A Time of Shadows (Out of Time #8) (22 page)

He heard the girl fussing about in the kitchen and he sank down onto the sofa. He’d spent the last few years running from his demons and now he was trapped here with…her.

He’d failed Juliette and Emilie, and he’d lost them. Lost himself. But he would not fail again. Not now. Not today or tomorrow. He had nothing else to lose, but perhaps one last thing to give. This girl would live, no matter what it cost.

C
AIRO
WAS
AS
TENSE
as Simon was. There was an uncomfortable air around the city. Tension over the political issues that had plagued Egypt for centuries had come to a head again. The divide between who Egypt was and who it would become was evident.
 

When they’d last been in Cairo it was full of possibilities, welcoming the world with open arms, filled with pride at its rich history. Now it felt awkward and strained. But it was still just as beautiful, and just as dangerous.

Shepheard’s Hotel, or at least a hotel by that name, was still in Cairo. But it wasn’t the same. Not the same building, not the same place. Not that Simon would have wanted to stay there if they could have. The past was starting to bite his heels and he was ready for the Great Nostalgia Tour, as Elizabeth called it, to end.
 

All he wanted was to find the watch, get rid of it, and get his family back. He knew that would mean sending Charlotte back to the future, but she would be with a version of him there and that was a comfort. Although it also gave him an odd sort jealousy at his future self.
 

He laughed at the absurdity of the thought.

“What’s so funny?” Elizabeth asked as their cab made its way through the crowded streets.

He shook his head and took her hand.
 

She didn’t press him, and turned her attention back to the streets of Cairo.
 

Their cab pulled up to the train station and he paid the driver. His eyes stung from lack of sleep as he tried to read the departure signs. Elizabeth had managed to get some sleep on the endless flight over, but, as usual, Simon had only managed to drift in-between waking and sleep, never having both feet in either. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a good night’s sleep.

“This way,” Elizabeth said as she took his arm.

“Hmm? Oh, right,” Simon said and picked up their one shared bag.
 

They’d bought a few clothes and necessities along with their plane tickets. Unfortunately, they’d missed the once-daily connecting flight to Luxor, but that was par for the course, wasn’t it? That left them with the choice of spending the night in Cairo and flying down the next morning or taking the overnight train.

It was half a dozen of one, but they opted for the train. There was some comfort in feeling they weren’t still, even for a moment. That they were always moving, moving toward their goal.

Ramses station once had been a beautiful old building. Parts of it still were, but it had been marred by some sort of modernization gone amuck. What had been a lovely, open station was now crowded with rows of thick faux columns holding up a false roof. The papyrus flower pillars were modeled after the ones in Karnak, but these felt forced and artificial. An enormous chandelier in the shape of a crystal shard now hung down from a biliously glittering ceiling. It felt more like a Las Vegas version of Egypt than Egypt itself.

Simon grunted in displeasure. Cairo was such a magnificent city. It should be a crime to do things like this to it.

“Almost there,” Elizabeth said next to him.

His ill temper had nothing to do with that. It honestly had nothing to do with Egypt past or present.
 

“I’m just tired,” he said. It was the truth, if not the whole of it.

She nodded. “You’ll feel better with a little sleep.”

He’d hoped that would be the case until he saw their luxury double cabin. It was barely big enough for the two of them to stand side by side in. The short benched seat folded out and above it another cot swung down.

“It’s…cozy,” Elizabeth said, looking hard for that silver lining.

Simon sighed and put their bag down in the one square foot of free floor space. He sat down on the bench seat and flipped open what looked like a large round top of a trash can. It was actually a small sink, too small for him to drown himself in, sadly.

He closed the lid and leaned his head back against the seat.

“Maybe some food?” Elizabeth asked.

He nearly said no. He wasn’t hungry, but he knew she was, and she’d feel better if he ate something with her. He agreed, but they both regretted it. Dinner was something brown accompanied by something beige with a side of light brown, probably the vegetable. The Orient Express with its luxurious dining car this was not.

