Khaliq’s men had triangulated the supposed location of the Temple of Anubis using topographical maps and charts from hundreds of years ago, as well as modern-day satellite imaging and even grainy pictures obtained from Google Earth. The trouble was that out here, the earth itself moved — the dunes constantly shifted, changing the topography and landscape, making any reasonable attempt at locating something lost to time nearly impossible, even with modern technology.
But it wasn’t these images that scared Baahir. It was the LIDAR — the ‘light detection and ranging’ — images. These high-resolution images weren’t just run-of-the-mill images — they had been created with technology that was prohibitively expensive, then rendered on machines that most individuals couldn’t dream of using, much less owning.
It told him that Khaliq had friends in high places. Someone had supplied this madman with images that
Baahir leaned around the driver and spotted a sign for Bawiti — a town of 30,000 inhabitants nestled within the lush, fertile lands of the Bahariya Oasis. A handful of historical discoveries had been made in Bawiti over the centuries. Tourism was now a major source of income for those living in the town, supplementing jobs that were typically only viable in the iron ore industry.
Khaliq pointed off to their left, and their driver clicked on his blinker to notify the vehicles behind them that they were pulling off. The destination: A gas station.
“What are we doing?” Baahir asked, speaking up for the first time since being loaded into the back of the SUV.
No one replied. They just turned into the station and stopped. Once all three vehicles regrouped, Khaliq turned and faced Baahir.
“What do you know about the tombs discovered in Bawiti?”
Baahir was forced to pull the answer from the far reaches of his memory. “Qarat Qasr Salim… It is of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest of 525 B.C.”
“Correct, and what of the people entombed here?”
Baahir opened his mouth to answer but balked. He didn’t know. He knew of the discovery here, but his depth of knowledge was vague as to who it belonged to.
His non-answer made Khaliq smile. “It belonged to a very wealthy Saite merchant who also happened to be a family member of ours.”
Baahir wasn’t going to argue the whole ‘blood doesn’t always make family’ thing again. He had accepted that the Ayads were his relatives. The quicker he moved on from the revelation, the better his mental health would be.
“And you think this is where our entrance is?” Baahir asked.
“I do,” Khaliq replied.
“You do?”
“Yes,” Khaliq nudged the driver, and he got them moving, “it is said that our ancestor was close to finding Anubis’ temple, but—”
Baahir put it together. “But the Persian invasion halted his search. You think our predecessor buried his findings with his body, don’t you?”
Khaliq smiled and faced forward. “I do.”
Baahir looked out his window. Another question — a potential obstacle came to him. “If that’s true, wouldn’t it have been found by now?”
Khaliq laughed softly. “No, future scholars did not look hard enough.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because men like that proceed with caution and preserve the find.” Khaliq gazed over his shoulder. His eyes were alight. “I would have flattened the landscape to find it.”
The ominous wording Wally had used to hint at what lay beneath the SSC had spooked Zahra, big time. As they descended the stairs within the faux containers, she casually slid her right hand into her jacket, just beneath her shoulder holster, pretending to hold her, truthfully, sore ribs. That wasn’t what she was doing, however. Zahra was keeping her hand close to her Glock.
Wally had helped them, and seemed admirable and trustworthy, but even some heroes had ulterior motives.
It was confusing to Zahra, too, why people were that way. Wally didn’t
