On the Hunt

“You can’t have it all ways, Kira,” he said. “You’re already trying to mold our agreement to suit yourself.” He stopped her where she stood on the trail. “Did you think I didn’t notice you trying to do that?”

“Of course you did,” she said curtly. “I know who you are and all the things you can do. I could see when you first came toward me from the plane today that you probably wanted to take more from me than I’m prepared to give.” She added quickly, “It’s not that I was trying to cheat you. It was just that I knew it was going to be difficult and I had to allow a little time to prepare myself to tell you something. Sarah had just told me she’d received a call about me from an old friend. Then you decided that you’d do your best to charm Sarah, and I was relieved because that gave me even more time.”

He smiled faintly as he slowly shook his head. “But I believe the grace period has run out, hasn’t it?”

“Yes. I never meant not to tell you everything you needed to know.”

“Good.” He took her arm and nudged her the rest of the way up the hill. “Why don’t I get us a cup of coffee, and then we’ll sit at our campsite and you can confess all your sins.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Nothing ridiculous about it.”

They walked in silence the rest of the way, and Kira finally sat down in front of the fire and crossed her legs tailor-fashion. Mack lay beside her. “I’m sure you have more sins than I’ve ever managed to store up. I don’t have that much imagination.”

“I think you probably have a great deal of imagination. But you’ve already told me that you had a tendency to feel guilty as a child even when I’m sure you held no blame. Unfortunately, that puts me way ahead of you.” He handed her a cup of coffee. “Now tell me why you were so edgy after talking to Sarah.”

“She told me that she’d received a couple of phone calls from an old friend of mine, and it made me a little nervous.”

“Nervous?” His lips tightened. “Taylor?”

She shook her head violently. “Under no circumstances would I ever consider him a friend.”

“Well, you said Sarah was a little nervous And so were you, obviously.” Then he asked softly, “Just who the hell is this friend, Kira?”

“His name is Jabir Kalim. He’s an Egyptian national. You might have heard of him.”

His eyes were narrowed. “Kalim? The horse breeder? Of course I’ve heard of him.”

She nodded. “I’d be surprised if you hadn’t, since his people have been known for centuries for raising some of the best-bred and best-trained horses in the world. He lives in desert country on an island not too far off the coast of northern Egypt.”

Harlan nodded. “He’s the one you made the bargain with about retrieving the treasure? I thought it might be him. Several years ago I tried to arrange a meeting with him to try to purchase a few of his horses for Fiona’s stable, but he wasn’t selling. What does he have to do with you?”

“I told you, he’s my friend. I spent a college semester in Cairo, and one of my professors introduced me to him. I was working on a minor in archaeology, and I visited a dig in the Valley of the Kings, where you might remember a National Geographic expedition was exploring the possibility of Cleopatra’s lost tomb being somewhere adjacent to a former desert well or shaft tunnel. I was very excited about it.”

“You would be.”

“Well, so was Kalim. He told me at the time that it was likely many treasures would be found near those dry wells in the desert—he’d run across a few on his own desert property, Hathor. He invited me to come there and explore before I went back to school.”

“And you believed him?”

“Why shouldn’t I? He was respected by my teachers and the Egyptian government. Even Sarah had heard about his work with horse breeding. Not only that, Mack and I discovered those Spanish medallions buried in Tortola a year earlier. To me it seemed the entire world was full of adventure and treasure just waiting to be found. Besides, I respected him.” She paused. “And by that time he was beginning to respect me, too. My professor had told him about my life extension work with Mack and other animals, and he was very interested in letting me take a look at his herds to see if I could improve them. It seemed like a win-win invitation. How could I lose?”

“Any number of ways that I can name. Rape. Drugs. Human traffickers for three. Sarah should never have let you go alone.”

“But she did and I’m glad. It was an experience to remember. Kalim and I both learned a lot from each other. I improved his herds and gave them training when I visited him every summer. In return, he showed me the location of those abandoned wells and caves that you’ll be able to tap as a reward for helping me. So you have no right to complain.”

“Then why did you look so nervous about telling me about him?”

“Kalim was upset that you gave me an assignment that put me in the hospital. He regards himself as head of the tribes and villagers who live on his property just as all his other ancestors in the family did before him. He didn’t know you, therefore he doesn’t trust you with a person he considers his responsibility. He’s kind of adopted me as one of his villagers since we’ve worked so closely together. But he can be rather… intense at times.”

“So can I,” Harlan said grimly. “But I didn’t realize I was going to have to prove it to one of your old pals.”

“You won’t,” Kira said quickly. “Kalim will be very reasonable once he understands that you did everything you could to help me. And he’s already guaranteed that any deals I make regarding the treasure will remain in place. Egyptian-made items will remain in the country. Only things with a foreign origin can be taken away. Most of the things I saw were left on an island by a trading partner. But you have to promise that you’ll not do anything to tip the balance.”

“And leave your old friend to furnish all the fireworks?” He finally shrugged. “We’ll have to see what happens, won’t we? I have no intention of taking down anyone but Joseph Taylor, but then I haven’t run across your Kalim yet. Our situation is taking on new shades and textures even as we speak.”

“Nothing is going to go wrong. I won’t let it.” She finished her coffee and set the cup down in front of the fire. “You saved Mack and you saved me. I couldn’t let anyone hurt you. You’ll just have to use a little restraint. And remember that Kalim has been a ruling force in his country for most of his life.”