Death on Tour (24 page)
I saw Alan before he saw me. Coming up from the stairs, he stood and watched the line of dancers winding erratically around the deck, led by a drummer whose smile gleamed white in his dark face. For a moment, he just stood, a dim form on the sidelines, and then he saw me and made a beeline to my side. I felt my heart beat a little faster.
“Come on,” he shouted above the din and reached out a hand.
Before I knew it, we had grabbed onto the tail end of the line. I held on to an elderly man I hadn’t seen before and Alan grasped my waist. His hands were very warm through my blue galabia. I started laughing with pure pleasure.
The conga ended a couple of minutes later, but the Nubians played for about thirty more minutes. Then we played a few cruise games that everyone enjoyed immensely but would later claim were silly. Left on my own, I would have watched from the sidelines, but Alan and Kyla between them made that impossible. We swung potatoes on strings, did the hokey pokey, and made fools of ourselves for longer than I would have thought possible. DJ was in his element, throwing his head back and laughing his big laugh. Nimmi had either forgiven me for thwarting her shoplifting attempt in the gift shop or decided I hadn’t known what I had done because she joined us, talking and laughing. She admired my necklace and waved DJ over.
“Look! Do you see this? This is exactly what I want.” She shouted over the music.
He looked dutifully and gave a great big smile. “When we find another, you shall have it. I will make a wonderful bargain for you.”
It was ridiculous to suspect such a loud, happy, and basically nice man could be a smuggler. I felt a little ashamed of myself for even thinking such things. Eventually, the games ended and a disk jockey arrived and began playing softer music that had been popular once and now was heard primarily on elevators and oldies stations. Anni and the other tour guides said their good nights and went below, as did about half of the passengers. The rest of us ordered more drinks and flopped onto the lounge chairs. It felt wonderful lying there looking up at the stars, the air cool on our hot faces. The lights of the ship were no competition against the diamond-hard brilliance of the stars. A few couples danced on the makeshift dance floor.
I finished my drink and looked about for a place to set my glass. Alan took it from me and set it on a table. He held out a hand.
“Will you dance with me?” he asked.
I took his hand and followed him to the dance floor. As I walked past, Kyla gave me a grin and a thumbs up. I hoped Alan hadn’t noticed, but that seemed unlikely unless he had been suddenly stricken blind. Fortunately it was too dark for him to be able to see how red my face was.
He took me in his arms, and we began swaying back and forth to the music. He smelled nice, like soap and new clothes and man. I relaxed against him and breathed him in. He moved his hand gently over my back and looked down into my face.
“Tell me about your necklace,” he said.
Not the most romantic conversation starter, but it would have to do. I went over the story of my necklace for a third time.
“That is very strange.” He leaned away from me so he could get a better look, although how much he could see in the moonlight was anyone’s guess. “It’s obviously valuable.”
“I know. I mean, even if the stones and gold aren’t real, it’s still worth something. And they just handed it to me.”
“Do you think that those men mistook you for someone else?”
I considered, then shrugged. “That seems the most likely thing, but who in the world did they mistake me for? If they had made a deal with someone, wouldn’t they know what that person looked like?”
“You look a lot like your sister.”
“Cousin,” I said automatically. “But it’s not like Kyla was supposed to be picking up a necklace.”
“Are you sure?”
I looked up at him, puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“Maybe she was the one who was supposed to go into that stall. It’s not the first time on this trip something strange has happened to you. Think about the guy on Kitchener’s Island who wanted to show you something. Or the guy in the carpet shop. And now this. Is it possible that she was supposed to pick something up from those people? But you being around messed up the exchange?”
“That’s completely ridiculous.” I stopped dancing. “You can’t seriously think that Kyla has some sort of clandestine deal going on with illegal contacts in Egypt. She’s a programmer, for God’s sakes. She’s never even been to Egypt.”
“Are you sure about that? And these days, deals don’t have to be arranged in person. Does her company have international offices?”
“No!” I snapped. “Well, yes, probably. But so what? What company doesn’t? That doesn’t mean anything.”
“You don’t find it odd that everywhere we’ve gone on this trip something strange has happened to you? Someone has asked you to go somewhere with him or given you a necklace or attacked you in a tomb?”
