Four Ways to Pharaoh Khufu (11 page)

Chapter 15

Berlin, Germany

Tuesday, September 19

7:00 p.m.

T
he doorbell rang loudly again, bringing Anna out of her reverie. Mystified, she quickly threw on some clothes as the doorbell sounded again. Anna jerked open the front door. On the threshold stood a pretty young woman of Middle Eastern descent. As an early autumn chill swirled into the apartment, Anna shivered, taking in the unknown woman’s appearance. She wore a blue silk dress and elegant dark blue sandals with high heels. On her shoulder hung an expensive white purse covered with lacquered leather. Her dark brown hair fell smoothly and stylishly across her large forehead, resting lightly on her shoulders. Beige sunglasses with tiny, multicolored rhinestones crowned her head. The woman put her hand on her hip, causing the multitude of silver bangle bracelets on her wrist to tinkle and clang. Her big brown eyes stared at Anna, cold and hard.

“Hello, Anna,” she hissed in a low voice with a Middle Eastern accent. “I’m Layla, Seth’s wife.”

Seth’s wife
?
Did she hear that correctly?
“Excuse me?” Anna stuttered as the floor seemed to wave and sink beneath her. While she hesitated to find the right words, Layla immediately took advantage of the situation. Smirking, she put her foot in the door and pushed Anna aside, boldly entering the apartment.

“Can I please come in?” Layla asked mockingly as she sauntered down the hallway. Glancing from side to side, her heels clicking on the wood floors, the newcomer seemed to be soaking in her surroundings.

“Come… Ah…Go straight down the corridor…into the living room,” Anna stammered as she rapidly shut and locked the front door, hurrying to catch up to the intruder.

Layla strode into the living room and sat theatrically in the loveseat across from the coffee table. When Anna arrived, Layla was stretching her long, perfectly toned legs out in front of her and crossing them at the ankles. Her dress came to her mid-thigh, its sky blue color underlining the golden tan of her skin. She glanced up at Anna as she pulled her beautiful handbag onto her lap.

Layla expertly reached inside her purse and pulled out a pack of Virginia Slims cigarettes and a tiny gold lighter. “Allow me to smoke,” she stated, not even waiting for Anna’s permission as she lit up. Strangely enough, Anna recalled Virginia Slims were first introduced in the late 1960s and were marketed to the young, professional women of the time. She caught a whiff of the smoke, but bit back her response. When she recalled their infamous slogan, “You’ve come a long way, baby,” she decided it perfectly suited her unwanted visitor.

Layla’s eyes slid tenaciously across the room, studying every detail carefully. Nothing seemed to escape her watchful and curious eyes. First she scanned across the burgundy loveseat she was lounging on and then at the matching queen sleeper sofa opposite her with solid lodge pole wood frames, the faux chenille throw and coordinating pillows. Anna’s heart sank as Layla’s eyes moved to the wall behind the sofa where three framed Egyptian papyruses, gifts from her father, were hung. After the momentary rush of Seth’s wife’s appearance, the loss of her father gripped her heart once again. Her losses seemed unbearable: in the past few minutes her father and now Seth, her fairy tale prince, had been abruptly ripped away from her.

Anna did not realize her eyes were closed until she opened them to observe Layla staring at the other side of the room, her eyes flitting between the room’s other major accents, including a wall rug, framed artwork and a large, dried flower wreath made by Anna’s mother that hung over the large fireplace. She then turned her attention to the round, pine coffee table that stood in the middle of the seating area. A ceiling fan remote; a crystal candy dish, which Anna had gotten on her trip with Seth to Vienna; some newspapers and a distinctive yellow-and-red colored DHL Express envelope cluttered the low table. Anna could not help feeling like Layla was appraising her threat’s worthiness.

Layla released a plume of a fragrant smoke and then laughed, albeit slightly forced. “You probably don’t know anything about me. It shows on your face so, please, have a seat.” She indicated the burgundy sofa across from her.

Stiff with anxiety, Anna obediently sat on the edge of her own sofa, vaguely realizing that she must be in shock. “Seth specifically told me he was not married,” Anna could not wait any longer. “If he were married I would have definitely known about it.”

“And, how long
exactly
have you known Seth?”

“About a month,” Anna replied sheepishly.

“Exactly! I rest my case,” Layla laughed again, searching inside her purse. “I think you will be even more amazed to learn that we had our wedding just two months ago. We spent an unforgettable honeymoon in the French Riviera. If you have any doubts, take a look at our honeymoon pictures.” She casually tossed several photographs on the table between them.

“I wonder why Seth never said anything to me,” Anna pondered out loud, breaking the awkward silence.

“Apparently, he did not think it was necessary,” Layla replied coldly.

“But, if you just got married, then I guess he kept a secret from you that he was seeing me as well?”

“I’m pregnant.”

Anna cast a look of disbelief at her visitor.

