She recalled the woman at the villa who had always brought her food. Salma. So that’s why the girl in the pictures Karl had shown her had seemed so familiar.
“I even sneaked the papyrus into the tomb on my last day. Had it hidden in my backpack.”
Leila swallowed and glanced at the keycard in her hand. If Karl was here, forcing her to open these doors at gunpoint, then Amir couldn’t be far off.
“I never met her family before we got married,” Karl went on. “I had no idea what they were like. Salma hardly talked about them, but when her mother was sick she went to visit. Then her father and brother wouldn’t let her leave. They were furious with her.”
“Oh, Karl.” Leila swallowed to suppress the tightening of her throat but to no avail. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“I tried. When I found out the sponsor’s son was an FBI agent, I tried to tip him off. They’d kill me if they ever found out.”
“But you don’t have to do this. We’ll go now, get the police—”
“Her family is evil, Leila. You know as well as I do. All I want is to see Salma again.” He shook his head and pointed the gun back at her. “Finish opening the doors.” His voice sounded stronger. As if he had finally gathered the strength to get his job done.
Leila continued to the next door, wishing she had been able to see through Karl’s charade. He had been trying to stall her that day Amir had been in her room and knocked her unconscious. He had tried to tell her that night they celebrated the opening of the tomb. He had shown her pictures. She should have seen it.
She yanked the door open and whirled back to Karl, her hands curling into fists. “So now what? You’re stealing artifacts from the Egyptian Museum for them?”
He glared at her, but instead of answering, he forced her through the doorway.
They entered a garage mostly used as a loading area for deliveries. The only light came from the milky windows on the front end. A forklift was parked in one corner and numerous wooden crates and pallets had been stacked in towering piles. Karl led her to the oversized door large enough to allow room for at least three cars to enter side-by-side. He held the gun higher and motioned at the keypad with his free hand.
Teeth clenched, she swiped her card. With a rumble, the door began to lift. Blue light poured in from the widening crack at the bottom, revealing several pairs of feet waiting on the other side.
Leila drew back, heart pounding, but Karl jammed the cool metal of the gun against her back. As soon as the door was waist high, several men wearing ski masks slipped underneath and surrounded them. Leila’s keycard and clutch were yanked from her hands. Another man approached the gathering, his footsteps slow and purposeful. All heads turned toward him.
“Thank you, Karl,” the man said smoothly, holding out an empty palm.
Without wavering, Karl handed him the gun and his features relaxed in relief.
Leila couldn’t take her eyes off the man as he slipped the weapon into his belt. His black hair was slicked back, his short beard neatly trimmed. His smooth skin showed he seemed to have been spared the weathering effects of aging. He hardly looked a day older than he did in the photo. The resemblance to Amir was unmistakable. Faris Al-Rashid had the same permanent sneer on his upper lip.
“Leila,” he breathed, his eyes wide as if he was standing before Neferkheri herself. “At last we meet. I have heard so much about you.”
She glared at him, detecting the hint of mockery in his voice. “Your son is a monster. You’re a monster.”
Faris chuckled. “And you’re just like your father. Always prying into other people’s business.”
“He was right about you.”
“You see, Leila,” Faris said, gently taking her by the crook of her arm, then guided her into the hallway.
She glanced at his hand with a grimace. Karl and the rest of his thugs followed closely behind, silent.
“That papyrus was my most important find,” Faris explained as they stopped outside the lab. “About thirty years ago, I discovered it in the Valley of the Kings. I was so close to finding the location of Neferkheri’s tomb and making one of the biggest discoveries in Egypt and your father stole that glory from me, the same way he had tried to steal my wife.”
“He didn’t steal her. She chose him.”
Faris smiled coolly, let go of her arm, then focused on the window offering a panoramic view of the lab. Leila’s back tensed as he slid a hand in his pocket. He took out a comb. Using the window as a mirror, he raked the comb through his hair, smoothing it out with the palm of his hand.
“I believe that I am one of the few men on this earth who can say he has everything he ever wanted. It is my desire to see my son make those same achievements. And also to obtain the things I could not.”
Leila shook her head in disgusted wonder, at a loss for words. She didn’t think she had ever met someone so self-absorbed.
His eyes locked on her through her reflection. “It’s a pity.”
Leila glared at his reflection and didn’t think she saw any pity at all in his intense stare.
“You don’t look anything like her.” A smile tugged at his lips. “But I suppose that makes all of this much easier.”
Leila clenched her jaw. “Tell me one thing.”
Faris faced her, lifting his eyebrows expectantly.
“Did you kill my dad?”
He sighed and returned the comb to his pocket. “I am telling you the truth when I say I did not. I promised your mother I wouldn’t. As long as she stayed with me, I would never harm Landon. Or you. And I am a man of my word.”
His words stung deep in her chest. He had used the dirtiest trick in the book to make sure her mother never left. She wouldn’t put it past him to have waited until the time was right then sent someone else to do the job for him.
“But you know who did. Tell me who did it!”
But Faris peered past her as if he hadn’t heard.
Leila spun around as Amir joined them, taking a stance at Karl’s side. She held in a gasp as she took in his face. The cut from the piece of glass had left a deep, jagged scar. Its purple length began at the middle of his forehead and curved down over his left eyelid, ending halfway down his cheek. His eyelid remained shut, wrinkled and sunken as if covering a pocket of air.
Faris slipped the pistol out of his belt by the barrel and held it out to Amir. “It’s all yours.”
