Part Ten
"I simply cannot believe that we're doing this!" Evelyn whispered urgently, pulling herself through the open window.
Rick rolled his eyes as he reached out to help her down, "Well, it was your idea. And I want you to remember that if and when we get arrested."
"I see you haven't lost that wonderful O'Connell optimism," she grumbled, straightening her blouse and skirt back up, wishing she'd worn some trousers instead.
He simply rolled his eyes at that and turned round to pick up the bag that he had thrown through the window before him. It contained a couple of pistols, his shotgun, a couple of knives and a dagger, as well as a rather large sword.
It seemed a little extreme. As he'd scoped out the place before they'd entered, he'd noticed that there was only one guard and he was fast asleep at the front desk. Even so, he had been around the last time Evelyn and that book had had a little get together. Being well armed was definitely an advantage.
"I'm a realist, sweetheart," he replied, a little distractedly, habit forcing him to look around for any signs of imminent danger.
"Don't call me 'sweetheart'," she scowled.
A thud from behind them interrupted and O'Connell span round, pistols drawn, his heart rate accelerating to twice normal speed. Jonathan held up a hand in apology as he sat in a heap on the floor.
Evelyn rolled her eyes and went to help him up.
"You know, Jonathan," Rick growled, slamming his pistols into their holsters, "For an someone who excels at being a crook, you make a pretty poor criminal."
"We're not criminals," Evelyn insisted, haughtily, "We're investigators."
"Yeah, right," Rick said, with a small laugh, "Just without the tiny matter of permission to be investigating."
"Well, Mr Carver is hardly going to give us permission to go snooping around his things if he is the one who took the book, is he now?" Evelyn reasoned.
Rick nodded, "Fine. But just in case we do end up having to explain why we're here, let me give you a little tip - saying "we're trying to stop the re-resurrection of an evil Egyptian Priest", is not a very good idea. That kind of thing tends to get you carted away to an asylum for the rest of your life."
Evelyn shook her head, refusing to listen to his moaning, "The offices are on the next floor. I think we should check there first."
Rick motioned for her to lead the way but Evelyn immediately hesitated, looking distinctly worried, "I can't go first. What if we run into someone? I wouldn't know what to do."
"Okay," Rick said with a small grin, "Let's do it my way."
He pulled one of his pistols and nodded for the other two to get behind him.
"When I said 'I wouldn't know what to do', I meant what to say to them," Evelyn whispered as she walked closely behind him, "Not whether or not to shoot them."
"Don't worry," Rick said, "This is a tried and trusted method of sneaking around where you're not meant to be."
There was silence for a moment as they reached the base of the stairs and carefully began to go up them.
"How do you know your way around, anyway?" Rick asked, a little curious.
"Carver held a business reception here a few weeks ago," Evelyn explained, her eyes constantly scanning the semi-darkness around them, "Nathan brought me along."
"Oh," was Rick's simple reply. Talk about sore point.
Evelyn thought it best to drop the matter there, but Jonathan seemed to have no such sensitivity in his body. Either that, or he was just totally oblivious to the inflection in Rick's voice.
"Bloody hell," the Englishman said with a chuckle, "Poor old Nathan, eh? Thinks he's getting a nice little homely housewife, when in fact, he's picked up a hardened criminal. He'd better watch the silverware next time you visit."
"I think we can safely say I'll be neglecting to mention this particular little adventure to him," Evelyn said, realising that she hadn't even thought about Nathan in all of this.
"Oh no," Rick said dryly, "Please do. It would be an interesting one to watch."
"Don't even think about it," Evelyn said sharply, seeing the hint of a wicked grin in Rick's eye. She didn't really think he could ever be that malicious but still... She turned to Jonathan, addressing both of them, not wanting Rick to think that it was him she particularly didn't trust.
"And that goes for you too. If Nathan hears a word about this...".
The wedding would be off, Rick thought momentarily before dismissing the idea. It wasn't his style.
"You will not like what I do to the pair of you," Evelyn finished, icily, a warning glare directed straight at Jonathan.
He held up his hands in a 'don't shoot' pose, nodding as a promise.
"You can trust me, old Mum".
Evelyn was sure Jonathan was sometimes one of the last she could put her trust in, but she said nothing, not wanting to hurt his feelings.
There was more silence for a moment as they slipped through one door at the top of the stairs and Evelyn ushered them towards another, down the corridor.