“Well, you must know … from the beginning, Seth’s family was categorically against me. When Seth told them he wanted to marry me, they would not hear of it. But we were in love! So we went ahead and got married. When I found out I was pregnant, Seth thought it would help smooth things over and informed his family. They became enraged and insisted that I have an abortion. Of course, I refused. This has alienated me even more from his family.” She paused for a second and took another puff from her cigarette. “But, Seth loves me and that is the only thing that is important to me.” Layla paused and moved her fingers across her hair, slowly brushing it out of her eyes and across her forehead. “But lately it is becoming more and more obvious that he is treating me differently than before.”

“What do you mean differently?”

“Hard to say. Some strange people were coming in and out of our apartment at ridiculous times. Then Seth started making lame excuses to leave with them, regardless of the time of day. Then I found out about you.” She paused and stared at Anna.

Anna sighed, “You know what? Seth was acting weird when he was with me as well.”

Layla carelessly extinguished her cigarette butt in the crystal candy dish. Anna frowned, but her uninvited guest did not interpret the signal correctly and obliviously continued, “I guess I’m not the only one that was irritated by his unpleasant behavior.”

As Layla went on describing her life with Seth in gory details, Anna desperately tried to make sense of the situation by studying Layla’s photographs.
How could he do this to me? I’ve lost my father and now my boyfriend is suddenly married to a pregnant wife?
She looked closer at the picture in her hand. Something did not add up.
Wait a second! Seth doesn’t have an anchor tattoo on his left arm!
Anna picked up another picture and closely examined it. The face was definitely Seth’s—there was no doubt about that—but he did not have a tattoo like that.
What is goin
g on?

“When was this photo taken?” Anna abruptly interrupted her visitor’s sob story.

Layla glanced at the photograph with a surprised expression. “This photo?” she asked in a tone of voice that seemed to be a bit calculating.

“Yes, this photo.”

“Well, on our honeymoon,” mumbled Layla. “Beginning of,” she paused and looked up at the ceiling fan rotating slowly overhead. “August. Yes, the third week in August.”

What a liar!
Anna wanted to scream at her exasperating intruder but held herself in check. She knew Seth did not have an anchor tattoo. As a matter of fact, the only tattoo he had was on his shoulder and consisted of the word Peace written in Arabic. She closely examined the photograph one more time.
The photo was photoshopped
! There was no doubt about it. Seth’s face was imposed over somebody else’s body. Flipping through the other pictures, she realized they all had Seth’s face on top of somebody else’s body with a similar build. Anna looked carefully at her smoking visitor, suspicion growing inside of her.
Why would she go through all this work to make fake photos of Seth and her together? Could she be an ex-girlfriend trying to get revenge?
Sure, Seth’s behavior as of late was a concern to Anna. But what was of far more concern to Anna at the moment was the real reason this stranger had made this unsolicited visit.

“Do you think I’m lying?” Layla asked suddenly, as her beautiful face distorted in anger.

Anna blushed, “Yes, I think so.”

“Well, that’s your choice. But, food for thought, Seth confessed everything about you to me and even gave me your address. How else do you think I found you?”

Actually, that was a very good question. “And, how exactly did you find out—”

“Excuse me,” Layla suddenly interrupted her as she rose from the sofa and pointed to the three papyruses hanging on the wall behind Anna. “Is that a duplicate of the papyrus of Ani found at Thebes?”

Shocked, Anna turned to the wall behind her. “Are you talking about the one in the middle?”

“Yes.”

“No, that’s a papyrus of Kha found at Deir el Medineh. The original is on display at the museum of Torino.” Anna’s mind scrambled to fathom what was happening.

“Is that Osiris sitting on the throne?” Layla asked.

She was surprised Layla knew so much about ancient Egyptian life. She certainly did not know where this intruder was leading with this sudden interest in her papyruses, but Anna decided to go along with it, hoping it might shed some light on the situation. She smiled wistfully as she gazed at them, remembering how her father would always tell her the captivating and intriguing stories behind each work of art. These were treasured memories, so Anna definitely remembered the stories behind each papyrus very well.

“This papyrus depicts the deceased Kha and his wife kneeling before Osiris, the great God of the Dead, who is seated under his canopy in the Afterworld.” Anna replied as she turned back to face her visitor.

Layla was studying her nail polish and seemed absolutely uninterested in the story, but Anna continued anyway. At that moment, talking about her papyruses brought a small measure of joy into her heavy heart. She felt like she could tell their stories all night. “The tomb of the architect Kha and his wife was discovered intact in 1906 at a place called Deir-el-Medineh,” stated Anna, proudly glancing at her visitor.

Layla offered no praise, instead remaining as cryptic as ever. “I ask you only one thing. Call me when you are sure that I speak the truth. What I want to tell you is very important for the both of us.”

“OK, then tell me now.” Anna’s frown deepened to furrow her brow. “If you want honesty, then stop trying to show me photoshopped pictures of Seth! Do you really know Seth or did you just get his picture off Facebook? And, yes, please tell me the real reason you came to see me. Who are you? Honesty begets trust: not these games.”

“First, I must be confident in you. Everything is serious, very serious.” Layla repeated mysteriously while looking fixedly into Anna’s eyes. “Very serious and extremely dangerous. You don’t even have a clue what you have gotten yourself into.”

Exasperated, Anna snapped, “Then tell me, and stop playing cat-and-mouse games!”

