Curse of the Pharaoh: A Brock Stone Adventure

17 Swim for It

A loud commotion arose at the back of the room. The crowd parted as two of Balthus’s goons forced their way through. Each man tugged on a rope tied to the collar of a very large, very angry, spotted cat — an Arabian leopard! If they managed to get that thing into the fighting pit with Trinity…

Stone sprang into action. He seized the khopesh off the wall and charged the animal handlers. Before they could react, he swung the blade down with all its might. It sliced through the ropes that held the angry cat in place. Freed, the leopard immediately lashed out at anyone within its reach.

Grown men squealed like frightened children as they ran for the stairs that led up to the main deck. Balthus stood on his gold chair, cursing and shouting for his guards. His French accent was gone.

“Trinity!” Stone shouted. She looked in his direction and frowned. “It’s me!” He tugged at his false beard.

Relief flooded her face as she ran to him. He took her hand and lifted her out of the pit.

“I like the beard,” she said.

“It itches.”

Stone quickly scanned the room. The stairwell was clogged with patrons trying to force their way out. No one was moving.

“I’m stuck!” someone screamed.

“Move it, man. The leopard has gone mad!” The Englishman who had insulted Trinity was stuck at the back of the pack. He was frantically trying to wriggle his way into the throng, but the escape had become a dog-eat-dog affair. “If you greasy Egyptian swine don’t get out of my way…”

His words ended in a shriek as the leopard bore him to the ground.

“How do we get out of here?” Trinity asked.

“Out the back.” He pointed toward the stern. “We’ll hop off and swim to the dock.”

The floor shook and a loud rumble filled the air. The engine was running! The Sawyer was leaving the dock!

“What’s happening?” Trinity said.

“They’re taking the boat out onto the river. We’ve got to hurry.”

He took Trinity’s hand, and they made a run for it. One of Balthus’s goons tried to bar their way. Stone clubbed him with the hilt of the khopesh. His eyes rolled back, and he slumped to the ground. They hurdled his fallen body and kept running.

“Help me!” a woman shrieked.

Stone looked back to see Rose running toward them. He pushed the khopesh into Trinity’s hands.

“Keep going. I’ll catch up.”

“You are not going back for that woman!” Trinity said.

How could Stone explain that he owed it to Rose as recompense for what he had done to her? “There’s no time. Just go!”

Stone turned and made a beeline for Rose who was sprinting toward him. Her eyes were wide with terror. Off to the side, he saw Balthus, still standing atop his chair, take aim at her with an old Double Deringer. “Down!” Stone shouted, pointed at the ground.

Rose understood. She dropped into a baseball slide just as Balthus pulled the trigger. The bullet zipped past her, ricocheted crazily. Somewhere in the crowd of fleeing gamblers, someone cried out in pain.

Stone leaped over the sliding Rose and hit the ground directly in the path of one of Balthus’s goons. The big man swung a wild haymaker at Stone, who ducked the punch and delivered a left cross to the man’s chin. The bruno staggered. Out of the corner of his eye, Stone saw Balthus take aim again. Stone seized the dazed thug by the shoulders, spun him around, and used his body as a meat shield. Balthus’s bullet took his man in the back and the fellow collapsed with a grunt of pain.

“You made me kill my brother-in-law!” Balthus jumped down off his chair, drew a long-bladed knife, and charged at Stone.

A wild, high-pitched roar pierced the air. Stone turned around to see the leopard flying at him. Acting on instinct, he threw himself backward and drew his knees to his chest. As the leopard shot past him, he kicked out and caught the bit cat full in the midsection, sending it tumbling through the air and right into Balthus. Balthus screamed as the leopard savaged him.

Stone landed hard on his back. He rolled over, regained his feet, and ran for the door. He wished Gideon could have seen that kick. Dalha would have enjoyed the awkward landing. A pang of sadness pinched his throat at the thought of his old friends. He shook the pain away and kept running. He burst through the stern door and into the dark engine room. The mechanical roar of the engine was earsplitting.

“Trinity!” he shouted. Something flashed through the air. He ducked and the razor-sharp khopesh missed his head by inches. “Watch it!”

“Sorry. I thought you were Balthus.” Rose shrugged.

“He’s spending time with his cat. Where’s Trinity?”