“Of course I find it odd. Almost as odd as I find you and all your questions.” A cold and unexpected anger was rising inside of me. “Who are you? You’re no financial analyst from Dallas. Asking questions, speaking Arabic. Are you FBI? Or CIA? Or just a cute policeman with nothing better to do than flirt when you don’t mean it so you can ask your stupid questions?”
I pushed away from him and actually stamped my foot. “You just stay away from me. And from Kyla,” I added. “We don’t have anything to do with any of this. You’re the one mistaking us for someone else.”
I stormed off before he could see that my eyes were filling with very inconvenient tears.
I thought briefly about returning to my seat by Kyla, but I was so angry that I was shaking. I decided to return to my cabin. The night was over for me. I could have wept with frustration and disappointment. I stumbled down the half flight of steps that led to the gift shop, and paused briefly to wipe my eyes. As I lifted my head, I saw the flash of an unexpected movement in the shadows and then something hit me very hard.
I must have dropped like a proverbial stone. I don’t remember falling, I don’t remember blacking out, I don’t even remember being frightened. There wasn’t enough time. One minute I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye, and the next I was lying on the carpet looking up into Alan’s face. Kyla was behind him, shouting for a doctor in a loud high voice. I blinked and tried to raise my head, which was a mistake. Searing pain shot through my temples. I felt nauseated. Other people were arriving and talking at the same time. I was so confused.
“A passenger has been attacked,” I heard Alan say to someone. “We need a doctor and you need to search the ship at once.”
Someone had been attacked? I wondered who it was. Mostly I wondered why I was lying on the floor in the hallway.
Kyla now knelt beside me and took my hand. Even in my current state, I couldn’t help but notice how white she looked and that she was trying not to cry. Very puzzling. I sort of drifted off again. When I opened my eyes next, DJ was shining a little penlight into my face in a most annoying way. I flinched away.
“Stop,” I protested and sat up.
Surprise and relief showed on everyone’s faces. DJ gave a huge smile. “Ah, this is a very good sign. Her pulse is strong and her eyes are focusing properly. I do not think she has a concussion. Nevertheless, she should be kept awake for the next two hours. Someone should stay with her.”
“I’ll stay with her,” said Kyla, her voice quavering a bit.
“Did she see who it was?” asked Ben from somewhere behind Alan.
“Should we get her to a hospital?” asked someone else.
“I’m fine,” I said, with the same instinct that makes people deny they were asleep when they’ve very obviously just been awakened. I didn’t really know if I was fine or not, but I did know I wanted everyone to stop talking about me as if I weren’t sitting right there. I put my hand to my head and to my surprise felt wetness there. I looked down and saw blood.
“What the hell? Did I fall down the steps?”
Alan looked grim. “Someone hit you. And your necklace is missing.”
I clapped my hand to my throat. Sure enough, my beautiful, mysterious necklace had vanished.
Spend the morning in Deir el-Bahari, the monumental temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt’s only female pharaoh. Stop for pictures at the two Colossi of Memnon, which guard the way to the Valleys of the Kings and Queens. Experience a grand finale to your sightseeing in the Nile Valley with the stunning monuments of Karnak, the greatest city of ancient Egypt. As you stroll among the pillars of the colossal Temple of Amon-Ra and along the Avenue of the Sphinxes, you will believe you have journeyed back in time.
—WorldPal pamphlet
The rest of that evening and much of the next morning was a bit of a blur. The ship’s crew saw to it that another doctor was brought on board at the crack of dawn, ostensibly to check me out but in reality to wake me up and make sure I wasn’t going to sue.
Kyla, for once dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, followed the doctor out and returned a few minutes later with a tray stacked with rolls, fruit, coffee, and juice. I looked at her gratefully.
“Wow, room service. I might need to get hit on the head more often.”
She snorted. “There are easier ways to get breakfast in bed. For example, making a phone call.”
“Yes, but then I would have had to give a tip. This is loads better.”
“Seriously, how do you feel?”
I stopped chewing for a second to consider, then answered with my mouth full. “Headachy, but pretty good. So what’s going on down there?”
