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“Naturally,” Kairo drawled with a roll of his eyes.
“And you guys can just call me Max. The only people who call me Dr. Sutton are my students, and even that gets old fast.” Max paused and scrubbed a hand through his hair, leaving the lanky brown locks standing up in every direction. “Where do I even begin? I’ve taken part in about a dozen digs throughout Egypt during my studies and career. Most of the time I’m working as a consultant for another lead archeologist. Egyptology is my primary field of study, but I’ve dabbled in several other ancient civilizations. Occasionally, I’ll join other digs because of my experience in the field.”
Charlie nodded. “When did you run into trouble?”
“On this last dig.” Max shifted on the love seat, wincing.
“Is the pain getting worse? Do you want something?” Will immediately inquired.
Max sighed. “I’m sore as a motherfucker, but I’ve suffered through worse. I’d rather be clear-headed right now.”
Ed frowned. That was not good. “I’m sure the doc has something that will at least ease some of the pain and not mess with your head.”
The grin Max gifted him might have caused his heart to give this weird flop in his chest. The man seemed like a total smartass, which was not what he’d been expecting when he’d learned from Kairo’s mom that Max was an Egyptologist and a college professor. Of course, the only other one he knew was Janet Jones, and that woman was always serious.
“Thanks, but I’m okay for now,” he said, patting Ed on the knee. “I might take the doc up on his offer later.” He turned his attention to the rest of the group and sighed. “There were rumors circulating through our community that a criminal organization was raiding new discoveries. There’s also been an uptick in thefts both at digs and from some storage facilities a lot of us use. The local cops have been useless, and the archaeologists who’ve reported the thefts have come under government scrutiny.” Max leaned forward, his face growing flushed. “Those assholes are accusing us of stealing the artifacts and falsely reporting the items missing!”
“Is that what’s happened to you?” Alexei asked.
Max shoved a hand through his hair, pushing it away from his eyes. “No. Worse. I’ve been trying to keep it a secret, but I’ve got a solid lead on the Tomb of Kazemde. Unfortunately, archeologists are the worst fucking gossips when they’ve had a couple of drinks and word has leaked out.”
“I’m sorry, Kaza-who? Was he a pharaoh?” Charlie inquired.
“No, Kazemde was the high priest for the chief god during the New Kingdom, Amon. He served during the reign of Ramesses the Third.”
“Okay, I’ve heard of that guy,” West chimed in, pointing in his finger at Max, only to have his face scrunch up. “Well, at least one of the Ramesses.”
Ed was ready to smack his friends for the interruptions, but the professor seemed to take it all in stride.
“As a high priest, Kazemde wouldn’t normally generate so much attention. However, it’s widely believed within Egyptology circles that he was nearly as powerful and as wealthy as Pharoah Ramesses the Third. Trust me, that’s a hell of a feat. There is also the question of whether he took part in the Harem Conspiracy that killed the pharaoh. Considering how hard it has been to locate his tomb and the lengths he went to in order to protect it, I believe he did and he managed to take most of his wealth as well as the truth with him to the grave. He had all the workers who built his tomb killed to protect the secret.”
“Except he trusted one person,” Isidore whispered, sounding hooked on a good bedtime story.
“If there’s treasure, the guy hiding it always trusts one person. There’s always one person who knows something,” Soren murmured.
Ed snorted. The cat burglar was practically salivating over the promise of lost treasure. “Easy there, kitty cat. You’re not getting your paws on anything.”
“Kitty cat?” Max demanded.
“Soren is a ‘reformed’ cat burglar,” Ed explained, earning a harsh bark of laughter from Soren.
“Fuck you! Who said I was reformed? I’m on vacation. This one,” he paused and pointed at the cute blond boyfriend cuddled in his lap, “is the one who’s reformed.”
Charlie groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “You guys are fucking making me old. Can we focus, please?”
“Sooo…” Max drawled, his eyes darting around the room at the people surrounding him. Those green eyes found their way to Ed, and he seemed to relax. “Somehow, word got out that I might have a lead on the location of the tomb. As we closed up a dig I was working, this sleazy schmuck named Nail Mironov approached me. He offered me money to tell him the location of the tomb. Supposedly, his people would hit the tomb first, steal the goods, and then make it look like grave robbers found it decades ago.”
