HDA - Living in Darkness Trilogy - Pt 2 - The Search

Michael sighed heavily and slumped down further in the chair. Then glancing at his watch, he sighed again and scooted down deeper in the chair. Once the plan had been set into motion and the three who were supposed to be on the barge had left with it, he'd tried to kill time. He'd gone to the Museum of Antiquities but that didn't make the time go by any faster.

He went to Kendall's but no one was home, he'd gone back to the museum, then decided to go on to his room. Now after pacing from the door to the balcony and back again exactly twenty-seven times--he'd counted--his feet were tired , so he sat down.

A faint knock on his hotel room door made him jump to his feet and rush to the door. He yanked it open and managed not to sigh again. "Oh, Jazz, hey."

"I was getting bored in my room, so I decided to take a walk and see what you were doing for fun." Jasmine walked into the room.

Michael started to close the door when someone pushed it back open. He peeked around the door and saw Cristina. "Hey."

"Oh and I brought company," called Jasmine, from the balcony.

"So I see." Michael started to close the door again, then leaned out and checked the hallway for anyone else. Seeing it was empty, he pushed the door closed.

"How come you rate a balcony?" asked Jasmine, turning around and resting her arms on the railing. "I don't rate one."

"Because you live here half the time." Michael was halfway across the room when someone knocked on the door. He sighed and walked back to the door. He yanked it open and saw Robert, Melia, and Felicity standing there. "Oh, come on in, the gang's all here. Well, not really, three are on the barge. The rest are here."

Robert and Felicity came into the room, but Melia stayed outside in the corridor for a moment, as if waiting for someone. Robert turned around. "He's not coming, Melia. Come on."

"He should. Damn it, the man's not using his head, he's making a huge mistake." Melia stood out there a moment longer, then walked in. She spared a brief glance at Michael. "Isn't he?"

"Isn't who?" asked Michael, slightly bewildered, as he pushed the door closed once again.

"Melia's babbling as usual. She keeps saying our cousin is here but with amnesia." Felicity rolled her eyes. "The woman said her name was Ariel Hathaway, Melia. Most amnesia victims don't usually remember their name."

Michael felt a chill work down his spine. "Actually..." He found he had to clear his throat. "Actually, that was the name I gave her. She looks like Ariel from that Disney movie and since Quinn's got some--" A knock sounded on the door and Michael was never more grateful for the interruption. He pulled open the door and let out a weak chuckle. "Well, speak of the devil."

Quinn looked at everyone standing in the doorway, then glanced at Michael. "What?"

Michael sighed. "Never mind."

Melia folded her arms across her chest and gave Michael a glare. "You were explaining."

"Explaining what?" came Alethea's voice from behind Quinn. She gave Quinn a little shove. "Move."

Quinn stumbled into the room and frowned at Alethea. "There's a little traffic jam here."

Robert and Felicity moved enough to let the newcomers in and for Michael to close the door. Michael cleared his throat again. "Quinn has some relations who are Hathaway. It seemed the simplest thing to do. She couldn't have come to Egypt without a passport."

Quinn narrowed his eyes. "I'd wondered..."

"You sly devil you," said Alethea. "I knew there was a dark side to you."

Michael grunted. "Darth Vader, I'm not." He turned to Melia. "She does have amnesia. She doesn't remember anything."

Felicity stared at him. "Well, damn." She glanced at Melia. "Sorry."

Melia nodded. "It's okay. I told Ramses that it threw me too. It wasn't until he showed up, that I realized the truth."

Quinn frowned and shared an uneasy look with Alethea. "He who? Does he have dark hair, hazel eyes? Almost as tall as me?"

Melia shook her head. "No, no, and no. He's blond, blue eyes. His name is Joe MacKensey."

Michael felt that chill again, racing down his spine. "Who is he?"

"Someone who cares for Cassandra very much," answered Melia. Her gold-brown eyes went to the closed door. "And yet he's throwing it all away."

"Melia," began Robert. "Don't."

Michael frowned. "Cassandra? Her name is Cassandra?"

Felicity seemed to get over her shock. "Cassandra MacFairlaigne. Her paternal grandmother and our paternal grandfather were brother and sister."

"MacFairlaigne," murmurred Michael, glancing at Quinn. "Oh my God."

Quinn looked pale underneath his newly acquired tan. "I'm seven kinds of a fool," he said in a hollow voice. "Alexander said I should talk to the man but I was afraid I'd raise his hopes. Oh God..."

Robert glanced at each man in turn. "What?" he demanded.

Quinn swallowed hard and explained how he'd seen her tumble over the railing of the bridge, how he'd pulled her from the Seine. "A man came for her, dark-haired, hazel-eyed, name of Brian Messier. He said he was her husband but she acted like she was scared to death of him. So I told him Michael and I would take care of her until she could remember one way or another. When Michael told us about the trip here, at first I didn't see the point of us all coming but after Messier showed his dangerous side, it seemed right. I went to Alexander and told him about pulling a girl from the river and he mentioned a high-profile kidnapping. The daughter of William MacFairlaigne."

