by K. T. Tomb
There were shouts of dismay and anger from the Guardsmen and Rashid shook his head in disbelief. When they had settled down Chyna asked a few critical questions.
“Can I safely assume that calling the police is out of the question?”
“It is not an option, Miss Stone.”
“In that case, would you mind if I called a personal friend of mine from the F.B.I. to help us with the investigation?”
“You want to help us find the Book?” asked the man Rashid had referred to as Eastman.
“Of course, how could we abandon you now?” Lana asked.
The men were visibly surprised by their response.
“We would appreciate any help you want to offer, Miss Stone. You understand the situation now and you also know that under no circumstances can the outside world know of my existence nor that of the Guardsmen and the Watchers.”
“Understood, Rashid. I’d like you and the Guardsmen to come back here tomorrow afternoon at three o’clock, call all the Watchers and ask them to come to Istanbul for this meeting as well. I’m going to want to see you at around one o’clock, Rashid, I’ll bring my friend and we will get to the bottom of this.”
“Thank you all.”
“You are welcome, friends. See you tomorrow.”
With that they left the men at the altar replacing the tile over the ‘Gate of Hell’ portal. Everyone was in complete shock.
Chyna and the others walked back to the Ottoman Imperial in complete silence. They had come so close to the Book, only to be robbed of getting to see it. Now they had a new mystery to solve. She said her good nights to Oscar and Lana at the hotel’s front doors and continued walking down the street. About three blocks over, Chyna stepped into a quaint French restaurant and walked straight to the corner table where Tony was already waiting for her. She let him order for both of them, silently sipped her wine and listened to him talk about work and everything that had happened since they had separated in Cairo a few weeks before. When he steered the conversation towards her and the present assignment Chyna changed the topic or asked him a question about something he had just told her. It didn’t take him long to realize that she was not at a place where she could talk about it as yet and he soon stopped asking about it.
After dinner, they walked back to the hotel and Tony joined her upstairs in her room. Chyna didn’t want to waste any time; as soon as the door was bolted she backed him up against the door and started to undo his shirt, she threw it to the ground then unbuckled his belt, undid his pants and pushed them and his boxers to the ground. She turned around and walked towards the bedroom, stepping out of her shoes then dropping her jacket, gun, tank top and bra to the floor before she even got to the bedroom door. Tony stepped out of his shoes and the clothes that were now pooled around his ankles and followed her into the bedroom. She was lying on the bed waiting when he entered the room. He climbed in and took her in his arms rolling onto his back so he could run his hands up and down the length of her body as they kissed passionately.
Soon Chyna couldn’t take the suspense of their coupling any longer; she centered herself over his body and in a smooth motion they were one and he was moving in her with a passion and intensity that she had not experienced in a long time. He rolled and from his new vantage point, moved deeper and more swiftly, stoking the flame of the passion that was building between them. She clung to the bed by fistfuls of sheets and moaned her pleasure into his shoulder and his ears, driving him wild, but instead of hastening then to their climactic release, he slowed the pace to an agonizing burn. He kissed the places on her body that he had not yet tasted. When his exploration was complete, the intense need of her desire was blazing in her eyes.
He took her in his arms, shifted again and then she was seated in his lap facing him and he was holding her to him tightly, kissing her shoulders and neck. Her pelvis moved against the hard muscles of his stomach and he lifted her slightly so they could be joined together again. She moved rhythmically against him and threw her head back in complete abandon. He watched her as she approached the edge of ecstasy. Then he felt his own passion mounting and he put his lips to her breasts one after the other. She moved against him faster and faster and then suddenly they were clinging to each other, gripped tightly in the waves of rapture that engulfed them both.
***
They all spent the next morning in leisure. Oscar and Lana explored the city, while Chyna and Anthony languished in each other’s arms. But by lunchtime it was back to business and they all walked back over to the museum. While Chyna and Anthony met with Rashid, Oscar and Lana took a guided tour of the museum’s artifacts.
“Did you pull the security footage like I asked you to?” Anthony asked Rashid.
“Yes, I did. The last time I saw the Book was three nights ago before I met the others in the park and everything was as it should have been.”
“Okay then, let’s review the tapes. We only need to see the night footage since it’s absolutely impossible for anyone to have lifted it during the day with so many guests and staff constantly up and down the place.”
“Well actually, that area was shut down a couple of days ago for the floors to be professionally cleaned.”
Rashid put his hand to his chin as he thought back to that day. There was something that was bothering him, something that he couldn’t quite remember but that his mind was telling him was important. Suddenly, it came to him.
“Come to think of it, when they arrived Zubeida cordoned off the area with velvet ropes and alerted the guards that work was in progress. I remember her coming back into the office and mentioning something about it being strange that the cleaning company would send two new people to clean the altar floors that she had never met before and who clearly were not familiar with the job. It was a security concern that she was having, so I dismissed it since that is her area of responsibility.”
