Buried Secrets

by Kristi Belcamino

  “I think we need separate rooms is all I’m saying,” he said.

  Dallas was feeling heady. He did want her. The same way she wanted him.

  Instead of answering, she stood and leaned over to him, grabbing both his hands and pulling him to a standing position. Then she pulled him even closer so their bodies were pressed against one another and their faces mere inches away.

  “Dallas?” He groaned her name in protest.

  “Colton.” She said it as she pressed her lips against his. “What happens in Egypt stays in Egypt.”

  “I’m serious,” he said, pulling away. “We can’t stay in the same room. The University will know, I mean I’m supposed to submit all my receipts, etc. And even so, it’s just not ethically, right for us to …”

  “For us to what?” Dallas said, her lips touching his. “Do this?”

  He didn’t protest. She drew back and took his hand leading him through the streets back to the hotel.

  The walk back took way too long in Dallas’s book. As soon as they unlocked the door, without even turning on the lights, she pulled him inside and pushed him up against the wall and resumed what they’d started at the restaurant.

  At one point, she ripped off his shirt. Soon they were on the bottom bunk. Slivers of moonlight shone in from between the slatted blinds, allowing her to see Colton looking at her as she climbed on top of him. She was straddling him and leaning down to meet his lips when he reached for the binder that kept her hair in a ponytail. She was about to bat his hand away when there was a sound that made her blood run cold.

  The hiss of a snake.

  It was unmistakable.

  It wasn’t just the hiss of any old snake, either, it was that odd exhalation growling sound distinctive to the Egyptian cobra.

  Dallas had never been afraid of snakes but this growling exhalation hiss sent chills down her spine.

  Colton froze underneath her. His hands gripped her wrists tightly. “Don’t move,” he breathed the words under his breath.

  The snake hissed again. It was to their left. On the floor. Without turning her head, she strained to see anything in that direction. That’s when she saw it in the moonlight. It was standing up a foot high, displaying its iconic hood. It wasn’t a giant cobra, but the size wasn’t anything to sneeze at, either. And really size didn’t matter since even a small cobra likely had enough venom in its fangs to fell an elephant, inducing likely death within hours. A person would be lucky to last 15 minutes.

  Her hand gripping the side of the bunk bed felt something metallic. The rim of the trash can. She had seconds to act. And she’d be using her left hand. She was right-handed. But she had to try.

  “I’m going to grab this trash can and try to trap it.”

  Colton froze at her words. “Don’t worry, cobras can’t really hear ambient noise. He, or she, smells us, so talking won’t matter much,” Dallas said, straining out of the corner of her eye to watch the snake. It was weaving. It hissed again.

  The growling dog sound sent chills down her spine. Now or never. She imagined it, she would lift the can and then in a swooping arc come down upon the snake’s head.

  But just as she was about to pick up the trash can, Colton had grabbed her shoulders and flung her against the wall behind him and leaped off the bed landing with a scream and a thud. She was right behind him screaming and flailing hoping by some miracle she’d manage to grasp the snake by its neck and hold its fangs away from them or at the very least, find its tail and fling it across the room. She landed on the floor at the same time the lights flickered on. The first thing she saw was Colton standing against the wall by the light switch with a wild look in his eyes.

  The second thing she noticed was the snake at her three o’clock. It was reared up and she heard it growl like a dog right before it became a bronze blur and she felt wetness on her shoulder. She looked over as the snake rubber-banded back to its original position. She began to laugh.

  Colton’s mouth was wide and he looked like he’d seen a ghost.

  Dallas’s laughter quickly turned into hysterics as the snake struck again.

  With a tremendous roar, Colton leaped toward them and grabbed the snake by the tail, flinging it against the wall. It landed heavily and then slithered quickly into the bathroom. He rushed over and slammed the bathroom door. He was at Dallas’s side in an instant, a look of horror on his face as he reached for his phone on the nightstand.

  His eyes searched Dallas’s body. She wore a black bra and underpants and nothing else. She blushed. By then she had caught her breath. Her entire body was shaking.

  “Sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Why I was laughing like a mad woman. Shock. Um, it didn’t bite me. It’s been defanged.”

  Colton closed his eyes and slumped against the wall. She crawled over into his lap and then started to cry.

  Angrily, she wiped away her tears that were soaking his chest.

  “I’m sorry for being such a big baby,” she said. “It just scared the crap out of me. I think I lost it there for a second.”

  She wiped her tears and sat up straight. Colton was shaken. He kept shaking his head.

  “Say something,” Dallas pleaded.

  “I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head again.

  Dallas leaned over and kissed his forehead. “It’s okay. It’s okay. What don’t you know?”

  “Maybe we should go home.”

  “Why?” Dallas asked in earnest.

  “Someone clearly wants you dead. It’s not worth it.”

  Dallas stood up and pulled on her pants and a top. She reached for the room phone but before she picked it up, she said, “No. They don’t. If they wanted me dead, I have a feeling I’d be dead. They are just trying to scare me.”

  Then she dialed “0” and spoke, “I’m in room 213. There’s a cobra in my bathroom. It’s defanged but you’re going to need to find someone to come get it.”