"What does Carver do here anyway?" Rick asked.
"He runs a shipping business," Jonathan replied, keeping close to the armed man, just in case, "Import and export. Done damn well for himself through it. Earned small fortune from what I hear."
"And he'd risk it all by stealing a book?" Rick wondered, surprised.
Jonathan shrugged, "It's his obsession, I guess. It's quite amazing what people will do to obtain their dream."
"Yeah," Rick said dryly, as they went through the door and emerged into another corridor, "Risk their businesses by stealing old books, resurrect ancient dead guys..."
Evelyn glared at him, knowing that was a dig at her. It wasn't her fault. She hadn't realised that the book would do that.
"You are never going to drop that are you?" she said, quietly.
"Well, since we all nearly got killed - no."
"You check the first office," she said to Rick with a sigh, indicating the door to his right, "Jonathan and I will check the ones further down the hall."
"What are we looking for?"
She shrugged, "Preferably the book itself, if not something incriminating."
Rick nodded, seeing the sense in that. "You guys be careful, okay," he warned, giving Evelyn a meaningful look. She did have a horrible tendency to get into trouble.
He pulled his other pistol and held it out to Jonathan, "You'd better take that, just in case."
Jonathan looked at it in dismay.
"Do I have to. Surely that's just going to attract trouble. Can't I just say here and keep watch?" he asked, hopefully.
"Jonathan", Rick and Evelyn said in unison, sharply. They didn't have time for this.
He sighed and took it with an air of resignation.
"Meet back here in five," Rick ordered before carefully slipping into the first room they'd come to.
"Come on," Evelyn said, grabbing Jonathan's arm and pulling him along.
"I should have stayed in the car," he bemoaned, following her down the corridor. Just round the corner, there were two more doors on either side.
"You look in there," Evelyn said, pointing to the right one, "I check the other."
Jonathan shook his head, hurriedly, an expression of forced nobility on his face, "No, I should really stay with you. For safety's sake."
"Would that be my safety or yours?" she enquired, dryly.
Jonathan gave her a sheepish smile and she rolled her eyes, pushing him to the right door, while she went left. Turning the handle, she opened it no more than she needed to quickly slip through and shut it again behind her.
Inside, it was pitch black. She momentarily considered opening the door again to give her a little light, but that would leave her exposed to anyone who happened to be walking past. No, she would just have to find the light in here.
Groping around in the dark, she first checked the walls around her, but found nothing even remotely resembling a light switch. Deciding she needed to go further in, she took a few hesitant steps forward, wishing she'd given herself a chance to get a glance at the layout of the room before she'd closed herself in. At least then she would have some idea whether or not she was about to run into anything painful.
Moving forward a little further, her confidence had begun to return. She tapped her foot in front of herself, finding nothing but carpet. Relaxing a little, she took a few larger paces and immediately banged her hip on what felt like a desk.
Biting her lip to prevent herself from crying out in pain, she found herself holding her breath, afraid that the noise might have alerted someone to her presence. Blissful silence reigned however and she breathed again.
Fumbling out in front of her, she found the top of the desk and it didn't take long for her to locate a small lamp. Flicking the switch, bathed the room in a dim, rather eerie glow, the general darkness of the room accentuated by the mahogany wall panels and furniture. It wasn't a large room, she noted, but it was incredibly tidy. Telling herself that she would therefore have to make extra sure she put everything back in the right place, she briefly wondered when on earth she had learned to think so deviously. The answer was simple however. It was since she had met Rick.
There were two arguments going as to the effect meeting the rough American had had on her life. The first stated that she had deteriorated in manners and attitude. Before him, she never would have had the nerve to do something like she was doing now. In fact, the thought of doing it would never have crossed her mind. The other view however was a little more positive. One could argue that Rick had made her more world wise. Braver and better equipped to look after herself. She may not be the perfect lady she once was, but she was much more self confident and in control.
Evelyn wasn't entirely sure which version of the argument she subscribed to. In public she would probably admit to the first. It was what she should say. But in private? Well, she would hate to go back to being the way she used to be...
Her first port of call was the desk which she searched diligently, even going so far as to look for hidden drawers or panels, a catch which may conceal a secret document. Disappointingly it turned out to be utterly barren as far as clues were concerned. The drawers contained many a folder, but all were filled with material pertaining to the business - invoices, product lists, orders. There was nothing about stolen Ancient Egyptian texts or a document marked 'Secret Plan to Resurrect a Treacherous Priest'.
