Page 69 of Fighting for Mallory

“Mallory Hayes can be persuasive,” Ali added.

Luca’s lips lifted in a small smile, and he brought Mallory’s hand up to his mouth. “Yes, she can.”

At the motel, Luca brought Mallory to the kitchenette where the team welcomed her with cheers and whistles. Tears streamed down her face as Hutch, River, Maverick, and Faith hugged her and kissed her wet cheeks in turn. Luca introduced her to Clayton and the rest of the team.

“These guys have been working around the clock to bring you home.”

“Thank you. Thank you, everyone.” Mallory swiped at her tears. Her eyes darkened with steely determination. “There’s just one more thing we must do. Bring down the Court of Ma’at. And I want to be there when it happens.”

No amount of persuasion on anyone’s part could alter Mallory’s mind. She insisted it was her right to witness Neheb’s downfall after everything he’d done to destroy her life. Luca argued strenuously with her, but in the end, he relented after devising a plan of action with the team.

While he and the others hammered out the details, Mallory slept in his room with River keeping a vigil by her bedside. Ali was flown by helicopter to the secret headquarters of Maverick and Clayton’s employer where he would be kept confined until they could ensure his safety.

Twenty additional men comprised the team to raid the Cave of Osiris. Dressed in black, including black knit caps, and their faces greased in camouflage paint, they moved stealthily through the woods and into the cave system. It had been determined that depriving Neheb of performing the ceremony by capturing his audience would be an effective method of avoiding bloodshed. By 4:30 a.m., they were in their strategic positions and ready to proceed with their plan. Forty-five minutes later, the first wave of arrests began.

The men appeared surprised at first, then resigned to their fate as they were rounded up, handcuffed, and escorted to the army trucks hidden nearby. Three members of the cult drew their weapons and were immediately cut down by a hail of bullets. Some attempted to run and found themselves tackled by big, beefy men who slapped handcuffs on them and hauled them away. Within thirty minutes, the team signaled the all clear.

With his chest thrust out indicating his importance, Neheb took measured steps into the Cave of Osiris. He wore the traditional garb of a pharaoh, dressed in his role as a lesser god and ready to weigh Mallory’s heart. Stunned by the empty cavern, denied his stage and his performance, Neheb’s mouth fell open.

“What is it, my beloved Nehebkau?” Dr. Samir asked from behind him.

He rushed toward the sleeping bag and screamed in outrage when he discovered it empty. “How? How could this be?”

“I do not know, nephew.”

“Where is my court? My sacrifice? Who betrayed us? I will rip his heart out of his chest and serve it to Osiris on a gold platter!”

“Looking for me?” Mallory stepped out of the shadows. She aimed her Glock straight at Neheb’s heart.

Dr. Samir screeched like a banshee and flew toward Mallory, fingers outstretched like talons and her purple cloak billowing behind her. Mallory fired once. The bullet struck Dr. Samir mid-chest, and she dropped to the ground. Amid the gold objects her blood pooled.

Neheb stared dispassionately at his dead aunt.

“Judgment awaits you, Neheb, in the court of man where your heart will be weighed. I can’t wait to prosecute you for murder. Remember Mercado and Tino? Your fate is already determined.”

Whether she meant to goad him into it or not, Neheb lunged for something behind the altar stone and came up with a semiautomatic rifle in his hands. Mallory and Luca fired their Glocks at the same time, riddling Neheb with bullets.

He fell stark dead at the feet of Osiris. A silent servant to a silent god.

Mallory turned away from the sight and buried her face in Luca’s chest. “It’s over,” she murmured. “It’s finally over.”

“You are the bravest woman I’ve ever met, Mallory Hayes, and I love you.”

She lifted her head and smiled. “I love you, too. And I would love nothing more than a name change. Mallory Martinelli has a beautiful ring to it.”

Luca chuckled. “Indeed it does.”

There in the Cave of Osiris, amidst the fire and gold, Luca sealed his eternal love for Mallory with a hot, hungry kiss that she returned with equal fervor.

* * *

Six weeks later

Outside the Los Angeles County courthouse, the media gathered for a press conference. A dozen microphones were jammed together to record Mallory’s statements. This would be her first public appearance since fleeing from the prison transport van after it blew up. The air buzzed with anticipation. When she stepped into view, flanked by U.S. Attorney Judd Morgan and Detective Luca Martinelli, a hush fell over the crowd.

“As a D.A., I see, all too often, the worst of humanity. Criminals of every sort pass through these sacred halls of justice. Never in my career have I encountered a more insidious threat to our safety and security than the cult known as the Court of Ma’at. It’s leader, Nehebkau Khalil, and his aunt, Dr. Patricia Samir, a professor at the University of Memphis, are dead.

“In Tennessee alone, we arrested more than one hundred members of this organization. Be not deceived. There are hundreds more spread across the U.S. This office will not rest until every single one of them is arrested and tried for murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

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