No Rules (26 page)

“Do we have time to go inside?” she asked.

Regret tugged at his mouth. “I’m sorry. We need to start hiking into the cliffs now if we want to look like we intend to make it back here in time to catch the last tram ride out.”

So close, yet so far away. But she wouldn’t let him see her disappointment. The two hostages were more important than playing tourist. “Okay, let’s go.”

They followed a hiking trail with what looked like a gradual incline, but which soon had her breathing hard. Donovan opened the backpack and passed her a water bottle that they shared as they kept walking. They passed a lounging guard and two young men who were taking pictures of the valley and the rugged vista beyond. She understood Kyle’s comparison to the Grand Canyon when they reached a plateau and saw nothing but more canyons cutting through the arid land. But these canyons looked more scoured by eons of wind than their American cousins, without a hint of water or a single weed growing from the hard, dry rocks. She took another swig of water, feeling the merciless sun leaching moisture from her body, and imagined what an additional thirty degrees of heat would feel like in the summer. It wouldn’t take much to mummify a body out here.

…

Donovan paused at the top, looking around as if admiring the view. He wasn’t. His small but powerful binoculars showed the closest guard talking with the two photographer-hikers they’d passed. No others hikers were around, and the other tourists were ant-sized specks on the Valley floor.

Jess actually was admiring the view, snapping pictures with the camera she’d discovered in the satellite phone. “Come on,” he told her, tugging at her arm. “Let’s get out of sight. I don’t think the guards really care if we get lost out here; they just want to make sure no one breaks into the tombs, but I still don’t want to draw more attention than we already have.”

They were over the rise and around a jutting arm of sandstone before he pulled out his phone and called Kyle. “I’m just south of the Valley of the Kings. Where are you?”

They exchanged GPS positions as he pinpointed everyone’s location on a small map on the phone’s screen, making sure Mitch did not have the most vital location. “Okay, we’ll take position north of you by sunset and watch for activity. One of us should spot the guy leaving. Call you when we’re there.”

“We?” Kyle’s question sounded carefully neutral.

He glanced at Jess as he answered. “We might need her.”

“It’s your call.”

Meaning it was his fault if her presence caused a problem. “That’s right. Out.”

Jess retied her shoelace and straightened. “Everything okay?”

“Yup.” He settled the backpack into position. “Movin’ out.”

He was slipping into his military training, his mindset already one of a Marine on maneuvers. If she noticed, she didn’t comment, following like a good little grunt. Despite his confident tone with Kyle, he hoped to hell he hadn’t been wrong to bring her. With any luck she’d continue to be quietly cooperative and this thing would go down without a hitch.

When she walked beside him, he watched her. Physically, he’d known she was up to the hike, but he hadn’t been sure about her disposition. She was an illustrator and writer—as much of a desk jockey as any bureaucrat. They weren’t the best at enduring hardships or pushing beyond their comfort zones. There’d been a real danger she’d hold him back or make his job miserable by dividing his attention. Just because he had an irresistible sexual attraction to her didn’t mean she was a good companion for a desert march.

But she kept her mind on the objective as well as he did and never complained about the heat, the distance, or the fact that the restroom was behind the nearest cleft in the rocks. Not bad for someone operating out of her element. She was highly adaptive to new situations—very much her father’s daughter. Wally would be proud.

Donovan was certainly pleased with her. Far more than pleased, if he was being honest, but he hesitated to put a name to his feelings. Every time his thoughts strayed in that direction he felt uncomfortable and more than a little guilty. Wally had warned him that his job didn’t mix well with family life and from everything Wally had told him, Donovan agreed. He could only imagine how upset his friend and mentor would be to know how much Jess tempted him to ignore that advice.

It was a good thing they wouldn’t be together much longer. With luck, they would rescue the hostages tonight and by this time tomorrow they’d be on a plane, halfway home.

The sun was setting when they reached a desolate vantage point north of the Valley of the Queens. He contacted Kyle to give him his coordinates and used the last of the rays from the setting sun to flash a signal for a visual confirmation. Kyle and Avery signaled in return. Mitch was out of his line of sight, but checked in by phone.

