Barbara Silkstone - Wendy Darlin 04 - Miami Mummies by Barbara Silkstone

mummy thief?”
    “That’s his style. A bullet is never exotic enough.”
    “Thank heavens you got your bod out of there,” I pinched his butt.
    “Interpol received an anonymous tip the Red Queen of Palenque mummy had moved to the top of the list of black-market targeted antiquities. I caught the first flight to Mexico City and then bussed to Palenque in southern Mexico. Hot, dusty, poverty-stricken. The kids standing by road begging…” He caught my eyes and looked away.
    “If you find any red on my clothes it’s not lipstick.” He cut me a weak smile. “The Palenque mummy is covered in a red powder which makes her an enigma worth further study but first we had to protect her from the mummy menace.”
    “I thought the thief was in Peru?”
    Roger paced the kitchen, a worried expression on his face. “This guy slips in and out of countries smuggling black market mummies. A trail of dead archaeologists is the only proof we have that he exists.”
    “Do you think you can catch him?”
    He shrugged. “I feel as if he’s within my grasp, but the more he eludes me the more everyone thinks he’s just a legend. The greatest trick that devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist. He’s become a myth, a spook story. Poof!” He snapped his fingers. “He disappears!”
    Leaning on the counter he faced me eye-to-eye. “If he shows up again it will be to get rid of me. The only thing that scares me is Kyzer Saucy.”
    And that scared me because I’d never known anything to scare Roger.

Chapter Sixteen
    We arrived at the San Sebastian forensic lab, which was on the edge of the Everglades miles past Florida City, at ten-twenty. An eight-foot chain-link fence topped with wicked razor wire protected a group of one-story industrial buildings. A middle-aged tubbo in a pseudo-cop uniform sat in a camo-green guard booth. He peered at us over a copy of Guns and Ammo . He checked Roger’s ID and directed us to a bunker with an Authorized Personnel Only sign.
    Roger’s jaw tightened as he opened the unlocked door. He cursed under his breath. “Some security.”
    The cinderblock building had a corrugated metal roof and steel doors. A mild hurricane would chew it up and spit it out. A paper sign taped to the wall above a vacant reception desk bore the image of an arrow pointing to the left. We trotted down a corridor carpeted in indoor-outdoor flooring that probably held more forensic samples than the safekeeping rooms.
    We walked up on a skinny Pee Wee Herman look-alike. I didn’t know lab coats were available in plaid. He was engrossed in a video on an iPad. Roger cleared his throat. The tech jumped a foot in the air. His horn-rimmed glasses fell to his chin and he flipped the iPad face down.
    He almost poked his eye out trying to get his glasses back onto his nose with super-shaky hands. “Can… can… I… I… help you?”
    Roger flashed his International Archaeological Society ID card. “I’m Dr. Roger Jolley, here to examine the mummies. And this is my associate Ms. Darlin.”
    “Of course, Dr. Jolley. My name is Igor. Let me check the list of authorized personnel.”
    A lab assistant named Igor? Really?
    Igor lifted a clipboard from a hook on the wall. He examined the top page then pressed the clamp and about twenty sheets slipped out and scattered on the floor.
    Roger pointed with the toe of his brown wingtip. “There’s my name.”
    Igor pushed his glasses higher on his nose and peered at the mess on the floor. “Are you sure?”
    Roger crossed his arms. “Of course I’m sure. Now take us to the mummies.”
    Igor bent over and squinted at the nearest page. He shrugged and motioned to follow him.
    He led us down a corridor. We passed a large observation window cut into the wall of a dark room. He pointed at the glass. “The mummies are in here. The door is around the corner.” He turned down a smaller corridor, stopped in front of the first door, and pulled a fifty-pound key ring off his