Fireworks: Riley Read online

  Bekhit paused at that request, and Riley could tell by the look in his eyes that Walker wouldn’t be coming back to his family. And that if Bekhit had his way none of them would be returning home at the end of the dig. Anger knotted in the pit of his stomach and his hand fisted at his side, but he forced himself to relax.

  “Sure, my friend. A good idea.” Bekhit moved to the open tent area where they’d laid out the new finds from the day before. “You’ve been quite busy. This is an excellent amount of progress.”

  “We finished clearing out Sector C.”

  “Any luck opening Sector D?”

  “Not yet,” Riley lied. “As you know, we’ll only get one chance at opening the chamber door, and we want to make sure we do it correctly. We haven’t deciphered the code.”

  “He’s lying,” Jay said, appearing from his own tent. A gun was held loosely in his hand and rested at his side. “He’s cracked the code. Or I should say Walker cracked the code and left it for him in the back of the journal. I knew you recognized what it was when you took the journal from me yesterday. I’m familiar with the numerical code he used too, Dr. MacKenzie.”

  Riley shrugged, knowing now the game was over. “Good for you, kid. But knowing how to recognize the code doesn’t mean that you could decipher it. Otherwise you wouldn’t have tried to get into the sealed door by yourself. And just because I do know the code doesn’t mean I have the book.”

  “I followed you into Quadrant D. I watched you open the door.”

  “Like I said, so what? If you were standing there then you should’ve noticed I didn’t come back out with the book. What did you do with Walker? I saw the blood.”

  “He is dead,” Bekhit said, shrugging. “I knew he’d broken the code. He’s not nearly as good of a liar as you are. So we took him on a little field trip to see if he’d test it out. But his constitution was stronger than one might think.”

  Riley barely spared a glance at the weapon Bekhit pointed at him. He was too busy praying that Maggie would stick to the plan and stay hidden inside the tent.

  “If you want the book then you can go get it yourself,” Riley said.

  “You will get it for me or I will cut little pieces off your wife. Do you understand me?”

  “Fine, but like I said, I don’t have the book. It wasn’t in the sealed room.”

  “I told you already he’s lying,” Jay broke in. “He has the book. I heard them talking about it last night.”

  “Excellent,” Bekhit said. “That saves us time and much trouble. Get the book, Dr. MacKenzie and we’ll kill you quickly.”

  “That’s a tempting offer, Bekhit, but I’m going to have to pass. Jay needs to get better at eavesdropping. I don’t have the book. And from what I could see it’s not in the sealed room.”

  “Bullshit,” Jay said, taking a few steps closer and pointing the gun in his hand at Riley. His hand wasn’t steady like Bekhit’s, and Riley knew instinctively he was the one to worry about.

  Sam’s body tensed, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice, but Riley didn’t spare his a second glance. He’d have to trust his friend to have his back.

  “I don’t know what you overheard, but it wasn’t that I have the Book of Souls,” Riley said, letting his aggravation show. “It wasn’t inside sector D. And believe me, we looked. You’re chasing a legend. A myth. It doesn’t exist.”

  “If you don’t have it, then you won’t mind if we search your things?” Bekhit asked.

  “Sure. Go ahead.”

  Before Jay could take a step a shot rang out from inside his tent and Bekhit dropped onto his knees. He dropped his gun to staunch the flow of blood coming from his upper thigh.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Sam said to Jay as he came to his feet, the weapon trained steady on Jay. “Drop your weapon and get down on your knees.” Jay tossed his gun into the sand and did as Sam asked.

  Riley held his gun steady on Bekhit and walked closer to the wounded man. “I forgot to mention my wife was in the tent. She doesn’t like people going through our things. But she’s a hell of a shot. Pretty cool, right? She was one of those privileged rich kids that grew up shooting for sport. It comes in handy on occasion.”

  “Thank you, darling,” Maggie said, coming out to join him. “And I don’t mean to be dramatic, but we should probably get the hell out of Egypt before this place is swarming with soldiers and looters.”

