CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

"He's out there," she said, looking at the rest of the team in the boardroom. "My father is out there, and quite possibly, so is Dr. Goldmeir and some of the others. Whatever he found in there, he's about to announce to the world and cash in on it. I want to find him and expose what he's done."

"Elena, do you believe he was capable of killing the others on the dig site? Efram said that all except him are dead," said Luke.

"If you'd asked me that a month ago, I would have clawed your eyes out," she smirked. She sobered, shaking her head. "I don't, Luke. It's obvious that I didn't really know my father at all. I do think that if Daphne suspects the items are being held at the auction house, we need to try and find them. I can't verify what they are unless I see them."

"Nope," said Major.

"Major…"

"Nope. I love you, Elena, and there will be very few times in our marriage that I am absolute about saying ‘no.' This is one of them. You're not flying to London, you're not digging into that warehouse, and you're damn sure not going to chase bad guys when you're still in the first trimester of your pregnancy."

"He's right, honey," said Hex. "It would be foolish to risk your life that way. We can dig into this and have you here in the comms center telling us what we're seeing. You'll still be involved."

"I want to face my father," she said, staring at the men.

"You can face him – virtually," said Major. "I know it's not ideal, but if he's in London, you will be here."

"I have to agree with them, Elena. I would have died in Tibet had the team not been there to guide me, protect me, tell me all the things I didn't know. You're a brilliant woman on many subjects, but the machinations of madmen is not one of them," smiled her mentor and friend.

"May, I know all of that, but he's my father. Mine. I want him to look me in the eye and tell me why."

"Elena, I think you already know the answer to that. He wanted his big win. His big find." May looked at everyone, then stood, moving closer to her. "I did some research on your last dig, the one that Roderick used against you. It wasn't just getting you out of the dig sites, Elena. If everything we know is true about your father, he needed the site that you were working in."

She looked down at the maps of the dig sites, then the area where her father's last site was. They were close. Definitely close. If she had dug to the left, she might have hit an outer tunnel for the tunnel that her father was in. She'd never even made the connection before.

"Alright," she said, resolving herself to the fact that she wouldn't be going to London. "Alright. I'll trust all of you and Daphne to find this. When you find my father, I want to see his face and have a conversation with him."

"We promise, Elena," smiled Brix.

"And Brix? Don't lose out on Daphne. She's the most amazing woman I know, and I'm certain that she cares for you as well." He smiled at her, leaving the others as he went to begin gathering the gear they would need. Eric looked at the team, nodding.

"Okay, Major, Brix, Sebastian, Forrest, Alistair, and Garr. Take all the toys you need and take Doc, just in case. Find the artifacts, protect the girl, and find her damn father."

"What do you mean she knows I'm alive?"

"Listen, I'm sorry. She showed up at the university with a bunch of beefy, oversized bodyguards, and she was pissed. They knew all of it. Everything."

"That damn wife of mine. She gave her the journal. They cannot know what's in that auction house. I have to be able to present this as my finding. Mine alone."

"It wasn't just yours," said Roderick with a whiney tone. "Goldmeir and the others helped. I helped."

"Are you joking?" he laughed. "You didn't help. You kept my daughter away, which is what you wanted anyway. You knew that she was better than you, more intelligent than you in every way, and you wanted her gone. I helped you, not the other way around."

"You killed the others," said Roderick in a low voice.

"I didn't kill anyone," he laughed. "You really are getting old and senile, Roderick. You might want to think about taking a long sabbatical. Far, far away."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Of course not. I'm a friend, making a suggestion."

"Need I remind you that you're a dead friend who will need me when you suddenly appear alive and well," said Roderick. "I'm all you have left."

"Actually, you're the only one left who knows all the details," he laughed. "Interesting, isn't it? You're all alone, not certain if you can trust me or not. But you're the only thing standing between me, fame, fortune, and a life that I deserve."

"I hate that I ever let you convince me to get involved," said Roderick.

"It didn't take much convincing," smiled Fayek. "You were desperate, as I recall. Your dig was getting nowhere. You were losing funding. You had quite a gambling debt with a Tunisian who was amused. You needed me, not the other way around."

"I'm done. Leave me alone. Send me what you owe me, and we'll part ways. I want nothing more to do with this. Your daughter is happy. She's married."

There was silence on the other end of the line, and Roderick waited for that to sink in.

"Who? Who did she marry?"

"I don't know who he is. But she's happy and living in the states now. She's far away from you and all your games. Leave it alone, Fayek. Just do what you have to do for yourself but leave her alone. She's suffered enough."

"Maybe. Maybe I need to speak with my representative at the auction house. We might want to move up the reveal."

"Whatever," said Roderick in frustration. "Just leave me out of it." Fayek laughed, the sound sending chills down Roderick's back.

"Take care of yourself, old friend. Accidents happen at your age."