The Cult of Osiris

‘Actually, I have heard of the Inventory Stele,’ Nina said frostily. ‘And I don’t think the argument about what it says has been definitively settled.’

‘But finding the Hall of Records makes it look a lot more likely to be true, huh? None of the Third Dynasty pharaohs ever mentioned the Hall. Maybe they didn’t know it was there. And if the Sphinx is a lot older than Khafre, that might explain why its head’s so small compared to the rest of its body. One of the pharaohs had the original head re-carved to look like himself.’

Eddie chuckled. ‘I think,’ he said, leaning closer to speak quietly into Nina’s ear, ‘you just got owned.’

‘Shut up.’

They stopped not far from the gate, and Macy looked at the two uniformed men. ‘I don’t recognise either of them.’

‘You’re sure?’ Nina asked.

‘Built, good-looking young guys? Yeah, I would have remembered them.’

‘And are you sure you want to do this?’

‘I’m ready,’ Macy insisted. She took out her ID card, about to head for the gate - then paused and opened a couple of extra shirt buttons.

Nina raised an eyebrow. ‘What’re you doing?’

‘Cloaking device. Trust me.’ Her decolletage adjusted for maximum effect, prompting a faintly lecherous grin from Eddie quickly followed by a swat from his wife, Macy crossed to the security gate. She held up her ID, but even from Nina and Eddie’s vantage point it was obvious that both guards were less interested in her face than in what was on display below it. The gate was opened, Macy giving the two men a cheery smile as she sashayed through.

‘Better get moving,’ said Eddie, starting for the road.

Nina frowned. ‘Unbelievable. She does something that sets women back about thirty years . . . and it works!’

‘Jealous, are you?’ Eddie teased.

‘No. And you can stop leering at her, as well. They’re fake.’

‘What?’ He shook his head. ‘You sure?’

‘Eddie, she looks like a broomstick with two watermelons taped to it! And her father’s a plastic surgeon. Do the math. Also, she’s young enough to be your daughter.’

‘Thanks for depressing me.’

‘I thought it was someone else’s turn.’ They both smiled.

They reached the section of road directly above the construction site and looked down. There was still a pair of guards standing watch - but two other men instantly caught their attention. Neither was familiar, but Nina had a horrible idea what was inside the large case they were carrying out of the tent.

‘Damn it!’ she said. ‘They’re already cleaning the place out!’

‘You think the zodiac’s in that box?’

‘Maybe. Or part of it. They might have had to cut it up to get it through the tunnel. God, what if we’re already too late?’

However, both men soon returned, now empty-handed. They entered the tent.

‘I guess they haven’t finished yet,’ said Eddie.

‘Good - maybe we can still stop them. Have you seen Macy?’

Eddie spotted her peering over a wall inside the upper temple, where she had been hiding from the men carrying the case. ‘Yeah, in there.’ He pointed, then gestured for her to leave cover and approach the construction site. ‘Okay, let’s hope the twins work as well on those two down there.’

He reached under his leather jacket and T-shirt, drawing out the twenty-foot length of nylon line bought in a Cairo store that he had wound round his waist; carrying it openly would have roused the suspicions of even the sleepiest Tourist Police officer. Once he had gathered it up, he fumbled with his belt. ‘Steady,’ he said to the grinning Nina. ‘You’ll get what’s in my pants later.’

‘About damn time!’

He smiled back as he pulled out a metal hook from behind the buckle, where he had wedged it to trick the metal detectors. By the time the line was tied to it, Macy had emerged from the upper temple and was approaching the construction site - attracting the guards’ attention.

Nina regarded the hook nervously as Eddie wedged it under the slab topping the wall. ‘Will it take your weight?’

‘You saying I’ve got a fat arse?’ He looked down again. The guards were moving to meet Macy before she reached the perimeter of orange netting. A quick check to make sure nobody was coming along the darkened road, then he dropped the rope over the wall - and followed it, rapidly lowering himself down the stone face. The hook scraped and creaked.

He glanced over his shoulder as he descended. The guards had almost reached Macy. Twelve feet to the ground ten, eight . . .

She stopped, making the two men come to her. Eddie let go and dropped the last six feet, landing almost soundlessly in a crouch and immediately moving into cover behind one of the piles of bricks. Macy was holding up her camera, gesturing at the Sphinx. He couldn’t hear her over the booming voice of the light show’s narrator, but guessed she was asking them to take her photo with the monument behind her.

They didn’t seem cooperative, one holding out a hand for her ID. Eddie silently advanced on the trio as Macy shrugged, showing off her impressive cleavage once more. These guards were less distracted, the man impatiently snapping his fingers.

She had seen Eddie by now, and made a show of checking her pockets before finally producing her ID. The guard snatched it from her, holding it up to his torch.

Eddie slipped through the plastic netting. Both men had their hands near their guns.

If they heard his footsteps or caught him in their peripheral vision . . .

The guard looked back at Macy, shining his light in her face. He frowned.

About to remember her—

‘Holy crap!’ Macy cried, suddenly whirling and pointing excitedly to the west. ‘Look! Pyramids! ’

The guards instinctively turned to see - as Eddie rushed up behind them and slammed their heads together with a dull crack of bone against bone. The two men collapsed nervelessly.

Macy jumped back, startled. ‘Oh my God! Did - did you kill them?’

‘Only if they’ve got fucking Humpty Dumpty heads,’ he said. ‘Give me a hand.’

‘But that was like something out of a movie! How did you do that?’

‘Take head, hit hard. Pretty simple.’ He lifted one of the limp guards by the shoulders. With reluctance, not sure if he really was still alive, Macy helped Eddie drag him behind a dirt mound.

The first man out of sight, Eddie returned for his companion, looking up at the wall to see Nina hesitantly climbing down the rope. By the time the second guard was concealed, she was close to the ground.

She looked round as Eddie came to her, Macy following. ‘Check it out!’ she gasped, straining at the rope. ‘Pretty good for someone who hasn’t exercised in months—’

There was a faint ping of metal from above as the overstressed hook broke, and Nina dropped the last three feet to the sand. ‘Ow, dammit!’ she yelped.

Eddie helped her up. ‘Wasn’t my fat arse we had to worry about, was it?’ Macy giggled.

‘Shut up,’ Nina grumbled, brushing dust from her butt as Eddie coiled the rope and moved off to hide it. ‘And what the hell was that?’ She flapped a hand at Macy’s chest. ‘Put them away, for God’s sake.’

Annoyed, Macy refastened her shirt. ‘What? It worked.’

‘Eddie wouldn’t have fallen for it.’

‘Why, ’cause he’s old?’

‘No,’ Nina said, offended, ‘because he’s ex-special forces and they’re trained not to fall for things like that.’

Macy was surprised. ‘He was in the army? I thought he was just some archaeology guy. You mean he wasn’t joking when he said about being your bodyguard?’

‘No, he wasn’t. That’s how we met - he saved my life. More than once, actually. Although I’ve saved