“He almost did,” she quipped.
“To think that I was upset over his death. The city of Atlanta gave him a police funeral. They actually honored the guy,” Sean sounded disgusted.
“You’re going to have to let it go, Sean. We have other things to worry about right now.” Her eyes were kind but determined as she stared intensely at him.
The group busily got their things together to make the exit a little quicker. The three stepped off the train onto the platform amid a flurry of activity. Stone pillars lined the landing, supporting an overhanging roof. People were rushing around everywhere. There were a few disorderly lines of people waiting to board the train that would head back to Cairo within the hour. It was still early in the morning and the sun was still low on the horizon. Sean imagined in a few hours the place would be packed with travelers.
Sean had made a call over an hour before arrival, arranging for transportation and supplies. Fortunately, Tommy had left his little black book of connections in a Dropbox file the two of them shared. So, getting the contact information of drivers and suppliers hadn’t been too difficult. He hated handling stuff like that. Normally, Tommy took care of all the little details. That wasn’t an option for the time being, so he took matters into his own hands. He was relieved to find a couple of white Land Rovers waiting for them just outside the station. They were greeted by a short, Middle Eastern man standing on the sidewalk next to the vehicles.
“You must be Sean Wyatt,” the man said with a broad smile that revealed bright teeth. “I am Sahid, your driver. I just spoke to you on the phone a little while ago.”
Sean stuck a hand out, which the man shook vigorously. “Thanks for meeting us on such short notice.”
“Not a problem,” when the man shook his head, the black hair on top tossed back and forth.
Sean figured him to be in his mid-twenties. But it could have just been the guy’s very friendly, almost jovial nature.
“May I take your things?” he offered to Adriana and Dr. Firth. Sean only carried a book bag with a few necessities in it. Adriana carried similar luggage while Firth had only a courier bag.
Adriana shook her head, as did Firth. Sahid looked disappointed for a second, but picked up his attitude immediately. “We should probably get going before the sun is too high. The southern part of Egypt gets much warmer during this time of year than Cairo.”
The group nodded and joined their driver in the first Land Rover. “You have the equipment I requested in the second car, correct?” Sean asked as he slid into the front passenger’s seat. He looked back for a second and noticed the intricately decorated Egyptian bird that was placed over the three main doors of the train station.
Sahid nodded proudly. “Yes, Mr. Wyatt. We have all the things you requested.” The young man started up the vehicle and steered it out onto the busy road amid box trucks, compact cars, and pedi-cabs.
Luxor City was a sprawling collection of buildings, most under ten stories high. It was rife with activity, even for such an early time of the day. Sean tried to recall visiting the area, but it was one of the few places his job hadn’t taken him yet. His mind returned to the task at hand before he let it wander too much further.
“Dr. Firth, we may run into some hostiles when we get there. You and Sahid stay in the car until Adriana and I check things out.” She flashed a quick smile with her eyes, grateful he’d not treated her like a helpless girl.
“I’m sorry, but I think it’s time you fill me in on a few details,” Firth leaned forward, gripping the back of the driver’s seat with one hand.
Sean took a breath before speaking. “The Order of the Golden Dawn is being run by a man who calls himself ‘The Prophet.’ His real name is Alexander Lindsey. He is the man behind the bombing in Cairo, and the deaths of several innocent people, including two professors back in the U.S.”
The professor frowned. “If you know who this man is and what he has done, why has he not been arrested?”
“Nothing can be traced back to him. He always comes out looking spotless.”
“I see,” Firth leaned back in his seat and looked out the tinted window at the crowded city. “So, Tommy found the trail to Akhanan’s first chamber. People have searched for that for centuries, with no luck. Some said the chambers didn’t exist.” He laughed. “In fact, I was one of them.”
“You did not believe in the golden chambers?” Adriana asked, curious.
“No,” he shook his head. “It was a fool’s errand to search for such a treasure. So much of it was surrounded by legend and myth. True archaeologists only search through the facts, the things we know, before trudging off into the wild world in search of something.”
“I suppose it is a good thing that some people believe in the fairy tales. Wouldn’t you say, Dr. Firth?” She raised an eyebrow. Her deep, brown eyes sucked him in.
“Perhaps,” he cleared his throat and turned back to the window, clearly made uncomfortable by the Spaniard’s comment.
Sahid guided the vehicle past the final few dilapidated buildings and the small convoy was suddenly out of the city, on the open plains leading to the ancient ruins of Luxor. Sean peered through the tinted windows; out on the flats, small convoys of camels were plodding along to and from the city to the outer reaches of the desert. The bright sun was almost near its peak in the cloudless sky. Off in the distance, several rolling hills of sand and rock eclipsed the horizon.
The convoy passed two tour busses, full of people. Sean hoped the tourists were headed for some of the more popular, mainstream historical sites. He didn’t feel like dealing with a bunch of civilians. They always made things difficult, especially when bullets started flying.
Sahid interrupted Sean’s thoughts. “We have word that there is a dig going on at the Nekhen site. A team of archaeologists is working close to where we will be.”
Sean didn’t like to hear that. “They aren’t going to give us any trouble, are they?”
