Curses! Involuntary heat scorched her cheeks and ears. “And you won’t have any,” she said once she found her voice. “I’m leaving. And I’m also going to report you.” She headed for the door, but he stepped in front of it, blocking her only escape.
“Report me? Oh, this sounds serious.” He stuck out his bottom lip.
“Cut it out,” she snapped. “I’m tired of your games.” She took a wide step to get around him, but his arm shot out, blocking her.
“Why don’t you have a seat and tell me about these games?” he suggested, taking hold of her arm and forcing her farther back into the room.
“I’ll tell it to the police,” she snarled, retreating backward. All she could think of was his arm around her neck, crushing it. She had to get out of there. Fast. Before he really murdered her.
“You can tell the police what you want. But first, you’ll give that back to me.” He motioned to the Bible.
“Absolutely not.” Frowning, Leila yanked her arm from his grasp.
“If you don’t, that would be stealing.”
“I’m just taking back what’s mine.”
Xander considered her, one eyebrow rising. “You sure about that?”
His question caught her off guard. She blinked, then took in a deep breath. “Of course. Or else I wouldn’t be here, holding my Bible that I found on your nightstand!”
“That is a quite fascinating hypothesis, but I believe you are mistaken. Are you infallibly positive that book is yours?”
Leila would have expected him to go ballistic on her and finish the job he started, but not this. Why on earth would he try to keep what he stole from her? His determination was unsettling. Resolved to hide her sudden timidity, she raised her chin.
“Yes, of course it’s mine.”
“Prove it,” he demanded.
Leila rolled her eyes and opened the front cover of the book then held it open for him so he could read the message her dad had written inside.
“Well, Leila, as you see, this Bible actually belongs to me.” He took it from her hands and flipped it. Similar to hers, there was a handwritten note on the inside cover in her father’s handwriting. Only this note wasn’t addressed to her. It was addressed to Xander.
Leila’s jaw felt like it was made of lead. She moved a hand to take the book back, but he snapped it shut and held it out of reach.
“But, it’s… just like mine,” she stammered, unable to meet his eyes.
“I understand that. And I find this all quite interesting, in fact.” He wandered away and placed the book back on his nightstand. “What would possess you to come in here and search my room for your Bible? Do you mean to say that someone beat you over the head to steal yours? One just like mine? Why would I do that if I have my own? And then you let yourself into my room to find it. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” He twisted halfway toward her and all emotion vanished from his features. “After all, you do have a history of break-ins.”
Leila opened and closed her mouth, wishing she could find the right words to tell him what a jerk he was. She raised her hands in defeat, turning on her heel to make her escape, grateful he didn’t follow after her. But by the time she made it to her room, the shame burned within her, hotter than the skin on her face.
Chapter Seven
Billowing russet clouds tumbled across the Sahara, racing toward Cairo with a vengeance. The unexpected sandstorm drove the team of archaeologists into the break tent after they managed to lay and secure tarps over their trench. The wind howled and the tent shook.
Leila decided to use the interruption to find a quiet space where she could clean her tools and sort her thoughts. With all the workers in the tent, there wasn’t much space to herself, but she settled cross-legged into a corner and no one seemed to take notice. At first, it helped. But she started to run out of tools faster than she could make sense of everything happening. Xander. The Queen’s tomb. The attack. A missing papyrus. Her missing Bible. As if sensing her need for distraction, Soliman approached.
“I finally received approval for entrance to Thutnekhbet’s tomb,” he informed her. “The storm is calming down, so we can go and have a look.”
“Oh, really?” Finding the ability to smile again, she broke out into a grin. “That’ll be great.”
“It isn’t open to the public since the structure isn’t deemed stable,” Soliman continued, shaking his head. “The support system will have to be checked before anyone can enter. There hasn’t been any work done on it in years.”
“Maybe that can be your next project,” Leila suggested.
“I will see what I can do. The government is usually on top of these things, since they are so protective of our history. I’m sure it will be taken care of.”
“Well, since we’re going in with fresh eyes, maybe we’ll find something new,” Leila said, rubbing her palms together in anticipation of the excursion.
“Sometimes that’s all it takes.” Soliman winked then motioned with his head toward the tent flaps. “Let’s have a look, then.”
The air was thick with a red fog of dust as a small group of archaeologists arrived at the entrance to the tomb. Other members of the team had also shown interest in seeing the tomb, and Soliman saw no harm in letting them inside as well. The true purpose of the visit remained secret.
The chain link fence towered over the two men standing guard. They snapped to attention as the group approached. After a moment of scrutiny, one recognized Soliman and called a greeting to him.
“The support beams are in decent condition,” the guard explained as they gathered outside the fence. He cast a wary eye over the group. “But we cannot allow all of you to enter at once.”
“That’s fine.” Soliman shrugged. “We will take turns. I’ll enter first with Harrison and Sterling.”
Leila bit back a groan. Why him? Soliman was doing this on purpose. He would probably say something about her building character by doing unpleasant things.
Get a grip, Leila. You’ve only managed to make things worse.
They hadn’t so much as looked at each other all day, let alone spoken to each other. An involuntary glance in his direction broke their unspoken agreement to avoid each other. Their eyes met.
Xander’s mouth dropped into a deep frown.
She averted her gaze and crossed her arms, refusing to feel any remorse for going into his room. She would go in there and enjoy the tomb, whether he was there or not. So what if he was angry?
