Shiva (44 page)

Breaking Bunny
’
s concentration was a strange beep. One. Then a pause
,
then a second one.

“
What
’
s that?
”

Stark
’
s eyebrows merged into a unibrow.
“
Not me.
”
Then his face opened up into a grin.
“
I left the channel open.
”

It took a moment for Bunny to realize which channel he was talking about. Davidson
’
s channel.

Bunny snatched the headset from Stark.
“
Sam
,
is that you?
”

* * *

Davidson hit the sat phone button once. The faint click was far quieter than if he
’
d
whispered.

“
Oh
,
thank
G
od
.
”
Bunny sighed. He liked the sound of it. Living in isolation for most of his life
,
it was odd for someone to worry about him. And a girl? Davidson had written that concept off even before all the burns.

“
Yeah, okay,
”
Bunny continued
,
clearly nudged on by someone else in the room with her.
“
Lieutenant Prenner thinks that you have probably set up across from the Great Pyramid. Is that correct?
”

Looking through the scope at the sheer and utter chaos at the entrance to the monument, Davidson hit the button once.

“
Great
—w
ell
,
not great,
”
Bunny corrected.
“
I think Rebecca found them a way out of there and they are heading away from the pyramid.
”

Davidson let out air through his teeth. Since that explosion
,
he
’
d been worried he was protecting a perimeter that no longer needed protecting.

He clicked the button once.

“
There is three ways they could go…
”
Bunny
’
s voice trailed off. She wasn
’
t the most decisive of women. Actually
,
she kind of hated making decisions, especially big decisions. The ones where your backside was on the line.

He clicked the button once to give her some reassurance.

“
I think…Emily needs a direction to go to
.
S
he
’
s arranging an extraction team.
”

Davidson clicked it again. He had so little information he couldn
’
t even begin to help Bunny decide. And it seemed like she had an
a
rmy guy and a CIA operative. Neither of them
was
going to
know
Rebecca and her mind better than Bunny
,
though.

A rustling sounded when Bunny put her hand over the receiver. He could only make out mumbling until she came back on the line.

“
Everyone else disagrees, but I think Rebecca is going to head to the Sphinx. The others think she
’
s going to head toward the smaller pyramids. They are closer to the city, but I think she
’
s going for the Sphinx.
”

He gave another click.

“
I am assuming you are thinking
,
‘
W
hy?
’
”
Bunny stated quickly.
“
Besides it
being
what I would choose, it is the only site that a door has been found. The Egyptian government has never allowed it to be open
,
but the Sphinx is the only one we know for sure that has an exit.
”

That deserved another click.

Davidson could hear the relief in her voice.
“
Great. Okay, Prenner says that you should set up on the north since Emily
’
s extraction is coming from the south.
”
Off Davidson
’
s click, Bunny hurried on
.
“
Be careful…
”
Then
,
much lower,
“
Come
home
.
”

That almost got him to break his silence. But he couldn
’
t.

Instead
,
Davidson broke the connection. He couldn
’
t even give her a click. He couldn
’
t guarantee he could fulfill a
“
yes
”
answer.

Besides, he had another nest to set up.

* * *

Rebecca stood at the crossroads of three different tunnels. So once again
,
all eyes were on her. She glanced over to Brandt
,
who was carrying Vakasa on his hip. The little girl looked so right there that Rebecca almost lost her composure. Despite the heartbreak of him being married to another woman earlier this year, Rebecca knew how disappoint
ing
it
had been
when Maria
’
s baby turned out
not
to be his. She knew how much he wanted to be a dad. To think that the world might never see a child of Brandt
’
s. That by her screwing up which direction they went, they could all die.

“
Which way?
”
Brandt asked. Not demanding. Not cajoling. Not even desperate
,
al
though Rebecca knew his heart must be pounding a thousand times per minute.
“
Don
’
t think about it, babe. Just choose. We
’
ll follow.
”

Oh
,
great. No pressure there.