  Colton was standing now and throwing his clothes into his rucksack. “Tell them we’re checking out.”

  “Oh, and we’ll checking out. Immediately. I’m sure you understand.”

  She hung up and nodded toward the closed bathroom door. “I think we should just leave our toiletries and buy new ones. Whaddya think?”

  She winked, grabbed her backpack and opened the door to the hall.

  He was right behind her. “Good plan.”

  Eleven

  Colton paid for them to have adjoining suites at the Marriott.

  Dallas frowned when he told the desk clerk this.

  Upstairs, he plopped his bag down on one bed and hers on the bed in the other room.

  As soon as he turned to go back into the other room, Dallas grabbed her bag and followed, pointedly plopping it on the bed beside his.

  “I’m having a sleepover tonight.”

  He rolled his eyes.

  She grabbed him by his hips and pulled him toward her.

  He groaned but pushed her away.

  “Colton?”

  “Dallas, I’m pretty shaken up by everything tonight. I think maybe I just need to go to sleep. No offense. Believe me, any other time … but I’m still jetlagged and frankly, not sure it should be like this the first time …”

  Dallas smiled widely and pulled off her top.

  “Dallas!”

  But before he could get her name out, she’d yanked a big U of M T-shirt on and reached over pulled back the covers on the bed. “Hop in. I’m a really good snuggler.”

  The next morning Dallas woke curled up against Colton’s warm body. Her head rested on his shoulder. The first thing she thought was how well they fit together.

  Her next thought was “Crap!” She jumped up. The sun was shining brightly into their room. They hadn’t drawn the curtains the night before. One glance at the bedside clock told her what she feared—they’d overslept.

  Colton mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over as Dallas sprinted for her pants and then rummaged in the pocket for her
phone. Four missed calls from Abet.

  Great.

  She stepped into the adjoining room and called him back.

  “I’ve been calling every hotel in town. Nobody has you check in anywhere.”

  Oh no. Colton had used his name. I was about to call the embassy when the maid at your hotel said something about a cobra extraction this morning. So, then I started calling the hospitals. I was just now going to call the embassy, the minister … anyone and everyone.”

  “First, I’m so sorry. We were up late sorting through the whole snake thing—that’s a whole another story I’ll tell you later. And then we overslept. We’re checked in under Colton’s name so that explains the confusion. And second, I’m touched you were worried.”

  Abet grumbled. “If you die, I don’t get paid, right?”

  Dallas laughed. “Whatever tough guy. Just admit you were worried because you sort of like me. I mean we are friends, right? You did say I reminded you of your daughter.”

  “Fine. I was worried. Like a parent would worry. I have enough to worry about with my own grown children, I don’t need to worry about anyone else.”

  “Fair enough,” Dallas said. “Do we still have a driver?”

  As she spoke she pulled on her pants and top.

  He must’ve placed his hand over the receiver. She heard some muffled voices. “He says, yes, as long as you pay him from the time he was supposed to pick you up this morning.”

  “That sounds fair. We’re at the Marriott. Give us thirty minutes, okay?”

  She hung up as she walked into the room. Her voice woke Colton who sat up and seemed as startled as she had. He raked a hand through his messy hair. “What time is it?”

  He glanced at the clock and moaned.

  “It’s fine. Abet will be here in thirty minutes. Let me brush my teeth and then I’ll rummage us up some coffee and meet you downstairs.”

  On the drive out to the dig site, Abet listened to Dallas’s story about the cobra with a furrowed brow.

  “No fangs?”

  “No.”

  “I can only think of one person who would know where the snake came from.”

  Dallas’s eyes widened. “Really? That’s brilliant. We can go there tonight.”

  He scoffed. “There is no ‘we.” I will go.”

  “Hmmm,” Dallas was unhappy but not deterred. “We’ll see.”

  “Dallas!”

  “Yes,” she said in a sweet voice.

  “You don’t know my people.”

  “You’re right,” she said just as brightly. “I’m a tourist.”

  “Yes.” He said and scowled. Her agreeableness seemed to irritate him. Something she was perfectly aware of.

  “What I do know,” she said, “is whomever did this didn’t want me dead or they would’ve put a cobra with fangs in my room, right? I mean, I am just a tourist, but it would seem that procuring a cobra without fangs would be much more difficult than getting ahold of one with fangs. Right? Correct me if I’m wrong?”

  Abet scowled again.

  “So, I am right?”

  He shook his head without answering.

  “I think I’ve made my point,” Dallas said to Colton.

  “As you always do.”

  She gave him a sharp glance. Was he messing with her. But he winked and she relaxed.

  Dallas was about to tell Abet about the robbery in Cairo when they pulled up to the guards at the temple. The crew was resting in the shade of one of the remaining structures.

  “I suppose they get paid from eight this morning as well.”

  “But of course,” Abet said with a grin and hopped out.

  “Fine.” Dallas was angry with herself. Her savings was dwindling. She had two weeks minus two days to find something that would convince not only the minister to grant her the excavation permit but also convince the university to fund her dig long term.

