Mr Impossible by Loretta Chase Read Free Book Online Page B

the tale of long-hidden treasure and forgotten pharaoh,
and paid the horrendous price. Without a murmur.

    One need not be a
linguistic genius to comprehend why: Archdale had found the key to
deciphering hieroglyphs.

    He’d kept it
a secret because it would lead to great discoveries, and he wanted
all the honor and glory.

    He’d seen
that this papyrus would lead to the greatest discovery of all, far
surpassing anything Belzoni had done and at least equaling the
Rosetta Stone in importance: an untouched royal tomb, filled with
treasure.

    Duval unrolled the
foolscap copy of the papyrus. Its margins held numerous notes in
English, Greek, and Latin, along with a number of odd symbols and
signs, all of it incomprehensible.

    “ But he will
explain it to us,” Duval murmured. “Every word of the
papyrus. The meaning of every sign.”

    And once Archdale
had given up all his secrets, he would die, and no one would ever
find his body. The desert kept secrets even better than he. Jackals,
vultures, sun, and sand combined to make corpses vanish with amazing
speed.

    In the meantime,
however, Duval must deal with the infuriating complication. “These
must leaveCairoat once,” he said. “But I must stay, for a
time at least.”

    The man who’d
brought the documents stepped out of the shadows. Though he called
himself Faruq, he was Polish. He was educated, one of the more
intelligent of the many mercenaries and criminals who found inEgypta
profitable market for their talents.

    Duval wished he’d
sent Faruq after Archdale. But how could he have guessed he’d
need his top agent to carry out a simple kidnapping?

    The men sent after
Archdale failed to take him inGiza. He was too well-guarded. They
could not get to him until he crossed the river again and dispersed
his escort in Old Cairo. When the men finally did capture him, they
beat his servant and left him for dead, without making sure .
The servant had somehow crawled back to the sister, who promptly
reported the incident to the consulate. By tomorrow, everyone
inCairowould know.

    The local
authorities did not worry Duval. They were slow, incompetent, and
corrupt.

    The one who worried
him was the Englishman known as the Golden Devil.

    He had become
Duval’s nemesis in the last year. In addition to being cunning,
ruthless, and as hungry for glory forEnglandas Duval was forFrance,
the Golden Devil was slightly insane.

    Duval hated crazy
people. They were too unpredictable.

    “ The sister
will care only to find her brother,” Duval said. “She
will be easy to divert. The Golden Devil is the graver problem. You
must go ahead, to join the others at Minya as we planned. You must
take the papyrus. Whatever else happens, it must not fall into his
hands.”

    Though he spoke
coolly, Duval was close to weeping with vexation. Everyone dreamt of
finding an intact royal tomb. The key was in his hands, in this
papyrus. The man who’d finally unlocked the secrets of
hieroglyphic writing was Duval’s captive, and barely a day’s
journey away.

    But Duval must
remain inCairoto divert suspicion. If he left, his most feared and
hated rival would instantly know who was behind the kidnapping and
theft. If Duval stayed, he would become merely one of several
possible suspects. If he arranged matters well, suspicion would soon
shift elsewhere.

    And so M. Duval put
the two documents into a battered old dispatch bag that wouldn’t
tempt thieves, gave the bag to Faruq, and told him where and when
they would next meet.

     

     

    RUPERT HAD NOT
failed to notice that his comments about the French distracted Mrs,
Pembroke from asking the logical question: What
will they do to my brother when they find out he can’t read the
papyrus ?

    It was a question
Rupert had rather not answer. He did not count Archdale’s life
worth a groat once the villains discovered their error. He doubted
the man’s life would be worth much even if he could read the
papyrus.

    Still, there was a
chance. In