…
Jess knew things weren’t going well from the way Donovan’s mouth pressed into a line and muscles twitched in his jaw.
“They’re holding position,” he told her when he ended the call. “We don’t have any choice. All we can do is wait for him to come back out of whatever wadi or canyon he’s gone into.”
“If they’re holed up at Ramesses VIII’s tomb, that could take days.”
“I hope not.” He scowled.
“We have to lure him out sooner,” she said, her mind racing over the possibilities. They were limited, which made it easier to figure out.
“Sure. How? Stake out a few archeology students in the wadi to attract him?”
His sarcasm would have been offensive if he hadn’t sounded so frustrated. Jess understood. “No, we get him to make another delivery.”
He didn’t say anything, just sat back and looked at her with slightly narrowed eyes.
“Mr. Atallah will call in a few hours to tell us he has the vase, right? We go see him and I get all effusive over the beauty and condition of the piece and decide I want another one. Something to go with it. But only if he can get it right away, because my husband’s birthday is tomorrow and we’re leaving in the morning for Switzerland. I must have it by then. I think he’ll jump at the chance to make more money. He’ll have to get his courier to make another trip from the tomb, which is what we’ll be waiting for. But this time we’ll already be waiting in the wadi and he won’t be able to slip past us.”
He nodded slowly. “Maybe. There’s just one problem—Mr. Atallah’s not going to jump to fill your second order without seeing some cash first.”
“Of course not. As I told you before, we need to get one million dollars. Call Evan. What time is it in Chicago now?”
He sputtered a laugh and shook his head. “You act like all you have to do is ask.”
“And you act like that won’t work. But you don’t know that, do you?”
“No, I don’t. You’re right.” He still looked amused. “It’s eight hours earlier in Chicago, which makes it about eight thirty p.m. I think you should make this call.” He tossed his satellite phone to her, and she caught it. “Dial 001, then the Omega number in the directory. Good luck.”
She looked at the challenge in his eyes, lifted an eyebrow, and dialed. The connection took several seconds, but Evan’s voice came through clearly. “Donovan. I’ve been hoping to hear from you.”
“It’s me. Jess.”
There was a brief pause on the other end. “Is everything okay? Did something happen to Donovan?”
“We’re fine. You’re on speaker, and he can hear you. He’s sitting here trying not to laugh at me because I’m calling to tell you we need a million dollars.”
Silence. She held Donovan’s gaze and waited. “I assume you’re serious. Explain.”
She did. She told him about the vase and her theory about tomb robbers finding the lost tomb of Ramesses VIII. Also her offer to buy a vase they were shown. He listened without comment, then was silent a few more seconds.
“How sure are you that this is what Wally wanted you to see?”
“Positive. You know that discovering a new, untouched tomb is a big deal. Huge. Big enough to take two Americans captive if they stumbled across the operation. They probably would have been killed if they weren’t experts in exactly what the robbers need—sorting and pricing the items in the tomb. And what better place is there to hold them than in a tomb no one’s been able to find for the past three thousand years?”
“Good point.” More thoughtful silence. “When does he want the money?”
“Today. We expect him to call in a few hours. I realize it’s night there and the banks aren’t open, but—”
“It’s not night everywhere, Jess. Omega uses international banks.” He was silent for several seconds more while Donovan’s smug look changed to one of amazement. She resisted sticking out her tongue at him, but just barely. Finally, Evan said, “I’ll call you guys back as soon as I can.”
She tossed the phone back to Donovan, slowly letting a grin split her face. “He didn’t laugh at me. And you’re not laughing anymore, either. What do you think of that?”
He shook his head as if he was beyond words. “I think I’m glad we brought you. And I think if he comes through, I may ask for a raise. Omega obviously has more money than I realized.”
“Maybe. Maybe he’s borrowing it.”
“Whatever he’s doing, it’s because you’re Wally’s daughter and he trusts you implicitly, the same way he trusted Wally.”