Next, she checked the filing cabinet but found it to be locked. This, she decided, was a job for Rick. Undoubtedly he would have it open in no time. And where he had acquired that particular skill she simply did not want to know. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a reasonably sized bookcase along the right wall, next to the window.
Evelyn reasoned to herself that bookshelves only held clues in the cheap mystery novels she had taken to secretly reading during periods of relaxation. She had found one in Jonathan's room once and had rolled her eyes to see it. How he could read such rubbish was beyond her. Wondering what the fascination with them could possibly be she had started to read a few pages. Unfortunately it became a few chapters, then a whole book, then a few more books... They were her guilty secret of sorts. Which, she realised was a little depressing. If her 'guilty secret' was reading trashy novels, then it said an awful lot about the dreadfully dull state of her life. Still, things had certainly livened up since Rick had come back...
Feeling a little silly, knowing that there was a large chasm between the worlds of fact and fiction, she began to check the shelf anyway. She tugged randomly on the books, not entirely sure what she expected to find. A secret passage? The mechanism to unlock a safe hidden in the wall panels? Unsurprisingly she found nothing.
Sighing, she took a step back, surveying the shelf as a whole. This approach was getting her nowhere and the longer she stayed here, the higher the chance of her being caught. And she would hate to have to explain to Nathan why he was being called down to the police station to pay her bail.
Wondering whether or not the others had had any greater success, she somehow managed to notice something odd when she wasn't really looking for it.
The second shelf down contained a number of books on Egyptology, most of which she had read and studied several times in great detail. What specifically caught her eye was Barker's Teachings on Hieroglyphics, Volumes One to Five.
Barker's book only had four volumes.
She paused momentarily, almost amazed that she had actually found something, before snatching the fifth book off of the shelf. She hurriedly opened it, hands trembling a little at the realisation that this could be the important clue they were looking for. As it turned out, the book was not a book at all. It was hollowed out inside in the fashion of a box, and sitting in that hollow was a yellowing scroll.
Tossing the book aside, noise be damned, she undid the string holding the scroll shut and unrolled it on the desk, weighing the ends down with an ink pot and a paperweight to prevent it from wrapping itself back up again.
Her trained eyes ran over it quickly. The paper it was written on was old and delicate, the edges rough. The decoration around the perimeter placed it in Ancient Egypt's Middle Kingdom. There was hieroglyphic text written over it. Evelyn ran her finger carefully under the title as she translated it. " 'The Becoming' " she whispered softly, wondering what it could be referring to. A religious event of some sort? The pomp and circumstance surrounding this script certainly suggested something of great importance.
"Yes, that is indeed correct," came a mildly impressed voice from out of the darkness.
She jumped, shrieking, her heart feeling like it had migrated up into her throat. A man stepped out from the shadows by the door, smiling at her fearful reaction. It was the same man who had attacked her at the museum and stolen the book. Well if that wasn't an indication that Carver was involved in the theft...
Evelyn quickly glanced at the area he had appeared from and realised that he must have been hiding there the whole time she was in the room. He would have been concealed behind the door when she had first opened it and even once she had turned the small light on, its glow hadn't spread far enough to give him away.
"You are clever," he said in his thick accent, advancing on her, "For a woman at least."
Forgetting her situation momentarily, Evelyn looked almightily insulted, hands on hips. "What do you mean 'for a woman'? This isn't the dark ages, you know. Just because you barbarians treat women as...as trophies it doesn't mean that that is all they're capable of being. It's attitudes like yours that hold women back."
For a moment there was no reaction from the man and Evelyn felt the blood drain from her face. Perhaps angering him wasn't really such an intelligent plan of action. If only she could learn to keep that mouth of hers in check sometimes. She'd probably live a lot longer, that was for sure.
To her surprise - and relief - the man smiled, seemingly amused by her rant, "You have great spirit, woman, but you talk far too much."
"So I've been told," she admitted, voice trembling slightly, backing away from him as he advanced on her.
"But you will not talk about what you have seen here," he promised as Evelyn came to an abrupt stop, bumping into the wall behind her. She had run out of places to go.
And she did not like the implication in what he was saying.
"Well," she reasoned, "That's true really since I didn't actually see anything of importance." She hoped the information would persuade him that there was really no need to kill her.
