside. When they emerged, Henry winked at Maggie. “I assume you pulled your magic trick?” Maggie inquired.

  “I did,” Henry assured her. “Let’s find a quiet corner.”

  The group followed Henry to a secluded area. The bustle of the crowd passed them by as Henry passed two passports to Charlie and one to Ollie. Ollie opened his and glanced inside. With a nod, he stepped back. “See you on the other side,” he stated, then disappeared into the throng of people making their way toward the exit.

  Piper followed his departure, her brow furrowed. “All right,” Henry said. “You two go next.”

  “Next?” Piper questioned.

  “Yes, you and me, fair maiden,” Charlie answered with a grin. “The fair and happy couple! Mr. and Mrs. Anderson!”

  “What?!” Piper exclaimed.

  “Just let me do all the talking and we’ll be fine,” Charlie assured her.

  “Fake names, fake passports,” Maggie explained in a lowered voice. “We don’t want to be tracked. Now you and your new husband, Ben, should head to the immigration and customs agents.”

  Piper swallowed hard and nodded. She glanced at the passport she held in her shaky hands. With a lick of her lips, she glanced up to Charlie, who grinned at her. “Come on, missus!” he encouraged. “Best cover I’ve ever used.”

  The remark brought a nervous smile to Piper’s face, and she took his hand as they departed from Maggie and Henry.

  The two stood for a few more moments before Henry said, “Well, Mrs. Harvey, ready?” He offered his arm.

  “I am ready, Mr. Harvey,” Maggie answered, recalling the fake names they used the last time they came to London.

  They made their way to the customs queue. Maggie searched the crowd, not finding Ollie but spotting Charlie and Piper twenty people ahead of them in another line. The couple was next. Maggie eyed Piper, recalling her first visit here with Henry. The second visit evoked memories of her taut nerves, her beating heart, her pounding pulse. Piper likely experienced something similar at this moment. With any luck, within less than thirty minutes they would be together in a taxi.

  Maggie stepped forward as the line moved up. Piper and Charlie advanced to the agent. Charlie slid the passports across to the stone-faced man. He grinned and put his arm around Piper. Piper forced a smile as the man glanced up from their passports at them. He slid them back to Charlie and uttered a few words before Piper and Charlie stepped away from the desk.

  Maggie breathed a sigh of relief, realizing she had been holding her breath. Henry’s hand pressed against her back as he prompted her to move forward. They waited as the line progressed, finally making it to the agent.

  Within a few moments, they were walking into the damp London air. Ollie waved them over to a cab. “Come on, slow pokes!” he called jovially. “I want to get a good night’s sleep before sight-seeing tomorrow.”

  “Sorry!” Maggie called as she slid into the cab. Everyone piled in and Ollie imparted an address to the cab driver.

  They wound through the streets of London. Lights glittered across the city as the buildings closed in on them. The cab pulled alongside a nondescript high-rise. Maggie recognized the building. Ollie kept an apartment here. She and Henry traveled here on their last adventure in London.

  They all climbed from the cab and Ollie paid the driver in cash.

  “Only one night here,” Henry cautioned as they entered the building.

  Ollie pressed the elevator button and doors whooshed open. “I figured this was easier, at least for tonight. No one realizes we’re here. Apartment isn’t registered in my name,” Ollie answered. The elevator pulled them upward.

  “Everything okay?” Maggie questioned.

  Henry nodded. “Yeah, but even with no one aware of our presence here, I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

  “We can get some rest, gather supplies and come up with a plan,” Ollie said as they stepped off the elevator and into a long hallway.

  Ollie navigated to an apartment halfway down the hall. He reached into his pants’ pocket. A frown formed on his face. He tried the other pocket. He patted his shirt and jacket pockets.

  Henry dug into his pocket and produced a key. “You’re terrible with keys, mate,” he said with a chuckle as he unlocked the door for them.

  They entered the apartment and Ollie flicked on a few lights. Piper collapsed onto the couch. “Running from the law takes a lot out of you,” she said.

  “We’re not running from the law,” Maggie answered, plopping onto the couch next to Piper.

  “We may as well be! We just used fake passports to enter another country illegally!”

