The Arab Fall (A James Acton Thriller, Book #6) (James Acton Thrillers) (32 page)

He
gripped the arms of the chair he was in, his shoulders tensing.

“What’s
wrong?” mumbled Laura, awakening.

“Nothing,
go back to sleep.”

Laura
sat up, looking at her watch.

“When
are we boarding?”

“Any
minute now,” he replied, looking at the board in front of them.

“Okay,
I’m going to let everybody know. There’s no way I’m letting anybody get left
behind.”

She
stood up and Acton watched as she made the rounds then he froze, standing up
suddenly.

“What is
it?” asked Reading, snapped from his reverie.

“I
thought—”

But
Acton stopped himself as his suspicion was confirmed. Walking past their
seating area was his former student, now CIA operative, Dylan Kane, his secret
life revealed to him only recently when Kane had paid him a visit at the
university. It was a reunion, and a conversation, Acton would never forget, the
secret shame confessed to him filling his own dreams with horror filled images.

I can
only imagine what the poor kid is going through.

Kane
made momentary eye contact with him, his left eye almost imperceptibly winking,
and continued on. Acton immediately realized he must be undercover, and dropped
back down into his seat.

Word had
hit the newswires that the Imam responsible for the attacks, some guy named
Khalil, had been assassinated earlier this morning. They had all rejoiced at
the news, and now Acton, resisting with all his might the urge to look behind
him, wondered if his former student had been that assassin.

And if
he was, he would be sure to congratulate him, should he ever see him again.

Reading
sighed, causing Acton to return his attention to his friend.

“What’s
wrong?”

“Hmm?”

“You
sighed audibly, my friend. That’s never a good sign.”

Reading
gave a weak smile, still staring ahead, his arms crossed over his chest, feet
stretched out in front of him.

“I’ve
been thinking of retiring.”

Acton’s
eyebrows shot up.
Retiring?
It had never occurred to him that Reading
would be the type.

“Really?”

“Yeah,
I’m getting too old for this shite.”

“Bullshit.
You’re what, fifty?”

“Fifty
three.”

“Fifty
three, you’ve still got a good six, maybe eight months left in you!”

Reading
glanced at him, cocking an eyebrow.

“Piss
off.”

Acton
laughed and elbowed him.

“In all
seriousness. Fifty three isn’t old. Besides, you’re doing desk duty now.”

Reading
unfolded his arms and twisted to face Acton.

“You do
realize that my job may be officially behind a desk, but since I’ve met you
two, I’ve seen more action that I did in the Falklands? And that was a bloody
war!”

Acton
feigned being hurt, grabbing his chest.

“What
are you saying? You don’t want to be friends anymore?”

Reading
huffed, straightening himself in the chair.

“It
would make life easier.”

“But not
as exciting. And you know damned well you’ll come charging to our rescue if you
hear we’re in trouble. You’re not the type to sit back.”

Reading
grunted again.

“Always
been my damned problem.”

“What,
having a conscience?”

He
nodded, crossing his arms again.

“Fucking
conscience.” He sighed. “Maybe I’ll stick it out a little longer.” He turned
back to face Acton. “But the next time you invite me to the fucking desert, I’m
saying no. And if I
ever
figure out how the hell you manipulated me into
going this time, I’ll put out an international arrest warrant on you if you try
it again!”

Acton
raised his hands in mock surrender.

“How’s
my dig in the Andes sound?” he asked out of the corner of his mouth.

“Bloody
cold.”

Nubian Desert, Egypt, University College London Dig Site

Several months later

James Acton jumped down from the truck, then held out his hand for
Laura. She took it, and far more gracefully than him, stepped down from the
running board. They stepped forward, hand in hand, as they surveyed the remains
of the dig site together. Laura’s hand was on her mouth, her eyes glassed over
at what she saw, and he had to admit, it was hard for him to look at.

It was a
wreck.

A
warzone.

The
shot-up vehicles were still here, their tents were in various states of
standing, most having blown down or away with no one left to mind the stakes,
and their dig site was covered in sand, the desert quick to reclaim all it had
once possessed.

Their
defensive positions still showed some signs of the attack, bullet casings
visible here and there, but the blood was gone, the bodies taken away, and as
they stepped forward, the excited shouts of their students, every one of which
had insisted on returning with them, filled the air as they rushed forward to
see the state of all their hard work.

Four
tents stood alone, well maintained, its occupants all sitting out front in
chairs. Acton smiled and waved at Leather and his men as they got up and walked
toward them, having arrived two days before to scout the site and confirm its
safety.

Leather
shook their hands, then turned to face the dig site with them.

“What do
you think?” he asked.

“We’ll
rebuild it, and start again. It won’t take long,” replied Laura.

“We
didn’t touch anything, figured you’d want to catalog everything.”