Rose pointed to a ladder set in the wall and an open trapdoor above it. “You’ll come out beside the paddlewheel,” she said. “You’ll have to jump down and swim for it.”

“What about you?”

“I have to stay, or else Amir will get suspicious.” Rose forced a smile. “Besides, deep water terrifies me. I’ll hide down here, say I ran from the leopard. I’ll be fine.”

“But he’s a criminal,” Stone said.

“So am I. Or did you forget?” Rose planted a quick kiss on his lips. “Goodbye, Lord Rockwell.”

“Goodbye, Desert Rose. Sorry about before.”

“You did what you had to do.” Rose’s voice cracked. “Get out of here. If you are caught, all my hard work will have gone to waste.” She gave him a shove, then turned away fast.

Stone rushed to the ladder and climbed up to join Trinity. She stood clutching the rail and gazing at the ever-shrinking dock behind them.

“We’ll have to swim for it,” Stone said. “If we go now, the chaos will be a perfect distraction.”

Trinity blanched. “I can’t swim that far.”

“Just keep your head above water. I’ll get you to shore.”

Trinity nodded. Before she could change her mind, she turned, climbed up onto the rail, and made a graceful dive into the dark waters of the Nile. Before Stone could follow, he saw movement behind him. Balthus had climbed through the trapdoor and was charging at Stone, knife held aloft. His face was a mask of blood. Deep scratches drew angry red lines across his face.

“You will die!”

Stone seized Balthus by the wrist before he could bring his knife down. With his other hand, he grabbed the crime lord by the belt and lifted him over his head. Balthus realized what Stone intended. His eyes popped.

“Don’t do it! Please! I have money! I have girls… beautiful young… Aieee!” Balthus let out a bloodcurdling shriek as Stone threw him into the teeth of the giant paddlewheel.

“You can’t afford me.” Stone ran to the side rail and dived into the water.

Twenty minutes later, exhausted and waterlogged, Stone and Trinity crawled ashore half a mile upstream of the docks. The Sawyer had continued on its way, with the guards on shore none the wiser.

Shoulder to shoulder, they rested against a palm tree and regained their breath. Soon, Trinity’s ragged gasps turned to shallow laughter.

“What’s so funny?”

She pointed at his face. “Your beard.”

His hand went to his chin. His false beard had come half off.

“It looks like you’ve got a wet rat clinging to your chin.”

“I have to admit, I have looked worse.” He reached to remove the beard, but Trinity pushed his hand away.

“Let me do it.”

“Thank you. Very kind.”

With one vicious yank, Trinity tore the beard free. It felt like someone had ripped his face off. Stone put his hand to his cheek to make sure he had any skin left.

“That hurt.”

“Good. I owed you for that nonsense at the club.” She grinned wickedly. “Now the mustache.”

Stone didn’t bother to argue. If it made things better between them, it was a small price to pay.

The sound of hooves caught his ear. A few seconds later, figures appeared in the dark. A lanky man with red hair and an attractive blonde woman in a dress. They were riding camels. Behind them, another rider led two more camels.

“Alex?” Stone said. “What is this?”

“This is the transportation Rose arranged.” Alex introduced Iko, who helped them mount up and guided them back into town.

As they approached their hotel, they drew more and more odd looks. When they dismounted, two passing women flashed scandalized looks at Trinity. She looked down at her damp clothing, gasped, and tried to cover herself with her arms.

“Stone, give me your jacket.”

“I left it in the river. It was weighing me down.”

“Alex, I need your coat.” Panic rang in Trinity’s voice.

“Whatever for? I think your outfit is lovely.”

“Alex!” Constance’s warning tone was all the encouragement he needed.

What a sight they made. Stone in his sodden clothing, and Trinity dressed in harem pants and a man’s jacket. They hurried to their rooms, chased by laughter and scandalized comments.

“I have never been so embarrassed in my life.” Trinity’s face was beet red.

“You were kidnapped and thrown into a fighting pit with a cobra, and you’re worried about people seeing your shoulders?” Alex asked.

“Yes!” Trinity and Constance said in unison. They cast pitying frowns on Alex, shook their heads in disbelief, and retired to their room without another word.

“Women,” Alex said. “I’ll never understand them.”

“That’s your problem,” Stone said. “You’re trying to understand women instead of concentrating on one woman.”

“Do you understand your woman?”

Stone laughed. “Not a chance. But I like it that way.”