Chapter 22 – Intimidation
Evie stared broodingly out the tiny porthole in the cabin she and Tia had been locked into. "He's completely delusional," she declared.
Tia sat on the bed and fiddled with her veil. "Because he thinks he was Ramses the Great?"
"No, because he thinks he's STILL Ramses the Great," Evie corrected firmly. "I may once have been Queen Nefertari, but I know that in this life I'm Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell. I'm not an Egyptian queen anymore. That's the difference, Tia."
"He wasn't so bad when I met him a couple months ago in Cairo," Tia said. "He was aloof and not terribly friendly, but he didn't seem delusional."
"You met him a few months ago?"
Tia twisted her lips in wry amusement. "I was dating his son."
Evie raised an eyebrow. "Hardly seems a reason to kill you."
"No, especially since it wasn't really a very intense relationship." Tia shrugged. "I liked his company, and I liked that he took me to nice places, but there was nothing THERE, if you know what I mean."
Evie frowned and sat on the foot of Tia's bed. "I think I do. So you had a friendly, fairly non-sexual relationship with Varne's son."
"I think he only kissed me once or twice. No sparks. Nothing." Tia shrugged. "I can understand his not approving, or thinking me not good enough for Robert, but trying to have me killed seems a bit extreme."
Ardeth and Rick strode through the doors of the Museum of Antiquities. "So why are we here, exactly?" Rick inquired as they walked swiftly through a room dedicated to a display of pottery.
"Tierney may be able to tell us where Varne might have gone," Ardeth replied, heading for a door marked 'Employees Only, Do Not Enter'.
Rick courteously opened the door and held it for the Medjai warrior. "Thank you," Ardeth said politely.
"Not at all," Rick answered. They continued down a hall dotted with doorways.
A young man stepped out of one of the doorways. "Hey," he said accusingly. "What are you…" His eyes fell first on Ardeth's tattoos, then the sword strapped at his hip, and his words petered out. An aura of menace emanating from the Arab's narrowed eyes finished the job. The man hurriedly stepped back into his office and shut the door.
"Very nice," said Rick admiringly. "If I had a glare as menacing as yours, I probably wouldn't have to use my guns at all."
"Tricks of the trade," Ardeth said with a shrug. "Convenient at times." He stopped in front of a door and listened carefully before turning the knob silently and easing the door open.
Dr. Tierney was sitting at his desk, leafing through a ledger. He started violently when Ardeth said "Good afternoon, Tierney."
Ashen faced, he shrank into his chair. "Oh God, not you again!"
Ardeth's eye browed lifted in mock astonishment. "You aren't pleased to see me? You wound me, Tierney."
Rick casually sauntered into the room and perched on the edge of the desk. "Hi, Tierney, how's it going?"
"Mr. O'Connell!" Tierney gaped at Rick, and then turned to Ardeth again. "Why is Mr. O'Connell here? There is nothing untoward about their dig in the Valley of Kings…"
"Of course not," the Medjai said smoothly. "I'm here to ask you about Sir Randolph again."
"He's not in Cairo," Tierney said desperately.
"I know that," Ardeth said silkily. "I want to know where he is."
"You see," Rick said, absently examining his fingernails, "Varne apparently has my wife with him, and I need to talk to him." He pulled a knife from his boot and used it to trim off a broken edge from his left thumbnail. "While I'm SURE that Sir Randolph merely wants to discuss the latest archeological findings with Evelyn, I have to admit feeling a bit perturbed not to have been asked along." Satisfied with his nails, Rick examined the blade of the knife closely, frowning a bit over a small nick.
Ardeth eyed Tierney who was now a quivering wreck in his desk chair. "Where's Varne?"
Another voice spoke up from the doorway. "Who wants to know?"
Almost instantly, Ardeth's sword was out of its sheath and was poised beneath the chin of the young man standing there. "Who are you?"
The young man's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "R..R..Robert Varne."
Ardeth pulled his sword back a few inches, and a cold smile spread across his face. "Are you then?"
Rick raised his eyebrows. "That would be Sir Randolph's son, right?"
"Right," Robert said uneasily.
"And what, may I ask, are you doing here?" Ardeth asked silkily.
"I came to check on the archeological team that went out a couple weeks ago," Robert said.
Ardeth and Rick turned back to Tierney, who groaned and sank his head into his hands.
"Haven't told him, have you?" Rick asked, starting to play with the knife again. "Good Lord, Ardeth, why don't you just kill him and get it over with?" Tierney took one look at him, then his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed onto the floor in a dead faint.
The Medjai warrior looked down at the unconscious man and prodded him with his foot. "You're getting better at subtle." He said. "He's out cold and you didn't even draw your gun."
Rick looked at Tierney with satisfaction. "It can be a lot of fun," he admitted. "Seriously though, what are you going to do about him?"
Ardeth sighed. "I am not sure. Cairo isn't under my command. This is the territory of a different Medjai tribe. I need to speak with the commander of the Dareb tribe. I just haven't had time."
Rick shrugged and dismissed the curator from his mind. "So what about this one?" He jerked his head toward Robert, who was backed up against a wall with a look of terrified bewilderment on his face.
The easy familiarity that marked Ardeth's conversation with Rick drained away as he looked at Robert Varne, his face becoming harder, colder and more menacing. "Where's your father?"
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, lilylynn, mrsblonde1503 and tellergirl. And ILoveUrStory – that's one hell of a compliment. I'm flattered.