“I know,” she said, pushing out her lips in a pout. “Little brother has been stingy with his information. Keeping it all to himself.” A slow smile grew on her lips. “And apparently Dr. Jones. Maybe I should pay her a visit since you’re not willing to talk to your big sister.”
Gripping the edge of the table, Max pulled forward, crowding the computer screen and the camera. A cold sweat broke out across his skin. “No! Leave her out of this! Hudson too. Hurting either of them isn’t going to get you anywhere with me.”
“I’ve been patient, Max. So fucking patient. Because you’re my brother.” Rive placed her arm across the top of Hudson’s head and she leaned heavily on him. Hudson’s upper lip curled, and he looked as if he was about to snap at Rive when a second gun appeared on the other side of him, held by someone just off camera. Clearly, Rive had plenty of help with her there.
She sighed and the sound was like nails down the chalkboard. “We could have done this together, Maxie. As brother and sister. Wouldn’t that have been more fun?”
“Leave Hudson out of this,” he said coldly.
“Give me the location, Max,” she replied in the same dead tone.
“How about I give the location to you and Mom? Let you two fight it out. You know she’s been stalking me too.”
Rive’s bored expression burned away under the flush of rage. “Don’t give that old bitch shit!” She abandoned Hudson and lunged forward. “You know you owe me, Max. I protected you from them. Give me this, and I’ll let this old fart live.”
“Let him go and I’ll give you the info,” Max shot back.
His sister seemed to calm as she pulled away from the camera, her smirk falling into place. “No. He comes with me. Think of him as my insurance policy. Tomorrow we meet. In person.”
“At Medinet Habu temple!” Max shot out.
Rive’s eyebrows darted to her hairline. “Why there?”
“It’s fitting. Kazemde tried to fuck over Ramesses the Third. I’m sure you’re going to try to fuck me over too. Why not do it at his temple?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Always so dramatic. Fine. Medinet Habu temple. But if I see anything shady when I arrive, I’ll just put a bullet in your friend’s head and call it a day. I’ll get the info from you one way or another.”
“Nothing shady. I swear.”
“You hand over all your research and the scarab. I’ll give you the old man. That’s a damn good trade. Tomorrow. Sunset.”
Rive reached out and hit the keyboard, cutting off the call.
Max sat still for a couple of heartbeats and then screamed, “Fuck!”
“Max—” Kairo started but he was already shaking his head.
Launching to his feet, Max shut his laptop and shoved it under his arm before gathering up all his papers. “I’m so fucking sick of this bullshit. I’m just…I’m just done with it.” He whirled to glare at Kairo. “You and the team, you worry about protecting your mom. I’ll deal with my family. This is my problem.”
19
EDISON WALKER
“…This is my problem.”
Those were four words he definitely didn’t want to hear coming out of Max’s mouth.
The team had all received frantic messages from Kairo informing them Rive had kidnapped Max’s geology friend who was supposed to be helping set up final plans for the site of the dig.
He had been out on a food run with Izzie and West only to return to Max marching toward the stairs with a dark but resolute look on his face.
This was a bad development beyond just Rive making a move. Max wasn’t supposed to have “my problems,” not when it came to his sister and threats on his life.
“Max—” he started, but Max was already violently shaking his head.
“Don’t, Ed. I appreciate it, but just don’t.” Max ran up the stairs to the second floor, disappearing like a little angry storm cloud.
“Here,” Izzie murmured, pulling the paper bags of food from his hands. “You go talk to Max. Help him. West will go talk to Kairo and get an overview of the situation. I’ll put the food away until we’re ready to meet and make plans.”
West grunted and gave Izzie’s shoulder a squeeze before darting off in the direction of the dining room, where they were most likely to locate Kairo.
Ed managed to spare Izzie a small smile. “Kairo is so lucky to have you.”
“And I’m lucky to have him. Now, go!”
He didn’t need any more prodding than that. Ed rushed up to the second floor, his footsteps like booms of thunder. He was a big man. There was no such thing as light on his feet when he was in a hurry.
When he reached Max’s room, he didn’t even bother to knock. He just opened the door to find Max shoving his things into a bag. Not that he had a lot. Since coming to stay with the team, he’d acquired a few changes of clothes, a laptop, and some notebooks. Packing wasn’t going to take more than a minute, and then it looked like Max was planning to be out the door.