by K. T. Tomb
“You’re a damn genius, Oscar!” Chyna exclaimed.
***
Fully convinced that Lana and Oscar had earned the time off, Chyna stopped at the concierge desk on her way back to her room to plan a surprise for them; instead of a refund on the tours, she arranged for them to take a sightseeing hot air balloon tour of the town.
While they went out to enjoy the sights, Chyna made all of the arrangements for the next leg of their trip. She booked their flights to Istanbul for the next afternoon and made reservations at her favorite hotel, The Ottoman Imperial which she knew to be a stone’s throw from the Hagia Sofia. A quick call to Sirita got the rest of their luggage and equipment on an express cargo flight to Istanbul along with courier delivery directly to the hotel suite. Happily anticipating an end to their lengthy investigation, Chyna booked a limousine to pick them up at the airport. Then she placed a call to the Hagia Sofia and asked to speak to the Head Curator. She was informed that she would be speaking to Mr. Rashid Abdullah and that he had been expecting her call.
Chyna knew that it was strange that the curator would even know who she was, much less for him to have been expecting a call from her and she was immediately on her guard. What did he know that she didn’t?
“Miss Stone,” the eloquent voice of the museum curator came over the phone. “I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to speak to you. I am delighted to finally have it.”
“How could you have been waiting for this call, Mr. Abdullah?” Chyna asked. “We have never met and I doubt that you know why I’m contacting you now.”
“Oh, my dear, Miss Stone,” Rashid admonished. “There is so much that I know that you are not yet aware of, but I can promise you that when you get to Istanbul, I will fill you and your team in completely. When will you be arriving in the city?”
“We will be there tomorrow afternoon,” she replied, dumbfounded.
“Excellent, could we meet at the museum at around six o’clock? We will be closed to the public by then and we can talk without interruptions.”
“That’s sounds fine, Mr. Abdullah. We’ll see you then.”
“Yes, Miss Stone. Again, thank you for calling.”
It took a while for Chyna to shake off the shock of the telephone call to Rashid Abdullah. She knew that their meeting was destined to be a remarkable one and soon her apprehension turned to anticipation. After a few minutes she picked up the phone again and placed another call. Anthony Stewart answered right away.
“Guess it was too much to ask that it would come to an end in Boğazkale?” he joked.
“That would have been too easy, Tony,” Chyna replied.
“So, what’s your next move?”
“The clues are sending us to Istanbul and I’m sure you won’t mind that.”
“I really can’t complain. What time do you get there?”
“We’re taking an afternoon flight for once and we should be there by three o’clock. We meet with Hagia Sofia’s curator at six so how about I meet you for dinner around eight at the usual place?”
“That sounds awesome. I miss you Chyna, more than I usually do.”
“I’ve missed you too, Tony. This is new; usually we’re so good at letting go.”
“Must be old age, Babe.”
“Don’t even go there. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
Chapter Ten
The next morning, all three of them were relieved to be able to sleep in for once.
Feeling rested, relaxed and ready to get back to the search, they boarded the little plane to Istanbul at noon and by three o’clock the plane was taxiing to the gate at the airport in Istanbul. They got into their limousine and took the scenic ride to the Ottoman Imperial Hotel. At five thirty, they met in the lobby and walked over to the great Hagia Sophia Museum to meet its mysterious curator.
In spite of the fact that she had nothing specific upon which to put her finger, Chyna was on her guard. The SIG, though rather unusual gear for a museum visit, was in its holster under her leather jacket. She looked around her suspiciously.
“What’s up with you?” Lana asked, noting the nervous tension and roaming eyes of her boss.
“Something is a little off with all of this,” she responded.
“Like what?” Lana asked.
“I don’t know, just…” She paused to try to choose her words more carefully. “After Fariha and the attack in the desert and that woman, it just seems way too easy.”
“Maybe we just caught a break this time,” Lana responded.
Chyna didn’t respond.
When they arrived at the steps of the museum, there was a woman waiting to let them in through the front doors. She introduced herself as Zubeida, Rashid Abdullah’s secretary, and showed them into the museum’s lobby.
“Mr. Abdullah will be with you in five minutes,” she announced with a brilliant smile.
Moments later, a man appeared from a side door and walked toward them with his hand extended. He shook their hands and turned to Chyna.
“Miss Stone, it is a true honor to meet you and your associates. I have been looking forward to this for a long time.”
“So you said yesterday, but I still don’t understand how it is that you knew we would come here.”
“Follow me into my office, so that I may explain everything to you more comfortably and privately.”
As they entered Mr. Abdullah’s opulent office, they noticed that there were three well dressed men waiting for them there. Instinctively, Chyna reached into her black leather jacket and released the safety strap that held her pistol inside its holster.
“No need for that, Miss Stone,” Rashid said, reassuringly. “We are all friends here. Please have a seat. May I introduce to you most of The Guardsmen: Westman, Southman and Eastman. Unfortunately Northman is not yet here.”
