For a moment Jack sat there, stunned. This was a crazy coincidence. Max and Kate in the same room?
Jack moved towards Kate. When she saw who it was, she was excited and confused.
‘Jack!’ she said. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Me?’ he said. ‘I’m here to save my brother. What are you doing here? And why are you wearing Max’s Book Bag?’ He pointed at the familiar backpack on her back.
‘For your information,’ said Kate, ‘this is my Book Bag. I’m here for the same reason — to rescue Max.’
Jack wrinkled his brow in confusion.
‘After meeting you I decided to join the GPF,’ said Kate. ‘You inspired me; plus, it was my only hope of seeing you again.’
Jack’s cheeks grew hot. ‘So finding my brother is your mission?’ he asked.
If it was, Jack was going to have a bone to pick with Director Barter: he didn’t understand why the GPF couldn’t have asked him to take this on himself.
‘I guess it was too risky to send you,’ said Kate. ‘You’re family, after all. That could cloud your judgement.’
Jack’s eyes narrowed. But before he could say anything, Kate carried on.
‘Plus,’ she said, ‘I’ve got a bit of a reputation within the GPF. I’m one of their best secret agents.’
Jack highly doubted that. He’d never heard of Kate being an agent: he was the most decorated one. He’d stopped no less than thirteen criminals in a few short months.
‘I’ve pretty much beaten your record,’ said Kate. ‘And I’m known for getting out of sticky situations.’
Jack looked at her bound wrists. ‘Doesn’t look like you’re doing a very good job now,’ he said.
‘Give me a minute,’ she said.
She closed her eyes and started to wriggle her shoulders. Like Houdini escaping from a straitjacket, within seconds Kate had maneuvred her wrists free. The ropes slipped down her arms and onto the floor.
Jack was impressed. He usually relied on the pocket knife from his boot to saw through rope.
‘How did you—?’ he began.
‘It’s a secret,’ said Kate with a wink. ‘Now let’s get your brother out of here. After all, I didn’t allow myself to be captured by that creep for nothing.’
Now Jack knew what Kate was doing in this tent. She had tricked Massri into capturing her so that she could get closer to Max.
Jack pulled out the Time Release Vapors and wafted them under his brother’s nose. Kate untied the ropes around Max’s wrists. Within seconds he opened his eyes and saw his little brother.
‘Jack!’ he said, throwing his arms around him. ‘I knew you’d come. You must have got my note.’
‘Yeah, I did,’ said Jack. ‘Sorry it took me so long.’
‘Better late than never,’ said Max, smiling. ‘How are Mom and Dad?’
‘Great,’ said Jack. ‘They still think you’re in Switzerland.’
‘That was Director Barter’s idea,’ said Max. ‘Pretty clever, huh?’ Rubbing his wrists, he turned to Kate. ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m a friend of Jack’s,’ said Kate, winking at Jack, ‘and a fellow GPF agent.’
Max looked at Jack, then at Kate, then back again. ‘Friends, huh?’ he said, raising an eyebrow.
Jack blushed for the second time. He changed the subject. ‘Where’s the diadem?’ he asked.
‘I buried it at Giza,’ said Max, ‘between the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid. I had to hide it from Massri. He’s been trying to find it since it turned up in Thebes. You know,’ he added, leaning closer to Jack and Kate, ‘Salama is the son of Omar Massri, the guy who stole it from Howard Carter in the first place.’
Jack’s eyes widened. That explained why Salama Massri was so desperate to find it.
‘The problem is,’ said Max, ‘Massri knows where it is. He injected me with truth serum. I was forced to tell him its location. He may have already found it,’ he added.
‘I don’t think so,’ said Jack, remembering what Massri had told Kate. ‘If we hurry, we might be able to beat him to it.’
He looked around the room. ‘Where’s your Book Bag?’ he asked Max.
‘I buried it near the diadem,’ said Max. ‘I didn’t want Massri to get his hands on that either.’
‘Clever,’ said Jack.
Kate stood up. ‘You boys spend way too much time chit-chatting,’ she said. ‘If we’re going to stop Massri, we have to get going.’
Jack and Max looked at each other. Neither of them liked being told what to do by a girl. But Kate was right: they had to hurry. They dashed out of the tent and found themselves in the middle of the compound. Massri and Chai were nowhere to be seen.
‘Giza’s more than three hundred miles to the north,’ said Max. ‘Up river.’
‘We can take the Longtail Boat,’ said Jack. After all, he’d just successfully navigated it from Cairo.
He led Max and Kate towards the dock, then dropped his toy boat into the water. It ballooned in size once again. The trio climbed in, and Jack started up the motor. He cranked up the speed, heading up the Nile as fast as he could.
Soon Jack’s thoughts turned to Massri. Mr Hassan had said that whoever wore the diadem would have the power to ‘rule the world’. Jack didn’t know exactly what that meant, but he knew it meant trouble. They had to stop Massri from getting his hands on it – whatever the cost.