Now they waited. He found a vantage point from which to watch the valley and scuffed his feet around to scare away any scorpions. “Sit,” he invited.

Jess settled down beside him, hugging her knees to her chest as the air cooled. He pulled their jackets out of the backpack, then passed her a bottle of water and a power bar.

“What’s this?”

“Supper.”

She peeled off the wrapper and took a bite. “My compliments to the chef.”

It wasn’t sarcastic—more like, satisfied and grateful. He smiled. She continued to pass the toughness test better than he’d expected.

As they ate, he took out his binoculars to scan the valley below and the cliffs above, familiarizing himself with the lay of the land. The team could have lost their quarry out here without any effort at sabotage. There were a million places to disappear, even in daylight. At night the deep shadows could hide a battalion. A full moon would have been helpful, but they’d only get a quarter tonight, and it would be gone by midnight.

At least it would be harder for anyone to slip past them with two people watching. He turned to tell Jess what areas to keep an eye on and found her staring into space with a frown puckering her forehead. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m just frustrated by my dad’s story. The rabbit and the wolf—I get that part, that’s us. And the vase—we figured that out, too. But the beaver lodge in the middle of the river…it doesn’t make sense. What are we doing out here in the desert?”

His stomach tightened. “That’s what Kyle said. Do you think we’re on the wrong track?”

“We can’t be. I’m sure there’s an undiscovered tomb out here, and our courier will lead us to it. I just don’t know if the hostages will be there.”

He nodded, accepting it. It was too late to change their plans. “I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” He pulled her close and wondered if Wally had been wrong about relationships, too, because having Jess beside him calmed some unsettled part deep inside him, yet didn’t distract him from his job. “You watch the north branch of the wadi, and I’ll watch the one that runs off to the west.”

They settled into their roles. It was fifteen minutes later when she spoke without taking her eyes o
ff the valley. “
How do you think they found out who my father was?”

The question stabbed like a knife, simply because answering it would mean he could no longer deny the possibility that one of his team members had sold Wally out for money. But she had a right to know. His jaw felt tight as he forced the words out. “Evan and I suspect an informer inside Omega. A mole.”

She whipped a startled glance at him. “Who?”

“I can’t be certain.”

Her eyes were on the wadi again, but her body was rigid beside his. “But you have a good idea. Who is it?”

He let his breath out slowly. “Mitch. Maybe.”

She was quiet for several seconds, then spoke so quietly he had to strain to hear her. “Tyler, that night you told Mitch he couldn’t go out, I’m pretty sure he went anyway.”

His scalp prickled exactly as it did when suspenseful music thrummed in a horror movie. “How do you know?”

“I got up to take something for my headache about three a.m., and I saw him walk through the living room, fully clothed. He could have fallen asleep watching TV, so I didn’t say anything. But…”

“Yeah.” Coincidences were suspicious.

“If it is him, can he screw this up? Can he keep us from finding the tomb?”

“No, Jess. I won’t let him. I’m watching him, and he doesn’t know it. If he tries anything, I’ll be ready.” Big talk. But he’d never meant anything more.

They stared into the wadi, each consumed with their own thoughts. “I like Mitch,” she said finally, her voice small and plaintive. Not wanting to believe the betrayal.

“I know.” He did, too. Or, rather, he had. If Mitch was responsible for Wally’s death, he couldn’t find a low enough category for him and didn’t value his life any more than the scorpions that scuttled through this godforsaken wilderness of sand and dead pharaohs.

He would know the truth soon enough. If Mitch had gone bad, he would either side with his Egyptian friends and turn on his Omega teammates, or he would try to take out the bad guys so they couldn’t rat him out. Donovan would be watching for either move.

For now, all they could do was wait.

The last of the sunlight winked out behind the rugged hills. Stars gradually filled the sky, with a quarter moon high in the west. A cool breeze kicked up, and they huddled together, watching and listening.