Despite having to suffer the indignity of borrowing toilet paper, they survived the journey. Although Simon’s back seemed to have fallen out somewhere around Asyut.
 

As soon as they reached their station and exited the train, Simon flagged down a cab and opened the door for Elizabeth.
 

He touched her arm to stop her briefly before she got in.
 

“Next time, we fly.”

~~~

“Better?”

“Much,” Simon said as he appeared in the doorway to the balcony, freshly changed after his shower.

Elizabeth had poked around the hotel after hers and her heart had sunk with every passing minute. The lobby and grounds of the Winter Palace were nearly identical to the last time they’d been there, but nearly everything about the rooms was different. A lot had been upgraded over the course of the last one hundred years. All they could do, though, was hope that wherever Teddy had left the clue, it was still there.

“What are you doing?” Simon asked as he stepped out.

The room they’d stayed in last time was taken, and they’d had to settle for the one next to it. But that still left them on the outside looking in. Literally.
 

Elizabeth leaned against the broad cement balustrade that ringed their small balcony. “Just seeing how far it is.”

She leaned forward just a bit more.

Simon appeared at her side and gripped her arm.

“Too far,” he said.

Elizabeth stood up and frowned. “We could make it.”

Simon shook his head. “And if we didn’t?”

Elizabeth turned and looked down. They were on the third floor and the ground directly beneath them was a cement path and a lovely tile mosaic. Neither of which would be much fun to land on.

“Maybe we can lure the couple next door out?” she suggested.

“Possible.”

“Maybe they can win a fancy dinner? Courtesy of the hotel?”

Simon nodded. “That would be a far cry safer than…” He looked meaningfully across to the next balcony.

Elizabeth nodded and looked down again. Something caught her eye this time though. The tile mosaic.

She laughed out loud.

“All right,” Simon said, tugging on her arm. “Step away from the edge.”

She made a face and then shook her head. “Look,” she said, nodding toward the small path beneath them.

Simon frowned but did as she instructed.
 

When he did, she could see it in his face the moment he saw it. The mosaic wasn’t a geometric pattern as the rest were. It was, quite clearly, a moon in phase, a waning gibbous moon to be precise.

“That cheeky bastard,” Simon muttered.

Oh, Teddy was. And smart. He didn’t dare put the clue in the room, so he put it somewhere where only someone in the room could see it.
 

~~~

Fifteen minutes later, they’d retrieved the clue from the center of the garden mosaic and were back in their rooms.
 

“He left Bethlehem,” Simon read, “and she stayed behind. Again.”

Elizabeth reached out and Simon handed her the slip of paper with the clue. “We’ve never been to Palestine.”

“No,” Simon said. “I’m fairly certain I’d remember that.”

Elizabeth made a face and reread the clue. “Bethlehem. Bethle—oh, he’s good. He’s Van Johnson good.”

Simon looked at her, utterly confused.
 

She smiled and ignored his reaction. “What do you get if you take the ‘he’ out of Bethlehem?”

Simon thought for a moment. “Take H E out…?” He shook his head as he figured it out. “Bethlem. Bethlem Royal Hospital.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Otherwise known as Bedlam.”

Simon frowned. “I was hoping to skip that one somehow.”

It was another place that held bad memories, for both of them. She’d nearly had her brains scraped out the last time they’d been there, and he’d nearly been too late to stop it.

“At least we know where we’re going.”

Simon got up and walked over to the window. “Yes.”

Elizabeth joined him. “At least she won’t be there.”

Katherine Vale was still locked up at the Council. That was a small comfort.

Simon hmm’d, turned around to her and nodded, pulling her into his arms. “Only two more to go. Probably.”

Elizabeth nodded and then leaned her head against his chest. The slow, steady rhythm was soothing. They held each other for a few quiet moments.

Simon brushed back some hair from her face and she looked up at him. He leaned down and kissed her. It started as something small, but quickly grew into something more.

