CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

"It's definitely a bomb," said Major, "but it's crudely made. This isn't something that a weapons expert would design. I'm not sure Burkhard would have done this."

"Can you disarm it?" asked the general.

"I'll need your bomb experts as well," said Major, "but yes, I can disarm it."

They cleared the area around the small storage shed and watched as Major donned his bomb gear. Two young Egyptian officers were beside him, carefully moving toward the device. Leif watched as his friend knelt with the young men, speaking low and soft as they discussed the best way to disarm the bomb.

They examined it carefully, then cut three wires, removing it from the side of the building. Walking toward the others, he had the bomb in his hand.

"Whoa, brother. I love that you like the boom-boom shit like Uncle Miller, but I'm not a fan," said Sebastian.

"It wasn't armed," said Major, pushing back the mask. He was sweating profusely in the intense heat of the region and the beating sun on the tarmac. "It's all set, ready to go, but it wasn't armed. Either someone was coming back to arm it, or they didn't know what they were doing."

"We can't be that lucky twice," said Leif. "Spread out. Look for similar devices."

"I'm going to reach out again to Burkhard," said Major. "I need this guy to just tell us what he gave her. If we knew what we were looking for, we could stop it."

As the others spread out once again, Major changed his sweat-drenched clothing and contacted Hiro again to find Burkhard. He waited patiently, then saw the unknown number again.

"You're making a habit of this," said the German.

"If you'd help me, I'd leave you alone," said Major.

"We both know that's a lie. I'm not the kind of man you'll leave alone. You'll chase me to the ends of the earth. I know who you are. What you are. I've done my own homework."

"Then you know that I can't walk away from this. Farah is crazy. Certifiable. She needs help, and not even her family will give it to her. I'll worry about that later, but I can't let her kill thousands, if not millions, of innocent people."

"I hardly think the Egyptian people are innocent."

"Is that you searching for justification?" asked Major. He was met with silence but held his own, waiting patiently for a response. "Let me try something else. Why is she obsessed with breaking into the tombs? What is there that she wants?"

"You already know the answer to that. She wants the DNA of the most significant kings and queens. She believes she is a direct descendant."

"I can hear it in your voice that you don't believe that bullshit. She attempted to break into two different tombs last night and the museum. She wasn't successful, which tells me that you're no longer with her."

"I appreciate the note of confidence," chuckled the man. "No. I am no longer with the princess. As I said, we have ended our business relationship."

"Then help me to stop this. I know who you are, Burkhard. I know what you do. We'll save that conversation for another day and time. But whatever you've given to her, whatever you supplied to her, is going to kill everyone in its path. You've hired men for her…"

"I didn't."

"What?" asked Major, somewhat confused.

"I didn't hire the men. She hired them. She throws money out and catches fish. Sometimes, it's prize salmon; other times, it's bottom feeders. She has a mix of both, but they are not men I hired, nor would I."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," said Major. "Then these men could be as unstable as she is. Listen, I don't know if you have a family, a wife, children. I don't know any of that, but I can't for one moment fathom that you wish to see innocent people die."

"I'm in the arms business. I see innocent people die all the time," he said coldly.

"No, you don't. You sell weapons. You don't stick around to see the end result. Just help me out here. Throw me a carrot. What did you sell her?"

There was utter silence on the other end of the phone. It was disturbing, but Major didn't want to break the moment. If Burkhard could just consider for a moment what he'd done, he might help him.

Farah was out of control because of her insanity. Her belief of her right to control Egypt was unstable at best. But her willingness to kill, start a war, and then create chaos was sick.

"I'm just asking for some help, Burkhard. What did you sell her?"

"Everything."