Glass shattered. The crash reverberated down the empty hall. Leila lifted her head, the chalice in her hands momentarily forgotten. Silence followed. She placed the artifact onto the plastic tray on her desk and stood, holding her breath. Tiptoeing, she peeled off her latex gloves and slunk past tables dotted with pottery shards and microscopes, to the door that opened into the dark, empty hallway.
It was hard to tell which room the noise had come from, but it sounded as if it had happened down the hall. Either from the excavation leader’s office or the classroom. As far as she knew, Professor Soliman had gone home at lunch time. Maybe he’d forgotten something and returned without her noticing.
Or what if it’s him? Leila grimaced, then shook the thought from her mind. It was almost laughable. Faris Al-Rashid wouldn’t come after her himself. But that didn’t mean she was safe. He could still send some thug to do the dirty work.
Her pulse accelerating, her gaze darted to the chair where her purse sat.
Grab the phone, turn on all the lights.
Leila chewed on her lower lip. If someone was trying to break in, she didn’t have anything to scare them off with if turning on the lights didn’t do the job. She surveyed the lab until her gaze fell on a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall next to the door. That would work.
She grabbed the red canister, slipped her phone from her bag, then peered into the dark hallway, studying the shadows in the corners. Empty.
Once she determined it was safe, she flipped the hallway light on and left the cover of the workroom. She crept down the corridor, listening for any other noises. A gentle hum of fluorescent lights came from the lab.
This is what I get for working late at the one place on the entire African continent too cheap to pay a security guard.
She stopped at a door midway down the hall, tucked her phone into her pocket, and dug out her keys. After finding the one she needed, she unlocked the door and eased it open. A strip of light fell across the stony face of an ancient Egyptian Queen, ceramic vases filling the shelves above and below the statue. She nudged the door all the way open, making sure nothing had fallen from a shelf and shattered. The pottery and alabaster statues all stood in place.
She closed and locked the door again, then resumed the walk to the end of the hall. Both doors were closed. Her churning stomach warned her to retreat to the lab.
“Professor Soliman?” she called, leaning one ear toward the door on the right. Silence greeted her. Dread hardened in her chest as she eyed the classroom door across the hall.
She took a step forward and wrapped her fingers around the rough metal handle. One. She drew in a deep breath, adjusting her grip on the fire extinguisher. Two…
A door slammed down the hall. With a yelp, Leila whirled around. The fire extinguisher hit the floor with a clang. Soliman shuffled down the hallway toward her, the overhead lights glinting off the top of his head.
“Masa’ al-khair,” he called, keys jingling as he walked. “I’ve forgotten my sketch maps.” He frowned at the red canister rolling on the floor. “Everything all right?”
“Good evening to you too, Professor.” Leila swallowed, her heart still running a marathon. “There’s something we need to check. I heard some glass breaking.”
“Glass?” Soliman stopped. “What glass?”
“I don’t know.” She tilted her head toward the classroom door. “I was about to go in and see.”
Soliman pushed his glasses up his nose and stepped forward. “Well then, let’s have a look.”
Confidence returning now that she wasn’t alone, Leila grabbed the handle again and pushed the door open. The room was dark, the chairs and desks empty, white scrawls from the last lecture still covering the blackboard. Not seeing any movement, she took a step inside. Her gaze darted toward the windows at the far end of the room.
“There,” she whispered, pointing at the jagged hole in one corner.
Soliman strode across the room, grumbling. Glass crunched under his shoes as he neared the window.
Leila joined him, surveying the mess on the floor. There was no object anywhere that could have been thrown through the glass. She walked up to the window and squinted, peering out into the darkness. Palm trees swayed in the gentle breeze, filtering the moonlight into strange patterns on the ground.
“I suppose I should get this cleaned up,” Soliman said from behind her. “Then I’ll have to check the security cameras. There aren’t any on this side of the building, but maybe they caught footage of someone coming and going on the street.”
Leila half-turned. “I’ll go find a broom.”
Something moved outside—a shadow flitted across the lawn. She whirled back around in time to catch a retreating form disappearing behind the trees.
“Someone’s out there!”
Soliman looked over her shoulder and they both scanned the grassy area.
Nothing moved. Even the breeze had stopped teasing the branches.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“I saw something. Should we check outside?”
Soliman nodded, and Leila picked up the fire extinguisher again. They took the back door, going down the three steps that led to the lawn.
After a few minutes of peering into bushes and around corners, Leila caught Soliman’s eye and shrugged. There was no sign that anyone had been there.
“Well, it could have been an accident,” Soliman suggested as they trudged back inside. “Or a child causing trouble. I’ll make sure that window gets patched up for tonight and check the CCTV.”
“What should we put over the window? There’s a wooden pallet in the storage room that hasn’t been used in months. I could take it apart and—”
“No, no, no. I’ll give the janitor a call. He’ll come around and take care of it.” Soliman waved a hand. “Why don’t you go home? Aren’t you on vacation tomorrow?”
“Two whole weeks.”