“I will,” Layla paused dramatically. “When the right time comes. And now is not that time.” She paused again, “Not yet.” She laughed mischievously.

Layla’s gaze and intonation gave Anna goose bumps. Suddenly, her enigmatic visitor stood up, turned and briskly walked to the door. Reaching for the doorknob, she hesitated momentarily to catch Anna’s eye before offering her parting statement, “We will meet again.”

As her intruder briskly descended the stairs, Anna locked the door and walked back to the living room in complete bewilderment as an uneasy feeling welled up within her. She grabbed the fan remote from her coffee table. After only two cigarettes, the room held a smoky aroma and she wanted to turn the fan up. Suddenly, she realized that her father’s DHL envelope was no longer on the coffee table. Finding that odd, she bent over to look under the table as it might have been blown off by the ceiling fan. The envelope was not there. That did not make any sense. Puzzled, Anna thoroughly searched the entire living room in vain. Only her father’s DHL envelope was missing.

That’s bizarre
, Anna thought.
Why would she take my father’s enve
lope
?

Chapter 16

El Alamein – Cairo route, Egypt

Wednesday, September 20

6:35 a.m.

A
s the early dawn painted the desert in light reds and oranges, Asim warmly thanked the Bedouin family for their generous shelter and care. Feeling strong and refreshed, he walked briskly back to his taxi. He smiled down at the basket he was carrying. His new Bedouin friends had filled it with various fruits for his trip. The Bedouin truly were a noble tribe.

Thankfully, his cab was still parked in the same spot where he had left it the previous day. He opened the door, quickly situated himself in the back seat and instructed the sleepy driver to continue to Cairo. When Asim’s phone rang, he looked at the phone number and realized instantly it was his chief. Asim’s heart sank with worry. However, his chief’s soothing words made him realize that he would remain on the stele’s trail. Chief Jibade’s friend, the Inspector, had used the information Asim had provided about the smugglers’ warehouse to not only successfully seize the pillaged artifacts, but also apprehend the ringleader.

“Inspector Suliman takes his job very seriously,” said the Chief. “The ringleader confessed that he had not received the stele from Schulze.”

Asim was relieved. This meant that the sacred stele was still most likely in the country.

“Of course, in order to find the truth,” the Chief chuckled, “the inspector would have employed all manner of extreme measures.”

Asim himself had implemented some extreme interrogation measures before. One event, in particular, came to mind. Asim had assisted the Chief with the questioning of a thief who had stolen from the Medjay tribe. Based on the advice from this same police inspector, his Chief had decided to implement both the electric shock and waterboarding techniques. The waterboarding method had proven to be extremely enlightening. Once the use of electric shock was implemented as well, the thief had quickly confessed.
We should’ve used one or both of those techniques on Schulze
, Asim mused.

The chief continued, “So, this is good news. It means the stele is still in Egypt.”

Asim sighed in relief, glad that the chief thought so as well.

“Also, Inspector Suliman discovered Schulze did mail a DHS package to his daughter in Germany. Obviously, he didn’t mail the stele, but the Inspector thinks Schulze may have put some indication as to where to find it inside that package.”

“How can we get that package?” questioned Asim, uncertainty creeping into his voice. “It is probably in Germany by now.”

“Don’t worry, my fearless warrior,” the Chief answered calmly. “We already have our operative in Berlin working on that.”

“That’s great news!”

“Now, once you get back you will receive all the necessary instructions and your passport. You are booked on the first evening flight to Germany.”

“But, Chief?” asked Asim, “I don’t even have a surname.”

The Chief burst out in a long laugh. “Well, my brave warrior, how about the name Jabari? In the mighty language of our ancestors it means ‘brave warrior.’”

Oh Great Chief, I do like that name.”

“Dear Asim, from now on, you will be called Asim Jabari, the brave protector!”

“The brave protector,” repeated Asim proudly before hanging up the phone.

The remainder of the journey to Cairo was tedious, but Asim did not mind. He smiled to himself as he considered the great compliment his chief had bestowed upon him.

* * *

Asim stared at the plane impatiently as he waited at his gate at the Cairo International Airport. Once he had picked up his passport and tickets from his chief’s contact, he had raced to the airport. However, his flight had been delayed due to mechanical difficulties. He glared at his reflection in the terminal window.
I look ridiculous
, he grumbled to himself. The brown hoody sweatshirt that his chief had picked out for him was pulled over his tribe’s signature white cloak. He was not going to doubt his chief, but he was still uncertain.

“You will blend in easily,” his chief had reassured him.

“But, Chief−”

“Do not argue Asim. We want to make sure nobody recognizes you there.”

After an hour of delay, Asim boarded EgyptAir Flight 2573 traveling from Cairo to Berlin. As he buckled himself into his seat on the weird flying contraption, he reminisced about his crusader sword which was normally always behind his back. He had been forced to leave it behind in the chief’s tent.

Asim looked out of the window as the plane made a smooth take off, slowly gaining in altitude. He glanced down at the receding ground before briskly pulling down the window shade. It was his first time on board an airplane and even though he would not personally admit it, flying truly unnerved him.