Free The Moses Riddle (Thomas McAllister 'Treasure Hunter' Adventure Book 1) by Hunt Kingsbury

packed, Thomas swore there would be no more compromise. His original fury had subsided, he had learned his lesson. It was every man for himself. He would never rely on another man to determine
THE MOSES RIDDLE 55
his fate, as he had relied on Washington. It was an opportunity that he looked upon with relish, and reservation.
    Teaching at a university had been similar to playing a team sport, like baseball or soccer. Success was often determined by the other members of the team, and often the weakest link decided the fate of all. Fieldwork, and treasure hunting, were akin to golf, or even bowling. The individual alone decided his or her own fate. Thomas was finished with the team concept. His experience was proof that the lowest common denominator ruled, and that new ways of thinking were criticized. He’d always known that most original thinking, most work that challenged convention, had come from independent, entrepreneurial, enterprising minds. He vowed never again to let weak, sterile, conservative minds play a role in shaping his future.
    He would not give his next six years to building a new reputation at another university. He would strike out on his own. Now, he would go the other route . . . living and working in the field, dedicated to finding the treasures that would rewrite history.
    He would start this new life with the incredible clue he’d discovered in the Amenophis Builders Notes . There had to be a lead hidden somewhere in the temple of Unas, and he would find it. He hoped it would tell him where to find the oxen-drawn treasure that had been so heavily guarded by Moses’ men.
    Thomas’s immediate problem was money. Exploration trips were expensive. Although he was only at Stage I, if he found any clue at all it could easily turn into a costly minor expedition. He had not exactly been frugal over the past six years. He had traveled extensively, often purchasing expensive artifacts for his collection.
    Because of that, and the fact that he lived a comfortable life, he had only saved about $300,000. A hundred thousand of that was invested in stocks and another $100,000 was in a 401K account. He had $100,000 cash in a money market account. He would leave half in the money market account and he would take $50,000, open another bank account, and use that to fund his search. Hopefully, he would find something valuable to sell to recoup his expenses. Maybe he’d even generate some income. But archeological treasure hunting is extremely risky at best, and he knew he could not rely on it for any kind of monetary gain. For now, the benefit was psychological, and the trip was part of his healing process. It felt good to turn the key to his front door, solidly locking the deadbolt in place. It was comforting to see the cab waiting in the driveway.
    So he set forth, his war chest looking more like a petty cash drawer, free from his former life, fired from his job and, if not on the verge of a great discovery, at least armed with a great clue. Thomas flew towards Cairo and with every mile he thought more and more about finding treasure in Egypt and less and less about the burning in his stomach, the burning that had been there ever since he’d walked out of Dean Washington’s office.
CHAPTER 9
    Thomas arrived in Egypt ready to solve the mystery of the bearded man at the temple of Unas. He checked into his hotel and called his close Egyptian colleague, Martha Stevens. Martha and Thomas had been graduate students together at Harvard. Martha, born in Cairo, had returned to Egypt after graduate school to practice her true love, looking for undiscovered tombs in the Valley of the Kings. She had assisted Thomas on the Amenophis dig and had been only feet away when Thomas, paint brush in hand, had dusted the sand off of the first step leading down to the tomb. They had discussed that moment many times, both agreeing that nothing they had done since equaled the excitement of that first day, working with the knowledge