“You’re the talk of the town. The prevailing theory is that some thief must have sneaked on board earlier in the day and been waiting for a chance to steal something valuable. And then apparently slipped overboard and swam away, because no one has been found and the guards in the lobby are positive no one left the ship.”
“That’s ridiculous. They check for boarding passes every time we sneeze. There’s no way a stranger could get on board.”
She agreed. “It had to be a crew member or a passenger. You really didn’t see a thing?”
I shook my head and was immediately sorry. “Not really. I think whoever it was must have been waiting in the shadows behind the gift shop, which would at least rule out Alan.”
“Alan? You’re kidding, right? He was completely freaking out.”
“Who found me?” I asked her.
“Well, he did. He sounded the alarm and started ordering everyone around. He got the crew to call a doctor and search the ship, and he refused to leave your side. He was…” she paused, searching for the word. “He was distraught. I think he really likes you.”
I wanted to believe her. “He was the first on the scene. Maybe he was the cause of the scene. What better way to clear himself of suspicion than to sound the alarm. He could have had the necklace in his pocket.”
“You’re insane. He’s a nice guy. And I’m telling you, he was panicked.”
“Maybe he hit me harder than he intended. Okay, okay.” I held up my hands as she started protesting. “Maybe I’m just being paranoid. He might not have stolen my necklace, but there is something very odd about that man.”
I thought about mentioning Alan’s suspicions of her, but then decided against it. For one thing, she might not be as amused as I was, and for another I just didn’t have the energy to tease her.
I got up slowly and dressed. My headache settled into a dull heaviness, and mostly I mourned my missing necklace. As much as I’d adored it before, now that it was gone, it was ten times more desirable. I felt as aggrieved as if I’d spent every cent I had on it and not as though it had been handed to me in a trinket shop in an Egyptian bazaar.
Kyla hovered at my elbow as I made my way down the flight of stairs to the ship’s lobby. My head gave a little throb with every step, but I decided it wasn’t too bad overall. Half our group was already present, and the other half was slowly streaming in.
“I can’t believe you’re up already,” said DJ heartily and much too loudly. I winced a little. “Your head must be as hard as a rock.”
“You can’t possibly be going on the tour this morning,” said Nimmi, critically running her eyes over my pale face. “You don’t look at all well.”
Just what a girl loves to hear. I always wondered why people think it’s okay to tell someone they look like crap. If they were feeling bad, it certainly did not make them feel better. And if they were feeling fine, what a slap. I suppose it was a backhanded way of expressing concern.
“Of course I’m going,” I said firmly.
Flora and Fiona toddled in together. Flora’s shirt was on inside out.
“How are you feeling today, sweetie?” asked Fiona.
“Fine, thank you,” I answered as cheerfully as possible.
“I’m so glad to hear it. Dreadful thing. Just dreadful.”
They wandered off toward the ladies’ room, and I overheard Flora asking, “Has she been ill?”
Kyla caught my gaze and rolled her eyes. I suppressed a giggle.
* * *
Our last full day for sightseeing had come at last. Somehow it seemed like a very long time since we had stepped off the plane in Cairo, excited and happy. Tomorrow we would pack up and fly back to Cairo, then spend an afternoon in the bazaar before catching our flight back to the States. Today, however, was the true grand finale. Deir el-Bahari and Karnak. The words themselves echoed in the mind like a single violin string plucked in an empty hall.
We walked up the steep ramp from the dock to the street above and climbed on board our bus. As always, Achmed waited for us beside the open door, eager to offer a smile or a steadying hand. The group, or most of us anyway, displayed various stages of travel fatigue. Kyla still looked perfect. The ship’s laundry must have starched even her jeans, and she looked as fresh and crisp as the day we’d started. I’d yet to see her wear the same outfit twice. On the other hand, my jeans were on their third wearing and my t-shirt had the deep wrinkles that only come from days of being rolled and squashed in the bottom of a suitcase. I wore my light blue windbreaker more to hide the state of my shirt than to ward off the chill of the morning air. I just hoped the wrinkles in my shirt would shake out before the heat of the day made me take the jacket off.