SIXTY-ONE

The three of us lay either on the floor or on a bunk bed, with Luis lazily sipping a diet cola, me spraying whipped cream into my mouth, and Mack looking earnestly at his phone.

He turned back to us then said,"Guys, we have no way of knowing all the horrifying things that man has been doing to the girls, all we do know is that we have to get them back before he loses interest in their lives."

The two of us walked closer as Mack said,"We're getting them back this time..."

"...or we die trying."Mack said.

The excitement in me rose to dangerously high levels as I did the stupidest thing I had ever done in their presence, I placed my hand down then said,"Hands in."

"What?"Mack asked,"No..."

"You just do it....for good luck."I said.

I looked at Luis and gave him an encouraging smile, then he smacked my nose hard with the back of his hand.

My nose was still bleeding as I packed my bags and we made our way to the door, then we heard someone say,"I'm coming too."

Luis abruptly turned to see Lucy, then asked,"What?! No way! It's too dangerous!"

"And yet there you go, I could help, I want to help, to help save my daughter and sisters in law."Lucy begged.

Luis looked at her, then said,"No."

"Lucy, you just gave birth, you should stay as safe as possible and with the children."I said as we left.

She sighed then there was a bang and the doorknob exploded below Luis' hand.

He looked at Lucy, who spun the gun and blew on it, surprised as she said,"It's not only you who has their way with the slinger."

He took a step forward and I had no idea what to expect, till he snatched the gun from her hand and said,"Please, keep away from this, I don't ever want you to feel what I felt."

"But it isn't right for you to feel it either."She said.

He then kissed her gently on the lips and walked off, was that a yes?

At the planning table, Mack was spinning a chopstick between his fingers while casually sitting on a chair and I was contact juggling a ball, while Luis said,"Okay, our first step is finding where Forthhold is."

"Maybe we could hack into a military satellite?"I asked.

"Or ask of the police force?"Mack said.

"All of which are bright ideas, except for the fact that I'm still on probation and the police wouldn't accept the claims against a president that half the world's female population is crushing on without solid evidence."

"I already know where he is."

We all looked at Lucy.

"He has been going around the world, bidding over, smuggling and stealing priceless artefacts, ancient Egyptian artefacts, due to his democratic immunity in thirty- six countries, his large population of die hard fans, workers in the police force and his way with words, he is, as far as the law is concerned, just an innocent man interested in the finest collectibles. Recently, he took King Tut's personal dagger from a military site in Arizona by playing with the military commanders' minds then took all of this to the Sahara desert, where he's building something...a palace."

We all looked at her, shocked, then Luis asked,"How do you know all this?"

"As a world renowned actress I go a lot of places and meet a lot of people, as such, I may not have many true friends, but do have a lot of people owing me favours or that...still have hearts for me, I simply had to ask."

Luis smirked and pulled her by the waist then asked,"Cleopatra and Nefertiti may have ruled then, but you, are a queen whose reign will never end."

She smiled as Mack and I gave him google eyes, then we got back to the map Lucy had found a way to get from space.

We got over the plan as Lucy told me of her inside source's info, we had about a fortnight till he did something bad to them, so we had to hurry.

***

"She told the truth."He said flatly.

She started shivering as he came closer to her but she screamed and yelled for him to leave her alone, she kept hitting him, scratching him and doing everything she could just to keep him away, but in the end, he hugged her and she cried silently in his arms as he said,"Their sacrifice will be for a much greater purpose, I don't want any of my daughters to cry, and I'm sorry."

She looked at him as he swept her off her feet and carried her towards their quarters, where he summoned Ruby and Lucille, who came out obediently, as he said he was going out with them, to where? Only the sun will know, he said.

He walked out with them and placed them into a jeep, with no security, no escorts, no one as he began driving ahead.

Lucille looked over the sand dunes then said,"I don't remember seeing this in any of the Egypt Tours brochures."

"That's because it isn't."Rose said,"Where are you taking us?"

Their father looked at them from the corner of his eyes, then smirked and said,"To your palace."

"What are you talking about?"Ruby asked.

He chuckled then said,"You'll see."

***

Luis had been hard at work, making all sorts of gizmos and whizzes that we may need.

I walked by him as he sat, concentrated on the solutions and laboratory equipment before him.

I opened my mouth to speak but while gently spinning a test tube and without looking back, he said,"I'm working on a virus which would invade and devour your body from the inside, if you don't want it's work to be easier, I'd advice you to run away, don't look back and don't breathe."

"Whatcha doing?"

He groaned then slammed his hands on the table and asked,"What do you want?"

"I want to help."

"You could help by burying yourself alive and not crawling back out to haunt me with your stupid questions."

I frowned then said,"You aren't the only one who has something at stake here, you may care only about Lucille but she is my niece, Ruby's a close, if not best friend and Rose is my girlfriend, sometimes, people just want to help, not to murder you, you know."

I walked away, then came back after a few seconds of him not talking, then asked,"Whatcha doing?"

"You stupid son of a b..."