The man nodded, his smile satisfied and smug, "And nor will you."
Evelyn frowned slightly, not really understanding his meaning. Was that a threat?
Suddenly he whispered something in Ancient Egyptian, speaking too fast for her panicked mind to translate its meaning. As he finished he tossed out some dust. Immediately the lights blinked out and the entire room was plunged into darkness. Helpless, Evelyn tried to grab for the paper, hoping to make an escape with it, but was beaten to it by the man who seemed to be far less hampered by the total darkness than she was.
A crashing sound was heard, the impact of the door smacking into the wooden wall panels next to it as it flew open with some force. It was followed by a familiar clicking of guns.
"Rick," she whispered in relief. Say what you want about the American but he certainly had impeccable timing.
Evelyn realised that whatever the man had done, it had affected all the lights in the building because the open door didn't help her see one bit. That was not going to be conducive to her being rescued. She felt someone grab at her from behind and by the smell she guessed it was the foreign man. He didn't exactly appear to be the most hygienic fellow. He pressed something sharp to her throat and she instantly stopped struggling, almost afraid to breathe in case the blade cut into her.
"I seem to remember us being here before, my friend," the foreign man said, addressing Rick, "And we both that there is only one satisfactory way to resolve this".
She could hear rather than see his satisfied smile. He knew from experience that the American wouldn't do anything that would put her in danger. Taking his advantage, he backed up towards the window, dragging her with him.
"Yeah, well," Rick said, reluctant to let him escape for a second time, "I learn quickly from my mistakes."
"Then it is just as well I have more than one trick," the man said sharply, throwing Evelyn to one side and leaping backwards through the window, shattering the glass.
Okay, Rick conceded, as tricks go that one was pretty unexpected. And painful he guessed. Running to the window, certain that the man would be lying on the floor below in pain or worse, all he saw was shards of shattered glass on the fire escape that had saved the man from falling to his death. And the fleeting, shadowy form of someone disappearing down the alley between this building and the next. Rick let out a few shots with his pistols, knowing he had very little chance of actually hitting the man from this distance in the dark. Still, it made him feel a bit better. At least he had done something.
Jonathan, who had been hiding safely behind Rick during the whole incident, crept in once he was sure the danger had passed and went to see if Evelyn was all right.
"See," he said with mock scolding, "I told you I should have come with you. For your safety, of course."
"Don't worry," she said a little huffily, shaking off his attempts at helping her to stand up, "I'm perfectly fine." She was angry at herself. The man had escaped again, this time with an obviously important clue, and again it was because of her. She was going to have to stop getting herself captured like this. It was severely hampering their work.
Trying to move round the desk, wanting nothing more than to leave this place, go back to her books and see if she could find any reference to 'The Becoming', she immediately banged into the chair behind it. The impact was so hard she almost knocked herself down, saved from the fall by Jonathan's hands grabbing at her.
"Oh for goodness sake!" she exclaimed, again shaking off his fussing hands, "Hasn't one of you has got a lighter?"
"Yeah, sure," Rick said with a frown, wondering what she was going to do next, "What d'you want it for?"
"So I can see," she suggested with an impatient sigh, "I'm far less likely to fall over things in half light than total darkness."
Silence descended on the room. Rick and Jonathan glanced at one another, neither man obviously having any clue as to what was going on.
"Evelyn," Rick said, finally speaking up, shaking his head in confusing, "What are talking about? It is light."
A horrible sick feeling settled heavily over Jonathan's stomach as he came to an awful realisation.
"What...what do you mean?" Evelyn stammered, unable to disguise the sudden panic in her voice. She looked around wildly, trying to see something. Anything. A moving a shadow. The headlights of a car passing outside.
"It's dark. It is dark. Of course, it's dark," she babbled, "It has to be. I can't see anything. It has got be....."
Moonlight.
With the window smashed open the room should be bathed in moonlight. It was a perfectly clear night out tonight. She had commented on the huge full moon as they had driven over here.
"Oh god...," she whispered softly, "Why can't I see anything?"
Jonathan raised a slightly trembling hand and swept it back and forth in front of Evelyn's face.
No reaction. Her eyes didn't follow the movement at all. They didn't even react to the slight change in light as he did so. They just darted around aimlessly, unfocused, desperate to see something. But she couldn't
She was blind.
