Page 14 of Deceptive Lies

This might not be a vacation, but hewasin Egypt, and hewaswalking around the pyramids, he really should take in their grandeur and make the most of it. As he wandered around, heading toward where the Sphynx was situated, he even pulled out his cell phone and took a few photos. No selfies, they weren't really his thing, but he did snap some great pictures of the Sphynx with the pyramids in the background.

It was only when he was turning around to walk over to the other side of the pyramids, that he noticed it.

A man who seemed to be paying a little too much attention to him.

There was nothing outwardly suspicious about him. He looked like all the other tourists wandering around, only at the same time, he didn't. Dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, he had a pair of sunglasses on so there was no way Cooper could confirm that he was looking at him, but hefelteyes on him. The man was angled so he could watch Cooper, and he didn't have a cell phone in his hand.

Almost all the tourists had phones in their hands, laughing and smiling as they took photo after photo.

Only this man just stood there, staring.

At him.

Cooper would bet everything he owned on it.

To test his theory, Cooper started walking. Keeping his pace slow and even. He headed back toward the pyramids. Walking around them, he headed across the large sandy area to another good photo opportunity spot. It was where he was heading anyway, but it would give him proof that he was being followed. There was a road that most of the buses were taking to drive to the second spot, and only a handful of people were walking it.

As he walked, he stopped regularly, snapping more pictures, he may as well take as many as he could and make his little sister jealous since the pyramids were indeed on her bucket list.

Every time he stopped, he spotted the man.

Following.

If he was doing his best to look unobtrusive, he was doing a terriblejob. He still hadn't pulled out a cell phone and at least attempted to look like just another tourist.

Why, if you were going to follow someone, would you make it so obvious?

Did theywanthim to know he was being followed?

Was it one of Professor Mahmoud’s contacts?

That would be the only thing that made sense. He wasn't there for Prey, so there was no reason for anyone to follow him around because of his job. And he didn’t look like he was wealthy, and given his size he clearly wasn't an easy target. He was definitely not who you would pick out if you were there to rob someone, even if he was alone.

When he reached the other spot, he stopped for a moment, took more pictures, then angled his phone and zoomed in, snapping as many pictures as he could of the man following him. From this distance, he couldn’t get a clear picture of his face, and the sunglasses definitely made it even more difficult, but he’d take what he could get. Once he had a whole range, he tapped out a quick email to his brother, attached all the pictures, and asked Cade to pass them along to Prey’s computer people. Maybe there was something they could pull from them to help identify him, and even if they couldn’t, at least they’d have them for reference if the man tried anything.

Which so far he hadn't.

Other than following Cooper wherever he went, the man didn't try to get too close, and from what he could see it didn't look like he was armed. It was like he had just been hired to tail him and see where he was going and what he was doing.

If it was Mahmoud, could it be because the man wanted to see if he was going to meet up with anyone?

After their meeting yesterday, Cooper had the feeling there was more to Tarek Mahmoud than the man was letting on. He just had no idea what it could be.

Again, the image of the figure in black huddled in the corner filled his mind.

Could that be related to him being followed?

If the figure was a victim, perhaps the professor was worriedthat he’d been caught red-handed, and Cooper was there for more than just to ask questions about his long-dead mother.

It wasn't true. He was there for no other reason than to find out what Professor Mahmoud might know about what was more than likely his mother’s last job with the CIA. Verifying the date Tarek Mahmoud had gotten married, it was just a month before his dad was killed, and then just six months after that his mother was arrested and died.

Whatever had happened in Egypt had to be related to what happened to his mom, all seven of them agreed on that, but that didn't actually bring them any closer to finding out what exactly it was that had happened.

If the man following him really was here at Tarek Mahmoud’s orders, then it confirmed that the professor was more deeply embroiled in the plot to set up his mother to look like a traitor. Whatever the man was hiding, whatever he didn't want Cooper to discover, whatever reasons he had for having him watched, there was no way he wasn't going to uncover those secrets.

July 11th

5:02 P.M

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