  “I always said your wife was beautiful and brilliant,” Sam said, leaning down to pick up Jay’s weapon. “I say we truss these guys up, leave them for the buzzards, and catch the first flight out. I’m sure Cambodia wouldn’t mind if I showed up a few days early.”

  “I’ve never been to Cambodia,” Maggie said.

  “No offense, but you’re not going to be there this time either. Lord, you guys are loud. I’m going to have to bleach my eyes and ears to get those sounds and images out of my head.”

  “I always love getting together with you, Sam,” Maggie said, her face flushed red with embarrassment. “We should do it again real soon.”

  “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but none of us are going to Cambodia. The smartest thing for us to do is head to the UK and immediately go to the press. Publicity is our only way out of this mess. We’ve got all of our documentation on the finds, and Sam had the video camera rolling during Bekhit’s confession of Walker’s murder. Not to mention we’re the only ones who have deciphered the code to get into Sector D. By the time we’re done with the press we won’t ever have to worry about retaliation from Bekhit or the Egyptian government. And they’re going to want to be real nice to us if they want to get into that room any time soon.”

  “You put the book back in the room?” Maggie asked.

  “While you were sleeping,” he nodded. “It brings danger to those who possess it. So they’re welcome to keep it. You and I have something precious that needs our protection.”

  Maggie’s smile was radiant as she looked at him, the love shining in her eyes. “You felt it?” she asked.

  “I did. It was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever experienced. To actually feel life created.”

  “Have you guys been doing drugs?” Sam called out. “You’re sounding a little crazy.”

  “Shut up, Sam,” they both said in unison.

  Maggie took his hand and placed it on her stomach. “I love you, Riley MacKenzie. Thank you for giving me our babies.”

  He went to smile and then her words penetrated. “Wait a second. What do you mean, babies?”

  EPILOGUE

  Maggie considered herself a patient woman. Really, she did. But sometimes the MacKenzies tested that patience right to the edge of the canyon, until she wanted to push them all off.

  “All I’m saying,” Cooper MacKenzie said, bringing in a stack of blankets into the bedroom, “is that you could’ve planned a little better.”

  Sweat glistened on her brow and her hands fisted against the sheets. “I’m going to get out of this bed and kill you, Cooper MacKenzie.”

  “I’d like to see you try, darling.” He gave her a wolfish grin and winked. “What I was going to say, before you so rudely interrupted with your puny threat, is that having a baby during a February blizzard in Montana isn’t the best idea.”

  “If she can’t get out of the bed to kill you, then I’m duty bound as her sister-in-law to help her out,” Claire said, following her husband into the room and shoving him in the back. “It’s not like babies send out an invitation when they’re ready to come. And she’s two weeks early.”

  “She’s progressing fast,” Charlotte said from the side of the bed. She held Maggie’s hand as another contraction seized her whole body. “She’s barely been in labor an hour and already the contractions are one on top of the other. I was in labor for thirty-six hours with Jayden.”

  “I feel like I have to push,” Maggie said, panting.

  “I imagine so,” Cooper said. “It looks like you swallowed a semi. I’ve never s
een anyone so big in my life.”

  “Shut up, Cooper, or you’ll be sleeping in the barn with the horses,” Claire said, giving him a dirty look.

  He laughed and pulled her in for a quick kiss and then smacked her on the bottom. The entire MacKenzie family was practically crammed into the room with her. All except for the one person she needed to be there.

  “I don’t know if I can wait,” she said, groaning through another contraction. “Where the hell is he?”

  “They’re on their way,” Charlotte said, wiping her brow with a cool cloth.

  “I just got off the phone with Thomas,” Cat said, sticking her head in the room to give an update. “The way he tells it, Riley scared the hell out of the horses they were trying to get in from the fields when the blizzard hit. He drove right through the fence in the south pasture.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Cooper said, shaking his head.

  “Thomas said Riley jumped out of the truck, jerked the reins on his horse, and knocked him straight to the ground. They tussled around a little because Thomas clearly thought Riley’d lost his mind and was itching for a fight,” Cat said, chuckling to herself, “so don’t be surprised if they come in with a busted lip or two. Riley tossed Thomas over his shoulder and threw him in the bed of the pickup. They should be here any second.”