"I simply cannot believe that we're doing this!" Evelyn whispered urgently, pulling herself through the open window.
Rick rolled his eyes as he reached out to help her down, "Well, it was your idea. And I want you to remember that if and when we get arrested."
"I see you haven't lost that wonderful O'Connell optimism," she grumbled, straightening her blouse and skirt back up, wishing she'd worn some trousers instead.
He simply rolled his eyes at that and turned round to pick up the bag that he had thrown through the window before him. It contained a couple of pistols, his shotgun, a couple of knives and a dagger, as well as a rather large sword.
It seemed a little extreme. As he'd scoped out the place before they'd entered, he'd noticed that there was only one guard and he was fast asleep at the front desk. Even so, he had been around the last time Evelyn and that book had had a little get together. Being well armed was definitely an advantage.
"I'm a realist, sweetheart," he replied, a little distractedly, habit forcing him to look around for any signs of imminent danger.
"Don't call me 'sweetheart'," she scowled.
A thud from behind them interrupted and O'Connell span round, pistols drawn, his heart rate accelerating to twice normal speed. Jonathan held up a hand in apology as he sat in a heap on the floor.
Evelyn rolled her eyes and went to help him up.
"You know, Jonathan," Rick growled, slamming his pistols into their holsters, "For an someone who excels at being a crook, you make a pretty poor criminal."
"We're not criminals," Evelyn insisted, haughtily, "We're investigators."
"Yeah, right," Rick said, with a small laugh, "Just without the tiny matter of permission to be investigating."
"Well, Mr Carver is hardly going to give us permission to go snooping around his things if he is the one who took the book, is he now?" Evelyn reasoned.
Rick nodded, "Fine. But just in case we do end up having to explain why we're here, let me give you a little tip - saying "we're trying to stop the re-resurrection of an evil Egyptian Priest", is not a very good idea. That kind of thing tends to get you carted away to an asylum for the rest of your life."
Evelyn shook her head, refusing to listen to his moaning, "The offices are on the next floor. I think we should check there first."
Rick motioned for her to lead the way but Evelyn immediately hesitated, looking distinctly worried, "I can't go first. What if we run into someone? I wouldn't know what to do."
"Okay," Rick said with a small grin, "Let's do it my way."
He pulled one of his pistols and nodded for the other two to get behind him.
"When I said 'I wouldn't know what to do', I meant what to say to them," Evelyn whispered as she walked closely behind him, "Not whether or not to shoot them."
"Don't worry," Rick said, "This is a tried and trusted method of sneaking around where you're not meant to be."
There was silence for a moment as they reached the base of the stairs and carefully began to go up them.
"How do you know your way around, anyway?" Rick asked, a little curious.
"Carver held a business reception here a few weeks ago," Evelyn explained, her eyes constantly scanning the semi-darkness around them, "Nathan brought me along."
"Oh," was Rick's simple reply. Talk about sore point.
Evelyn thought it best to drop the matter there, but Jonathan seemed to have no such sensitivity in his body. Either that, or he was just totally oblivious to the inflection in Rick's voice.
"Bloody hell," the Englishman said with a chuckle, "Poor old Nathan, eh? Thinks he's getting a nice little homely housewife, when in fact, he's picked up a hardened criminal. He'd better watch the silverware next time you visit."
"I think we can safely say I'll be neglecting to mention this particular little adventure to him," Evelyn said, realising that she hadn't even thought about Nathan in all of this.
"Oh no," Rick said dryly, "Please do. It would be an interesting one to watch."
"Don't even think about it," Evelyn said sharply, seeing the hint of a wicked grin in Rick's eye. She didn't really think he could ever be that malicious but still... She turned to Jonathan, addressing both of them, not wanting Rick to think that it was him she particularly didn't trust.
"And that goes for you too. If Nathan hears a word about this...".
The wedding would be off, Rick thought momentarily before dismissing the idea. It wasn't his style.
"You will not like what I do to the pair of you," Evelyn finished, icily, a warning glare directed straight at Jonathan.
He held up his hands in a 'don't shoot' pose, nodding as a promise.
"You can trust me, old Mum".
Evelyn was sure Jonathan was sometimes one of the last she could put her trust in, but she said nothing, not wanting to hurt his feelings.
There was more silence for a moment as they slipped through one door at the top of the stairs and Evelyn ushered them towards another, down the corridor.
