Shiva (46 page)

Brandt shook his head, feeling maybe a little worried for Ricki Junior.

Rebecca
,
however
,
was undaunted. If anything
,
she seemed to be gaining steam.
“
Thirdly
,
all of the causeways
—
the ramps used to slide the limestone blocks up to the pyramids
—
were built
around
the Sphinx.
”

Levont was the one to jump in this time.
“
Which implies the Sphinx was there
before
the pyramids
,
not after or even at the same time.
”

“
Bingo,
”
Rebecca said
,
tapping her finger to her nose. Her smile faded quickly
,
though
,
as she spun on her heel, looking up at the stone ceiling.
“
Causeways. Causeways. Causeways.
”

A casual observer might conclude that Rebecca had lost her mind. Brandt
,
though? Brandt repositioned his gun, getting ready. Because this phase usually lasted all of ten seconds
.
T
hen they
’
d be on the move.

He
’
d bet his life on it.

Actually
,
he was counting on Rebecca. They all were.

* * *

Why hadn
’
t she thought of it before?

Rebecca might be a little fuzzy on the
“
theoretical
”
tunnels they traveled, but the causeways above surface she knew cold. They were an interconnecting series of ramps and stone
-
lined paths. Several were at odd angles because they had to avoid the Sphinx. But one in particular seemed to be strangely out of place. Scholars had spent decades trying to decide why the ancient Egyptian engineers had built a causeway so out of the way.

There were more plausible theories
,
such as the supposition that an ancient temple had stood on the area at the time of building the causeways to the less plausible suggestions that the ancient Egyptians were trying to replicate the stars of Orion
’
s
B
elt.

But what if the obstruction
hadn
’
t been
aboveground? What if there was something under the sand that the builders
had been
avoiding? Any large tomb would make the ground above unable to support the weight of the causeway and the enormous limestone bricks transported over them.

In her mind
,
she could see the causeways and the strange space left between them and the Sphinx. The tunnel she stood in was just to the south of it. She spun to her right to look at the north wall.

A laugh erupted out of her lips before she could stop it.

“
Oh
,
this is going to be good!
”
Lopez exclaimed from the side, moving to get a good angle for his video.

It had been there the whole time. Of course
,
it had been buried in thousands of hieroglyphics. A simple cartouche of a lion stacked on top of a monkey stacked on top of an ibis.

This was some old
-
school Egyptian religion. Before Ra. Before Osiris. Before Isis. These were the animal gods worshipped
before
the dynasties. The Egyptians worshipped animals above all else. It wasn
’
t until thousands of years later that they morphed mankind into their pantheon.

“
This is it,
”
Rebecca said
,
reaching out
to
the symbol, but Brandt
’
s forearm stopped her.

“
What
’
s the rule?
”

Rebecca grinned. She just
had
got
ten
so caught up in that moment of discovery.
“
No touching the artifacts.
”

Brandt nodded.
“
At least not until we are secured properly.
”
He turned to the men.
“
I want everyone tied to each other, with tighter bindings between pairs.
”

The men complied
,
except Levont
,
who looked around them
,
seeming to take in the fact they were in a newly found ancient passage about to open another secret millennia
-
old hidden passage.

“
Can I just say?
”
the point man said.
“
You guys
rock
.
”

“
Tie in, Levont,
”
Brandt ordered
,
but Rebecca noticed he had the tiniest grin at the edge of his lips.

Rebecca picked up Vakasa as Talli finished cinching them together.

Once they were all tied in, the men raised their guns. Well, not all of them. Lopez had his camera up.

Brandt looked to each man. Once he got a nod from them, Brandt put his palm on the cartouche and pressed. Nothing happened. He pressed again
,
with the same result. Rebecca only took a little step forward.
“
Maybe you need to
—
”

A loud grinding filled the tunnel. Brandt urged her back, his gun raised as the wall moved laterally, revealing a dark passage. Once the rumbling and dust
had
settled
,
it became apparent it wasn
’
t a passage
,
but a set of stone steps.

Brandt flashed his light down the steep tunnel.

“
How far does it go?
”
Rebecca asked as both she and Vakasa craned their necks to see.

