The Betrayed Series: Ultimate Omnibus Collection With EXCLUSIVE Post-Shiva Short Story (139 page)

There was no way they could make it back to the crowd. It had way too much of a head start, and the only cover was that pyramid. Brandt looked like he was going to fight her on it. After all, it would trap them inside. However, Vakasa wiggled out of his arms and fled into the darkness.

Brandt held out his hand, but not to Rebecca. “A gun!”

Levont supplied him with one. As bullets pelleted the stone, the point man led them into the pyramid. He swept his light from side to side.

“Where did she go?”

“Just go down,” Rebecca said. This shaft of limestone went down at about a thirty-degree angle until there was a juncture.

Half-sliding, half-running, they made their way to the T. One shaft went up into the king and queen’s burial chambers. The other continued downward to a subterranean chamber that was oddly incomplete. Scholars still debated the use of such a chamber.

“Which way?” Brandt asked, puffing air himself.

With the roar of the jets outside dampened by the walls, Rebecca cocked a head, trying to hear the patter of little feet. However, there was nothing. Just the sound of their harsh breathing.

Which way would Vakasa have choosen? Which way would a little girl have run? Or more aptly, which way would a supposed Messiah have choosen?

Either way, up would be the most obvious.

Rebecca pointed down. “I think she went below surface.”

“Good enough for me,” Brandt announced as Levont made his way down the limestone passage.

“Shouldn’t we split up?” Talli asked. “Cover both options?”

Brandt shook his head. “If we go down…”

“We go down together,” Lopez agreed.

Rebecca wished just once that
going down
wasn’t the most likely option.

* * *

“Holy shit!” Stark announced, pointing to one of the many news channels he had on his screen.

Grainy cell phone footage showed a biplane landing near the pyramids, disrupting the popular light show. Oh, and did she mention that there was a man clinging to the wings? There was no doubt who was flying that plane or who was hanging on.

Bunny crossed her arms. “So does this qualify for the Disciples knowing where Brandt and the others are?”

“I do think this might qualify for an event that allows us to break radio silence,” Emily added.

Prenner still frowned. “I know what you two want, but my brass is never going to authorize us stepping in.”

“Just call Brandt,” Bunny suggested as she watched the group run inside the pyramid. Where the hell did they think they were going? Every passage within the tomb was a dead end. Of course, as jets apparently streaked overhead, looking for a target, a pyramid was as good a place to hide as any.

Finally, the lieutenant gave the nod. Stark keyed in the commands, pushing his earpiece farther into his ear. He tilted his head. “No joy. They aren’t responding to my ping.”

“Try Davidson,” she said, counting off the people who had entered the temple. Only six. And no skinny-assed white boy.

Stark typed rapidly. “Nope.”

Bunny chewed on her lip. It made sense the others didn’t respond. She could remember the press of those tunnels. The limestone was probably blocking the signal. Davidson, though? If he were true to form, he should be set up somewhere along the periphery of the Giza pyramid complex.

Unless he didn’t realize they were going to land near the light show. Come to think of it, that didn’t sound exactly like a pre-calculated rally point. So Davidson was in the wind. Or he was…

Nope, she wasn’t going down that road.

If he was alive, why wasn’t he answering?

CHAPTER 16

══════════════════

Giza, Egypt

9:42 p.m. (CAT)

“
Il suo bene
,” Davidson said. “It’s okay” in Italian. Yet the three sweaty men still advanced. He’d already tried Arabic, Farci, and even Armenian, yet the men didn’t seem to speak any of the most common languages in Egypt.

His only solace was that he was pretty sure these men were not Disciples. Dressed in near rags and smeared with urban detritus, they seemed to be street thugs. Three street thugs with knives. Sure, Davidson could shoot, but that would advertise his location to not only the Egyptian police who were crawling all over the area, but the Disciples who must have descended upon the area since Lopez’s little circus landing.

The men looked like they came prepared to loot. A common occupation these days in Egypt. Some gangs were even accused of fomenting riots just so they could loot afterward.

Now, though, these men had a far more valuable prize in sight. An American. An armed American. How much would the government pay as a bounty? Or how much could they ask as ransom from the US? Either way, it wasn’t looking so good for Davidson. He needed to get out of this situation quietly and quickly.

