Chapter 5: The Hotel And A Third Note

Dear Mr. O'Connell,

Meet me in the lobby of the Cairo Hotel in exactly 15 minutes. You will meet a clerk who will take you to the lounge where I am at. Waist no time in calling the police because if you are not there on time you will be responsible for the death of your wife. I hope to see you there. I will give you more instructions when we meet.

Sincerely,

No One

Rick did not hand Jonathan the note this time figuring that the notes from now on would be directed toward him. He told Jonathan that he had to get to the Cairo Hotel in 15 minutes and he would meet him in the lobby when he was finished with business. Jonathan agreed to stay behind because he knew that if anybody could handle the situation it was Rick. Rick had done fine on his own as he wondered through the dessert after the battle at Hamunaptra.

"Here take this and find a cab. Remember, stay in the lobby. I would like to do this on my own if that's alright with you." Rick handed Jonathan the money to catch a cab.

"I can't take your money. Besides I have enough to catch a taxi and buy some things that I need from the local market. I'll see you at the Cairo Hotel lobby." Jonathan walked off to the nearest market place to buy food and supplies for him and Rick.

Mean while, Rick had called for a taxi and was on his way to meet the man that had stolen his wife and sister. The taxi ride took a while so Rick had time to think about tactics that he could do to get this person to hand over Evy. He didn't want to try to hard because he knew that if he did the man might harm Evy or Jenny. Rick wasn't willing to push the man far enough to do something drastic.

"Where to my friend?" The cabby asked.

"Cairo Hotel. Can you please hurry? It's kind of urgent." Rick was in a hurry to get to the man so he could figure out how to get his wife back.

When Rick arrived at Cairo Hotel he gave the cabby his money and walked into the lobby. He had almost reached the front desk when a man with a sign asked him if he was Rick O'Connell.

"Yes I am. Are you the one that will be taking me to the man that gave me those letters?"

"No. I am here to give you this note."

Rick opened the note and read:

Dear Mr. O'Connell,

Make your way past the fountain and into the lounge. You will see 3 tables to your left as you walk in. The first is a gentleman and his wife, the second is a politician, the third is the one you will meet me at. You now have 5 minutes to reach me before something goes wrong.

There was no sincerely or any ending to the letter. Rick walked toward the fountain that was in the note then made a left. The tables were seated as the man had said. A gentleman and his wife, a politician, and then the third table was behind a curtain. Rick walked over to the table and there sitting at it was the man that he had been wanting to meet and kill for kidnapping his wife and sister. Beside him sat Jenny, she looked unharmed and well taken care of but Rick wondered why the man had brought her.

"Mr. O'Connell, welcome. I am glad to see that you made it on time." The man had a French accent. Rick couldn't see his face because he was sitting in a dark corner.

"Where is my wife?" Rick looked over at Jenny and was glad to see that she was there but Rick was hoping that Evy would also be there.

"Your wife is safe in my house. I will give you your sister back because you made it on time and I have no use for her. However you must follow these instructions if you want to see your wife. I will allow you to see her but that is all. If you try to take her from me I will have my men shoot her and then you. Are you willing to follow my instructions?" The man picked up a glass and took a sip of wine.

"I will as long as I can see that my wife is ok." Rick gave the man a stern look but didn't know if the man saw it or not because, as I said, he could not see the man's face.

"Your wife is fine. She is in as good of shape as your sister. My instructions are these: you will go to the Great Pyramids. There you will find a tour group and you will join it. The tour group will take you around the pyramids and then to a museum. You will get on the bus but you will not go to the museum. You will take a right from the museum and go into the build that is marked restricted. Inside the building you will find your wife and myself waiting for you. I will leave to allow you to have alone time with her and she will give you my next set of instructions."

"How long is this going to go on before I get my wife back?" Rick again gave the man a furious look.

"It will go on until I say the game is over. Take your sister and meet your brother-in-law in the lobby. He is waiting for you there."

Rick got up and went to the lobby taking Jenny with him. When Jonathan saw that Jenny was by his side he went running toward her. She hugged him tightly and then kissed him on both cheeks.

"I can't believe it. You came with him. Did you come to save me?" Jenny thought it romantic that Jonathan had come to save her.

"Yes actually I did. I didn't go to that meeting though because I figured Rick would handle it better than I would." Jonathan kissed his wife again and put his arms around her.

"It's a good thing you didn't go to the meeting though. The man said that if he caught Rick with you he would kill me right there on the spot." Jenny threw her arms around Jonathan's neck and kissed him once more.

"Well, are we going to get Evy back?" Jonathan said finally taking notice that Evy wasn't with Rick.

"No. This is all just a game to this man. He said I wouldn't get her back until he wanted it to end."

"This guy's kinda messed up, isn't he?" Jonathan looked down at Jenny and gave her a faint smile. Jenny did not return the smile, she was happy to be back with him but feared for Evy.