“
Pretty damn far,
”
Brandt answered
,
not looking any too happy about it. Then resolve replaced concern.
“
But it
’
s our only way out, so…
”

He indicated for Levont to take point. Without a word
,
everyone got into position and started down the steps. Lopez swept the camera side to side. Halfway down
,
the corporal began his narration.

“
What will we find, RJ? What mysteries will we uncover? Will Daddy go in the record books? Along with, you know, all these other people?
”

Brandt gave Lopez a three
-
out
-
of
-
five death stare.

The corporal just shrugged.
“
What? Who
’
s going to hear me? Mummies?
”

To Rebecca
’
s surprise
,
Brandt didn
’
t bark for Lopez to shut up. The corporal
’
s soft whisper seemed to dull the edge of anxiety as the
y
descended f
a
rther and f
a
rther into the ground. Would they find another dead end? After all of this
,
would they have to throw themselves on Egyptians
’
mercy?

The girl in her arms didn
’
t seem to mind
,
either. She would brace against Rebecca
’
s body to lift her head above the men, constantly trying to see what was up ahead. Ah, children and their boundless curiosity. Someday Vakasa would learn that not everything up ahead was a wonder. Or maybe Rebecca hoped that the little girl wouldn
’
t learn such a harsh lesson. Maybe she could learn it was okay to poke your head above the crowd and expect good things to come of it.

“
I
’
ve got a door,
”
Levont reported from the front. They all climbed down to join him on the landing.

Rebecca searched the surface for any hieroglyphics or cartouches
,
but found nothing. Just a hand
-
chiseled door. She shifted Vakasa
’
s weight to the other hip. Brandt didn
’
t even bother to ask her opinion. How could she have one with no writings?

Brandt gave the nod for the point man to open it. With a heave
,
the door slid across the uneven ground, grinding and protesting the whole way. Why wouldn
’
t it? It had been shut for how many generations?

Levont took a decisive step into the next room.
“
What the…
?
”

Lopez was next and gave a whoop. Talli walked in, his jaw dropping.

Rebecca followed closely behind.
“
Oh. My. God.
”

However
,
it was Lopez
who
summarized it best.

“
In your face, Geraldo!
”
h
e announced to the camera.
“
This is how you open up a chamber!
”

CHAPTER 18

═══════════
═══════

Undisclosed Location

3
:01
p
.
m
.
(
EST
)

Bunny nearly jumped out of her skin when the click came over the line.

“
Yes?
”
she answered. Silence stretched. Hope faded. Davidson didn
’
t have any new information. He was checking in to see if they did.
“
Sorry. Nothing more.
”

Her eyes scanned the dozens of
newscasts that Stark
pulled up
. Sure
,
theories were rampant
.
H
owever
,
not a one had identified Brandt and the others. Which was probably a good thing. However
,
not having word from them for nearly a half hour was not such a good thing.

The longer they dallied, the greater the chances the Egyptians discovered the hidden tunnel. Okay, so Rebecca and the others probably weren
’
t dallying, but still.

“
Let him know the extraction team is nearly to the area,
”
Emily stated.
“
He should be looking for a large van. Blue. Windowless.
”

Bunny nodded and repeated the information. She got a click in response.

It was a little hard to gauge Davidson
’
s mental status through a series of clicks, but still. Something felt off. Wrong.

“
Are you okay?
”

That click came back way too fast.

“
Something
’
s wrong,
”
Bunny said
,
glancing over the news feeds again. Everything seemed quiet on the eastern front. Then it had to be something with Davidson himself.

Prenner frowned.
“
But he just said he was fine.
”

The lieutenant didn
’
t know Davidson like she did. Like the sniper would admit anything was wrong.

“
Is there anything I can do to help?
”
Bunny asked.

No response. So her hunch was right.

“
Except
,
of course,
”
Bunny continued,
“
for us to pray.
”

A click was her answer.

* * *

Davidson turned off the sat phone and shook out his right hand. That Bunny was a little too insightful for her own good.

He willed his fingers to loosen
,
but they had seized down into a knot. A minor wound like the one he
’
d
taken
in the alley never would have affected him, but the damaged nerves in his hand had something else to say about it.