Passage to Queen Mesentia (12 page)

“Are you ready to go in?” he asked.

“What about your friends?”

He grinned and raised one of his eyebrows. “Yeah right. Then I would’ve had to share you.”

Lilly was a little taken aback by the way he threw his arm around her, pulling her close to him, and began walking toward the entrance, like she belonged to him—but that was the very second she knew she did.

But she’d never given herself completely to him. Had she? He had asked her to marry him twice and both times she had said no. She wondered now if it was because of the way he’d asked or if that had only been excuses. Was she scared to say yes because of the way she had ditched Grant? Was that guilt still there? Or had it been because of her parents? Either way, it wasn’t fair to Wade. 

As she sat there now, she thought it all ironic. If she had never met Wade, she would have never been able to shut him out the way she’d been doing the last couple of weeks. The person who had taught her to stand up for herself and to be independent was now in the line of fire.

Things began to clear in her head, and she knew why she’d stayed with Wade. She’d stayed in Houston, with him, because he made her feel comfortable in her own skin. He never expected her to be more than what she was. He had a way of making her feel like she was the most important person in the world. She had stayed with Wade Roberts because she didn’t want to live without him. She really
really
loved him… and he loved her.

At least, he had before everything happened. What had she done?

“You were saying something about The Valley of the Kings when we were at the museum?” Wade checked the busy street, like he had been doing every couple of minutes in-between bites and then looked back at her.  

She’d heard the question and nodded but was having a difficult time shaking the dread and guilt she felt at that moment.

“You okay?”

She nodded again but didn’t look at him.

“Lilly, it’s okay. We lost him.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “About… you know.”

“Yeah, that’s what you said,” Wade spit out quickly. “Now what were you saying about the Valley of the Kings?”

She closed her eyes for a second, trying to compose herself because she knew she deserved his aloofness. “Right.” She took a sip of her tea and then said, “The sign on the funeral boats said they were found in Tutankhamun’s tomb, which is in the Valley of the Kings.”

“So you think your parents hid the statue in King Tut’s tomb?”

“No, but they rented office space close to it for whenever they came to town to do work around here.”

“Okay, well that makes sense. Where is it exactly?”

“On the West bank, across the Nile. We can ride the ferry across.” She was afraid to ask the question that was on her mind so she spoke softly. “Do you think we should call Ben?”

“Yeah, I do,” he said as he glanced up at her. He wiped his mouth with his napkin. “We should warn him about Schelsteder. He may have followed us from the hotel. And if so, he’s probably casing the place or even searching for us there. We should probably plan to meet at another hotel or something this evening.”

“There are a lot of hotels on the other side. We can have Ben meet us there. Did you want to call him?”

“No, you can.”

Their eyes met, and she nodded her head. “Okay.”

“And before we go I want to get some supplies. I want a map and a weapon. I feel naked without my knife.”

An hour later they were on their way across the Nile on a white ferry decorated with colorful flags. They stood by the railing, the hot mid-day sun feeling warmer over the open water. Wade had his newly acquired map open. Lilly knew he must have hated feeling totally lost here. He was so used to knowing his way around Houston and San Antonio with his eyes shut.

“Where is it?” he asked flipping the map the other way around.

“Here,” she pointed about an inch away from the Nile. “It’s a travel agency. My parents rented from them yearly, so most likely it hasn’t been rented to anyone else. I also remember reading something about it in one of Mom’s recent journals. I used to come here with them when I was little, but I don’t remember much about the office. It was really boring, so I would hang out at the Flats of Luxor Hotel while they worked. Since that was the only hotel I could remember off the top of my head, that’s the one I told Ben to meet us at tonight whenever he was able to travel.”

“Did you tell him about Schelsteder and to watch for a tail?”

“Yeah, I told him. He said not to worry.”

Wade folded the map back up clumsily, fitting it into his back pocket and put his hat down a little on his forehead. “Don’t worry, huh? He’s all napping in the A.C. while we’re out in this heat being chased by a psycho. It better be in that office. If it’s not, I don’t know what our next move will be.”

