She bit her lip and nodded. “Well then, go with God. May he protect you.” She looked at Baahir. “Don’t forget our deal…”
The group found a quieter place to continue their reunion. Baahir led them to a low stone wall to the right of the front gates of The Big House. He sat and let out a long breath. Zahra sat next to him. Rabia sat next to her, cradling a large duffel bag between her knees.
“What’s in the bag?” he asked.
Rabia leaned around Zahra, eyeing Baahir. “A very big gun.”
His eyes widened, and he glanced at his sister. Zahra smiled sheepishly.
The siblings recounted everything they had been through so far, skipping the less important details. Those would come later.
When Zahra got to the part of Grant being kidnapped from the museum, Baahir placed his hand on top of hers. “I’m sorry. I know you too were close.”
“Can we do anything?” she asked. “He’s suffering because of me.”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure, but we need to stop them, either way.”
She wiped away a drying tear and nodded. “We do, but I’m honestly a little shocked to hear you say it. I figured you’d want the first ticket back to Cairo?”
Baahir gazed out over the bustling market. “A lot has changed.”
Zahra put her hand on his shoulder. “Yeah… A lot has.”
Baahir stood, gaining the attention of everyone. “I’ve seen what they have planned. I’ve been in the proverbial ‘belly of the beast,’ Zahra. Millions will die if we do nothing. Grant…” his voice caught. “What I saw him become… That can’t happen again.”
“And not to the extent that Khaliq strives for,” Ali said, speaking for the first time since their introductions. “If he completes his goal, and he gets his plague, there will be no stopping it.”
“Are we sure about that?” Zahra asked. “This is a centuries-old virus, after all. There could be something simple out there to counter it.”
“There could be, yes,” Ali agreed. “But we don’t have the luxury of time, nor do we have a sample to test.”
Zahra stood. “Where is he? Where is Khaliq?”
Her brother turned and pointed to the northwest. “Gebel Dist. We found an entrance into the mountain a few hours ago, just before I made a run for it.”
Zahra met the eyes of everyone involved. All of them, including Baahir, gave her a curt nod. They were ready to go.
“Right… Gebel Dist it is.”
Chapter 89
Baahir
Baahir stepped away. “Hang on.” Zahra dug her phone out of her pocket and held it out. “You still have one more call to make.”
It took Baahir a second to figure it out. When he did, he hesitated in taking the phone, but ultimately did. He dialed the appropriate number and turned away from the others, pulling the phone up to his ear.
“Zahra?” George Kane asked from the other end.
Baahir had not heard his father’s voice in some time. “No, it’s—”
“Baahir? Thank the heavens. It’s great to hear your voice, son!” He sounded choked up. “Are you okay — is Zahra there too?”
“Yeah, she’s here too. We’re both fine… Dad.”
That was the first time Baahir had called his father anything but “George” since his mother had died. The gesture didn’t go unnoticed.
“I love you, son.”
Baahir looked over his shoulder at Zahra. “Yeah,” he let out a shaky breath, “I love you too… and, uh… sorry for everything. I—”
“It’s okay, Baahir. We’ll sort everything out later, okay?” Baahir closed his tear-filled eyes and nodded, feeling years of guilt and anger lift off his shoulders. “Can your sister talk?”
“Yeah, she’s right here.”
Baahir handed the phone back to Zahra. The group headed off, aiming for the lump in the sand off to the northwest. They weaved in and out of congested crowds, all the while Zahra chatted with their father. Baahir was still trying to process the short, but sweet, conversation he just had with his estranged parent. It filled him with regret. He had avoided the man for years because of something he now knew, for an absolute fact, wasn’t his fault.
It was Khaliq’s doing.
That enraged him.
Zahra hung up and looked grim.
“What’s wrong?” Baahir asked.
“So, apparently, they captured Ifza Ayad during a failed raid on the SSC.”
“Why is that bad?” Ali asked.
“Because she escaped police custody.”
Oh, Baahir thought, that is bad.
“Nothing we can do about it from here,” Rabia said. “I suggest we keep our focus on stopping Khaliq.”
She was right.
Since Baahir was the only one of the six-man team to have been there so far, he took the lead and guided the assault team along. Soon, the shouting vendors and “oohing and aahing” patrons vanished, and the human centipede snaked its way down the dirt road, back to the edge of the city.
“Hang on,” Rabia said. She cycled through a series of hand gestures, and Ali, Elyas, and Tajj each ran off in different directions, disappearing from view. Rabia stayed put and dove into her oversized duffel. In no time at all, she hefted a monstrous rifle, her “very big gun,” as she had put it.
“What are you—”
The sniper silenced Baahir with a raised hand. Seconds later, the thwap of two suppressed shots softly echoed through the landscape. Baahir hit the dirt, earning a grin out of Rabia.
“What the hell was that?” Baahir asked, standing in time with Rabia and Zahra.
“We weren’t alone,” Rabia replied.
Baahir looked around, seeing nothing. “You sure about that?”
“Yes.”
Elyas and Tajj rejoined them, each of them now sporting assault rifles slung around their backs. Ali came up from behind them, having not fired a shot. He was also carrying a weapon of the same assortment.
The gunmen nodded to Rabia, confirming their findings. They had just killed Lahan and Qadim in the blink of an eye — and thank goodness they did. If not, Baahir and the others would have been gunned down from behind.
“Wait, you said ‘four,’ right?”
“Ajmal…” Ali said, gritting his teeth. “He’s still out here somewhere. We need to be careful.”
Baahir agreed. “Definitely.” He gave Rabia a slight bow and held out his hand. “So, um, ladies first?”
Zahra’s hands found her hips, and she sighed and shook her head. Baahir was way out of his league right now. Asking Rabia and Zahra to lead the pack was the smart thing to do. He fell in line behind them, with Ali, Elyas, and Tajj bringing up the rear. They swiftly crossed the road and found cover within a thicket of dried-out shrubs.
Chapter 90
Khaliq
Khaliq roared in anger. The next room he found himself in wasn’t the long-sought temple he was after. The burning desire to find Anubis’ stronghold was still inside, but the desire to get there immediately had subsided some. Khaliq now walked instead of running into the unknown. The rising mania had slithered itself from being deeply rooted in every inch of his body to being mostly in his head.
Khaliq mumbled to himself as he progressed, his eyes darting left and right, taking everything in.
Khaliq paused mid-stride, seeing something on the floor ahead. Even from here, in the dim aura of his flashlight, he could tell what it was.
A foot.
Then, another.
He swept his flashlight back and forth, taking in the scene. The large space was naturally formed, and it featured a series of stalactites hanging from the domed ceiling. Interestingly, there were no stalagmites reaching up to greet them. Khaliq decided that they had been removed some time ago and moved on with his exploration.