Fireworks: Riley by Liliana Hart Read Free Book Online

his tent and returned with the spare holster and gun he’d had hidden in his belongings.
    “I want you to wear this,” he said, fastening it to her belt. And then he handed her a sheathed knife with a four-inch blade and she tucked it into her waistband. He knew she was capable of using both if the need arose. He handed her a flashlight and grabbed one for himself, and then he led her into the entrance of the tomb.
    “Well, that’s unfortunate,” she said, noting the remains near the center of the first room.
    “Unfortunate, but not our problem. We’re waiting on the forensic anthropologist to come collect him. This is what I want to show you.”
    Riley handed her a pair of latex gloves so the oils from their fingers wouldn’t damage any of the interior and he showed her the first mention of the Book of Souls.
    “It’s beautiful,” Maggie said, tracing her finger lightly over the carvings in the walls.
    “The colors have already started to fade. It always makes me a little sad to know we try our best to preserve, but we can’t save everything. This is the first true reference I’ve ever seen of the Book of Souls. I’ve come across it in obscure journals and it’s whispered by a select few who believe its existence, but I’ve never seen the proof with my own eyes.”
    “You think it’s here?” she asked, her eyes lighting with excitement.
    “I think it’s possible. I’ve diagrammed the tomb and we’ve entered every room but one. You and I will try to breach it today.”
    “Try?”
    “The door is sealed. You’ll see once we get there. The locking mechanism is a code of some sort, but I haven’t figured out the combination yet. And it’s better to figure it out first instead of experimenting. Experimenting with Egyptian encryptions is a good way to lose a hand. Or a head.”
    “Very comforting. I rather enjoy your head. Lets try to keep it attached.”
    Riley winked and then led her out of the tomb and back into the sunlight. He wanted to bring the journal Jay had used to copy the hieroglyphs from the wall and to grab a larger backpack just in case they did find the book. He knew finding it would be dangerous. And he would show it to no one until he could put it in Bekhit’s hands. He’d never risk Maggie’s life that way.
    “Dr. MacKenzie,” Jay said as they approached. “I was just about to come find you. It looks like Walker made a few notations near the back of the book before he got sick. But from what I can tell it doesn’t have anything to do with the hieroglyphs. It looks like numbers, but you know how bad his writing is.”
    “I’m glad to see his handwriting is getting worse. I told him I wouldn’t approve his dissertation and allow the committee to pass him through if he didn’t start writing like a doctor.”
    Jay handed over the book and Riley flipped to the back to the scribbled pages and then closed it again.
    “Can you make anything of it?”
    “Looks like he was balancing his checkbook to me,” Riley said, shrugging. “We’re heading back in the tomb. There’s still plenty to pull and catalog in sector C.”
    Riley took Maggie’s hand and the headed back inside the tomb, the journal held securely in his other hand. His heart started pounding the moment he saw the mix of numbers and letters Walker had entered on the blank pages at the back of the leather bound book.
    “How long are you going to make me wait before you tell me exactly what the Book of Souls is?” Maggie asked once they were alone inside the tomb.
    Riley squeezed her hand in warning and led her down the narrow hallway that led to the different sectors, and they passed the markers he’d left behind earlier in the week and kept going. The hall grew narrower the farther they went and the ceiling grew shorter, so they were stuck walking single file, barely squeezing through the last opening that led into sector D. Once they were finally through Riley felt Maggie’s shuddering breath of relief.
    This