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My uncle lowered his eyes. “During this last season, your father and I had to come back to Cairo unexpectedly. When I was on my way to a meeting with Maspero, I saw your mother with a group of men who I knew to be Curators for The Company, thanks to Whit’s sleuthing. I tried to warn her, but she refused to listen. I think that was when your father suspected she was having an affair. Your father started acting strange, hiding things from me, not trusting me.”
Whit moved away from me and sat on the bed next to my uncle. He replaced the washcloth across Tío Ricardo’s brow with another.
“When he might have found Cleopatra’s tomb,” I said, “did he mail something for me from Philae?”
Tío Ricardo nodded. “Yes, I think so. We had a lot of tourists coming and going on the island. He would have had opportunity.”
I nodded. “There’s something I still don’t understand. Why didn’t Papá come to you? Why were you angry with him?”
“I campaigned hard for Cayo to forgive your mother for the affair,”Ricardo said quietly. “The scandal would have destroyed Lourdes, and I still thought I could help her. We argued constantly, to the point where he became paranoid, believing I was involved with her schemes.”
I licked my lips. “He didn’t trust you. That’s why he sent me the ring.”
“I believe so.”
“What happened then?”
“Your parents left. In all likelihood back to Cairo. That was the last I’d seen of them.”
“Where my fatherpresumablydied,” I said.
“Why presumably?” Whit asked.
“Because my mother is a liar,” I said. The last line of his letter to me was seared into my mind.Please never stop looking for me. I would not let him down. “What if my father is alive somewhere? He could be kept anywhere.”
“Olivera,” Whit said softly, his eyes kind and full of sympathy.
“He might be alive,” I insisted. I turned away from him, wanting to hold on to hope that my father still lived. It was foolish. It was almost impossible. But it could be true. “Tell me the rest of it, Tío.”
“When your parents didn’t come back for weeks, when my letters were unanswered, I left Philae and came back here.” Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes. “Inez, I searched everywhere for them, but they’d disappeared. No one knew where your parents were. I feared The Company might have murdered them both. After weeks of searching, I had to come up with a plausible story for their absence.”
“Which is when you wrote to me.”
He nodded sadly.
“Meanwhile, my mother was preparing to frame you for my father’s alleged murder. She left behind a letter for someone to find, addressed to Monsieur Maspero, warning him that you were dangerous and involved with criminals.”
“Then,” Whit said, picking up the narrative, “she must have come to Philae, hoping you’d discover the tomb since her husband had.”
“I led her right to it,” I said bitterly. “She took the treasure, and then double-crossed Mr. Burton, whoseassociatecame up with the plan to kidnap me in retribution, hoping to make a trade.”
“Whoever the associate is, they must have deep ties to The Company.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” I said bitterly. “It must be Mr. Sterling.”
Whit shook his head. “Or it could be Sir Evelyn. He did plant a spy on Philae.”
“Whom you never discovered,” my uncle said sourly.
“I questioned all viable suspects,” Whit said icily. “Discreetly, of course. No one seemed like our culprit.”
We were getting away from the real issue. We weren’t on Philae, and Elvira was dead. That’s all I cared about. “It’s my fault Elvira died, Tío. Do you have any idea where my mother could have gone? Could she really be in Amarna?”
“How could you have known Elvira would come after you?”
“Because she always did,” I said. Anguish tied up my stomach in knots. “She always did what I did. And Mamá offered her up for slaughter in my stead.” I leaned forward, my gaze intent on my uncle. “But I will make this right, Tío. I’ll get the artifacts back, I’ll make my—”
“I don’t care about the artifacts!” Tío Ricardo shouted, his voice rising, butting through my thoughts. “I care about your safety.” He reached for my hand and I let him take it. “Inez, you have to go home.”