“I thought so. Don’t worry about the mess. Go home and enjoy your break.”
Leila couldn’t bring herself to argue with him. She was tired and hungry. She’d never patched up a window before and would probably only get in the way. Plus, she had a date with Xander. A video-call date, but still a date.
“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll finish up and head out.”
Back in the lab, she boxed up the chalice she had been categorizing, briefly admiring the twisty lotus leaf pattern that swept up the sides of the cup. Clutching the box, she paused, closed her eyes, relaxed her fingers, and inhaled a deep, calming breath.
It was nothing. Probably just some kid.
Satisfied, she inspected her notes on the chalice to double check her work. It was the first time she’d seen the artifact since they began to empty Neferkheri’s tomb. The chalice had been listed in the database, only to be marked as stolen, and then forgotten.
Yet there she’d found it that morning, in a box at the bottom of a stack in a cobwebby corner.
It wasn’t unheard of for artifacts to be misplaced, lost, or stolen from a dig, so it was a relief that it was now accounted for. She took the box into the storage room and placed it back in an empty space on the shelf.
Her thoughts wandered to the video-call, making a mental note not to tell Xander about the broken window. He would only worry. But with her crazy hours at work and school, she would probably forget about it by the time she got home and saw his face on the screen.
Two more days. Two more days and he’d be there.
Before leaving the storage room, she stopped at the doorway and glanced over her shoulder. Vases of different sizes filled half the floor. The shelving unit was stuffed with boxes where some of the more delicate artifacts rested. Statues stood in the spaces in between, all waiting for categorizing and a museum to put them on display. Leaving them in a dark storage room would be a pity. She clicked off the light and closed the door, humming while she cleared her work station. Once finished, Leila grabbed her purse and stepped into the hallway. After a farewell to Soliman, who waved to her from behind his computer with a phone tucked between his ear and shoulder, she slipped her phone from her bag and headed for the exit.
Outside, the January evening was dry, the temperature cool enough for a sweater. Leila looked up and down the sidewalk, every shadow suspicious. Whoever had broken the window could still be lurking. Dusty lamps hanging from crooked telephone poles lit the street and the cars parked on the curb. A handful of pedestrians ambled down both sides, none of them interested in her passing, their thoughts probably on the upcoming festivals.
Hoping to get her mind off the window incident while she walked home, she glanced down at her phone. The little green light in the corner blinked. She turned on the screen to see a message from her mother. Without reading, she deleted it—a pang of regret stung in her chest. She was being too harsh. Or was she? She shook her head. As long as her mom was still married to that creep, Faris, she couldn’t have anything to do with her. And the only reasoning she’d heard so far were lame excuses, none of which made sense. Determined not to think about it anymore, Leila huffed and moved on to the next unread text.
Xander: Two more days and I get to see your beautiful face in person. Video call for eight is a go xx
She grinned like an idiot. He was the best. Before responding, she glanced over her other messages, making sure she wasn’t forgetting anything. Below Xander’s text, another unread message waited for her.
Emma: We need to talk. I think I’m in trouble. Meet me for dinner at Casa Della Pasta at seven.
Leila came to a halt on the sidewalk. Chewing the inside of her lip, her mind whirled with possibilities.
Another bad date? No, Emma would have mentioned if she had one.
A family crisis? Maybe the drama surrounding her sister’s wedding was finally getting to her, and she desperately needed to vent.
Or maybe she’d made a life-altering decision. Or she was sick. Or in legal trouble. It could be anything.
But Leila would have to cancel the call with Xander. She tapped back and forth between the texts. Go to Emma’s rescue, or chat with Xander for a couple hours? Emma seemed desperate. Xander would arrive the day after tomorrow.
Leila huffed. What could be so important that Emma would have to meet up immediately? But if they had dinner at seven, and the video call was at eight, maybe she could still make both work. She would have to give Xander a head’s up.
Having made up her mind, she searched the street until her eyes landed on a taxi idling at the curb. Her arm shot up and the car’s headlights flickered on.
She let out a puff of air and recorded a quick message to Xander while the vehicle headed her way.
“Hey, sweet cheeks,” she started, trying to sound cheerful, even though she was ugly crying on the inside. “I need to meet up with Emma in a few. Something’s come up and she’s freaking out, so I might be late. Well, knowing Emma, very late. So don’t wait around for me or anything. I’ll still call you tomorrow before your flight. See you soon. Love ya.”
She hit send. It wasn’t much of a solution, but she’d make sure Emma didn’t keep her too long. It was still possible to drive to Cairo and back before nine, at least. If she couldn’t talk to Xander tonight, she would make up for her lateness the second she met him at arrivals.
The car pulled up and she slid into the back.
“Cairo, please,” she said to the driver. The woman nodded and they merged into traffic. Leila stared at the back of the driver’s head for a moment, surprised to see a woman in the driver’s seat. Although not unheard of, female taxi drivers were still a rarity in Egypt.
With a shrug, she leaned back in her seat and tapped a message to Emma.
Leila: Hey Emz, I’m on my way xoxo