  “Wishing you didn’t come?” Henry inquired as he twisted the knob of a safe.

  Piper shook her head and sighed. She held her hands out, toggling them up and down. “Stay behind and commit no crime, but possibly be killed. Commit an international crime and stay alive. Hmm. This is a tough one.”

  Maggie chuckled at her horrible joke. At least Piper kept her sense of humor in the intense situation. “I, for one, am glad you came, fair maiden,” Charlie said.

  “You should try to get some rest, Piper,” Maggie advised.

  “Right,” Piper answered. “Yeah, I’m totally sure I can sleep.”

  “Don’t worry, you’re perfectly safe,” Henry assured her. He pulled a pistol from the safe and checked the clip before replacing it and loading a bullet into the chamber.

  “Wow, that makes me feel so much better,” Piper responded.

  “Here,” Charlie responded. He clacked on his keyboard. “I’ve hacked into the CCTV around the building. If anyone’s coming, we’ll know!”

  “Happy?” Maggie inquired. “Get some rest, Piper.”

  “There’s a bedroom just through that door,” Ollie informed Piper.

  “Okay, okay, I’ll take the hint.” Piper groaned as she climbed to her feet and slogged to the bedroom.

  Maggie yawned as Piper disappeared into the bedroom. “She has the right idea. I’m exhausted, too!”

  “We need a plan,” Henry countered as Maggie let her head fall back onto the couch cushion.

  “I plan to lie low,” Ollie replied. “But we need to access the storage area. Perhaps the best idea is to visit the museum tomorrow and gather some intel.”

  Maggie yawned again. “That sounds like a plan. Recon,” she said as her eyes closed. Henry sunk onto the couch next to her, wrapping his arm around her. Maggie leaned into him, letting her head rest on his shoulder. She fell asleep in minutes.

  Chapter 10

  Maggie awoke the next morning to the scent and sound of crackling bacon. Her head rested against a pillow as she sprawled on the couch. A blanket covered her body. She inhaled deeply as she stretched and pushed herself up to sitting. “Mmmm,” she said, “is that bacon?”
r />   “Indeed, it is, princess,” Henry announced from the kitchen. He stood over the stove tending the bacon and scrambled eggs.

  “Oh, perfect!” Maggie exclaimed, climbing to her feet. Henry poured her a cup of coffee, adding cream and two sugars before passing it to her. She sat down on a stool at the counter next to Charlie.

  “Mmm, thank you!” she murmured as she sipped it.

  “I bought you a burner phone. It’s charging now,” Henry said. He spooned eggs onto a plate along with toast and bacon before handing it to Maggie.

  “Hey, mate,” Charlie objected, “I was here first!”

  “But you’re not as pretty as she is, mate,” Henry answered.

  “That’s debatable,” Charlie answered as Henry slid a dish to Charlie.

  “Mmm, that’s true,” Maggie responded. “Charlie is very pretty.”

  “You know it, chicky,” Charlie answered with a chuckle as he dove into the eggs. He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

  “Where’s Uncle Ollie?” Maggie questioned.

  “Shower,” Henry answered. “Wanted to get in there before you used all the hot water in the building.”

  Maggie gave him a wry glance. “Haha, hilarious.”

  Piper wandered from the bedroom. “Coffee,” Piper mumbled. Her hair stuck out at every angle and her clothes were rumpled.

  “Hey, good morning to you, too,” Maggie said with a laugh. “Looks like you slept at least.”

  Piper plopped down on a stool next to Maggie. “I did. Is that… bacon?”

  Henry set a plate of food in front of Piper. “It is,” Henry answered. “Eat up!”

  Piper scooped up a forkful of eggs and bit off a piece of bacon. “Mmm, no wonder you’re dating him, boss lady.”

  Ollie emerged from the bathroom. “Any breakfast left?”

  “I saved you some,” Henry answered.

  Maggie shoved the last piece of her breakfast into her mouth and swallowed another few sips of coffee. “I call next!” She raced to the bathroom.

  Maggie emerged forty-five minutes later. “It’s about time!” Piper complained.

  “Sorry!” Maggie said. “After that flight, I needed some extra time with the steam! So did my clothes!”