“Where is Zubeida now, Rashid?”
“She should be in the lobby supervising the guard’s shift relief, the second set will be going off for their lunch break now.”
“Have her come up here as soon as she is finished, please,” Anthony said.
Rashid pressed a button on the device in his ear and then said, “Zubeida, would you please come up to the office after the shifts have been changed?”
They could not hear the response, but Rashid nodded his head and then said, “Thank you.”
“She’ll be here shortly.”
“In the meantime, do you have any pictures of the missing Watchers from Qena and of the Northman?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
“Could you lend them to me for a minute please?” Anthony asked, politely.
“Absolutely.”
When Zubeida came into the office, Anthony introduced himself and asked her to tell him about what had happened two days ago when the men came to clean the floors. Zubeida gave him the account in as much detail as she could and then Anthony showed her the pictures one by one, starting with the Northman’s.
“No, I don’t know that man,” she said, but when Anthony showed her the other two she quickly identified them as the two new cleaners that had been there to do the floors.
“Thank you Zubeida, that will be all,” Rashid said and watched as she left the office.
“Those infidel weasels!” Rashid roared.
“So now we know what timeframe of footage to look at.”
They scoured the footage and came up with a solid theory and even more solid evidence to back it up. The entire time that the two Qena Watchers, Hassan and Amir were stealing the codex, the Northman was walking round and round the museum, waiting for them to finish. What he was doing there was anyone’s guess because according to Rashid, he had told the other Guardsmen that he would be in Sweden on business for the two days after their night meeting in the park.
“Now we have to get ready for the meeting. Where did you ask them to meet you?”
“At a warehouse in the industrial district that
belongs to the Guardsmen.”
“Excellent,” Anthony replied. “And they all confirmed that they would be coming?”
“Yes, even Hassan and Amir, who have been missing for the past week.”
“We should be ready for resistance,” Anthony said, looking directly at Chyna. “I don’t think this is going to be a smooth operation.”
Rashid reached into his desk and pulled out his Colt 45, checking it and the holstering it.
“Neither do I,” he said.
At the warehouse, Anthony places Lana, who is known to be a crack shot, on the roof of an adjacent building as lookout and sniper. Oscar is placed in the backroom to monitor the surveillance camera and keep their wireless earpieces on full broadcast. Rashid, Chyna and Anthony wait inside for the others to arrive. Eastman, Westman and Southman all get there early and carrying their firearms as well. The Watchers from Cairo and Luxor are also prepared for a fight. Instantly, Anthony begins to like their new odds. There is no sign of the Watchers from Amarna nor Hassan and Amir and it becomes obvious that the four of them are in league with the Northman.
Soon, a car pulls up outside the warehouse and the five men come out and approach the warehouse. The news came swiftly from Lana and the rest prepared themselves. The Northman and the four Watchers walk into the room and face Rashid and the others.
“Where is the Book, Northman?” Rashid asked impatiently.
“It is safe from the likes of you,” Northman replied.
“I had a feeling that you would try to sabotage my decision to give it up to the Seeker but I never expected this from you. I am truly disappointed.”
“In the future, I would advise you to expect nothing but the worst from men, Rashid. That way you can never be disappointed when they do not do as you expect them to.”
“If you do not intend to turn over the Book, why have you come here?”
“To send you along your way Imhotep and induct Imhotep Ta-sherit in your place.”
“So you came to kill me?”
“Yes, Imhotep. You and all your crazy friends.”
At that Hassan raised his gun to fire at Rashid but before he could squeeze the trigger, Chyna dropped him with a single bullet to the head. They took cover behind some furniture that they had piled up towards the back of the room.
“I heard shots fired in there, is everyone alright?” Lana asked over the radio.
“We are fine, Lana,” Chyna replied. “I shot one of them.”
“I’m coming in,” she replied.
Lana burst through the door and opened fire on the four remaining gunmen, shooting each one with a single bullet. Most they were superficial wounds but quite enough to take them down and keep them down; at least for a while. A quick search of their car turned up the codex which Anthony handed over to Rashid.
When the injured men had been taken away to a hospital under police escort, Rashid turned to them and said, “In all my years I have never met anyone who was as dedicated to doing what is right as you four are. I thank you very much for everything and most of all for bringing me the peace that I have wanted for most of my life.”
“It was our pleasure, Rashid. We’re happy to have made such a good friend as well. I’ll be sure to have Dr. Nassir contact you today about the codex; I am sure that you’re more anxious than ever to have it gone to its rightful place.”
“You are right, Chyna,” he replied. Then he touched his hand to his forehead, bowed low from the waist and placed his hand on her feet. “May the peace of Allah be with you,” he said as he stood.
“And also with you, Rashid,” the four replied, happily.