"What does Carver do here anyway?" Rick asked.
"He runs a shipping business," Jonathan replied, keeping close to the armed man, just in case, "Import and export. Done damn well for himself through it. Earned small fortune from what I hear."
"And he'd risk it all by stealing a book?" Rick wondered, surprised.
Jonathan shrugged, "It's his obsession, I guess. It's quite amazing what people will do to obtain their dream."
"Yeah," Rick said dryly, as they went through the door and emerged into another corridor, "Risk their businesses by stealing old books, resurrect ancient dead guys..."
Evelyn glared at him, knowing that was a dig at her. It wasn't her fault. She hadn't realised that the book would do that.
"You are never going to drop that are you?" she said, quietly.
"Well, since we all nearly got killed - no."
"You check the first office," she said to Rick with a sigh, indicating the door to his right, "Jonathan and I will check the ones further down the hall."
"What are we looking for?"
She shrugged, "Preferably the book itself, if not something incriminating."
Rick nodded, seeing the sense in that. "You guys be careful, okay," he warned, giving Evelyn a meaningful look. She did have a horrible tendency to get into trouble.
He pulled his other pistol and held it out to Jonathan, "You'd better take that, just in case."
Jonathan looked at it in dismay.
"Do I have to. Surely that's just going to attract trouble. Can't I just say here and keep watch?" he asked, hopefully.
"Jonathan", Rick and Evelyn said in unison, sharply. They didn't have time for this.
He sighed and took it with an air of resignation.
"Meet back here in five," Rick ordered before carefully slipping into the first room they'd come to.
"Come on," Evelyn said, grabbing Jonathan's arm and pulling him along.
"I should have stayed in the car," he bemoaned, following her down the corridor. Just round the corner, there were two more doors on either side.
"You look in there," Evelyn said, pointing to the right one, "I check the other."
Jonathan shook his head, hurriedly, an expression of forced nobility on his face, "No, I should really stay with you. For safety's sake."
"Would that be my safety or yours?" she enquired, dryly.
Jonathan gave her a sheepish smile and she rolled her eyes, pushing him to the right door, while she went left. Turning the handle, she opened it no more than she needed to quickly slip through and shut it again behind her.
Inside, it was pitch black. She momentarily considered opening the door again to give her a little light, but that would leave her exposed to anyone who happened to be walking past. No, she would just have to find the light in here.
Groping around in the dark, she first checked the walls around her, but found nothing even remotely resembling a light switch. Deciding she needed to go further in, she took a few hesitant steps forward, wishing she'd given herself a chance to get a glance at the layout of the room before she'd closed herself in. At least then she would have some idea whether or not she was about to run into anything painful.
Moving forward a little further, her confidence had begun to return. She tapped her foot in front of herself, finding nothing but carpet. Relaxing a little, she took a few larger paces and immediately banged her hip on what felt like a desk.
Biting her lip to prevent herself from crying out in pain, she found herself holding her breath, afraid that the noise might have alerted someone to her presence. Blissful silence reigned however and she breathed again.
Fumbling out in front of her, she found the top of the desk and it didn't take long for her to locate a small lamp. Flicking the switch, bathed the room in a dim, rather eerie glow, the general darkness of the room accentuated by the mahogany wall panels and furniture. It wasn't a large room, she noted, but it was incredibly tidy. Telling herself that she would therefore have to make extra sure she put everything back in the right place, she briefly wondered when on earth she had learned to think so deviously. The answer was simple however. It was since she had met Rick.
There were two arguments going as to the effect meeting the rough American had had on her life. The first stated that she had deteriorated in manners and attitude. Before him, she never would have had the nerve to do something like she was doing now. In fact, the thought of doing it would never have crossed her mind. The other view however was a little more positive. One could argue that Rick had made her more world wise. Braver and better equipped to look after herself. She may not be the perfect lady she once was, but she was much more self confident and in control.
Evelyn wasn't entirely sure which version of the argument she subscribed to. In public she would probably admit to the first. It was what she should say. But in private? Well, she would hate to go back to being the way she used to be...
Her first port of call was the desk which she searched diligently, even going so far as to look for hidden drawers or panels, a catch which may conceal a secret document. Disappointingly it turned out to be utterly barren as far as clues were concerned. The drawers contained many a folder, but all were filled with material pertaining to the business - invoices, product lists, orders. There was nothing about stolen Ancient Egyptian texts or a document marked 'Secret Plan to Resurrect a Treacherous Priest'.