“Well, maybe if we can’t find it, Schelsteder won’t be able to either.”

“True. That was the whole point, anyway. To make sure Schelsteder didn’t get his hands on it.”

She nodded and felt a little light headed. It had been a very long day. The guilt over hurting him gnawed at her stomach, and she wished she could have the last couple of days back.

“Are you okay?” Wade asked. 

“No, not really. We need to talk about this. About us and about what happened. You have to know that I have no feelings for Ben.”

“Right.” He clicked the side of his cheek and looked out onto the water instead of at her.

“I know I messed up. I’ve never regretted anything more in my life than that… kiss. I was in the moment, I guess. I’ve been so confused and sick after my mom and dad’s deaths and maybe… maybe, I did blame you.”

“No kidding.”

“Now I see I was wrong. I was so wrong to blame you for that. The really messed up thing is that I had realized that even before the train. I’m really confused as to why I let that happen.”

“Yeah, me, too.”

“I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t forgive me—”

“Good,” he said and walked away.

She squeezed her eyes together as her stomach sank. She was so tired and yawned even as she began to cry silent tears.

Chapter 14

Wade stood with his back against the ferry cabin, glaring at Lilly who still stood by the railing, her back to him. He didn’t know what the hell to think or what the hell she thought she was doing to him? Did she enjoy having him on a string like a yoyo? Come here… go away… come here… He refused to take it any longer. The only reason he could come up with as to why she had begun craw-fishing was because he had finally given up on her. The thrill of the unattainable again.

And did she really think that was an apology? 
I was in the moment.
However, maybe that statement did explain a lot about what was going on. Because he knew that as soon as Benny-boy showed his kingly self again, Lilly would be all goo-goo eyed. “Oh, I couldn’t help myself…” she would say. There was no way he could let his heart be stomped on again! He couldn’t take it. Sweat ran out from under his hat and everywhere else; he just knew it was because his blood was boiling.

Finally, they docked and grabbed a taxi that was near the ferry landing without saying a word to one another. The West Bank of Luxor was dotted with hotels, restaurants, and palm trees. Colorful air balloons floated above the mountains in the distance. Wade learned, from examining the maps, that monuments, tombs and lots of deserted desert were located further inland. It made him a little nervous to know that there would be not much of a crowd out there to get lost in if they had another confrontation with Schelsteder. He could only hope that the German Ghost-man had stayed on the East Bank.

After Lilly had told the driver where to go, they drove for a few miles until they passed the populated areas, the green scenery turning into drier land.  Wade stared out the window at the land of Egypt, which he had really begun to admire. A place Lilly had practically grown up in. How different her childhood had been compared to his. His had been a countrified, barefooted, creek-swimming, dirt and sweat childhood. Maybe she had been right all along. Maybe they were too wrong for one another.

The taxi pulled up to a concrete building shaped like a two-story cereal box, and Wade finally peeked at Lilly. She was sound asleep. He remembered she didn’t get any sleep on the train, and they’d been running ever since. Her hair was down and madly windblown, she wore no make-up but there was plenty of muck on her face, and her clothes were wrinkled and sweaty. She was beautiful. The most beautiful creature, even when she was such a mess. He decided to let her sleep and he’d go in and get the little pyramid, if it was even in there, and then they could check right into the hotel. Gravy.

“Stay here,” he told the driver. The guy began to protest when he noticed Lilly in the back seat, asleep. Wade took out some money and showed it to him, but didn’t give him any. He thought even if they didn’t speak the same language, he would understand cash.  He put up one finger and said, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

The driver protested loudly while shaking his head and pointing to the meter.

“I know,” Wade said getting out of the car. “Keep it rolling, I’ll pay you when I get back. Saving the world sure is expensive!”

He walked away slowly, hoping the guy wouldn’t take off, just to be spiteful, but he didn’t. The driver talked to himself and glanced back at Lilly every other second with frustration, but he stayed put.