Michael started for the phone. "We have to get in touch with her. Now that we know who she is, we have to tell her." He stopped before he reached for the receiver. "Shit, does anyone on the barge have a cell phone?"

Cristina shook her head. "I don't think so. We'll get to Tel al Amarna before them, we'll tell her then."

"We shouldn't tell her at all," stated Melia. "He should."

Quinn looked over at her. "This MacKensey? Why?"

"Because he loves her."

Robert sighed. "Melia--"

"You heard him, didn't you. He's torturing himself over walking out on her two times. He thinks she'll hate him."

"Maybe she will," said Michael, hoping he didn't sound too eager for that to be the case.

Melia shot him a glare. "Don't."

"Look, I told him we'd try to get him a spot on the train. It's all any of us can do, Melia," said Robert. "If he comes, he'll come. If he doesn't..." Robert let his voice trail off and he shrugged.

Melia looked close to tears. "Then he'll regret it. They both will," she snapped and left the room.

"My God," said Quinn. "It's all my fault. If I'd brought her to MacFairlaigne, none of this would have ever happened."

Michael found he resented that thought--just as much as he resented this MacKensey character. If the man walked out on Ariel--Cassandra--two times, he didn't deserve her. Then he remembered what she'd said earlier that day, about loving the man in her dream. He just wasn't having any luck today.

"Is there an earlier train to Tel al Amarna?" asked Jasmine. "If we're all so anxious to get there to tell her..."

"That's an idea," said Quinn, looking relieved. "We'll take the next train leaving the station. Robert, do know when the next train leaves?"

"I'll call," said Felicity. She pointed to Robert. "You go get Melia out of her snit, so she'll be ready to go."

Robert grunted. "I can call just as well as you. You get Melia off her high horse."

Brother and sister traded glares for a minute, then with a world-weary sigh, Felicity handed him the telephone receiver. "Fine. You owe me. Especially if I have to deal with real tears," she added, as she left the room.

Robert grinned as she closed the door behind her. "Such sisterly love."

The door swung open and Felicity gave him a hard look. "I heard that." She slammed the door closed this time.

There was silence in the room and it made Michael even more uneasy. He wanted to reach for the phone, tell Robert not to change the plans. A part of him wanted time to slow down, to freeze, so that she'd never learn the truth, never devote herself to such an unreliable person as this MacKensey. To never remember. He shoved thosed thoughts away and his hands into the pockets of his jeans. She was too close now to having all the answers to all her questions. He had no right. No right whatsoever.

***

He'd never unpacked, so there was no rush to get ready to go. He'd tried a dozen times to reach for the phone, call the airport, cash in this ticket and go on to Bulgaria but he couldn't bring his hand to pick up the receiver. Instead he paced from one end to the room, to the other, like a tethered beast, just waiting for the rope to break and free him.

Ethan was right, he knew. Walking out on Casi this last time had been a royal mistake. The worst mistake he'd ever made. She'd never want him back. He winced as her words echoed through his mind. The pain, the anger. Joe shook his head to clear it of the memories but they refused to go. He stopped pacing and sat down on the corner of the bed. She was safe, with friends, soon to be with family once again, even if she didn't remember them. He did his job, he could go on to Bulgaria, set the whole plan up to kick off Jack's latest undercover operation.

Joe didn't move from his spot on the bed, except to fall back across it and stare up at the ceiling. For a moment the ceiling faded into a dim, dark expanse floating high above him. For a moment, he was back in that cathedral, listening to the stranger telling him to ask, to seek....

Joe felt his heart skip a beat and tears fill his eyes. Oh God, he thought, then realized he wasn't being sarcastic. He rubbed his face with both hands and sat up, with a shiver. Oh God...it was an answer. He shivered again. Answered...prayer. He raised his eyes to the ceiling but was looking beyond the wood and stone. The thought of the prayer he'd halfway prayed in that cathedral being answered gave him chills as if a ghost was rubbing cold ethereal hands up and down his arms.

He got to his feet and looked at the duffle bag without really seeing it, then veered for the telephone before he even realized he'd moved. Like a sleepwalker, he picked up the receiver, asked the desk clerk about the next train to Tel al Amarna, all in a distant sort of way as if he was standing outside himself. When he got his answer, he barely managed a polite thank you before hanging up and grabbing his duffle.

He felt himself choke up, realizing this was too precious to waste it. He'd never been much on church, or prayers or anything even after all the times his parents had taken him to church, to Sunday School. All the stories had been set so long ago in a time he could never relate to. Back then it was easy to think miracles had occurred but not here, not now. He raised his eyes to the ceiling again but couldn't speak the words out loud, so he thought them: Thank you.

Then he hefted the duffle and bolted out of the room. He had just enough time to check out and get the train station before the train pulled out. The desk clerk looked curious as he rushed through the checking out process. Alan Hawkins nodded to him. "I have yet to see Mr. Quinn, sir. When I do, I will pass the message along."

"It's okay. No hurry." Joe sketched a wave and bolted through the lobby and out the front doors.

Alan watched him as Thomas Ellery looked up from his afternoon paper. "Why's he in such a rush?"

