“Well,” Neal said, resuming a business-like tone, “the last I heard was the villa has been located. Authorities are questioning the inhabitants, including Faris Al-Rashid. But I won’t know more until this evening. I’ll keep you in the loop.”
Leila sighed and crumpled the empty shawarma wrapper into a ball. This was taking too long.
Amir would have had plenty of time to clear out of the villa. She threw the paper ball at a trash can. It bounced off the edge, scattering flies in all directions, and landed by a tattered magazine lying open on the ground.
“While you were busy with questioning, I did some digging of my own,” he went on, putting a manila folder in his lap and shuffling through its contents. “Listen to this. Amir Al-Rashid studied at the University of London with a major in Egyptology. A year later, he was kicked out for assault on a professor. No charges were filed, though. Then he enrolled at Cairo University. One year later, got suspended for plagiarism, and as a result, was rejected from field school.”
“That’s the guy,” Leila said, shaking her head.
“Seems like a real nutcase,” Neal mused as he flipped through the pages in the folder.
“You’re telling me.” Nutcase or not, she wasn’t going to let him get anywhere near the tomb. Not if she could help it. She may have won the battle, but now she had to win the war.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The sun had yet to rise as Leila waited outside on the curb among the small group of sleepy archaeologists.
“Dr. El-Baz from Cairo University has been supervising the dig,” Emma explained as they waited for the Jeep’s headlights to appear around the street corner. She’d taken it upon herself to bring Leila up to date.
Leila gripped her thermos of coffee with both hands, thankful for the warm drink after another restless night. She had hardly slept thanks to images of Amir’s bloody face any time she closed her eyes. Now she was impatient to get back to the excavation. Some archaeology would be a wonderful distraction.
“Soliman has been out of the hospital for three days,” Emma went on as she unwrapped a granola bar. “Aw, it’s a crunchy one. I hate the crunchy kind.” She continued to speak between chews that sounded like cracking teeth. “But he won’t be allowed to do any strenuous work for a while. So if you see him walking around, make him go sit back down.”
“It must be hard for him to stay still,” Leila said, wrapping her arms around herself. Especially since he knew Neferkheri’s tomb was out there, unsupervised.
“It is, but he needs to take it easy.” Emma wiped a few crumbs from her lips with the back of a finger then glanced down at her smartphone. Footsteps came from behind them. Leila threw a glance over her shoulder to see Karl sauntering toward them.
“Long time no see,” he said to Leila, narrowing his eyes.
“Yeah, you’re right.” She let out an uneasy laugh.
“It was weird,” Karl continued, picking at a peeling alien head sticker on his water bottle. “There were police looking for you and Xander and everything. We all thought you both got murdered.”
Leila exchanged uneasy glances with Emma. Emma knew part of the story, just not the kissing part, but Leila wasn’t comfortable with the entire crew knowing what had happened.
“She was visiting her aunt in Beni Suef,” Emma said with a wave of her hand.
“Oh, right. But you were freaked out too.” Karl shrugged.
“Whatever.” Emma rolled her eyes. “I’m not the one who actually said they were abducted by aliens.”
“Ach, bitte. Don’t tell me that thought didn’t cross your mind too.”
Couldn’t they change the subject? Leila took a long sip from her thermos and turned to the person next to her. Hamza stood with his arms crossed, his chin resting on his chest.
“So how’s the mastaba coming along?” she asked.
“I’m awake.” He jerked his head up with a start then glanced at her. “Oh. Well, we’ve gotten most of it uncovered. It’s empty inside, except for lots of sand. But we’re starting to dig in there. Professor Soliman is sure we’ll find the burial chamber soon, although it probably won’t be intact.” Hamza stopped as a vehicle rounded a corner, illuminating them with its headlights.
With the arrival of their ride, the conversation fizzled out. They clambered into the Jeep one by one.
At the dig site, the team dispersed to their assigned stations and began sifting and shoveling dirt under the floodlights. Business as usual had never felt so good. Emma showed Leila inside the mastaba, where they were to continue removing another layer of dirt and sand from the floor. They were working in what possibly had been the chapel—a small chamber with walls covered in hieroglyphs, faded and dusty from centuries under the sand. Because someone in ancient times had forgotten to close the door.
“Has a shaft to the burial chamber been located?” Leila asked as she shined her flashlight around the room.
“What’s left of it,” Emma said, snapping her tripod into an upright position. “It’s filled with even more sand and dirt to dig out.”
Eager to finally get her hands dirty again, Leila set her tools down and got on her knees. She selected her small trowel and scooped dirt into a bucket, sticking the dull blade into the soil, taking care not to damage any potential artifacts hiding underneath. With each small shovel full, her thoughts of Amir and his atrocities became buried in the coarse sand, replaced with a happy buzzing in her abdomen she hadn’t felt since the first day of the excavation. Soon. They would enter Neferkheri’s tomb soon.
Another layer of soil had been cleared out by the time the mid-morning break rolled around. As Leila walked back with Emma, she caught sight of Soliman and Xander hunched together at the entrance to the tent.
Her breath caught. With the sand and undiscovered artifacts beckoning to her, she’d been able to not think about Xander or that kiss for most of the day. Yet her insides stirred at the sight of him, smeared with dirt, skin glistening, aviator sunglasses adding a touch of roguery.
Soliman waved her over.
“I’ll catch up in a minute,” Leila told Emma.
She kept her eyes on Soliman as she approached. Behind his eyeglasses, his eyes drooped. His shoulders sagged as one hand gripped the handle of a cane. But his coloring was good and the smile on his face indicated his spirits were as well.
“Welcome back,” he said as she joined them. She braced herself for more questions, even though he had been informed of what happened. But instead, Soliman had something else on his mind.
“I’ve considered Harrison’s proposal of informing the media of our discovery,” he said in a low voice then smiled. “Or should I say your discovery?”
Leila grinned at him and he went on. “I agree it would be a clever way to avoid trouble from grave robbers. First I will inform the university and the crew. The university will deal with the press. I will speak to Dr. El-Baz shortly, and tonight we shall make the announcement.”
Her heart skipped a beat. This was really happening.
“Professor Soliman,” Xander started but hesitated as Soliman gave him a pointed look. He put his hands in his pockets and rubbed the toe of his boot in the sand. “I don’t want any credit for my help. Leila can handle this just fine.”
