The Third Relic: Jackpot! Part 3

With the relic in hand, I needed to get out of the pyramid.

When I emerged from the Tomb of Death after four days, the sun beamed down on my body. You tend to appreciate those moments when you think you won't see them again.

Took me about an hour on my scooter to get to the marketplace, where I wanted to find Layla and the children.

When I got there it seemed deserted, but I had one question on the brain -- where were the children?

"Guess what --"

"You got the relic. Amazing!"

"Yeah, I got the relic --"

"What's the matter, you seem subdued."

"I am. Because the relic is not what I came to Egypt for. I came for the children. Where are they?"

"With their father in the marketplace."

"You released them to him?"

"He threaten me with my life."

I nodded my head. "I left them in your hands, not his."

"Last I saw them they were in the bookstore with him."

I knew that was the next place I had to go.

I went over to the bookseller's section of the market and sure enough, there he was. Samir Amin was not a particularly large man, but he seemed like the kind of man capable of running a covert multinational operation.

Samir looked at me. In his best Simlish he said, "So you are Dr. Savannah Plumb. The children have told me a lot about you."

"Have they?" I asked.

"But my spies are telling me even more. One thing they tell me is that you filled out paperwork to adopt them."

"I did, yes."

"Why you fill out papers when they have parents?"

"When I found the children, they were disheveled and left alone all the time. In my country that constitutes child abuse and is grounds for removal from the home."

"Well, we are not in your country anymore, are we?"

"International standards still apply. Besides, children shouldn't be left unattended, regardless of the situation."

"My children are fine!" Samir raised his voice towards me in a way that pierced the still desert air.

"I tell you one thing. If you as much as lift a finger towards Imsety or Satis, I will personally kill you. I am not leaving here without them, and that's that!"