Free The Arab Fall (A James Acton Thriller, Book #6) (James Acton Thrillers) by J. Robert Kennedy Page B

someone?”
    She
shook her head. “No.”
    “Then
how did you get it?” asked Fadil, still on the floor, having pushed himself to
a sitting position, but apparently not trusting his legs to keep him afoot.
    “I stole
it.”
    Fadil
laughed, and even Tarik had to admit it sounded absurd. How could she have
possibly stolen it? He looked at her, and she at him, and he could see
immediately that she was serious.
    “How?”
he asked. “When?” It didn’t make any sense. If she stole it, then that meant
she had entered the tomb, but the tomb was guarded by one of The Brotherhood at
all times. He looked at his brother, Fadil, who had named their small
organization The Brotherhood just last week, thinking it appropriate since it
had been founded by three brothers, and now consisted of trusted men who were
devout believers in the gods, and refused to abide by the false gods the Romans
would have them worship. They were traditionalists, all of them, and The
Brotherhood had sworn to protect the ancient artifacts, the ancient tombs, from
those who would loot or destroy them.
    The
Brotherhood.
    It
sounded so lonely to him now, and as he looked at Dalila, he suddenly realized
it was Fadil himself who had said women shouldn’t be allowed in the
organization, as they couldn’t be trusted. Both Tarik and Jabari had thought
the notion ridiculous, after all, the entire idea was inspired by wanting to
protect their Queen’s final resting place.
    He
sighed, looking again at Dalila.
    “Please
explain it to us.”
    She
nodded, staring at her hands as they clasped and unclasped in her lap. “One
night, a week ago, Fadil was guarding the tomb, and I went with him. My darling
husband was tired, so I told him to sleep, told him that I would watch in his
stead.” She looked at her husband, her eyes pleading with him to forgive her,
but he could only stare at her in horror, his wide eyes and slightly open mouth
revealing only the shock of betrayal.
    “I was
restless, so I went for a walk, then heard voices. I came upon two men coming
out of a crevice. Too afraid to confront them, for I only had a dagger, I hid
amongst the stones, then waited for them to leave, their horse loaded with
goods. But—” Her voice faltered.
    “But?”
encouraged Tarik.
    “But
instead of getting my husband, my curiosity won out, and I slipped into the
crevice they had emerged from, and followed the path. It opened into a large
array of underground caves, carved out by the gods eons ago. I followed the
footprints on the cave floor, and found they had dug a hole deeper inside. I
climbed through and found our Pharaoh’s tomb. It had been ransacked”—all three
brothers exchanged shocked looks at this statement—“and I immediately checked
her sarcophagus. It had been pried open, but not completely. Apparently they
planned on coming back. I remembered the necklace you, my sweet brother-in-law,
had crafted with your own hands, and needed to know if it was still inside. I
reached in, and felt it, but instead of leaving it, I for some reason pulled it
off her body, and ran with it. I couldn’t help it! I don’t know why I did it,
but I felt I had to have it! To possess it! It was something so much more
beautiful than we could ever afford!”
    “But you
would never be able to wear it!”
    “Oh, but
I did! I wore it all the time when alone, and when I did, I felt like a queen.”
Her voice had become full of life again, the Dalila they had all known and
loved, revealed as the greedy, wealth obsessed desecrator she was.
    “You
knew I was improving our position, it would just take time,” cried Fadil,
finally pushing himself to his feet. “You wanted for nothing. I gave you
everything I could, including jewels I could barely afford, yet, yet—!”
    He
couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence, instead spinning on his heel and
walking away.
    Tarik
stepped forward as Jabari went to comfort their brother. “You must have
realized the punishment if