“Look at the etchings.” She held it out, and he noticed an intricate pattern created by a single line that encircled?—
“Are those eyes?”
“Yes, and notice the shading around them, like stripes.”
“Cool, but not sure why a block of wood is interesting.”
“Because I’m pretty sure it’s a puzzle box and there’s something inside.” She shook it, and he heard a rattle.
Before he could reply, Khalid suddenly appeared in the doorway looking perturbed. He whispered loudly while gesturing.
Nadirah’s eyes widened.
“What’s wrong?”
“He says someone is trying to break into the museum.”
“Who?”
“He doesn’t know, but he’s notified the police, meaning we need to leave before they arrive.”
No shit. Phoenix doubted they’d be understanding of an illegal visitor to the country being inside a closed museum hosting precious artifacts.
Khalid barked something before striding off.
Nadirah grabbed Phoenix’s hand. “He says we should avoid the main lobby and exit via the emergency door at the top of the stairs.”
‘Won’t that set off alarms?” Phoenix questioned as he wrapped his fingers around Nadirah’s as she took the lead.
“The intruders disabled them.”
What were the odds thieves happened to target the museum the same night Phoenix did?
“Khalid isn’t going to confront them, is he?” he huffed as they reached the stairs.
“No. He was going to lock as many doors as he could to slow them down.”
The vacant corridor offered only two directions. The far end where they’d entered, and a few paces toward a door with a heavy metal bar across it, locked by a sliding rod.
Phoenix dropped to the floor to pull the slim bar free of its groove before popping to his feet and shoving on the door. They emerged into the night, the air calm but for the distant wail of sirens.
“The moped is this way.” She tugged, but he didn’t budge.
“I don’t think we have time to get it. The cops are close.”
“How can you tell?”
He forgot she lacked his acute sense of hearing.
“Trust me, they’re on their way. I doubt we can make it to your ride before they get here.”
Her lips pursed. “How will we get home without it?”
“Don’t you have Uber or Lyft out here?”
“The museum is being robbed. I don’t think we want to be ordering a ride in its vicinity. Not to mention, if I leave my moped behind and they run the registration, they’ll most likely come ask me questions.”
Good thing she was thinking, because Phoenix apparently had shit for brains. “The sirens are coming from that direction.” He pointed. “Can we go the opposite way to avoid them?”