…

Jess stared into the darkness, her senses on high alert. She put all thought of Mitch aside. It was too disconcerting to think about now, and she believed Tyler when he said he’d handle it. She had other concerns. This had been her father’s final mission, the most important one of his life. She would see it through for him.

Wind whispered past her, stirring sand and brushing tiny granules against rock. Her ears strained toward the sound and whatever other sounds it might hide. She would have thought this part of Donovan’s job would be lonely, especially in this barren wilderness. But her adrenaline surged and she knew his did, too. They watched from their vantage point, waiting to pounce.

Down there somewhere in the rock-strewn canyons of the wadi, modern-day tomb robbers were holding two students hostage and plundering a treasure that belonged to the ages. A treasure that should be in the custody of the people of Egypt, to be studied by scholars and admired by all of humanity.

And robbers who should be in prison. She would see that they got there. Her body nearly sang with excitement from being on the edge of capturing them and turning over a tomb full of riches to the Egyptian government.

A rustle nearby brought her jerking to attention. Fifteen feet away a fennec, the small desert fox of northern Africa, darted after a rodent. A scrape, a squeal, then silence. Jess willed her tension to dissipate, leaning into Donovan’s warmth. A breeze lifted her hair, then stilled, and all was quiet again.

Below, a light flickered.

They saw it at the same time, both of them coming to attention. Eyes straining against the darkness, she whispered, “Where did it go?”

“Wait.” Seconds later, the light shone faintly like a dim flashlight held close to the ground. “There.”

He pulled out his phone. In a low whisper, he said, “We spotted a light at the bottom of the wadi, moving toward you. Do you see it?”

They waited nearly a full minute before Kyle saw it and relayed the message to Mitch. “We’re going down to where we first picked up the light,” Donovan said into the phone. “Meet us at the bend in the wadi where it splits.”

They moved carefully down the trackless hills, using only the thin light of the moon to guide them. They held hands where the slope became steep and detoured around an abrupt drop. Thirty minutes later they stood at the bottom of the wadi. Donovan’s satellite phone glowed green as he sent their coordinates to Kyle, Avery, and Mitch. It took another twenty minutes before Kyle and Avery showed up, their dark clothes keeping them invisible until the last moment. It was another fifteen minutes before Mitch materialized out of the darkness.

Time enough for any one of them to secretly intercept the courier and reveal their plans.

Donovan pointed a flashlight at the ground, the dimly reflected light making their faces barely visible. “What took so long?” he asked Mitch.

“I followed him. He went to a small cave where they hide the electric car. He’s headed off to the Eye of the Gods in Luxor.”

It couldn’t have allayed Donovan’s suspicions, but for now he appeared to accept it without question. “Good. That gives us maybe an hour before he comes back. If we don’t find the tomb, we’ll have to hide and wait for him.”

“Can we use flashlights?” Avery asked. “I can’t see a damned thing.”

“We’ll have to and hope no one else is watching.” He didn’t look happy about it. “Jess, help us out here. What are we looking for?”

She was glad she could contribute something. “Most of the tombs were dug into the hillsides or a cliff face. The robbers probably had to excavate to find this one, so it might just look like a hole in the ground, and it’ll probably be small and hidden somehow. Probably with rocks that are easy enough to move but look like a natural pile of rubble.”

“A pile of rocks,” Avery groaned. “I think I’ve noticed a few million of those.”

“Excellent,” Donovan told her, giving her a rough slap on the shoulder. “That makes you a pro. You can take the point. Our guy came from around this bend, but I don’t know from how far in.”

“It doesn’t go far,” Kyle offered. “I scouted it earlier from the cliffs. It dead-ends about six hundred feet in, like a box canyon.”

“That’s the best news I’ve heard yet. A smaller area to search.” She heard a tiny pause. “Mitch, you come with me up the right-hand side. Kyle and Avery take the left. Jess, you’re with me, too. Any questions before we go?” He paused for all of three seconds. “Let’s move out.”