“The Guardsmen?” Oscar asked. “As in the Guards from the riddle who are supposed to lay down their swords?”
“You see?” Abdullah exclaimed to the three men. “This is what I’ve been telling you. They are very clever and talented people. The time has truly come.”
The men nodded their heads in agreement and murmured among themselves in Arabic.
“I’ve been telling them how sure I was that you were the right people to retrieve the Book from us. We have been waiting a long time for people like you to find us.”
“Mr Abdullah…” Chyna began.
“Rashid, please.”
“Rashid,” she continued. “No offense to you and your friends here, but I hope you understand that we have absolutely no clue as to what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, I understand, Miss Stone. I’m just so excited, I’m finding it hard to settle down and tell you the story. Let me get started right away.”
“Please, we would appreciate it.”
“Well, you already know the beginning. The part of the story that has been lost to our historians is this: When the Princess Ankhesenamun arrived in Qena, she gave the Book to a tribal priest of the Hharazi people. She instructed him to take the Book north to Hattusa and put it among the treasures of the Hittite king. He was to put a guard in place to ensure the Book would remain safe until the day that a pharaoh of royal descent sat on the throne of Egypt again, at which point the guard was to take the Book to Luxor and return it to the king.
“As we all know, that day never came. Egypt was ruled by warriors and commoners for the rest of its days. However, before Egypt fell to the Romans, the Hittite Empire was demolished. When the guard realized that the Empire was ending he decided to move the Book to a more stable city which would most likely survive the ages.”
“Istanbul,” Lana interjected.
“Yes, Istanbul. He inscribed the heads of the sphinxes with the code indicating the name of the Book’s new home and took it to Istanbul. He hid the Book below the Gate of Hell portal in the church of Hagia Sofia and positioned himself as a church guard for the rest of his days. Before he died, the
guard decided that the protection of the Book was too much for one man to bear. He went to Egypt in search of the immortal priest, Imhotep, to seek his advice about the protection of the Book.
“Imhotep and the guard selected four righteous men of four different tribes and gave them the task of protecting the book. Imhotep returned with them to Istanbul to serve as the sovereign voice over the new Guardsmen of the Book of Life. So that is how we came into being, Miss Stone. They are four men from four different tribes of people and they are governed by the immortal priest, Imhotep. I am Rashid Imhotep Abdullah, a direct descendant of Imhotep Ta-Djoser.”
“So who are the Watchers?” Chyna asked.
“The Watchers, Miss Stone are the descendants of the Hharazi priest. There are Watchers in every city of importance in Egypt, they ensure that anything that happens which may lead to the discovery of the Book is reported to us immediately. That is how we knew you were coming. Mohammed and Jamila are two of the six Luxor Watchers. We have two watchers in Qena as well, but Jamila was unable to contact them so she watched you herself. When you left Egypt to go to Boğazkale, she called to let me know.”
“The woman in the pretty abaya and hijab,” Oscar breathed.
Rashid smiled and nodded.
“How did you know I would call you?”
“It was an educated guess, Miss Stone. You and your colleagues did not strike me as thieves. So once you knew the Book was in the Hagia Sofia, it would stand to reason that you would contact me since you did not intend to steal it.”
“Rashid, we are very grateful to you and to the Guardsmen. You, and those who have gone before you, have done the world a great service by ensuring the safekeeping of this important relic. We hope that our intentions for it are even half as honourable.”
“And what are those intentions, Miss Stone?”
“It’s important for the Book to go back to Egypt, Rashid. We will turn it over to the Ministry of Antiquities and we will ask them, when they have finished their tests and cataloguing, to put it on display for the people to see and enjoy and learn about its lost history. I would think that Luxor would be the fitting place since that is where the Queen wished it to be placed.”
“We could not ask for more than that,” Rashid concluded.
“Might I ask though, where is Mr. Northman?”
“I have no idea. He should have been here a long time ago. Have any of you gentlemen heard from him?”
The others all shook their heads indicating that had no information as to his whereabouts.
“Oh well, we cannot wait for him. It is important for all of us to get this done tonight.”
Chyna considered her situation, still stinging from their last visit to Turkey, still suspicious of the attack on the highway to Luxor, and uncomfortable concerning what seemed to be the disappearance of a member of the Guardsmen. With the Book of Life in her hands, she and her team would become a tempting target for whoever might be lurking.
“Rashid, I won’t be taking the Book with me,” she announced. “I would just like to see it and maybe take some photographs. I will make arrangements for our friend Dr. Nassir to come and see you. He will be able to make the necessary arrangements security-wise.”
“That is a wise decision, Miss Stone. Follow us and we will show it to you.”
They went back downstairs to the large church and behind the velvet rope to the altar. At the foot of the altar was a round decorative tile which is called the ‘Gates of Hell’ portal. It was a secret hiding place which was constructed in most important churches where the clergy could hide anything of importance from raiders or heretics. Rashid lifted a hidden bolt and turned it until there was a loud click sound, then he pulled up and the tile was raised with ease; but when he laid the tile aside they all looked in to find nothing but an empty cavern.
