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CHAPTER

36

SWEAT WAS DRIPPING DOWN MATTHEW’S BACK, but he didn’t care. He was with Alex, Robyn, and Reda under the open-sided tent. Cal and Jasper remained in the tomb—Cal to photograph and Jasper to watch for snakes.

Alex had already consulted the readouts from the ground-penetrating radar machine. Now she smoothed out the large piece of drafting paper Jeff had used to draw the layout of the tomb on the table. The wind licked at the edges. Matthew went around to the other side of the table and held down the top corners while Alex held down the bottom ones.

“There does seem to be an empty space that runs along here.” Alex pointed to a blacked-out area between the burial chamber and the hidden room. “Oh.” The bottom corner she’d lifted her hand from flew up, and Alex returned her hand to the paper.

“It could definitely be a room,” Robyn said.

“Let’s find out.” Alex let go of the drafting paper, looking as if she was about to walk off.

Reda touched her arm. “You’re going to break through the wall?”

“I was going to start with the ground-penetrating radar machine. I can use it to look through the wall.” She went inside the first tent, came out, and went into the second one. Moments later, she returned with the machine in hand. It looked like an upright cart with wheels. The reader was at the bottom, and there was a spot for the readout module between the handles.

“How is it going to work for this application exactly?” Robyn asked.

“You’ll see.” Alex grabbed the readout module out of a cabinet. “Robyn, would you mind?” Alex tilted her head toward the table, silently requesting that Robyn put the layout away.

Robyn’s posture stiffened, and she looked away as if she didn’t understand Alex’s unspoken request. But Robyn was great at reading people, so Matthew knew better.

He rolled the layout and snapped the rubber band around it. By the time he put it away, Robyn was following Alex and Reda toward the entrance to the tomb. Matthew grabbed a shovel that was propped up against one of the tent poles and caught up with them.

His steps were so light, he felt as if he were floating above the ground even as he was going beneath it. But he’d been disappointed when it came to the Tablets already, and logically, he needed to prepare himself to be again. But he had a feeling in his core that they were close to narrowing in on the Tablets’ location. With the numerous mentions inside the tomb and the one on the map, it stood to reason that since the other landmarks had led them to the tomb, the Tablets were here somewhere.

The group of them, less Jasper and Cal who were off somewhere else, assembled in the burial chamber.

Alex connected the readout module to the ground-penetrating radar, but didn’t secure it into place. “Now, I’m going to hold this, and you’re”—Alex looked at Matthew—“going to take the machine and set it on its side, with the bottom against the wall.”

He put down the shovel and picked up the machine.

“You think this is actually going to work?” Robyn asked. “What about the stone interfering with its readings?”

“It will work, yes,” Alex said definitively. Then she addressed Matthew. “Now just move along the wall slowly.” Only a few seconds had passed when she said, “Oh yeah, something’s definitely back there.”

“You’re absolutely certain?” Reda asked. “Sometimes it can be hard to tell.”

“We’ll only know for sure if we get in there.” Alex pressed her lips together and maintained eye contact with the minister.

“True enough.” He let out a sigh. “We’ve come this far… Let’s go through from the other side, though. There’s less to potentially destroy there.”

“Absolutely.” Alex took back the machine, and Matthew grabbed the shovel.

“And your man should have pictures.” Reda turned to Matthew.

He nodded, picking up on the man’s paranoia. He’d brought up Cal’s photography a few times now, and seemed quite concerned that Cal had taken pictures of everything the way it had been found.

They left the burial chamber, heading for the first hidden room they’d found. They ran into Jasper and Cal in the secondary antechamber.

“We think we’ve found another hidden room,” Alex told them.

Matthew went straight to the hole in the wall and got to his knees. He slid the shovel through the opening and crawled in after it. Robyn came in next. He held out a hand to help her to her feet.

“I’m fine,” she said, declining his offer. She wiped her hands on the front of her pants.

Next through the opening was the radar machine, and Matthew collected it. He extended his hand to Alex, and she took it with a smile and a thank-you.