  Colton, who had been quiet most of the drive, seemed to read her mind. “You know I’m on your side. I’ll do whatever I can to get your funding, but ultimately it’s going to be in the hands of the provost.”

  “I know.”

  They spent the rest of the day excavating. It was close to six when Dallas took her first break, slumping against a mound of sand and munching on a wadded-up protein bar she’d taken out of her pants pocket, washing it down with warm water from her canteen.

  She wiped a rivulet of sweat that was threatening to drip into her eyes and searched for Colton’s form. She spotted him over by a tiered stack of stone blocks. He was overseeing the digging at that spot.

  Two other groups were between them. As she stood, she saw commotion at one of them, the closest one to her. She heard excited voices and dropped her canteen and ran.

  They’d found something!

  Colton began to run from the other direction.

  Abet was there and translated. “It’s a small chest.”

  “Oh my God.” That meant there was a good chance whatever was inside was preserved. It was an archeologist’s dream.

  “Everyone move away,” Colton said.

  Dallas leaned forward. In the small pit was the edge of a gilded box.

  Twelve

  It was already dark and they were working by lamplight by the time the box was completely unearthed and set on a nearby tarp.

  Dallas was exhausted, ravenous, and trembling with excitement when she leaned forward and with a gloved hand lifted the clasp on the lid.

  It seemed as if nobody breathed as they waited to see what was inside.

  The interior contents seemed to glow as the lid was raised.

  Gold. Shiny gold coins.

  Dallas gasped when she realized what they were. They were coins featuring a woman’s profile. It was unmistakable who the woman was—Cleopatra.

  This was the evidence she needed to garner the excavation permit. These coins tied Cleopatra to this temple.

  After securing the find and making sure the temple was well guarded overnight by the guards, they packed up and returned to town.

  Back at the hotel, Colton stuffed his face with crackers, showered, and then fell into bed. Dallas frowned. She’d wanted to celebrate the find with a bottle of champagne and well, getting busy with this sexy man in her bed.

  But his eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving.

  Oh my God. She thought. Last night they were so close. But they were thwarted by a snake.

  There was always something getting in the way.

  “My love life was thwarted by a cobra,” Dallas said shaking her head. “I guess most people can’t say that.”

  Colton mumbled something in his sleep in response.

  And tonight, any chance at romance was ruined by exhaustion. Oh well. They could celebrate another time. She leaned over and kissed his forehead. H mumbled again, but didn’t stir.

  He was snoring within seconds. She crept into the other bedroom and closed the adjoining door. She couldn’t sleep. Not when they were this close. So close.

  She had a hunch. If the coins were buried there, that meant they were close.

  It was foolish, but she had to go back. That night. Right then.

  Glancing in on Colton, she decided to let him sleep.

  What she really wanted to do was go back to the site and examine the coins. She’d paid one of the crew to stay the night there as a guard. But she was worried it wasn’t enough.

  She dialed Abet. No answer.

  Growing on her clothes, she grabbed her bag and crept out the door to the soft sounds of Colton snoring.

  Downstairs, she asked the desk clerk about a cab. Within ten minutes they were on their way to Taposiris Magna.

  “I’m very glad you called,” her driver said. “It is very slow tonight. I spend much of the time taking hotel guests from airport to hotels but there was a sand storm in Cairo and flights were canceled so it is very slow for me tonight.”

  “Well, I’m just glad you were available,” Dallas said.

  Soon they pulled
onto the road leading to the temple.

  Dallas immediately knew something was wrong.

  The regular guards were not at the checkpoint, but even more than that, the large light they’d erected near the spot where they found the chest was not on. The entire site was in darkness.

  “You are expecting others here?” The driver said. His voice was laced with concern and unease.

  “Yes.” Dallas leaned forward, gripping the seat in front of her. But she couldn’t see anything in the dark. “Can you pull a little further ahead?”

  The driver didn’t answer, but did slowly pull forward.

  She saw the blood first.

  But the driver must have seen it at the same time. He shoved the car into reverse, turned to look behind him and stepped on it, sending them zooming backward down the gravel road until they skidded to a stop near the guard station.

  For a second they both sat there in silence. Dallas’s heart pounding in her throat.

  She reached for her phone but the driver was already talking urgently into his.

  Thirteen

  As the sun rose, police swarmed the dig site. Dallas leaned against the trunk of a police car and put her head in her hands. This was disastrous. A man was dead and it was her fault.

  The taxi driver had left as soon as the authorities had arrived. They’d briefly questioned him and then waved him on. Dallas insisted on staying showing the men her temporary permit.

  They’d left her here for hours, letting her sit in the back of the police car if she wanted. She’d curled up there in its warmth for a while but eventually became antsy and stood outside trying to see what the police were doing up the road.

  Even from the guard shack she could see the small lump they’d covered with a sheet.

  It had to be the crew member she’d left in charge.

  At one point the police had been pointing and measuring holes at the guard shack. Someone had fired gunshots into it.

  But luckily there was no blood to be found.

  By morning it was determined that the guards had run for their lives, leaving everything behind including their phones. It had taken them an hour to reach the next town on foot through the desert where they had finally called police to report the incident.