“No,” the driver shook his head. “They should accommodate us. Besides, they are digging just outside the ruins. We should be out of their way.”
Sean acknowledged the information with a nod. But there was something else concerning him. “Do you know if anyone else arrived in town today? Have you noticed anything suspicious?”
Sahid reflected for a few moments, trying to remember if he’d seen anything strange. “Not that I can recall,” he answered. “But in this part of the world, suspicious things happen all the time.”
The comment didn’t exactly fill the passengers’ hearts with confidence. Sean pulled out his new black Springfield XD, and check the magazine to make sure it was fully loaded. He knew it was. He’d put the rounds in it himself. But old habits die hard. Sean had been trained to always check and recheck his weapon. As soon as one got careless, that was when bad things happened.
The drive to the Nekhen ruins took a little over twenty minutes. Upon arriving, the group noticed the tents of the other archaeology team set up off to the side of the hillside ruins. A cool dry breeze washed over the area. Something was amiss. Sean couldn’t put his finger on it, but he knew things were too quiet, especially for an active dig site.
“Where is everyone?” Firth asked as he exited the vehicle. “Digs are usually very active places to be.”
“Yeah,” Sean agreed. “Something’s not right.” He looked around, peering into the desert for any signs of a potential problem.
“The ruins are over here. This cave entrance is what I believe we are looking for,” the Englishman informed them, leading the way toward a hill with an opening in the center. On either side of the entrance, obelisks had been carved into the rock, a permanent reminder of an ancient culture that had long since disappeared.
Sean and Adriana followed Firth as he headed straight toward the opening. The professor said nothing, seemingly in a trance as he marched across the desert floor. Off to the right, several large white tents, lighting equipment, and many other tools of the archaeology
trade were sitting silently in the bright morning sun. Sahid and a few of his assistants made their way to the biggest tent to see if anyone was home.
Sean and his companions were only twenty feet away from the entrance to the cave when Sahid stopped them. “Sean! You need to come over here.”
Adriana cast a quick, worried glance at Sean. He had stopped and hesitated for a moment before obeying and trudging over the rocks to the tent formation. She stayed close behind while Firth seemed bent on getting into the cave, but he fell in line, curious to see what had gotten the driver’s attention.
The young Arab held back the fabric of the opening to the tent. Sean gave him a look of uncertainty before stepping cautiously inside. What he saw was completely unexpected. Three young men and women were bound to wooden chairs throughout the room. A stout, older man of Arab descent was also tied up by a small workstation in the corner. He spoke up, seemingly the least afraid of the group.
“My name is Dr. Omar Abdulkarim,” he stated. “Please help us.” Sean nodded at Sahid and Adriana.
The three quickly made their way around the room, untying all of the people. Finally, Sean reached the man in the corner who had spoken up. “What happened here?”
Dr. Abdulkarim’s dark eyelashes and eyebrows blended with his deeply tanned skin. He stood up after Sean untied him from a wooden chair. He rubbed his wrists as he spoke with a heavy Egyptian accent. “We have been at this site for the last few weeks. We have a permit from the Egyptian government to do light excavations for ninety days.” The portly archaeologist was sweating through his white cotton button-up, and his thick gray hair was a soaked mess. “I have never seen those men before in my life. They came into our tents, dressed in black, carrying assault rifles. Then they tied up the whole group. I thought they were going to kill us. After around an hour or so, though, they just left. The guards in the tent with us simply walked out and never looked back.”
Sean scratched the back of his head. “I wonder where they went,” he said in a low voice, almost to himself.
“And why they left so quickly,” Adriana added.
Firth had been silent, standing near the entrance to the tent for the last few minutes. He finally decided to speak up. “Would it be alright if we examine the ruins in the cave? I am a professor working out of the university in Cairo. We will not disturb the site. But perhaps we can find a clue as to what these people were doing here and what they were looking for.”
The Egyptian man looked around and his younger assistants. They all appeared to be college kids, young women and men from universities in the U.K. and U.S. He nodded. “Certainly. If there is anything we can do to assist you in finding these men, I would be happy to help. So, please, do whatever you need. You will need lights, though. We haven’t run any lamps up there since most of our work has been outside the temple area.”
“Thank you,” Sean offered then turned his attention to Firth. “Professor, lead the way.”
The group exited the tent and followed Firth up the slight hill toward the cave entrance. En route, they all grabbed some flashlights out of black duffel bags Sahid had brought. They reached the edge of the rock formation and continued over the threshold, into the darkness of the cave’s atrium. When the professor entered the room, he scanned it carefully, as if he were seeing it for the first time, while the others waited patiently behind.
His flashlight stopped at a spot on the floor off to the side. He became instantly perplexed. Firth took a few long strides across the stone floor and reached the spot that had caught his attention. Abdulkarim stood just behind him, looking over his shoulder staring at an indention in the floor.
“This wasn’t here before,” Firth remarked in a surprised tone. His Egyptian counterpart shook his head in agreement.
Sean and Adriana had moved further into the chamber and were standing near the far wall. “Where does this go?” Sean asked, shining his light into a narrow doorway.