Epilogue
Chyna and the others spent the next week in Istanbul helping with the arrangements for the delivery of the Mummy Codex, as it was being called in the news, to the Ministry of Antiquities in Cairo. Rashid had passed it off publicly to Dr. Nassir as a relic that was found under the altar tile during a routine cleaning. He claimed that after a basic analysis, they realized that they could be looking at the Egyptian Book of Life and so they contacted the Ministry of Antiquities immediately.
But soon the Mummy Codex was on its way back to Egypt and the team was preparing to leave for home. It had been almost a year since Chyna and Lana had been back to New York and about six months for Oscar. It was certainly time to go home.
***
Three months later,
Chyna was sitting on the deck of her cabin on Cape Cod when the telephone rang. She answered and heard Sandra’s voice on the other end.
“Oh, Hi Sandra,” she said cheerily. “What’s happening?”
“I’ve couriered a package to you, Chyna,” she replied. “It’s from the Syrian government.”
“Well, I guess we have our next assignment.”
“I guess so, Chyna. Have a nice day.”
“Same to you, Sandra.”
Chyna drove into Barnstable about an hour later to pick up her package from the courier office; there wasn’t any door to door delivery out in her neck of the woods. She resisted the urge to tear it open right there and instead she picked up a pizza and some beer and drove back to the cabin.
“What’s that you’ve got?” Anthony asked, when she came back and put the big yellow envelope down on the table. He had been there with her for a week already and he didn’t have any plans to go anywhere else for the rest of his six week hiatus. He’d already spent a week visiting his family and friends before he had made a beeline for Cape Cod, the cabin and Chyna.
“Sandra sent it up. It’s from the Syrian government but I haven’t opened it yet. I’m a little scared to.”
“Why would you be scared, Babe?” he asked her, coming around into the kitchen to put his arms around her waist.
“It could be our next assignment and I’m not ready to leave; especially for Syria. I’m kinda over the Middle East right now; a year was enough and I need a proper break from that. I need this minute of peace that we’re having right now.”
“I know what you’re saying, Babe, but my time off is going to end at some point and then it will be me who’ll definitely be headed back to the Middle East. I wouldn’t mind if you were someplace close by when I do head back. You know? Somewhere that’s sneak-away-for-the-weekend kind of close.”
“How can you make even the worst things grow a good side?”
“It’s a gift,” he said, kissing the nape of her neck and then sucking on her earlobe. She moaned and pressed against him hungrily.
“Now come on,” he scolded. “Open it.”
Chyna groaned and sat down at the kitchen table taking up the envelope and sliding a finger beneath the flap. She pulled out the think folder and placed it on the table in front of her. She opened the letter and read it quickly.
“The Syrian government would like to retain the services of Found History to categorize and curate a very large number of relics and antiquities which were recently unearthed at an archaeological dig site near Hamah. Responsibilities include packaging and shipment of items from the site to the warehouses after testing and dating is completed. Creating and maintaining the catalog of goods and identifying and verifying unrecognizable pieces of antiquity such as the specimen shown in picture 96a on page 132 of the folder included in the envelope.”
Chyna put down the letter and opened the folder to page 132 to look at the photograph of this unexplained item.
“Oh my goodness gracious,” she exclaimed.
Anthony came rushing over to see what had shocked her so much.
He saw the picture of what looked like a pike’s head in the shape of an eagle.
“What’s the big deal about the eagle?” he asked.
“It’s not an eagle, Babe, It’s a falcon.”
“So, what’s the deal?”
“The deal is that, based on what this relic actually is, there is no way on this green Earth it should have been found on a dig in Syria.”
“So is this your next assignment? Are you going to take it? Does that mean
you're heading back to the Middle East?”
“It looks so Tony, it really looks that way. I’m not in a hurry to leave, obviously, and there’s no real rush. The stuff’s already coming out of the ground, they can wait a few weeks for me to get there. But there’s no way I can let the chance to see this Phoenician Falcon pass me by.”
The End
Chyna Stone returns in:
The Phoenician Falcon
A Chyna Stone Adventure #3
Return to the Table of Contents
THE
PHOENICIAN
FALCON
A Chyna Stone Adventure
#3
by
K.T. TOMB
The Phoenician Falcon
Prologue
729A.D.
Sandefjord, Norway
“It’s cold today,” Svein said.
“Perhaps,” Jarl Alaric grunted in reply.
He was in a bad mood and though he wouldn’t admit it, the drizzling rain and incessant cold was not helping his demeanor. His mind was on something his youngest wife had said to him the day he had left Drammen to make his way to Sandefjord.
“My Jarl,” she had said, quietly. “I have bled again this moon; I am still not with child.”
“Then you too are now counted among the barren wives of Alaric,” he shouted, pushing her away from him in disgust. Then he announced to the entire court that was gathered in his Great Hall. “I shall take no more wives; it seems that I choose only useless ones but any woman who wishes to warm my bed from this night on only needs to reach it before I do and she will be well comforted that night. Moreover, should any of these women become pregnant with my child then I shall take her as jarlkona of Drammen.”
