Mummies & Daddies (WAYHAUGHT)

Chapter 28

Mercedes Gardner poured herself a large whiskey, offering one to her brother. "I'll need that valuation list by tomorrow, no later."

Tucker raised his hand to reject the drink. "I've told her. She's working on it. I'm flying to Munich once the first pieces arrive."

"How long to get here?" Mercedes said, taking up residence on the green velvet couch opposite, studying the contents of her glass.

"The larger pieces two months, the smaller are being sent by air. I'm keen to get my hands on those cuffs, have our guy make the necessary copies."

"Don't be too greedy brother," she warned. "We don't want to flood the market."

"Only three," he replied. "I'm in contact with a potential buyer in Texas. Another in Paris for their collection. Fools think keeping everything hidden is to their benefit."

Mercedes raised her glass to salute her brother's ingenuity. "Rather than ours."

"Any news on the missing money?"

"Hardly matters."

"Are you sure that Earp bitch took it?"

"As I said, hardly matters. Whether she did, or didn't she's running scared. The Luxor raid will be pinned on her, make no mistake."

"You seem very confident given she managed to slip away."

Mercedes smiled into her glass. "Time and pressure my dear brother. Time and pressure. Plus, our cousin chose her as the next lamb in our little enterprise. A pity she resisted their advances."

"That cop bitch showing up ruined everything."

"I have to agree with you brother. Kidnapping her sister should have been enough persuasion to reveal the whereabouts of the piece she found. Time and pressure would have been in our favour."

"Max said she would have talked had she been longer in jail. They all talk eventually. A waste of our money if he's not in control of the situation."

"Time and pressure," Mercedes purred. "I'm minded to have Max's cousin meet with an accident for having her released before she started bleating like a poor little lamb."

"More than happy to arrange," Tucker offered, his smirk telling his sister he enjoyed the power that came with running a black market operation worth millions.

Mercedes took a sip of her whiskey. "Actually, it's that Earp bitch who needs the lesson. Find her address in Chicago. Have our men pay a little visit."

---

Dolls rose early, needing to get to the airport for his return flight to Cairo. He would have preferred to stay in Luxor for a few more days to take photos of the mysterious boxes being offloaded from fruit delivery trucks into the warehouse. His FBI bosses decided otherwise. With seventeen cases already on his desk he couldn't prioritise this one over the others.

The battle to stop those determined to steal ancient artifacts was never ending, case after case after case arriving, each one important, each one needing time to be unpacked. The FBI had a two-pronged approach, tackle the root of the problem by capturing those who stole the items, while raiding private collections where those stolen items eventually turned up. Both were difficult, both were hampered in their own way.

Corruption was rife in countries such as Egypt, those prepared to steal, or subvert the system, easily paid off by the bigger people higher up the chain. The Gardners of this world were by no means the only rich family doing it. The FBI rarely got a lead such as the one Nicole was able to provide, her keen observation coupled with Wynonna's memories leading Dolls to the very warehouse being used by those in the pay of the Gardners to move the stolen items out of the country.