  “Lovely,” Charlotte said. “I do love this family.”

  “Oh, God,” Maggie panted. “I’ve got to push.” She screamed and started to push just as Riley and Thomas burst into the room.

  “I washed up in the kitchen, “ Thomas said. His eye was already starting to turn black and blood dotted at the corner of his lip.

  Maggie breathed through the pain and didn’t look up as Riley took her hand and supported her back as she pushed.

  “That’s it, Maggie,” Thomas said. “You’re doing good. This is going to be a fast one.”

  Maggie collapsed against her husband and then got a good look at him. “I can’t believe you were fighting at a time like this,” she said, appalled at his appearance. “Is your nose broken?”

  “Only a little. Thomas snapped it back into place. It’s been broken before so it’s no worse for the wear.”

  “You’re all idiots. I can’t believe I’m bringing children into the world and their father is rolling around in a blizzard getting his face bashed in.”

  “I take exception to that,” Riley said, wincing as she squeezed the bones in his hand to dust as another contraction came over her. “We bashed each other’s faces in pretty equally.”

  “Shut—up,” she said, gritting her teeth through the pain as the urge to push came again.

  “She always seemed so sweet,” Cooper said from the corner. “I’ve never heard those curse words come out of her mouth before.”

  It was then with a final push and an exhausted cry of triumph that Maggie and Riley’s first child was born. A lusty cry filled the air and Thomas worked quickly to suction out the nasal passages and get the baby wrapped up and passed off to Claire’s waiting arms so they could get the baby cleaned.

  “You have a daughter,” Thomas said, pressing his hand on top of her belly to make sure the positioning of the second baby was as it should be.

  “I can’t do it again,” she panted, feeling the tightening of her belly as the contractions started again.

  “You can do it,” Riley said, smoothing her hair back from her head. “It’ll all be worth it when you hold them in your arms. Just once more.”

  She nodded and a sob escaped as he kissed her gently on the forehead. And moments later their second child was born. This time a son.

  And when Maggie held their children in her arms for the first time, they both cried tears of joy.

  “I love you always, Maggie MacKenzie. Even if you really don’t ever want me to touch you again.”

  She smiled at him sheepishly and kissed her daughter on her downy head. “I might have been exaggerating. I love you too, Riley MacKenzie. Even if you have a broken nose and two black eyes. It’ll be a great story to tell our children one day.”

  “You and me, babe. We always have a hell of an adventure, no matter what we do. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for us.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Liliana Hart is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than a thirty books. She lives in Texas in a big rambling house with her laptop and cats, and she spends way too much time on Twitter. She loves hearing from her readers.

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  LINKS TO MY OTHER BOOKS

  The MacKenzie Series

  Dane

  A Christmas Wish: Dane

  Thomas

  To Catch A Cupid: Thomas

  Riley

  Fireworks: Riley

  Cooper

  A MacKenzie Christmas

  MacKenzie Box Set (includes the 5 books listed above)

  Cade

  Shadows and Silk

  Secrets and Satin

  Sins and Scarlet Lace

  The MacKenzie Security Series (includes the 3 books listed above)

  Sizzle

  Crave (Coming March 2015)

  The Collective Series

  Kill Shot

  The Rena Drake Series

  Breath of Fire

  Addison Holmes Mysteries

  Whiskey Rebellion

  Whiskey Sour

  Whiskey For Breakfast

  Addison Holmes Mystery Box Set (includes the 3 books listed above)

  Whiskey, You’re The Devil

  JJ Graves Mysteries

  Dirty Little Secrets

  A Dirty Shame

  Dirty Rotten Scoundrel

  Down and Dirty

  Standalone Novels/Novellas

  All About Eve

  Paradise Disguised

  Catch Me If You Can

  Who’s Riding Red?

  Goldilocks and the Three Behrs

  Strangers in the Night

  Naughty or Nice