Finally, they pulled apart, but he kept his head bent down to hers.
 

“We should get some sleep,” she said, half-heartedly.
 

He nodded and kissed her again. “We will,” he said and then whispered in her ear. “Later.”

I
T
HAD
TAKEN
THEM
some time to find an inconspicuous spot to watch the Wizard’s house from, but they finally had. A small office for rent up the hill gave them a good view of the entrance to the compound with the help of a pair of binoculars. The room was bare except for a single folding chair and table and a few blankets they’d brought. There was no shower and they had to sneak downstairs to use the bathroom, but Jack had been in far worse places on much longer stakeouts. At least they were inside.

For the last two days they’d sat there, watching and waiting. Not much happened at Hogwarts, as they’d started to call it. A few deliveries, but no one left.

It was currently Tess’ turn at the window. Jack lay back on the floor and tossed a rubber ball he’d found outside up and down.
 

“You should get some sleep,” Tess said.

Jack grunted and tossed the ball up and caught it.

“No, really.”

“Not tired.”

It was her turn to grunt.

Jack sat up. “What?”

Tess turned away from the window and glared at him. “Because if you throw that ball up one more time, one of yours is going to join it.”

Jack winced and reflexively squeezed his legs together. He made a show of putting the ball down and held up his empty hands.

“Thank you,” Tess said as she turned back to the window.

Jack chuckled and pushed himself up. She’d been a pleasant companion so far and he didn’t begrudge her being a little ants in the pants. This sort of work wasn’t for everyone.

“Sorry,” she said over her shoulder as he approached.

Jack waved away her apology and joined her at the window. He pushed aside the thin curtain and looked out, although it was too far for him to see anything clearly.

“Still nothing?”

Tess sighed and rested the binoculars in her lap. “Do you think this is a waste of time? I mean, if he was going to contact Skavo, wouldn’t he have done it already? What if he just called him and all of this is for nothing?”

“It’s possible.”

Tess put the binoculars on the windowsill and stood. “Then what’s the point of this?”

“We have no other leads?” Jack said.

“There must be something we can do. Someone else must have seen Skavo.”

“Probably.” Jack picked up the binoculars and took her seat. “But in a city of fourteen million and no idea where to start…”

“Maybe the club?” Tess said. “Maybe we can bribe that waiter,
Alabaş?”

“Possibly.”

Jack could feel Tess glaring at the back of his head.

“But we should wait a few more days,” Jack said. “My guess is that the Wizard was waiting for the heat to die down a little. He’ll make a move. We just have to make sure we’re here to see it.”

He turned around to smile up at her. “It’s not that bad being trapped here together, is it?”

She fought down her smile, but had to agree. They’d managed to pass some of the time…pleasantly. It was a damn sight better than the six days he’d spent alone in a bedsit in London.

“No,” Tess admitted with a smile as she put her hand on his shoulder and leaned down to kiss him.

This was by far one of his favorite stakeouts. Her hand wound into his hair and then she pulled her head back just a little.
 

“It’s happening,” she said.

“I’ve been waiting,” he said, reaching to pull her into his lap.

“No, you idiot,” she said, standing and picking up the binoculars. “He’s leaving.”

Jack cleared his throat. “Of course, he is.”

She turned and started for the door. “Well, come on.”

Jack sighed, grabbed the car keys and followed her.

~~~

They followed the town car across the Galata Bridge and back into Sultanahmet. It turned toward the old town and finally pulled up near Hagia Sophia.
 

The driver got out and opened the door for the Wizard. Jack parked quickly, illegally, and they hurried after him on foot. It was another beautiful late summer day and the streets were crowded. It made it easier to blend in, but harder to keep track of a man with black hair and a beard.

Th Wizard paused near the museum and looked around to make sure he wasn’t being followed. Jack and Tess quickly turned their backs and purchased some simit bread from a street vendor.
 

Tess peered over Jack’s shoulder. “He’s on the move again,” she said.