“That’s enough,” the man grunted. “Come in. All of you. I’ve been waiting.”
Montu lowered the knife to his side, and immediately Leila shook him off and shot daggers in his direction. He pushed past her and stormed into the house.
Leila glanced at Xander, worried. Montu wasn’t going to make this any easier for them.
Xander placed a hand on her upper arm, his eyes glinting. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, even though adrenaline still buzzed through her veins. “Let’s go inside.”
They stepped through the doorway and into a living room. It was small, with the sofa taking up most of the space. A TV sat against the opposite wall and a steaming microwave dinner had been placed on the coffee table. The air was heavy with smoke from the cigarettes simmering in the ashtray. Montu parked himself in the corner next to a tall lamp and glared, arms crossed, at the newcomers.
“Hungry?” the ponytail man asked as he headed through a doorway into a dark kitchen.
“No thanks,” Xander said, then glanced at Leila.
“Me, neither,” she said, shaking her head. Her stomach still felt unsettled after Montu’s knife attack.
“How about a beer?” The man laughed. Leila heard the sound of a fridge opening. “Ouzo?”
“Some water would be great,” Leila said.
The fridge door slammed shut and the man sauntered back into the living room, two chilled bottles of water in hand. He set them on the table, then lowered himself onto the couch with a heavy sigh.
“Oh.” He jumped up and stomped back into the kitchen. He returned a couple seconds later carrying a chair. “There’s one more in the kitchen,” he said, setting the chair on the other side of the coffee table.
Xander disappeared into the kitchen for a moment, then walked back out with another chair. The man took his seat on the couch again, and Leila and Xander lowered themselves onto the chairs.
“Montu, come,” the man called out. “Sit.”
Montu didn’t move from his spot in the corner. “I can hear you.”
“Very well.” The man turned back to Xander and Leila. “So.” He picked up his fork and started on his dinner, which had stopped steaming. “First, allow me to properly introduce myself,” he went on after a mouthful, “my name is Pete.”
“Pete?” Leila nearly choked. After all this, they had the wrong person. “I’m sorry. We were looking for Sobek.”
Pete chuckled and stabbed another forkful. “Sobek is my Medjay name. Here in Greece, they call me Petesuchos Nevrakis. Pete for short.”
“Petesuchos,” Xander repeated. “Isn’t that the Greek name for Sobek?”
Pete tipped his fork toward Xander. “Correct.”
No wonder nobody at the marina knew where Sobek was. Leila and Xander exchanged a look of exasperation. If only they’d thought of that sooner.
“And you must be Alexandros,” Pete continued. “Good Greek name, I like it. And Ma’at, goddess of justice… a fitting name. Soliman has spoken a lot of you both.”
“Have you seen him?” Leila asked, straightening in her seat.
Pete nodded. “He was here three days ago.” He took another bite.
Xander leaned forward. “Where has he gone? We need to find him.”
“He’s gone after Al-Rashid.”
“In Cairo?” Leila asked, knitting her eyebrows together.
Pete shook his head. “No, in the Aegean Sea. Soliman has gone to an island owned by Al-Rashid. I have been spying on him for many years, following any movement he makes in Greece. This island is an ancient construction site with a network of underground tunnels and chambers. For some unknown reason, the ancient Greeks abandoned the project.
“Al-Rashid acquired the island about fifteen years ago. He built a nice villa on it, as if to use for private holidays. But the tunnels tell me that he is using it to store his hoard of stolen antiquities. Things slowed down while he was in prison, but once he got out a few months ago, activity doubled.”
“And that’s where Soliman is now,” Xander said. A statement, not a question.
Pete shrugged. “I assume.”
“You assume?” Leila bit back a groan. Why couldn’t Soliman just stay in one spot?
“I haven’t heard from him since he set out by boat the other day.” Pete shook his head and scraped the last forkfuls of food into his mouth. “We had radio contact, but since authorities are on his tail, we switched it off. He was planning to be back here today, but so far, no sign of him.”
Leila’s heart fluttered with worry, hoping nothing had happened to him along the way. Or on his arrival.
“Montu and I are going to go to the island to find Soliman tomorrow.”
Leila glanced between Pete and Montu, who still scowled in the corner.
Xander sighed and rubbed his face. “Any way to find out if Faris is really on the island?”
Leila tapped her chin, mulling over the countless thoughts in her mind. “I wonder if that’s where he took my mom. Faris told me she wasn’t in Egypt.”
“But we have no way of contacting her,” Xander said, “and no way of contacting Soliman.”
