Imhotep by Jerry Dubs Read Free Book Online Page A

that I didn’t go
in the first time I searched because my flashlight broke.  I bought some
candles so I don’t have to worry about another flashlight incident.
    “I
called the embassy earlier, but they want to wait a few more days.
    “I
picture Brian and Diane at the bottom of some burial shaft deep under the
desert, weak and hungry, unable to escape, calling for help, waiting for
someone to hear them.  If I don’t find them tomorrow, I’ll check the room
again and then go to the embassy in person.
    “I’ll
make sure, somehow, that they’ll take over and search for them.
    “At
least I’ll have done everything I can.
    “I
love you.  Always.”
    He
closed the journal and turned in his seat to look out the window.  The
room faced east, so he saw the glow of lights from Cairo and the occasional
bouncing lights of a car arriving at the Mena House or heading back to the
city.  A set of headlights approached from his right, growing larger,
then, as they passed they seemed to recede, not toward Cairo, but into the
past.
     
     
    S usan’s cell phone had rung at the very
minute she was parking her car at the TGIF restaurant that night six months
ago.
    She
had reached for the cell phone while getting out of the car and so forgot to
pull the keys from the ignition.  As the locked door had swung shut, she
had realized what she had done and had said “Shit!” to Addy who had been on the
other end of the phone call.
    “I
just locked myself out of the car.”
    “Did
you ever join Triple-A?” Addy had asked; knowing the answer her best friend
would give.
    “God,
you can be such an M-O-M,” Susan had said and Addy had laughed.  Tim had
heard that laugh as he sat with Addy in their apartment.
    “What
happened?” he had asked.
    “Susan
locked herself out of the car.  Can you believe it?  She hasn’t done
that for more than a week,” Addy had told him, careful not to cover the
mouthpiece so Susan could hear her.
    “It’s
your fault,” Susan had told Addy.  “You called right when I was getting
out of the car.”
    “Oh,
my,” Addy had apologized.  “Can’t have you doing two things at once. 
Thank God you weren’t chewing gum, too, there could have been injuries.”
    “You
are such a … sweet friend,” Susan had said.
    “Where
are you?” Addy had asked with exaggerated exasperation.
    “TGIF.”
    “I’ll
bring the spare keys over, but you can never call me MOM again,” Addy said,
smiling into the phone, her eyes sparkling.
    “OK,”
Susan had answered.  “How about I call you a mother?”
    “I’ll
take you over,” Tim had said, bending to pull on his sneakers.
    “Don’t
be silly.  It’s just across the river.  I’ll be back in an hour,
longer if she buys me a drink.”
    She
had leaned over and kissed him goodbye, missing slightly and kissing the corner
of his mouth.
    So
casual, so careless, it had been one toss-away kiss among the thousands they
had shared.  Nothing about it said that it was the last one.
     
     
    T im fell asleep in the chair, Addy in his
dreams, Brian and Diane on his mind.
    He
awoke befuddled and stiff.  The room was dark and quiet.  The digital
clock by the bed read four thirty.  He went into the bathroom and washed
his face, looking up at his sleepy and confused face in the mirror.  Was
he trying to find Brian and Diane because he’d lost Addy; was he trying to help
them because no one had helped her?
    It
didn’t matter.  He would search the tomb and help them if they were there,
report them missing if they weren’t, because they weren’t coming back to the
hotel room where their tickets, luggage and passports were waiting.
    The
old clerk was asleep on a chair behind the counter.  Tim slipped past him
and into the courtyard.  The warm Egyptian air was heavy with the weight
of the darkness, filled with a promise of mystery.
    Off to
the west, the pyramids were hidden by the night.  Tim turned slowly. 
The trees behind him, along the edge of the Mena