CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

"I love you, Elena, but listen to me, and listen good. You will not put yourself under stress, you will not get excited, you will not get near him without me." Major stared at her seated beside him in the SUV. The jet landed at a private airstrip with Elena, Major, Brix, Sebastian, and Forrest. From there, they headed to Penn, knowing that Dr. Roderick Weathers was in a lecture hall for the next hour.

Elena was so anxious she wanted to leap from the vehicle as it was still moving. Sebastian opened the door for her, taking her hand and squeezing.

"Not without us, sweetheart. We will be between you and him at all times. Don't run, don't jump, don't do anything without us." He smiled at her, then kissed her forehead to let her know she had support.

"I understand," she nodded. "I won't risk me or the baby. Or any of you."

"Fucking glad to hear that, but don't worry about us," frowned Major.

The campus of Penn was absolutely stately. The beautiful buildings, landscaping, and the feeling of being on historic grounds were nearly overwhelming. Any other time, it would have been a lovely little adventure for them. Not today.

Entering the building wrote down from the information they'd gathered, they walked the long hallway, Elena in the center of their protective ring.

They quietly opened the doors to the lecture hall, the asshole at the front of the room trying to charm his students.

"The excitement and utter pleasure of seeing something for the very first time that no one else has touched in thousands of years is quite liberating!" he exclaimed. Young women giggled, practically swooning at the silver-haired man. He looked up to see the strangers and waved for them to be seated.

"Please take a seat. I welcome guests," he said with a British accent. Elena moved to the front, and the professor froze. His jaw dropped open, and they could see his face turning red from the back of the room. He was not pleased to see her.

"Don't let him fool you, ladies. He's not from England. He's from Arkansas originally. He's quite adept at fooling others. It's a game he plays very well."

"I-I think class is over," he said calmly. "I'll see you next week."

As the room slowly emptied, the students made sure they went around the huge men and one very angry-looking woman. Whispering to one another, they were unsure of what the strangers were doing in their lecture, but they weren't about to interfere.

"Elena. It's lovely to see you." He fidgeted with his papers, gathering them and organizing them into a neat stack.

"Don't be any more of an asshole than you already are, Roderick. You ruined my career. Ruined it, and you very conveniently never bothered to tell me that you ran the dig that entered my father's tunnel from the opposite side."

He froze, closing his books and quickly gathering the rest of his things.

"If you think you're leaving this room without giving an explanation, you're dead-ass wrong," said Sebastian. "I've been reading up on mummification. It would be horrible to be mummified alive, don't you think? I mean, I'll knock you out before I do it, but when you wake, you're gonna be screamin' at the top of your lungs."

"I-I have another class," he stammered.

"No, you don't," said Major. "Explain. Now."

"Why did you ruin my career?" asked Elena. "I deserve to know."

"I was paid. Don't ask me who paid me. I don't know. I was in debt, and I needed money to continue the dig. Someone sent me a letter asking me to divert you. To do anything to keep you away from the dig sites. They offered me five hundred thousand dollars."

"You ruined my career for money?" she snapped, starting to move forward. Major never even looked down at her. Just grabbed her waist and lifted her off her feet, setting her back down behind him.

"Who was it?" asked Major.

"I told you I don't know. They sent the letter. I agreed, and when it was done, I had a certified cashier's check in my mailbox."

"And what if they hadn't paid you, fuckhead?" said Brix. He opened his mouth to speak and then just shook his head.

"Why were you digging on the opposite side of my father's grave? Answer me now, or so help me God, I will shoot you right here and now."

"I wasn't digging!" he yelled. They all looked at him, waiting for an explanation. "I wasn't digging. I opened the dig under my name because the person who was digging couldn't."

"You opened a dig site for a nonprofessional? Who? Who did you do this for?" she asked.

"Elena don't ask me this," he pleaded.

"Don't ask? I deserve to know. I'm so sick of lies and secrets, secrets and lies. My parents, then just my mother, the dig teams, you! Who!" she screamed at him. Major placed a hand on her shoulder, calming her shaking body.

"Your father."

"I can't believe it," she said for the tenth time. "I just can't believe it. He faked his death. He let me suffer, grieve all because of a dig!"

"Honey, we'll figure this out. If he's still out there, we'll find him," said Major.

"He's out there. He's out there and has been screwing with my life for the last five years. He let me believe that he'd died in that dig. He killed his team."

"Look, I know it seems overwhelming right now, but give us some time to get through all of this. Maybe your father has a good reason," said Forrest. She stared at him, rolling her eyes. Then she started to cry.

"What good reason, Forrest? What good reason would you have to fake your death with your family, your friends, your colleagues? What was in that tunnel that was so important he had to leave us, leave me?"

Forrest gripped her hand, Major holding the other.

"I don't know, Elena. I wish I knew the answer to that. But if your father is still alive, we're going to find him and figure out what the fuck he took out of that tunnel."

"It obviously meant more to him than me and my mother," she sniffed. "Whatever it was, I want him to answer for killing those people. Roderick said that Goldmeir was part of it and two of the original dig personnel. If they're alive, I want all of them to pay for it."

"I think what we need to know is how does he think he's going to publicize these discoveries when everyone around the world believes he's dead, they're dead. I mean, unless they've all had plastic surgery, are they going to tell people they've been living in that damn tunnel for twenty years?" Elena shook her head, unsure of what to say.

"I don't know. But I know that he's going to look me in the eyes and give me an explanation, or I'm going to give all of you permission to kick his ass."

"I'd volunteer for that job," smirked Brix. "I hate to ask this, honey, but what about your mother? I mean, she sent that journal, so she knew some of this. Do you think she knew that your father was still alive?"

"Now, that's a great question," she said, taking out her phone. She dialed the number, not caring what time it was on the other side of the world. "Mother."

"Elena. I assume you got the journal."

"Did you know?"

"Know what, Elena?"

"Don't play stupid with me, Mother. I'm sick of this. Did you know that Father was alive?"

There was utter silence on the other end of the line, and Major held up a finger, telling her to be patient and wait it out.

"I knew. We agreed it was best. He would allow me to move on with my life. I could collect what little life insurance was available and start new, fresh. He hated leaving you."

"But he did. He didn't hate it so much that he didn't actually fucking leave me!" she screamed.

"Don't speak to me that way! I'm your mother, and I deserve some respect. Do you know how many times I wanted to tell you about your precious father, your idol? Do you? Do you understand what it was like to watch you worship everything about him, knowing what kind of man he really was?"

"You didn't seem to mind at all, Mother," she said calmly. "You were more than happy to move on with your life, send me to boarding schools, ignore that I grew up without a father."

"This is a waste of conversation. I don't know how you found out but just leave it alone, Elena. He'll bury himself once again."

"No. No, that's where you're wrong, Mother. I'm going to bury him."