Acton
blurted out the question he was dying to ask.

“What
about the tomb? Cleopatra’s tomb?”

Leather
frowned.

“That we
did check out.” He pointed toward the hill. “You’ll want to see this.”

He
strode out ahead, briskly walking toward the ridge containing the tomb’s
entrance, Acton and Laura, then the students, following. It had been months and
Acton was dying to know what had happened. It was a career making find, and all
they had were photos and video, but nothing to prove what they had found was
real.

The archeology
community was desperate for news as well, and everyone feared that grave
robbers would loot the find. The Egyptian police had agreed to place guards
there, but after a few weeks of no activity, they had abandoned the post
without telling anyone.

They
reached the site and Acton saw the canvas had been moved aside, and several
ropes lay nearby.

“Lower
me,” he said, and Leather nodded, grabbing one of the ropes and tossing one end
into the hole. He and several students held the rope tight as Acton stepped
over the edge, dangling in midair. He lowered himself quickly, then snapped on
his flashlight and was about to head toward the tomb when Laura called down.

“Don’t
you dare look without me!”

He
stopped and steadied the rope as she scrambled down. Turning on her own
flashlight, they aimed their beams at the massive cover stone they had moved
out of place, and found it still laying on its side. As they rounded the
massive piece of rock, their lights played into the tomb, and Laura cried out.

Acton
stifled his own cry, a pit cleaved from his stomach that almost made him vomit
right then and there, he instead managing to stumble into the tomb they had
discovered that fateful day.

A tomb
that was completely empty, save a piece of paper sitting in the center of the
room.

Acton
leaned over and picked it up, then breathed a sigh of relief.

“What is
it?” asked Laura.

He
turned the paper so she could see, shining his flashlight on it, revealing the
symbol for The Brotherhood, and a handwritten note.

There’s
nothing you Westerners love more than a good conspiracy. Enjoy. S.

Laura
began to laugh, and Acton hugged her, he himself getting caught up in the
moment, as relief, disappointment and anger washed over them all at once. Their
find was gone, they were left with no proof it had ever really existed, they
would be called frauds, and perhaps laughed out of their profession.

But the
mystery of Antony and Cleopatra, one of the greatest love stories in history,
would go on, their whereabouts unknown, their bodies interred together in
peace, and undisturbed.

Under
the watchful eye of The Brotherhood.

THE END

As usual I had a blast writing this book. Professor James Acton and
his friends become more and more familiar with each adventure, and more is
revealed about their characters and pasts as they evolve. Introducing new
characters is also a treat, especially if they are to become recurring.
Terrence had a small part in Brass Monkey, yet in this one he takes a more
prominent role, and since I didn’t kill him, there’s a good chance he’ll appear
again.

And
Dylan Kane makes his first appearance in an Acton novel, which was fun to work
in. If you want to read more about him, check out Rogue Operator, the first
installment in the new Special Agent Dylan Kane Thrillers that is set in the
James Acton universe, and has become a huge hit.

The idea
for discovering Cleopatra’s tomb once again comes back to one of those
spitballing sessions, and from the research that comes with these novels. I
knew I wanted the book to take place in Egypt, and to involve the discovery of
something “cool”. The idea of finding a pharaoh’s tomb came up for discussion,
and I sent my researcher (my retired dad!) off to look for a “cool sounding”
Pharaoh.

That’s
when he came back with the stunner that Cleopatra’s tomb had never been found.
As we dug deeper, we realized her story, and that of Antony’s, was fascinating,
and their deaths marked the end of Ancient Egypt as we know it.

And left
a tantalizing mystery behind.

A
mystery that demanded to be solved by Professor Acton.

As usual
there are people to thank. My wife, daughter, friends and parents, especially
my dad who did a huge amount of research for this one. Other names to mention
are Ian Kennedy for researching the effects of high explosive blasts on the
human body, as well as Richard Jenner.

And of
course to you, thanks for reading!

Thank you for choosing and reading my book.
If you enjoyed it, I would be grateful if you could write a review
and post it on Amazon or your favorite book site.

James Acton will return this fall!

CIA Special Agent Dylan Kane returns in Containment Failure!

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J. Robert Kennedy is the author of eleven international best sellers, including
the smash hit James Acton Thrillers series, the first installment of which,
The Protocol
, has been on the best sellers list since its release, including
a three month run at number one. In addition to the other novels from this
series,
Brass Monkey, Broken Dove, The Templar’s Relic
(also a number
one best seller) and
Flags of Sin
, he has written the international best sellers
Rogue Operator, Depraved Difference,
Tick Tock, The Redeemer
and
The Turned
. Robert spends his time in Ontario,
Canada with his family.

Visit or subscribe to Robert's website at
www.jrobertkennedy.com
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