Neither of which looked very likely at the moment.

Davidson secured his rifle onto his back and pulled a knife out of its sheath on his leg. The men brazenly smiled. Davidson pulled a second knife from his belt. Holding both weapons in the blade-back position, Davidson nodded to the men.

Funny, their smiles faded. They were used to ambushing tourists. Mugging them for their valuables, then running. Not a one of the three seemed any too happy about going up against a trained man. Yet the odds were still on their side, so they advanced.

Davidson danced back, waiting for one of them to commit.

The largest of the bunch grunted, shoving the smallest guy forward. The man stumbled, righting himself. He glared over his shoulder yet found no support there. Davidson flipped one of the knives, caught it, aiming it forward.

The guy must have decided to just dive in, as he charged at Davidson. He sidestepped, dragging the knife’s edge along the man’s arm. Davidson could have gutted him, easily, but the less mess the better. The man grasped at his bleeding arm, wavering to the left, then to the right.

Davidson grabbed him by the collar and shoved him back to his gang. Then he set up in attack position again.

The largest man glared, his jaw muscles working up and down. Finally, he must have decided that this little payday wasn’t worth the effort. With a guttural signal, he urged his gang back down the alley.

Not taking any chances, Davidson headed off in the opposite direction. This building would have made a nice perch, but now he would have to go find another one.

He could only hope he didn’t miss too much.

* * *

“I’ve got her!” Levont shouted from up ahead.

Rebecca pushed past Talli. “Vakasa, stop!”

Brandt brought up the rear. “Catch our six,” he ordered Talli as he moved forward to see what all the fuss was about. Rebecca was struggling to pull the little girl from the end wall. Her fingers were bloody as she dug into the limestone.

“Honey, no,” Rebecca coaxed, but the girl just wouldn’t leave it.

The little girl’s resistance didn’t matter as Brandt picked Vakasa up by the waist. “Maybe we can get back—”

That had just been wishful thinking, as footsteps echoed down the tunnel. Getting chased into the pyramid by two jets kind of gave law enforcement a heads-up to their location.

Which meant they were trapped. Brandt set down the girl. She made a beeline to the wall. Her only stop? To grab a knife from Levont’s leg.

“Hey!” the point man protested.

She seemed deaf to his concern and used the point of the blade to dig into the thick wall. Brandt ignored her. As long as she wasn’t hurting herself or anyone else, Brandt said go for it.

“What is she doing?” Levont asked, although his tone didn’t hold out much hope for an answer.

Rebecca put her hand out. “Do you have another knife?”

“Yeah, but—”

Brandt studied Vakasa’s work. She was determined. “Give it to her,” he instructed the point man.

Levont turned over the knife, and Rebecca sank to her knees alongside the girl, chipping away at the wall.

“Want to share?” he asked his fiancée.

“Want to lend a hand?” Rebecca replied.

Since they were trapped and all, just waiting for the authorities to figure out they only needed a couple of flashbangs or a tear gas grenade, Brandt pulled his knife and dug into the limestone.

“How about now?” he asked.

Rebecca frowned. Sometimes she liked to let a theory run its course before discussing it. This was not the time he could indulge her.

“I either need to know,” Brandt stated, “or start prepping for an assault.”

“There have been rumors for years that there are tunnels that run beneath the pyramids,” Rebecca said. “That run all over this plateau.”

Levont knelt next to them, adding another blade to the mini-excavation. “Why haven’t I ever heard of that?”

She nodded next to Brandt. “Because the Egyptian government has not just vehemently denied it, but gone to great lengths to cover it up.”

“Which, in our experience, usually means that they do exist.” Brandt sighed. Why couldn’t ancient history stay fucking ancient?

Rebecca nudged him with her shoulder. “That’s what I was thinking. I mean, several well-respected scientists have done ground-penetrating radar studies and found results very consistent with an intricate and elaborate system of passages.”

Wiping dust away from his nose, Brandt dug harder. Even if it was only a rumor, that was better than a deadly shoot-out any day. And if anyone could find a secret entrance to a millennia-old hidden tunnel, it was the woman he was engaged to.