Next, she checked the filing cabinet but found it to be locked. This, she decided, was a job for Rick. Undoubtedly he would have it open in no time. And where he had acquired that particular skill she simply did not want to know. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a reasonably sized bookcase along the right wall, next to the window.
Evelyn reasoned to herself that bookshelves only held clues in the cheap mystery novels she had taken to secretly reading during periods of relaxation. She had found one in Jonathan's room once and had rolled her eyes to see it. How he could read such rubbish was beyond her. Wondering what the fascination with them could possibly be she had started to read a few pages. Unfortunately it became a few chapters, then a whole book, then a few more books... They were her guilty secret of sorts. Which, she realised was a little depressing. If her 'guilty secret' was reading trashy novels, then it said an awful lot about the dreadfully dull state of her life. Still, things had certainly livened up since Rick had come back...
Feeling a little silly, knowing that there was a large chasm between the worlds of fact and fiction, she began to check the shelf anyway. She tugged randomly on the books, not entirely sure what she expected to find. A secret passage? The mechanism to unlock a safe hidden in the wall panels? Unsurprisingly she found nothing.
Sighing, she took a step back, surveying the shelf as a whole. This approach was getting her nowhere and the longer she stayed here, the higher the chance of her being caught. And she would hate to have to explain to Nathan why he was being called down to the police station to pay her bail.
Wondering whether or not the others had had any greater success, she somehow managed to notice something odd when she wasn't really looking for it.
The second shelf down contained a number of books on Egyptology, most of which she had read and studied several times in great detail. What specifically caught her eye was Barker's Teachings on Hieroglyphics, Volumes One to Five.
Barker's book only had four volumes.
She paused momentarily, almost amazed that she had actually found something, before snatching the fifth book off of the shelf. She hurriedly opened it, hands trembling a little at the realisation that this could be the important clue they were looking for. As it turned out, the book was not a book at all. It was hollowed out inside in the fashion of a box, and sitting in that hollow was a yellowing scroll.
Tossing the book aside, noise be damned, she undid the string holding the scroll shut and unrolled it on the desk, weighing the ends down with an ink pot and a paperweight to prevent it from wrapping itself back up again.
Her trained eyes ran over it quickly. The paper it was written on was old and delicate, the edges rough. The decoration around the perimeter placed it in Ancient Egypt's Middle Kingdom. There was hieroglyphic text written over it. Evelyn ran her finger carefully under the title as she translated it. " 'The Becoming' " she whispered softly, wondering what it could be referring to. A religious event of some sort? The pomp and circumstance surrounding this script certainly suggested something of great importance.
"Yes, that is indeed correct," came a mildly impressed voice from out of the darkness.
She jumped, shrieking, her heart feeling like it had migrated up into her throat. A man stepped out from the shadows by the door, smiling at her fearful reaction. It was the same man who had attacked her at the museum and stolen the book. Well if that wasn't an indication that Carver was involved in the theft...
Evelyn quickly glanced at the area he had appeared from and realised that he must have been hiding there the whole time she was in the room. He would have been concealed behind the door when she had first opened it and even once she had turned the small light on, its glow hadn't spread far enough to give him away.
"You are clever," he said in his thick accent, advancing on her, "For a woman at least."
Forgetting her situation momentarily, Evelyn looked almightily insulted, hands on hips. "What do you mean 'for a woman'? This isn't the dark ages, you know. Just because you barbarians treat women as...as trophies it doesn't mean that that is all they're capable of being. It's attitudes like yours that hold women back."
For a moment there was no reaction from the man and Evelyn felt the blood drain from her face. Perhaps angering him wasn't really such an intelligent plan of action. If only she could learn to keep that mouth of hers in check sometimes. She'd probably live a lot longer, that was for sure.
To her surprise - and relief - the man smiled, seemingly amused by her rant, "You have great spirit, woman, but you talk far too much."
"So I've been told," she admitted, voice trembling slightly, backing away from him as he advanced on her.
"But you will not talk about what you have seen here," he promised as Evelyn came to an abrupt stop, bumping into the wall behind her. She had run out of places to go.
And she did not like the implication in what he was saying.
"Well," she reasoned, "That's true really since I didn't actually see anything of importance." She hoped the information would persuade him that there was really no need to kill her.
