“Oww.” Cassie stumbled over a rock. “Then again, maybe one flashlight would be a good idea. This path isn’t exactly level.”
“Just go slow,” Erik counseled. “Griffin is right. Lights are a bad idea if we can avoid them. At least until we’re inside the cave.”
“Even with a full moon, I don’t know how easy it’ll be for us to find our way to the rendezvous point afterward,” the pythia said.
“John said he would keep an eye out for us,” Erik replied. “I don’t think there’ll be three other people wandering around the Nubian pyramids in the dark.”
“I still don’t see why we couldn’t have gone back to the hotel after we finish up here,” Cassie said. “All this cloak and dagger business of escaping in the middle of the night is weird.”
“Best to be cautious, toots,” Erik countered. “Maddie’s latest intel is that Daniel, Hunt and an Arab Nephilim flew into Khartoum a couple of days ago. Want to guess what their next destination will be?”
“We also need to consider the possibility that we don’t have the most current information on their whereabouts,” Griffin added. “Given the time we’ve been away in Khartoum ourselves waiting for the artifact to be duplicated, and arranging transport out of the country for the real one, they might already have begun to search Jebel Barkal.”
“That’s true,” Erik agreed. “They could already be in the area, and Karima is a pretty small town which increases the odds that we’re going to bump into them. No, this plan is better. We stash the fake and get out of here as fast as we can.”
Cassie didn’t argue the point any further. She had to admit their reasoning was sound even though the idea of several more hours of car travel wasn’t appealing. They’d driven straight from Khartoum that afternoon as soon as the false relic was ready. Then they’d waited several hours before beginning their climb to hide the artifact. After that, they were to meet John near the pyramids. He would drive them back to Khartoum where they intended to catch the first plane out of the country. Hopefully, all these things would happen before the Nephilim managed to stumble across the right cave on Jebel Barkal.
“No matter how we plan these things, it always ends up too close for comfort,” the pythia observed. “I don’t even like being in the same country with those guys much less the same town. Maybe next trip we’ll get more lead time.”
“Dream on.” Erik chuckled. “Murphy’s Law dictates that nothing ever goes as planned and the Nephilim are always three steps ahead of where we want them to be.”
Oh dear,” Griffin exclaimed. “I just thought of something.”
“I hate it when he says that,” Cassie confided to Erik.
“What is it?” the paladin asked.
“We forgot about sealing the stone afterward. There’s no time to mix mortar and apply it to the ceiling of the cave.”
“We don’t need to,” Cassie retorted.
“Huh?” Erik peered at her in the dark.
“Why not?” Griffin objected.
“Guys, we want to leave a trail of breadcrumbs. They need to notice a rock that’s a little different from the others. Otherwise, they might miss it completely.”
“You don’t think they’ll become suspicious?” the scrivener persisted.
“I think they’ll assume nobody else ever uses that cave. Hiding something in the ceiling is pretty secure since most people wouldn’t look up when they’re searching for something. I don’t think it’ll raise a red flag with them.”
“Very well,” Griffin assented. “I hope you’re right. It isn’t as if we can do anything about the situation now anyway.”
“It’ll be fine,” Cassie said reassuringly. Looking up the dim trail ahead, she asked, “Shouldn’t we be there by now?”
Erik walked a little ways ahead, running his hand along the stone wall in search of the slight fold of rock that signaled the entrance to the cave. “It’s here,” he said in a low voice.
He slipped quietly through the narrow gap.
Cassie was about to follow. “Damn!” she swore under her breath. “I’ve got a pebble in my boot that feels like a boulder. Griffin, you go ahead,” she instructed. “I’ll be right behind you guys.”
The Brit nodded and slid through the entrance.
Cassie sat down on the trail and emptied her boot. While she was seated, she decided to tighten her laces and managed to snap one in the process. “Double damn!” she muttered. It took a few more minutes to tie a knot in the broken lace. She stood and dusted off her pants legs before slipping into the cave.
She reached into her backpack and retrieved her flashlight. As she was about to flip the switch, she heard voices up ahead—loud voices which she didn’t recognize. Instead of turning on the light, she groped her way through the dark, guiding herself by touching the cavern wall. She crept onward noiselessly. The shouting continued. Although she didn’t understand the language, she assumed it was Arabic.
She could see a glow ahead. Fortunately, the cave didn’t run in a straight line. It twisted and turned which allowed her to hide just outside the range of the lantern light and observe.
She crouched down low to the ground and peeked around a curve in the wall. What she saw made her stifle a gasp. There were four men grouped together. They all wore turbans. One wore a jellabiya. He was seated on a large wooden crate. The three other men were dressed in desert camo gear, and two of them were pointing rifles at Erik and Griffin. Her teammates were kneeling on the cave floor with their hands in the air.
The man dressed in camo who wasn’t pointing a gun was clearly in charge. He kept yelling questions at the captives. Erik apparently knew a little Arabic because he said something back. His answer upset the man in charge who slapped him hard across the face, knocking him off balance. Then the leader grabbed several strands of rope which were lying next to the crate. He shouted some more orders