Alan shrugged. "Must be an emergency."

The desk clerk shook his head. "He asked for the next train. It can't be that much of an emergency."

Alan and Thomas shrugged and went back to their business. The desk clerk shrugged too and went back to finishing the checking out process when a group of people crowded up to his counter. He smiled. "Mr. Curtis, Ms. Curtis, Ms--"

"Hello, Geoffrey," said Melia. "We're checking out. Must catch the train."

Geoffrey nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Be done in a jiffy." In short order, he had everyone checked out and bell boys loading luggage into waiting cabs. When everyone was gone, he heaved a sigh and sat down on his stool to take a breath.

Alan leaned in the doorway of his office. "I wonder where everyone is going?"

"They're going by train," said Geoffrey. "To Tel al Amarna."

Thomas folded his paper and walked to the desk. "Rumors were flying about treasure most glorious, so Mr. Reeves devised a sneaky plan. Although I thought they weren't supposed to head out by train until later."

Alan shrugged again. "Perhaps they found they couldn't wait."

Thomas nodded and tucked his newspaper under one arm. "Perhaps, so. Good day, gentlemen."

Alan smiled. "Good day."

***

22 May 2003

Cairo, Egypt

3:01 pm

"Physical examination is getting us nowhere." Thane Sarver scrubbed his face with both hands and blinked his eyes as if he were waking up from a nap. "What now?"

Sheldon sighed. "Although we have a laboratory, we don't have the capabilities to do all the testing we need to do."

"But wouldn't some of the tests actually destroy these?" asked Ariel, gesturing to the four objects resting on the table.

"No." Sheldon turned to her. "We can scan for the properties in the metal of the chalice, for instance, allowing us to place it at the time it may have been made. It appears to be made of gold but it may be an alloy as opposed to the pure metal."

Ariel studied the chalice and frowned. "It feels wrong."

Thane glanced at her. "Feels wrong? What do you mean?"

Ariel shook her head. "I can't explain it. It just feels like it should have stayed hidden." She glanced at the steps that led up to the deck above. "How much further?"

Sheldon glanced at his watch. "At least another forty-five minutes. If you're tired, there are beds back that way. If you're hungry, help yourself."

"I think I'll go topside." Ariel scooted her chair back and stood up.

"You don't want to get overheated again," began Thane.

She kept her gaze on the steps and didn't even look his way. "I'll be fine." She started for the steps and started up them.

Thane watched her disappear topside, then looked at Sheldon. "Do you think she's acting a little strange?"

Sheldon sat there a moment, then shrugged. "Perhaps. I don't know what would qualify as a lot strange, though." He sighed. "Although...she does remind me..."

"Of who?"

"Alannah Stewart. She's married now but I don't remember the name. She's an archeologist, teaches at the Sorbonne."

Thane frowned. "How does Ariel remind you of her?"

"She looks like Alannah did at that age, I would say. Hair's darker and Alannah had beautiful blue eyes, not brown." Sheldon shrugged again. "There may be some connection, then there may not be."

Thane glanced at the steps again. "I think I need a breath of fresh air."

Sheldon arched an eyebrow at him. "And the real reason?"

Thane stood up, then sat back down. "I can't explain it. It's like without Michael here to hover over her, I feel responsible. Isn't that crazy?"

"No. I am worried that she stayed out long enough to get that overheated. Unless it was something else."

"What else could it be?"

"The brain is an amazing mystery, Thane. No one has really deciphered all it's secrets. One never knows." Sheldon pushed his chair back. "Why don't we all get some fresh air."

Thane nodded and stood up again. He followed Sheldon up the steps to the deck above. If anything, it seemed hotter than it had been earlier. Thane welcomed the breeze that swept the barge as they sailed up the Nile. These days, it wasn't the study in tactical manuvering it had been two thousand years ago and they were making good time.

The Nile was a clear deep blue against the narrow strip of rich greens on each bank. Just beyond the green was the gold of the desert sands. Thane noted they had just passed Beni Hassan. "Not long to Amarna now," said Thane.

Ariel sighed and adjusted the baseball cap on her head. The breeze made her long auburn ponytail stream behind her. "Good."

"Is something....wrong?" asked Sheldon, carefully.

Ariel glanced at him and sighed. "I don't know. I feel this sense of urgency right now and I don't know why. I feel as if I'm about to meet my destiny. Doesn't that sound absolutely crazy?"

"You said you've been here before," said Thane. "Maybe you're remembering the last time you were here."

Ariel frowned as if trying hard to remember, then she shook her head. "I don't know. I just don't know." Suddenly she spun around to look at each man in turn. "Stop doing that."

Sheldon bit back a smile. He had been sharing a questioning look with Thane behind Ariel's back. "I apologize. We're concerned about you."

"I know. And I'm sorry I bit your head off. I'm just....just antsy right now." She sighed again. "It's hot out here." Without another word, she turned around and went back below deck.

Thane glanced at Sheldon who shrugged, then they headed down the steps as well. Sheldon sighed. "Well, at least the trip won't be a bore."

Thane bit back a grin and rolled his eyes.

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The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.