Page 132 of Sands of Sirocco
Jack sucked a breath in between his teeth.“You should have shot Stephen in the desert when you had a chance.”
Noah let out a sardonic laugh.“And that’s whatIhave to regret.”Noah held his gaze.“I’ll be fine, Jack.Just focus on getting your health back for now.And enjoy your time with Sarah.She may not be Kit, but I think she’d make you happy.”The great love of Jack’s life wasn’t a name he dared to mention often.But Jack seemed to take it in stride.
“People like Sarah and me—we don’t get to pick that sort of happy.But I think we’ll enjoy our time together regardless.”Jack’s eyes gleamed.“You’re the lucky son of a bitch.”
Noah sat back in his chair, the weight of his discussion with Jack hanging over him.
Jack couldn’t know the darkness of his thoughts, the blackness his soul had felt recently.And Noah wouldn’t tell him, either.Even Jack couldn’t help him there.
Then Noah thought of the woman who’d literally borne his weight on her shoulders, to save him, to keep him safe.
A smile curled Noah’s lips.“I can’t argue with that.”
At the entranceto the Hypogeum, they disembarked, and Jack paid the driver extra to wait for them to return.Ginger turned toward the entrance, which seemed almost unremarkable compared to the structures she’d grown accustomed to seeing in Egypt.The way to the Hypogeum was marked with wooden signs, and a few other tourists milled about in the area.
“Will we be able to access the area where Paul left the paperwork?”Ginger asked Sarah.There were a few guards posted, but nothing looked very official.
Sarah shrugged.“I don’t know.But I’m sure we can come up with something if not.”
They stepped through a roughly hewn entrance cut into stone.It revealed another doorway beyond that, with curved stone ceilings and remarkably straight pylons on either side of the open doorway.Ginger arched a brow at Jack.“This reminds me a bit of the Serapeum.”
“I didn’t choose that by accident, Red.When I guessed the cipher would lead here, I decided I’d rather not be stuck in Malta.Of course, I assumed my best friend was trying to break me out of prison.”He gave Noah a teasing smirk.
The stone pathways were straight and flat, resembling a prehistoric temple of squared archways and chambers.Swirls in red ochre decorated some walls, and skeletal remains jutted out amongst the stones.
“I had every intention of going back for you right away,” Noah said to Jack.
“But you didn’t.”Jack raised both hands with a shrug.
“Keep your voice down,” Ginger hissed, even though she noticed the twitch in Noah’s smile.“You’ve forgotten how to behave in public, Lieutenant Darby.”
“I haven’t forgotten anything, Red.”Jack’s eyes shot to Noah.“Least of all how I rotted in a prison trying decipher Greek codes while dying of malaria while my friend was busy getting married and rescuing some other girl.”
The sarcastic tease was in form for Jack, but Ginger winced inwardly.Didn’t he know how guilty Noah felt about that?She’d have to tell him later, if not.
“Coptic,” Sarah corrected with a lift of her brow.
“Whatever.It’s all Greek.You’re a genius or insane.Either way, marry me.”Jack gave her a wink as they moved further underground.
“I’m never getting married again.”Sarah pulled her notes from her bag, checking them against the light of an oil lamp set on the pathway.“I think we’re close.But we may draw less attention to ourselves if I go on my own.In case someone comes by and wonders why I’m inspecting the crevices in the stone.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jack said.Sarah offered no argument and they pressed onward, as Ginger and Noah hung back.
Ginger watched as their shadows faded.“Do you think Jack cares for her?”
“Maybe.He’s had his heart set on someone unobtainable for years.”
Ginger’s heart squeezed with sadness for him.Jack deserved to be happy.
Noah’s gaze fixed on the ochre paintings on a wall.“This is one of the oldest known manmade structures ever discovered.Likely built almost two thousand years before the pyramids at Giza.”
She studied his profile.“Do you think you’ll ever go back to archeology?”
Noah’s jaw tightened, and he didn’t meet her gaze.“Truth is a blunt instrument.I was fooled into believing my importance, manipulated into actions I can’t take back.The man I was is dead, Ginger.”
His words brought her chills.She touched his cheek, gently, drawing his face to the side so that she could meet his eyes.“He’s not dead to me.Or Jack.Or even Sarah, for that matter.”
Noah’s lips parted as though to reassure her, then he paused.He gave the hint of a sad smile, then nodded.They stood in silence, the air around them still and cool.