The man nodded, his smile satisfied and smug, "And nor will you."
Evelyn frowned slightly, not really understanding his meaning. Was that a threat?
Suddenly he whispered something in Ancient Egyptian, speaking too fast for her panicked mind to translate its meaning. As he finished he tossed out some dust. Immediately the lights blinked out and the entire room was plunged into darkness. Helpless, Evelyn tried to grab for the paper, hoping to make an escape with it, but was beaten to it by the man who seemed to be far less hampered by the total darkness than she was.
A crashing sound was heard, the impact of the door smacking into the wooden wall panels next to it as it flew open with some force. It was followed by a familiar clicking of guns.
"Rick," she whispered in relief. Say what you want about the American but he certainly had impeccable timing.
Evelyn realised that whatever the man had done, it had affected all the lights in the building because the open door didn't help her see one bit. That was not going to be conducive to her being rescued. She felt someone grab at her from behind and by the smell she guessed it was the foreign man. He didn't exactly appear to be the most hygienic fellow. He pressed something sharp to her throat and she instantly stopped struggling, almost afraid to breathe in case the blade cut into her.
"I seem to remember us being here before, my friend," the foreign man said, addressing Rick, "And we both that there is only one satisfactory way to resolve this".
She could hear rather than see his satisfied smile. He knew from experience that the American wouldn't do anything that would put her in danger. Taking his advantage, he backed up towards the window, dragging her with him.
"Yeah, well," Rick said, reluctant to let him escape for a second time, "I learn quickly from my mistakes."
"Then it is just as well I have more than one trick," the man said sharply, throwing Evelyn to one side and leaping backwards through the window, shattering the glass.
Okay, Rick conceded, as tricks go that one was pretty unexpected. And painful he guessed. Running to the window, certain that the man would be lying on the floor below in pain or worse, all he saw was shards of shattered glass on the fire escape that had saved the man from falling to his death. And the fleeting, shadowy form of someone disappearing down the alley between this building and the next. Rick let out a few shots with his pistols, knowing he had very little chance of actually hitting the man from this distance in the dark. Still, it made him feel a bit better. At least he had done something.
Jonathan, who had been hiding safely behind Rick during the whole incident, crept in once he was sure the danger had passed and went to see if Evelyn was all right.
"See," he said with mock scolding, "I told you I should have come with you. For your safety, of course."
"Don't worry," she said a little huffily, shaking off his attempts at helping her to stand up, "I'm perfectly fine." She was angry at herself. The man had escaped again, this time with an obviously important clue, and again it was because of her. She was going to have to stop getting herself captured like this. It was severely hampering their work.
Trying to move round the desk, wanting nothing more than to leave this place, go back to her books and see if she could find any reference to 'The Becoming', she immediately banged into the chair behind it. The impact was so hard she almost knocked herself down, saved from the fall by Jonathan's hands grabbing at her.
"Oh for goodness sake!" she exclaimed, again shaking off his fussing hands, "Hasn't one of you has got a lighter?"
"Yeah, sure," Rick said with a frown, wondering what she was going to do next, "What d'you want it for?"
"So I can see," she suggested with an impatient sigh, "I'm far less likely to fall over things in half light than total darkness."
Silence descended on the room. Rick and Jonathan glanced at one another, neither man obviously having any clue as to what was going on.
"Evelyn," Rick said, finally speaking up, shaking his head in confusing, "What are talking about? It is light."
A horrible sick feeling settled heavily over Jonathan's stomach as he came to an awful realisation.
"What...what do you mean?" Evelyn stammered, unable to disguise the sudden panic in her voice. She looked around wildly, trying to see something. Anything. A moving a shadow. The headlights of a car passing outside.
"It's dark. It is dark. Of course, it's dark," she babbled, "It has to be. I can't see anything. It has got be....."
Moonlight.
With the window smashed open the room should be bathed in moonlight. It was a perfectly clear night out tonight. She had commented on the huge full moon as they had driven over here.
"Oh god...," she whispered softly, "Why can't I see anything?"
Jonathan raised a slightly trembling hand and swept it back and forth in front of Evelyn's face.
No reaction. Her eyes didn't follow the movement at all. They didn't even react to the slight change in light as he did so. They just darted around aimlessly, unfocused, desperate to see something. But she couldn't
She was blind.