Ava sighed. “We’re the world’s worst smugglers.”
When they spotted her the three new friends jumped up to help her onto the skiff. Once she was safely aboard, Sefu ignited the powerful engine and roared off toward Giza, leaving, Ava thought, a rather unnecessarily large wake.
The voyage to Giza was brief. Even so, as they approached University Bridge, Ava dropped fast asleep with her head on Paul’s shoulder. She’d been awake for quite a while. Given his injuries, Paul thought, he could use some rest too. He directed Ammon to put in near the Giza Zoo, and he paid the boys for their time. They agreed to meet at that spot the following day. Slinging a backpack over each shoulder, Paul carried them and the still-dozing Ava to a luxury hotel, where he deposited her on a leather couch in the lobby. Explaining that his wife had sipped one too many mai tais, he requested a room for the night. The hotel had a vacancy. Paul checked them in as Mr. and Mrs. Jones from Indianapolis and paid cash.
As he helped Ava into the elevator, she snapped to consciousness and grabbed his arm in a panic. “Where are the jars?”
“It’s cool. I told Ammon and Sefu to keep them for us.”
“Those boys? We hardly know them!”
“I think I know them. They gave me their word. Besides, Simon’s people are probably looking for an American couple traveling with two conspicuously big, heavy packages. If we brought them, we could be identified.”
Ava admitted there was logic to his reasoning, though it terrified her to trust such recent acquaintances. Regardless, the deed was done, and she was too tired to argue.
Paul read her look. “Hey, if Ammon and Sefu steal the jars, it’s my responsibility, okay? Maybe they’ll sell them to a museum, where the jars probably belong anyway. Maybe they’ll sell them to Simon or his drug-lord partner. It’s a gamble, I admit, but life is a series of gambles. Tonight I’m betting those boys are honest.” Then he added, grinning, “And I’m also betting you could use a hot shower.”
“Ohhh,” she moaned, “that sounds spectacular.” She hadn’t taken a real shower in days.
He unlocked the door and held it open for her. The palatial room offered a beautiful view of the Giza pyramids.
“Wow. How much was this?” she asked.
“Well,” he said, “it wasn’t cheap, and I’m running out of cash, but we might have been spotted haggling for a better deal. Besides, I haven’t slept in an honest-to-goodness bed in weeks. It’s been all tents and deserts and monasteries.”
Ava wasn’t listening. She’d just noticed that despite the fine artwork, flat-screen TV, brass fixtures, and marble bathroom tile, the suite had only one king-size bed.
“Ah, hell,” Paul muttered when he realized what she was thinking. “My fault. I told them we were married. They didn’t even ask how many beds. Sorry. Look, you take the bed, I’ll crash on the floor. Just toss me some of those really soft pillows.”
“No,” she replied. “I’m not a helpless damsel in distress. We’re both adults and equals. There’s no logical reason why one gender should be forced to—”
“Ava,” he interrupted, exasperated. “This is Africa. I’m not sure feminism applies. You’re taking the bed, and that’s the end of it.” He departed for the bar, letting the door slam behind him.
Ava thought: “Fine. If he wants to be a chauvinist jerk, I’ll certainly take the bed. In fact, I’ll enjoy it.” She located an A/C outlet and plugged in the satphone charger. With luck, she’d reach Gabe tonight or tomorrow.
After locking herself in the ritzy bathroom she undressed and cranked the shower to maximum, filling the room with steam. The hotel provided a variety of botanical soaps and shampoos, of which she took full advantage.
Two hours later Paul returned to find a squeaky-clean Ava perched on the corner of the bed, wearing nothing but a towel.
“Oops!” he said, flustered. “Sorry. I didn’t know you were… I mean, I’ll come back in a few—”
Ava raised her hand for silence, stopping him mid-stammer. She’d noticed a light blinking on the satphone. When she turned it on, the screen reported one new text message: “Just checking in. I met James. Everything’s proceeding by the book. Text back when you get this.”
Her brow furrowed. Something was up. She showed Paul the message.
“What is it?” he asked.
“A text from my friend, but it sounds off. I don’t know anyone named James.” Ava sensed there must be a hidden message. She didn’t see it immediately, but some codes had to be broken the hard way. Her mind began crunching possibilities. She disassembled the sentences, shuffled the sequence of words, rearranged words into anagrams, counted letter frequency, substituted numbers for letters…
“Your communications are compromised.” Paul said suddenly.
Ava looked up in surprise. “What?”
“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”
“Never saw it.”
“You’ve never seen Star Trek II? It’s the best of the whole series. Maybe that’s your problem. Too much Thucydides, too little Kirk.”
“Just explain the stupid reference.”
“Captain Kirk is trapped on the Genesis planet with that lady scientist, Dr. Marcus or whatever. The one he impregnates.”
Ava stared at him blankly.
“Anyway, Spock is on the Enterprise and needs to tell Kirk that Ricardo Montalbán is listening to their phone calls. Spock says he’s doing everything by the book, like Kirstie Alley would do. Kirk knows that ‘by the book’ means ‘to assume the enemy is listening.’ So your friend’s saying someone hacked into your communications.”
That made sense. Gabe loved sci-fi movies. He’d assume she’d seen Star Trek II.
“If he says enemies are listening,” Ava observed, “we can bank on it.”
She could hear him breathing in the dark room. It didn’t sound as though he was asleep.
“Paul?”
“Mmm?”
“What are we going to do?”
“You tell me.”
“We can’t stay here. We have to keep moving.”
“No kidding. You should see what they charge for whiskey.”
Ava giggled. “I mean we have to leave the city.”
“I know. We will. We’ll leave tomorrow, okay? I’ll take care of it.”
“How?” she asked, remembering Yemen. “Simon’s henchmen will be watching the airport, the train station, maybe the buses. We can’t even go to the police.”
He sighed. “That’s why we’re leaving by boat.”
“What do you mean? With those teenagers?”
“Ammon said they can get us all the way north to Rosetta by river, and from there down the coast to Alexandria.”
“Is the Rasheed branch even navigable?”
“I don’t know. I’m not intimately familiar with the western delta, but I know this: It’s the boondocks. No one will look for us out there. We’ll be off the grid, effectively invisible.”
In the dark, Ava nodded. She recognized the value of invisibility.
“Besides, their speedboat takes a very shallow draft. Even with us and the jars, I bet it can ride cleanly in a meter of water. A panga is super light, very buoyant.”
“How long would it take?”
“About one full day straight through. They’ve made the trip before. Ammon said it’s a little tricky in places, but I told him that a hard-core warrior princess like you would personally tow the boat through the fetid swamp…”
“Paul?”