Matthew looked over his shoulder at Robyn. She was standing in front of the hieroglyphics and paying neither him nor Alex any attention. Maybe Cal was right about Robyn being upset over Matthew’s attraction to Alex. But then, his ego could be doing his thinking for him again. A man had lost his life and she was in the room where he’d gotten bit.

Jasper came through then, followed by Reda and Cal.

Flashes from Cal’s camera flickered in the room.

Jasper spun to face Cal. “Can you give it a rest for a few seconds?”

Cal took a couple more photos, likely just out of spite, then lowered his camera. “Okay, I’ll cut it out. For now.”

Matthew walked over to the wall where the hieroglyphics were and ran his hand along it. Somewhere behind here was a room. Did it contain the Tablets? He just wanted to have at this wall, but he had to show some restraint. What if he took out the wrong bricks or too many and jeopardized the structural integrity of the ceiling? The last thing they needed was another cave-in.

“Matthew?”

He turned to see Alex look at him, then at the machine and back at him.

“I’m on it.” He picked up the machine and did as he had in the burial chamber.

About seven feet down the wall and three feet from the start of the hieroglyphics, Alex cried out, “Stop! Right there.”

Matthew set down the machine and exchanged it for the shovel again. “Before we start taking out bricks, I think some of us should return to the surface. Just in case there’s a collapse.”

Robyn put her hands on her hips. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Me either. I’m the photographer.” Cal lifted his camera just to emphasize his point.

“Don’t look at me,” Reda said. “An old man gets to live his dream. If I die down here, I die happy.”

Matthew wondered if that resolve would remain if the minister were actually faced with death. He really wished that Cal and Robyn would go above ground where they’d be safe, but the fact that they wanted to stay didn’t surprise him.

“Matthew’s got a point.” Alex looked at Jasper.

“Fine, I’ll go.” Jasper left, but based on the energy coming from him, he would have preferred to stay.

“We’ll give it a few minutes to make sure Jasper gets out,” Alex said.

Matthew nodded and consulted his watch. Every second was painful.

“Okay. It’s the moment of truth.” Matthew pressed the shovel into a crack between two bricks, and they gave way easily—much more so than he’d expected. “This might look like a brick wall, but I’m pretty sure these aren’t bricks.”

Reda’s brow pinched. “What do you mean?”

“Just that… I think it might be a door.” Matthew followed his gut instincts and got down on his knees, then put his fingers in the crack. He had planned to pull on it somehow, but nothing happened. Then he pushed against it and was met with the same result. He pushed to the right. And the wall slid.

“What do ya know?” He pulled a flashlight from a clip on his pants and shone it into the opening. He was grinning when he turned around. “Well, it’s definitely a room.”

Alex let out a brief holler, and Robyn and Reda smiled at each other. Cal had moved in front of Matthew and was blocking the doorway.

Matthew put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I appreciate your enthusiasm, but—”

“But what, Matt?” A few flashes. “I’m taking pictures. That’s why I’m here.” A few more flashes, then he got out of Matthew’s way.

“You sure I can go in now?” Matthew teased.

Cal tossed him a sardonic smile. “Sure, I’m good with it now.”

“Why, thanks ever so much.” Matthew laughed and turned his attention to the floor. He was looking for any sign that the room had been entered or disturbed recently. There was some sand on the floor but not much, and there were no scuff marks or anything to indicate someone had been inside.

He took a deep breath, dizzy with anticipation, and entered the room. It was about seven feet long by five feet wide and at least six feet tall. But he noticed something else. He turned and found himself pressed against Alex. He shuffled back just a bit, as did she.

“It’s empty.” He may as well have been punched in the stomach. All this day was bringing was misery, loss, and disappointment.

“I can’t believe this.” Alex sounded as if she’d taken a blow to the gut, too.

“Tomb robbers must have gotten to it,” Reda said.

Matthew was shaking his head, but Reda’s suggestion was entirely possible. The rest of the tomb was blocked off from this room. They could have found whatever was in here and thought they had everything. Matthew sure as hell hoped that didn’t include the Tablets.