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“We nailed the bad guys,” Kairo added.
“Guess we should go see what kind of mess they made.” Except Ed didn’t sound all that eager to release Max or climb to his feet.
“What the hell happened? Max! What is going on?” Hudson’s voice echoed through the temple and Max groaned. Yep, snuggle time was over. Time to deal with reality for a while.
Ed rose first and grabbed Max’s hand, pulling him to his feet. Kairo was by Hudson’s side, explaining Ed’s crafty plan of luring both Rive and Katona into their little trap so they could tranq them. Alexei and Soren were hurrying about, gathering up the smoke bombs Ed had carefully planted in the hall so they would go unnoticed by anyone who entered while at the same time concentrating the smoke in the area where Katona and Rive would most likely be standing.
Max’s only job was to keep the attention on him so the guys could pick off their targets from their hiding spots around the hall.
With a gun clenched in one fist, West cracked a couple of glow sticks and dropped them by the slumbering assholes. The man looked ready to pop a few of them just because they were breathing too loud.
Max walked closer and stopped to stand over his mother. It was a little surprising that he felt nothing now. Not even the sting of betrayal. She was just another horrible person to him. Not a mother. Maybe never.
And Rive.
Nah. Nothing there.
“You sure?” West prodded yet again.
Ed grabbed Max’s hand in both of his and he was a little surprised it was clenched into a fist. He huffed a shaky laugh and relaxed his fingers so he could thread them with Ed’s.
“I won’t lie. It’s tempting. But trust me, this is going to be so much worse for them. Locked up in a tiny cell.” He snorted. “Neither one of them has ever managed to sit still. No. In jail for the rest of their lives will be a fate worse than death for both of them. Police on their way?”
“Cops and Interpol are less than five minutes out,” Izzie chimed in. “Will and I are pulling into the parking lot now.”
“That means move your butts!” Will shouted.
“You heard the man!” Charlie bellowed. “Grab people, darts, and smoke canisters in that order. We roll out in sixty seconds.”
Max giggled as Ed swept him down the long corridor and out of Medinet Habu, where the headlights of the team’s van swept across them. Hudson was a step behind with Kairo, still muttering under his breath, sounding confused and maybe a little amused by it all. That was fine. He’d pay the man back in lots of beer, good food, and quite possibly, the greatest Egyptian discovery of this century.
“You know, I get why you enjoy this,” Max said as they waited for the van to park.
“Really?” Ed sounded utterly shocked and overjoyed.
“Of course! Why wouldn’t you? Exotic locations, crazy adventures, and a weird family to pass the time with.” He poked Ed in the center of his chest with his finger. “Not all that different from my job at times. Though, you’ve got some better toys.”
“You know…you could come along on an adventure, if you wanted to.”
Max just smirked at him. That was a tempting offer.
A very tempting one if it meant he got to stay with Ed every step of the way.
21
EDISON WALKER
Ed paced out from under the colorful awning and into the blazing sunlight only to glare at the sun and stomp back under cover while he waited.
This was horrible.
How could it be taking so long? Hudson had two other assistants helping him set up the equipment. This should be moving much faster.
He lifted his eyes to skim across the faces of all the people gathered. It wasn’t just his team here with Max. There were also three high-ranking officials from the government office for antiquities who wanted to be on hand for this moment. Not to mention a handful of police officers who were gathered to make sure there were no more mishaps in relation to Dr. Max Sutton and his potential discovery.
Out of all the people, only his team appeared impatient and restless. They’d started gathering about an hour before sunrise to set up the equipment and to give Max a chance to walk the area with Hudson. The two men amiably discussed good spots to begin testing. Here and there, they would squat, pick up some rocks, or run their hands over the contours of the hillside as if they could read the secrets that were hidden below.
When he and Hudson got everything worked out, Max walked to Ed’s side, a serene smile on his face. They set up some canvas shelters to stand under, getting just a little protection from the rising sun. A table and a couple of folding chairs were added for the computers that would be hooked up to Hudson’s gear.