“Why hasn’t the History Channel picked it up, then?” Levont asked, then coughed. The tight passageway was not ideal for all the dust they were churning up. Brandt could begin to taste why the rock was called limestone.

“Because each of the scientists had their equipment and findings confiscated, then were systematically discredited,” Rebecca answered, using the side of her arm to brush back her unruly hair.

Great info. Just not exactly helping right now with the thick limestone wall that blocked their escape.

Then his knife hit something even harder. As a matter of fact, it broke off the tip of the hardened-steel blade. “I think I’ve got something.

More carefully, he dug around the hold he’d made to expose a slab of black rock. Across the glassy surface were hieroglyphics. Brandt didn’t even bother to wait until Rebecca asked. He just got up and out of her way.

* * *

This slab of ancient Egyptian writing was possibly the most exquisite find of ancient hieroglyphics in more than a decade. Not that Rebecca voiced her fascination. They weren’t on an expedition. They were trying to formulate an escape.

Her fingers ran over the otherwise-smooth surface, reading the carved-out symbols like reverse braille. Well, “reading” might have been a bit generous. Hieroglyphics weren’t her thing. Where was Bunny when you needed her? She was much more adept at ancient languages. Why hadn’t the woman gotten on that chopper with her?

Oh, yeah, because then she’d be stuck far underground with the entire Egyptian police force after her. That’s why.

Vakasa put her tiny finger on the stone as well, smiling, tracing the ancient letters.

“Any clue?” Brandt said. “Any at all?”

Rebecca didn’t respond to him. She studied the little girl’s face. Was that comprehension? “Can you read this?” Rebecca asked.

The girl’s smile widened as she put her cheek against the cool slab.

“Was that a yes?” Brandt asked. “Is this some kind of door? Can we blow it open?”

“I’m not sure,” Rebecca answered.

“Rebecca, a little late for modesty.”

She shook her head as Vakasa went back to outlining the letters. “Trust me, I’m not. These aren’t just hieroglyphs. These are from the Early Dynastic Period.”

“What’s that?” Levont asked as he helped chip off more limestone to reveal exactly how wide the wall was. All the more letters to
not
understand.

“Exactly my point,” Rebecca said. “This is seriously ancient writing.”

Brandt rocked back onto his heels and up. “That’s it. We’re blowing the wall.”

“But—”

The look on Brandt’s face stopped Rebecca cold. She knew that look. The look that said,
Our lives are on the line, so I am in absolutely no mood to have an academic debate about this.
Unfortunately, Rebecca had seen it too many times before.

“On it, Sarge,” Levont said.

Rebecca tried to move Vakasa out of the way, but she refused. As Levont got out the C4, Rebecca took picture after picture of the letters with her phone, trying desperately to record at least some of this ancient find. Snapping the shots, she translated as best she could.

Okay, so hieroglyphs were read left to right. They didn’t really use vowels, so there was that. Unfortunately, the ancient Egyptian language was partly phonetic. Like English, you put the sounds together to make the words. Which would be great. However, they only did that about a third of the time.

Sometimes the duck symbol meant “duck.” Other times it was the “st” sound. Still other times it meant “son.”

Then another really awesome habit of the ancient scribes was to just throw in symbols for aesthetic purposes. Meaning, if they didn’t like the look of a sentence, they’d just drop in a seated god or add a scarab beetle to make the passage prettier.

Oh, yeah, and their modifiers could be before the word, in the middle of the word, or after the word. No biggie when trying to speed-read ancient Egyptian.

Damn that Bunny. Rebecca hoped she was happy wherever she was, tucked safely away.

* * *

Bunny frowned as she pushed the earphone tighter to her ear. The audio feed was scratchy and mainly filled with police officers shouting in Egyptian. Stark was putting it through a filter and translation program, but even he didn’t look too hopeful.

So it was up to her to try and figure out what the hell was going on at Khufu’s Great Pyramid. It was chaos over on the other side of the world. And no wonder. It wasn’t too frequently a bunch of Americans landed during the complex’s light show, then escaped into possibly the world’s most treasured landmark.

The police had sent in search teams. However, they were having just as much trouble contacting their own people inside the pyramid as Bunny was trying to raise Rebecca or Brandt.