and caught his breath. Once he’d regained his bearings, he shook off a pain in his knee and elbow and swam for the nearest shore.
At the canal bank, Zeibig rushed down and pulled him ashore. “Are you all right?”
Dirk nodded. “I had a nice rotation, but could have made a cleaner entry.”
“I’d rate it a ten. That was quite the kamikaze move.”
“I thought he was going to shoot you.” He looked up to the bridge. “Are they gone?”
“After you nearly took the guy’s arm off, he was in no mood to stick around. Crawled into the back of the car, and away they went. I think the sirens did the trick, though it came from a wayward fire truck.”
“Good riddance all the same,” Dirk said. They made their way up to the road. “I recognized the driver. He was at Amarna yesterday, the one with the grenades. What did they want from you?”
“I don’t know. They took my phone and demanded its passcode. That was it. I still have my wallet. And my hide.”
Back at the bridge, Dirk gazed at the remains of the Vespa and shook his head. “Let’s see if we can find the girls.”
They hiked back across campus and found Summer and Riki still outside the hospital, speaking with an Egyptian police officer who’d just arrived. Summer did a double take when she saw Dirk’s soggy clothes.
The student in the hijab had a different reaction. “That’s him. He’s the one. He’s the man who stole my scooter.” She lunged at him.
Dirk jumped back, bumping into Riki.
She laughed. “Are you always so magnetic to the opposite sex?”
Dirk walked over to the officer, holding his palms up. “Yes, I borrowed her scooter to rescue my friend. I’m sorry, it’s now wrecked. I promise I will buy her a new one.”
The skeptical officer oversaw an exchange of information. The young woman was finally pacified when Dirk and the others pooled some cash and handed it to her. The officer then interviewed Zeibig about his abduction. He took note of the information as if it was a daily occurrence, then asked Zeibig where he was staying.
“On a boat, but departing for the U.S. tomorrow.”
The officer made another note and left.
“I’m not going to hold my breath that we’ll hear from him again,” Summer said.
“It’s not that big a city,” Zeibig said. “They might track down the owner or encounter the car elsewhere.”
“Hopefully, we won’t . . . Everyone still up for lunch?”
Dirk patted his damp clothes. “As long as there’s no dress code.”
They had lunch at a sidewalk café a few blocks away, then made their way back to the boat. Summer was the first to board. She stopped when she saw the wheelhouse. She turned to the others with a glare in her eyes. “We’ve had visitors.”
The wheelhouse and galley looked like a tornado had passed through. Papers, stores, and furniture were strewn about. The carnage carried over to the three forward cabins. Each had been tossed. Oddly, their laptops were still there.
“Wonder what they were after,” Dirk said.
“I don’t see anything missing,” Summer said. “Not that we had a great deal worth stealing.”
“I know what they took,” Zeibig said a short time later. “The stone carving from Amarna.”
A thorough search revealed it was the only item missing.
“They must have tracked us here.” Dirk picked some survey records off the floor and tossed them onto the galley table.
“Maybe looking for more items from the tomb,” Riki said. “That carving would fetch an attractive price from a private collector.”
“That’s just great,” Summer said, rolling her eyes. “We get to file another report with the local police.”
Zeibig sighed. “Going to have to use your own phone.”
“Probably not worth the trouble,” Dirk said. “They’ve gotten everything they wanted out of us. But it might be worth calling the hospital to request security for Dr. Stanley.”
Riki checked her watch.
“Time to go?” Dirk said.
“I’m afraid so.”
While Dirk took her bags ashore, she said her good-byes to Summer and Zeibig.
“I’m sorry for all the trouble,” she said. “Egypt is never the safest place in the world. The professor and I can’t thank you enough for your help.”
“Just make sure he keeps shoveling dirt, will you?” Zeibig said. “It’s the best thing for him. Have a safe flight.”
She met Dirk waiting on the dock, and they walked slowly to the riverfront street above the marina.
“Will you be back to Egypt soon?” he asked.
“I’m afraid I have plenty of work waiting for me in the UK. How about