There were shouts of dismay and anger from the Guardsmen and Rashid shook his head in disbelief. When they had settled down Chyna asked a few critical questions.
“Can I safely assume that calling the police is out of the question?”
“It is not an option, Miss Stone.”
“In that case, would you mind if I called a personal friend of mine from the F.B.I. to help us with the investigation?”
“You want to help us find the Book?” asked the man Rashid had referred to as Eastman.
“Of course, that is what we started out to do, how could we abandon you now?” Lana asked.
The men were visibly surprised by her response.
“We would appreciate any help you are able to offer, Miss Stone. You understand the situation now and you also know that under no circumstances can the outside world know of my existence nor that of the Guardsmen and the Watchers.”
“Understood, Rashid. I would like you and the Guardsmen to come back here tomorrow afternoon at three o’clock, call all the Watchers and ask them to come to Istanbul for this meeting as well. I’m going to want to meet with you at around one o’clock, Rashid, I’ll bring my friend and we will get to the bottom of this.”
“Thank you all.”
“You are welcome, friends. See you tomorrow.”
With that they left the men at the altar replacing the tile over the ‘Gate of Hell’ portal. Everyone was in complete shock.
Chyna and the others walked back to the Ottoman Imperial in complete silence. They had come so close to the Book, only to be robbed of getting to see it. Now they had a new mystery to solve. She said her good nights to Oscar and Lana at the hotel’s front doors and continued walking down the street. About three blocks over, Chyna stepped into a quaint French restaurant and walked straight to the corner table where Tony was already waiting for her. She let him order for both of them, silently sipped her wine and listened to him talk about work and everything that had happened since they had separated in Cairo a few weeks before. When he steered the conversation towards her and the present assignment Chyna changed the topic or asked him a question about something he had just told her. It didn’t take him long to realize that she was not at a place where she could talk about it as yet and he soon stopped asking about it.
After dinner, they walked back to the hotel and Tony joined her upstairs in her room. Chyna didn’t want to waste any time; as soon as the door was bolted she backed him up against the door and started to undo his shirt, she threw it to the ground then unbuckled his belt, undid his pants and pushed them and his boxers to the ground. She turned around and walked towards the bedroom, stepping out of her shoes then dropping her jacket, gun, tank top and bra to the floor before she even got to the bedroom door. Tony stepped out of his shoes and the clothes that were now pooled around his ankles and followed her into the bedroom. She was lying on the bed waiting when he entered the room. He climbed in and took her in his arms rolling onto his back so he could run his hands up and down the length of her body as they kissed passionately.
Soon Chyna couldn’t take the suspense of their coupling any longer; she centered herself over his body and in a smooth motion they were one and he was moving in her with a passion and intensity that she had not experienced in a long time. He rolled and from his new vantage point, moved deeper and more swiftly, stoking the flame of the passion that was building between them. She clung to the bed by fistfuls of sheets and moaned her pleasure into his shoulder and his ears, driving him wild, but instead of hastening then to their climactic release, he slowed the pace to an agonizing burn. He kissed the places on her body that he had not yet tasted. When his exploration was complete, the intense need of her desire was blazing in her eyes.
He took her in his arms, shifted again and then she was seated in his lap facing him and he was holding her to him tightly, kissing her shoulders and neck. Her pelvis moved against the hard muscles of his stomach and he lifted her slightly so they could be joined together again. She moved rhythmically against him and threw her head back in complete abandon. He watched her as she approached the edge of ecstasy. Then he felt his own passion mounting and he put his lips t
o her breasts one after the other. She moved against him faster and faster and then suddenly they were clinging to each other, gripped tightly in the waves of rapture that engulfed them both.
Chapter Eleven
They all spent the next morning in leisure.
Oscar and Lana explored the city, while Chyna and Anthony languished in each other’s arms. But by lunchtime it was back to business and they all walked back over to the museum. While Chyna and Anthony met with Rashid, Oscar and Lana took a guided tour of the museum’s artifacts.
“Did you pull the security footage like I asked you to?” Anthony asked Rashid.
“Yes, I did. The last time I saw the Book was three nights ago before I met the others in the park and everything was as it should have been.”
“Okay then, let’s review the tapes. We only need to see the night footage since it’s absolutely impossible for anyone to have lifted it during the day with so many guests and staff constantly up and down the place.”
“Well actually, that area was shut down a couple of days ago for the floors to be professionally cleaned.”
Rashid put his hand to his chin as he thought back to that day. There was something that was bothering him, something that he couldn’t quite remember but that his mind was telling him was important. Suddenly, it came to him.
“Come to think of it, when they arrived Zubeida cordoned off the area with velvet ropes and alerted the guards that work was in progress. I remember her coming back into the office and mentioning something about it being strange that the cleaning company would send two new people to clean the altar floors that she had never met before and who clearly were not familiar with the job. It was a security concern that she was having, so I dismissed it since that is her area of responsibility.”