Ashley said nothing, but she met Edric’s gaze. Even from across the room, Wolfgang could see the truth in her eyes.
Edric nodded. “They took her, and they told you not to tell anybody. If you did, she’d be hurt.”
The truth was evident.
Edric sat back and folded his arms. For a while, he let the room fall into silence, then he nodded toward the others.
“This is Megan, Wolfgang, Lyle, and Kevin. I’m Edric. We work together.”
“You’re treasure hunters?” Ashley asked.
Edric cocked his head. “Why would you think that?”
Ashley’s cheeks flushed, and she looked away, but the cat was out of the bag.
“Ms. Pollins, we need you to tell us what you know. We’re not here about any treasure. We’re here to protect your sister.”
“You’re too late,” Ashley mumbled.
Edric placed a hand on Ashley’s arm, then gave it a gentle squeeze and waited until she faced him. When he spoke, his voice was soft but as solid as granite. “Ashley, I know they took your sister. And I know they said they’d hurt her if you got help. But these people are no match for us. We’re going to get your sister back, alive and unharmed. Okay? That’s my promise to you. I just need your help.”
Ashley chewed her thumbnail and surveyed the team again. “What do you need to know?”
6
Ashley Pollins spoke slowly at first, and then she seemed to cross a point of no return and gushed like a fire hydrant.
She lived in Manchester, and although she and Amelia were very close, they seldom saw each other since Amelia took the job at the Egyptian Museum. This year, Ashley had decided to take what she called a “long holiday” to visit her sister in Cairo for a couple months, but shortly after she arrived, Amelia had become engrossed in some special project that involved the Egyptian government. Ashley wasn’t sure of the specifics, but she knew it was secret, and she knew it involved something discovered in Libya. Amelia had also mentioned the discovery of a new tomb—perhaps of a pharaoh—but she wouldn’t say anything else.
“She spent a lot of time at the museum, and when she was home, she worked in her apartment,” Ashley explained. “She had photos of a document. She showed them to me, but of course I had no idea what I was looking at. It was some kind of scroll, with hieroglyphics on it. Amelia was trying to translate them. I knew it was important because whenever Amelia left the room, she locked the photos in a safe, even if she was just going to the bathroom. She was really paranoid about them being lost, I guess.”
According to Ashley, Dr. Pollins had labored on like that, obsessing over the project until yesterday, when guilt for her abandoned sister finally caught up with her and she took Ashley out for a night on the city. They went to dinner, saw a few sights, and were walking back to Amelia’s apartment when the attack came. Multiple men struck out of the shadows, pulling both Amelia and Ashley into the darkness. There was a struggle, but both women were heavily outmatched, and the next thing Ashley remembered was waking up in her sister’s office at the museum to the sound of the phone ringing. She answered it and heard a computerized voice on the other end.
“They told me not to get help or Amelia would be hurt,” Ashley sobbed. “They told me to stay in the office all day, then leave after dark and walk due east. No other direction. Just keep walking.”
Megan stepped across the room and patted Ashley on the back. She offered her some sleeping pills, repeated Edric’s promise to find Amelia, and advised her to get some sleep. Ashley took the pills and lay down, but didn’t close her eyes. They were wide with fear and heartbreak as she stared at the empty ceiling.
Charlie Team retired to the adjoining room and closed the door behind them. Edric poured himself a drink from the minibar and took a long sip, then Kevin was the first to break the silence.
“How the hell did we not know Pollins had a twin sister?” Kevin shot Lyle a stormy glare.
Lyle scrunched his nose. “How is that my fault?”
“Because you’re the wiz,” Kevin snapped. “Because you’re supposed to know things. Didn’t you hack her Facebook or something?”
Lyle’s back stiffened, but before he could object, Edric held up a hand.
“Enough. It doesn’t matter whose fault it was. Bottom line is that we should’ve known, and we didn’t. Now we move forward.” He took a swig of his drink, then cleared his throat. “What happened in the alley?” Everybody was quiet, and Edric turned to Kevin. “You killed a man?”
Kevin nodded, and Edric muttered a curse.
“That’s not great, Kevin. That’s not great at all.”
“It wasn’t our book thief,” Wolfgang said. “I think they were just thugs eager to rape a lost tourist.”
Megan nodded. “I agree. We searched the body and found nothing. The guy was underfed and covered with needle scars. My bet is, whoever kidnapped Amelia told Ashley to walk due east after nightfall because they knew she’d eventually be raped and killed. It’s a much cleaner way to get rid of a witness than killing her themselves.”
“I surmised as much,” Edric said. “Which means these guys are smart, as well as violent.”
Wolfgang rubbed his chin. “What about the photographs? Ashley said Amelia was studying pictures of the scroll. But we were told there were no pictures.”
Edric swirled his drink and frowned. “I know. And that worries me. The Egyptians had to know there were pictures, but they refused to supply them to us. They must be worried that we’d make a play at the treasure ourselves. Maybe that’s why Amelia kept them under lock and key.”
“That doesn’t make sense, either,” Megan said. “If they have images, why wouldn’t they simply deploy us to the site of the tomb to wait for the thieves? For that matter, they could
