“We all chose to be involved with you long after the checks had cleared, my lad,” she admitted. “And Dr. Beach chose to rescue you because he knew how important you are to the world. My God, Purdue, you are more than a star in the skies of the people who know you. You are the sun, keeping us all steady, warming us and making us flourish in orbit. It is your magnetic presence that people crave and if I have to die for that privilege, then so be it.”
Patrick did not want to interrupt, but he had a schedule to keep and he inched toward them to signify that it was time to disembark. Purdue did not know how to react to Nina’s words of devotion, but he could see Sam standing in all his rugged glory, arms folded and smiling as if he seconded Nina’s sentiments. “Let’s go do this, Purdue,” Sam said zealously. “Let us return their bloody box and get to the Magician.”
“I must confess I want Karsten more,” Purdue revealed bitterly. Sam walked up to him and laid a firm hand on his shoulder. When Nina followed Patrick out behind the Egyptian, Sam shared a special consolation with Purdue in secret.
“I was saving this news for your birthday,” Sam mentioned, “but I have some information that might put that vengeful side of yours at ease for the moment.”
“What?” Purdue asked, already interested.
“You remember you asked me to record all deals, right? I’ve been recording all the information we garnered about this entire excursion, as well as the Magician. You do recall that you asked me to keep track of the diamonds your people have purchased and so on,” Sam continued, being extra careful to lower his voice, “because you want to plant them in Karsten’s mansion to frame the Black Sun’s main prick, aye?”
“Yes? Yes, yes, what of it? We still have to find a way to do that once we’ve finished dancing to the whistling Ethiopian authorities, Sam,” Purdue snapped in a tone that revealed the stress he was drowning in.
“I remember you saying you wanted to catch the snake with the hand of your enemy or something to that effect,” Sam clarified. “So I took the liberty of getting that ball rolling for you.”
Purdue’s cheeks flushed with intrigue. “How?” he whispered hard.
“I had a friend — don’t ask — investigate where the Magician’s victims had procured his services from,” Sam shared in hasty words before Nina would come looking. “And once my skilled new pal managed to hack into the Austrian’s computer servers, it came to pass that our esteemed friend from the Black Sun has apparently invited the obscure alchemist to his home for a lucrative deal.”
Purdue’s face lit up and a crack of a smile appeared.
“All we have to do now is to get the advertised diamond into Karsten’s manor before Wednesday and then we watch the snake get stung by the scorpion while our veins stay clean of venom,” Sam grinned.
“Mr. Cleave, you are a genius,” Purdue remarked, planting a hefty kiss on Sam’s cheek. Nina, on her way in, stopped in her tracks and folded her arms. Raising her eyebrow, she could only speculate. “Scotsmen. Like wearing skirts aren’t enough to test their masculinity.”
27
Wet Desert
As Sam and Nina packed their Jeep for the trip to Tana Qirkos, Purdue had a word with Adjo about the Ethiopian locals who would escort them into the archaeological dig site behind Mount Yeha. Patrick soon joined them to iron out the details of their delivery, to be made with the least amount of racket.
“I will call Col. Yimenu to let him know when we will arrive at the site. He will just have to be satisfied with that,” Patrick said. “As long as he is there when the Holy Box is returned, I don’t see why we have to let him know which side we’re coming from.”
“Too right, Paddy,” Sam agreed. “Just remember, whatever Purdue and Adjo’s reputation, you represent the United Kingdom under command of the tribunal. Nobody is allowed to accost or attack anyone there to return the relic.”
“True,” Patrick agreed. “We have international exemption this time, as long as we abide by the conditions of the deal and even Yimenu has to adhere to that.”
“I do like the taste of that apple,” Purdue sighed as he helped Adjo and three of Patrick’s men lift the fake Ark into the military truck they prepared for its transport. “That veteran trigger-monger rubs me the wrong way every time I lay eyes on him.”
“Ah!” Nina exclaimed, pulling up her nose at Purdue. “Now I get it. You are sending me away from Aksum to keep me and Yimenu out of each other’s hair, hey? And you’re sending Sam to make sure I don’t get off my leash.”
Sam and Purdue stood side by side, choosing to keep quiet, but Adjo was chuckling and Patrick stepped in between her and the men to save the moment. “It really is best, Nina, don’t you think? I mean, we do need to get the remaining diamonds to the Egyptian Dragon people…”
Sam grimaced, trying not to laugh at Patrick misnaming the poor order of stargazers, but Purdue smiled openly. Patrick looked back at the men in reprimand before addressing the intimidating little historian again. “They need the stones urgently and with the delivery of the artifact…” he continued, trying to appease her. But Nina just held up her hand and shook her head. “Leave it, Patrick. Never mind. I’ll go steal something else from this poor country in the name of Britain just to steer clear of a diplomatic nightmare I’m bound to conjure up if I see that misogynistic imbecile again.”
“We have to go, Effendi,” Adjo told Purdue, thankfully breaking the looming tension with his sobering announcement. “If we take any longer we will not get there on time.”
“Yes! Better get going, all,” Purdue suggested. “Nina, you and Sam will meet up with us here in exactly twenty-four hours with the diamonds from the island monastery. Then we have to get back to Cairo in record time.”
“Call me a nitpicker,” Nina frowned, “but am I missing something? I thought those diamonds were to become the property of the Prof. Imru’s Egyptian Archaeological Society.”
“That was the deal, yes, but my brokers have received a list of stones from Prof. Imru’s people at the society, while Sam and I have been directly in touch with Master Penekal,” Purdue explained.
“Oh God, I smell a double cross,” she said, but Sam grasped her gently by the arm and pulled her away from Purdue with a hearty, “Cheerio, old man! Come, Dr. Gould. We have a crime to commit and very little time to do it in.”
“Geez, the rotten apples of my life,” she groaned as Purdue waved at her.
“Remember to watch the skies!” Purdue jested before he opened the passenger door of the idling old truck. In the back, the relic was being watched by Patrick and his men while Purdue rode shotgun with Adjo at the wheel. The Egyptian engineer was still the best guide to the region and Purdue thought if he drove the vehicle himself, he would not have to give directions.
Under cover of night, the group of men transported the Holy Box toward the dig site at Mount Yeha to return it as soon as possible with as little trouble from enraged Ethiopians as possible. The large mud-colored truck squeaked and roared along the potholed road, heading east toward the famous Aksum, reputed to be the resting place of the Biblical Ark of the Covenant.
Heading southwest, Sam and Nina raced to reach Lake Tana, which would take them no less than seven hours in the Jeep they were provided with.
“Are we doing the right thing, Sam?” she asked as she unwrapped a candy bar. “Or are we just chasing Purdue’s shadow?”