Wade made it up to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. He was thankful that at least the sign in the window was in English, but it still didn’t help because it said they were closed. He wondered what he should do, if he should wake Lilly and ask if she had a key, but he knew she didn’t.

He had to get in there somehow. He probably could have jimmied the lock, but then he didn’t want the driver to see him breaking in. The last thing he wanted was to be thrown inside an Egyptian jail.

He walked around back to a window that was high enough that he had to jump to see inside. The window was filthy, and he didn’t see much. He picked up a rock and threw it at the window, and it went straight through. It took him several attempts, but finally he had enough of the glass broken out. He jumped to his elbows and then shimmed himself inside.

The office he landed in was in disarray: dust and cobwebs and paper on the floor. It appeared as if no one had been working in there for awhile. He walked through the door to a reception type area, and could see the taxi through the window.

Stone steps led upstairs. He walked up, hoping the Steward’s office was up there.

The file cabinets, shelves with old books, dust-covered computer screen, crates and a desk were enough evidence at first glance to give him hope that he was in the right place. However, the picture of Lilly, with two of her best friends from college, assured him.

There were crates stacked upon crates, and Wade knew what he would be doing for a little while and went about opening the first one. Amongst the shredded paper, he found clay pottery in the first one. He pulled the first crate out of the way and went to the next one. That one was a little more difficult to open, it was nailed shut.  He found the hammer that had been the culprit on one of the bookshelves and used the back of it to pull the nails out. He stuck his hand inside the crate…

Wade felt someone shaking him. Sweat dripped from his brow, and he needed more sleep. The voice he heard was not speaking English. What? He forced his eyes open, realizing a headache beyond hangover pounded relentlessly through his temples. He felt the cold, gritty floor beneath him and saw a man in a turban above him. The man was shouting at him and pointing.

Wade remembered where he was. He jumped up, a little too quickly, and ran down the stairs and through the front door of the office building to outside. The taxi was gone… Lilly was gone! He ran back inside as the driver was making his way down the stairs. He grabbed the man by his white shirt. “Where is she!” he demanded. “Where is she?”

The man spoke in his language again, yelling with the same amount of discontent as Wade had. That’s when Wade realized someone must have stolen the man’s taxi with Lilly asleep inside of it. His heart pounded, and he wiped his sweat on his brow, which had begun to drip down his face. Only then did he realize that it wasn’t sweat but blood.

Someone, most likely Schelsteder, had hit him over the head with something, knocked him out and took…

He ran back up the stairs and sure enough, all the boxes had been opened and paper and pottery was strewn everywhere. If the Pyramidion Statuette had been there, they had it. They had Lilly, too.

He was about to walk back down the stairs when a piece of paper on the desk caught his attention. He read it and then yelled out, “Son-of-a-bitch!”

Chapter 15

Lilly’s dreams had her in her classroom. She was upset because her students weren’t listening to her. She was separating the biggest talkers, Ashley and Becca, when she was jarred awake. She opened her eyes and realized her face was on the seat of the taxi cab, and the cab was moving.

Her first thought was that she had nodded off for a second and they were still on their way to her parent’s office, but that didn’t last long. Something was wrong. As she sat up, she had to brace herself, the cab was traveled at a high speed and she bounced all over the place. Wind and dust blew in from the open windows. Where was Wade? Was he driving?

No, the driver had mud-dark skin, and he wasn’t even the same driver they had left with. She looked out the window to see where they were. Sand flew everywhere. They were off-road!  What was going on? “Stop! Stop right now!” When the man didn’t even flinched she shouted in Arabic, “Wa’if
hi
na, min
fad
lak!”

At this, he slammed on the brakes and Lilly was thrown forward into the back of the front seat and then backwards into the back seat. All she wanted to do was get out of the cab, but when she was about to open the door, it was opened from the outside.  Completely confused, she stared up the two strangers who were now reaching inside the cab. Remembering Schelsteder and the man in the park, she screamed and tried to climb to the other door. A second later, the two men had her by the legs and pulled her out, and right before her face hit the sand, they let go and grabbed her by the arms.