“Another cruise…” Sam said, leaning against the rail of a modern dahabeya, an Egyptian sailing vessel that has transported travelers on the mighty Nile since the days of Herodotus. In modern times dahabeyas carry happy tourists on the Nile and Lake Nasser.

In 1798 Napoleon began the rush to investigate the mysteries of Egypt, accompanied by a host of scholars. The Rosetta stone’s discovery opened the door to understanding Egyptian hieroglyphics and demotic, as well as Greek. Since then, the fascination with all things having to do with Egypt has not diminished.

“Well, hopefully this is only a wedding cruise,” Ian chuckled, as he gazed over the sights of the Egyptian landscape.

They had arrived in Cairo, Egypt several days before. Thus far they had taken in the Egyptian Museum and experienced a visit to the Pyramids of Cheops, Chephren, and Mycerinus on the Giza plateau. They gaped at the Sphinx and listened to tales of varying theories regarding the impossibly small head in relation to the rest of the body. They took in the sights of the Egyptian Museum. But as is always the case with museums, there was so much to see in such a short time that they’d emerged a little frustrated, as well as exhilarated.

“Can you believe that the Sphinx actually has a tunnel system?” Sam asked, shading her eyes against the burning sun of the Egyptian morning.

“The priests were reputed to have crawled inside of the tunnels to talk to the people from inside using voice tubes,” Ian laughed. “Can you imagine hearing a huge voice coming from that monstrosity? It must have compelled obedience.”

“There’s so much to see here…so much history. It’s hard to take it all in,” Sam answered, turning to Ian. “Another adventure looms, huh darling?” In answer Ian encircled Sam’s waist and bent down for a satisfying kiss.

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll encounter something out of the ordinary,” Ian deadpanned after coming up for air. “Let’s try to avert disaster and just enjoy this break.”

Sam’s spring vacation luckily coincided with a friend of Ian’s wedding, and Ian’s friend, Joe Silva from the Bureau, and his fiancé had just tied the knot in Cairo. Even with his Italian heritage, Joe and his wife, Eva, shared a fascination with all things Egyptian. Their wedding had been conducted with a mixture of Roman and Egyptian dress. When asked what had caused the interesting juxtaposition of the two cultures, Eva’s musical laugh tinkled out to the audience.

“Well, the Romans conquered Egypt after Cleopatra, so we’re just re-enacting that time in history.”

Eva’s straight ebony locks had been cut in the perfect pageboy, and she wore a flimsy gauze dress that emphasized her curves and would have made Elizabeth Taylor jealous. Joe couldn’t quite bring himself to wear a toga, and thus settled on white linen pants and a gauze shirt as a compromise. The wedding had been a stunning affair, with music provided by Ian and Terry and Nicole Redding from Heartthrob.

“It was a gorgeous wedding,” Sam commented. “Too bad Terry and Nicole couldn’t have stayed longer. There’s so much to see here. It was the first civilization on earth.”

“Yeah, they work too hard,” Ian agreed. “Joe was a basket case,” Ian laughed.

“Aren’t men always?” Sam teased.

“I liked the Egyptian Museum,” Ian said. “Too bad we didn’t have more time to savor all that mysterious and fascinating Egyptian history. But, we only had a few hours, and it’s hard to study 120,000 objects in such a truncated time period.”

“I liked the diorite of Chephren, or Khafre, with the Horus-falcon behind his head.”

“Let’s see. That would be the second pyramid at Giza, right?” Sam asked, thinking furiously.

“Yes, it was part of the Old Kingdom, but again they’re not sure,” Ian said. “You know, my grandfather, Nick, was an archaeologist. I read books on Egypt as a child, trying to figure out what might have happened to him.”

“Really, my mystery man becomes even more so!” Sam answered, astonished.

“In fact, he was lost somewhere in Egypt. We think he may have run up against some of the criminal element. But no one has ever found his remains, and the police investigation was a sham. So we’ve always wondered.”

“Was he your grandfather on your mother’s side or your father’s?” Sam pressed, gently. She took hold of Ian’s arm for support.

Ian bowed his head. “He was my paternal grandfather. The family tried for years to uncover what happened. My father almost became an archaeologist, but drifted over into law enforcement.”

“In what capacity?” Sam asked. She was fascinated.

Ian gave her a sad smile. “We’re not sure, but we think he’s C.I.A. It destroyed my parents’ marriage. He was never home; didn’t have time to become a proper father. It was always about the secrets, and that is destructive to love and trust.” He grabbed Sam’s hand for comfort. “He may have been ‘deep cover,’ who knows?”

“You haven’t had any contact with him since the divorce?” Sam’s blue eyes became electric under the Nile sun.

“Nada,” Ian’s eyes turned steely. “I’d tell you I really don’t care, but I had to grow up suddenly. It was too much pressure for a young man. I was only eleven. I never even met my grandfather. He disappeared in 1966, and I was born in 1974. Mom and Dad divorced in 1985. I’ve never laid eyes on him since.”

“That sounds like the king of mysteries,” Sam murmured, mind suddenly racing with possibilities.

“Whoa, there, baby! We’re here for a wedding and some down time.”

“Yes, but couldn’t we do a little bit of digging while we’re here?” Sam queried.

“Not without permission from a host of officials, I’m sure,” Ian wisecracked. “We don’t want to end up in an Egyptian jail because we stepped on someone’s toes.”

“But I’m sure they must have some sort of hall of records that would list deaths certificates,”