Abdulkarim and Firth looked up at what had caught their interest. A perplexed frown washed over their faces. “I don’t understand. That passageway, this recession in the floor, neither were here before,” the Egyptian stated, confused.
“He’s right, Sean,” Firth confirmed in a baffled tone. “I have been to this location at least half a dozen times. That was never here.” He jabbed his index finger at the opening to emphasize his point.
Adriana shone her beam into the black corridor and, without hesitation, stepped through the portal.
“Are you certain that’s safe?” Firth asked, concerned.
Sean grinned at him. “Pretty sure she knows what she’s doin’, Doc.” Sean disappeared into the darkness right behind her.
The two professors looked at each other and then at Sahid and decided they should follow along as well.
“I’m going to stay outside,” Sahid said tentatively. He clearly had no interest in going into the forbidding passageway.
The two archaeologists didn’t acknowledge his comment and carefully passed through the door into the ancient tunnel.
“I cannot believe that all the times I have been to Nekhen, I never knew this corridor existed,” Firth remarked as they followed Sean and Adriana around a sharp corner.
“I have been here many times as well,” Abdulkarim commented in a reverent voice. “I wonder how they knew about it? Or how the door opened?”
The group plunged ahead, winding their way into the mountain until they reached a point where the path began to slope down more dramatically. Sean and Adriana both shone their lights down the long shaft, carefully watching for anything suspicious or potentially dangerous. After a few minutes of creeping down the corridor, they reached the end.
Sean’s eyes narrowed as he saw a chest of gold and jewels on the floor. His eyes scanned forward, seeing the other two chests in the room. He cast his beam on the wall at the end and noticed the ancient writing. Adriana stopped at a hole in the floor and flashed her beam into it.
“Another chamber,” she stated and set a black backpack on the ground next to the cavity.
She knelt down on one knee and peered into the darkness below as Firth and Abdulkarim eased their way past the first treasure chest. The two men’s eyes were wide at the site.
“It isn’t that far down,” she stated. “Let’s tie off this rope to the stone boxes and see what we can find.”
“I’m not going down there,” Firth protested. His face contorted in disapproval.
Adriana had already pulled a climbing rope out of her bag and was hurriedly tying it around the two closest stone chests.
“You don’t have to, Professor,” Sean said. “This is what we do at IAA.” He helped their female companion finish testing out the rope then hooked his flashlight onto his belt and repelled down the rope into the darkness.
Adriana copied his movements and descended just as quickly below. The two archaeologists stared at each other for a moment in disbelief then rushed over to the hole and got down on their bellies to peer through the opening.
Sean was standing on the floor shining his light around the room. The visual the four were treated to was nothing less than spectacular. Gold panels covered the walls around the entire chamber. Each piece of the shiny metal was engraved with ancient writing and pictographs.
“What do you see?” Firth shouted down into the lower level.
“The walls are covered in plated gold, just like the ones we saw in the other chambers.” At this report, Firth leaned his head forward and twisted his head around. His eyes were huge as the beams of the flashlights bounced off of the yellow element.
“It’s breath taking,” Firth commented reverently. “I’ve never seen anything like it in all my life. How did they do it?”
The Egyptian archaeologist had poked his head through as well and was enamored by the sight. “All these years I have worked this area and never realized what lie beneath my feet.” He shook his head.
Sean moved quickly through the room toward a pedestal he’d illumi
nated with his flashlight. When he arrived at the stone structure, he became immediately disconcerted.
“It’s not here,” he sighed. “I was afraid of that.” He ran his hands along the sides, hoping there might be a hidden button or something their predecessors may have missed, but he found nothing.
Adriana leaned her head around on both sides of the object, but likewise found nothing of note.
“I can’t believe they beat us to it,” Sean was exasperated.
“What’s going on? What are you looking at over there?” Firth shouted from the other end of the room.
“Lindsey and his group have already been here,” Sean replied. “And they got the only clue that can lead us to the next chamber.” He lowered his voice and stared at Adriana. “We’ve lost the trail.”
Chapter 12
Egyptian Desert
Lindsey’s caravan of vehicles sped along the desert road leading back to Cairo. DeGard sat silently, staring out the window into vast, empty landscape. He’d not said much since they had left the Nekhen Temple. It seemed the incident where his employer pointed a gun at him had resulted in an adverse effect.
The older man was busily tapping on the touch screen of his phone, attempting to send a text message to Will. Will Hastings had been his most trusted and loyal agent. The fact that Lindsey hadn’t heard from him since they’d left Cairo was troubling. Based on their last conversation, Will had followed Wyatt and his companions onto a train bound for Luxor. He’d said the problem would be taken care of. If that were the case, Lindsey would have heard from him. But he hadn’t. And in the old man’s mind, that was disconcerting. He’d called a few times and sent a text message, all with no reply.
He slipped the phone back into one of his pockets and let out a deep sigh as he peered out the tinted window.
“Problems?” DeGard asked cynically.
Lindsey decided to ignore his question and ask one of his own. “You’re entirely certain that this is the place we are looking for?” Lindsey interrupted DeGard’s thoughts, pointing at a map on an iPad.
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