But he was right. Her gut told her to go east.

“
That one,
”
Rebecca answered
,
nodding to the third tunnel.

“
Al
l
right,
”
Brandt said
,
setting Vakasa down.
“
Levont, east it is.
”

As the point man moved out
,
with Lopez right behind him, Rebecca took Vakasa
’
s hand and fell into position. Still
,
she queried Brandt.
“
Are you sure you don
’
t want my reasons?
”

In a surprising display of PDA, Brandt kissed her on the forehead.
“
Nope. I trust that big beautiful brain of yours.
”
Then
,
of course
,
the smile fell.
“
Now move out.
”

Rebecca did as asked. Although
,
it was hard to keep up with Levont. He moved at a pretty clipped pace
,
and Rebecca was busy trying to take pictures of the walls as the men
’
s lights flared against them for a second
,
then went pitch
-
black again.

Whoever built these tunnels had taken great care to line them with incredibly detailed hieroglyphics. If she
weren
’
t
mistaken
,
the information was mainly about the history of the building of the pyramids. The inscriptions on these walls could solve about two millennia worth of speculation and academic argument.

And luck
ily,
she had Vakasa with her. Apparently
,
not only did the little girl speak a dozen languages
,
she could also read ancient Egyptian.

Bunny
’
s question flared in Rebecca
’
s mind.
Is it
h
er?

The child was remarkable
.
T
here was no question of that. And delightful too. But was she a messiah? Rebecca looked down at the little hand in hers. It felt so vulnerable in her palm. How could someone so tiny hold all the world
’
s hope?

It just didn
’
t seem possible.

That didn
’
t exactly matter to the Disciples
,
though.

“
Hey, not to be a wet blanket or anything,
”
Talli said
,
w
hich even Rebecca knew meant that he was about to be a wet blanket
,
“
b
ut let
’
s say best
-
case scenario we bust our way out of these tunnels, what then? Won
’
t we just be back where we were before we ran into the pyramid?
”

Brandt didn
’
t miss a beat.
“
I guess we
’
re just going to have to count on the fact that Davidson has been very busy.
”

“
Wow, dude,
”
Lopez said
,
feign
ing
shock
,
“
d
on
’
t go all mushy on us.

The corporal was right. That was about as inspirational as Brandt got. Usually
,
he was all
“
S
hut up and hoof it.
”

And with them all being safe, for at least the moment, which was a high point
,
really
,
on this mission, Rebecca delighted in the feeling.

* * *

The trek wasn
’
t long. For which Brandt was grateful. That last stunt down the ramp had at the least bruised a rib, his abdominal scar ached, and if he turned quickly to the left
,
his vision blurred. Par for the course.

“
We
’
ve got a turn up ahead,
”
Levont informed them, slowing to a stop.

Brandt looked to Rebecca
,
who frowned.
“
My best recollection of the tunnel system in this grid…
”
S
he sighed.
“
My best guess is that this leads to only one outlet.
”

That was good enough for him.

“
Take it at half speed,
”
he ordered.

The point man got back to what he did best. Muscles tensed, Levont ducked his head around the corner, then pulled back rapidly. That quick scan must have been negative for any company
,
as Levont stepped into the possible kill zone. Sweeping his light side to side, up and down, he check
ed
his corners. He checked as far as he could see.

With a curt nod, Levont let them know it was okay to follow.

Rebecca was nearly as well trained as his men when it came to protocol. And little Vakasa? She was a trooper. Not a squeak of complaint. Not a moment of hesitation. Even though he resisted the idea of her divinity, Brandt knew the moment he laid eyes on her that she was special. Back at the village
,
she
’
d done what was right when all the adults had shr
u
nk back in fear.

In this part of the world, bravery usually got you killed.

Had Vakasa just not learned that lesson yet
,
or was she truly that courageous?

“
Dead end up ahead,
”
Levont reported.

Well, they were about to put his rather optimistic outlook to the test
,
weren
’
t they?