Mummies & Daddies (WAYHAUGHT)

Chapter 3

The police station was busy, chaotic, one ceiling fan struggling to circulate air around a room lit only by one small window. A lone police officer stood behind the desk, beads of sweat running down his face, the armpits of his uniform darker than the rest of his shirt, arguing with whoever stood before him.

Waiting in line, Nicole now appreciated why the local police force may not have taken Wynonna's disappearance seriously. Grossly understaffed, probably poorly trained, the loss of someone's items and sister of little interest to officers stretched beyond their capacity to solve every crime in this popular tourist destination. They must have had hundreds of similar instances of items stolen from visitors to the city, too many to deal with, perhaps concentrating on cases relating to residents of Luxor. From those gathered, there appeared to be more than enough locals needing police assistance without the added inconvenience of finding foreigners and lost luggage.

Reaching the front of the queue, the overheated officer continued writing, muttering something in Arabic, Robert responding in the same language. Clocking his accent, the officer stopped what he was doing, slowly placing his pen down, looking up, eyes all over Nicole, a smile appearing on his face. "I help."

"My friend reported a missing person. At the research complex. She's still missing."

"You call her."

Waverly nodded. "Repeatedly. My room was broken into. I've told you this already."

"I send someone."

"You said that before. Three times now. No one's come."

"How long gone?"

"Five days. She's...my sister's been gone nearly a week."

"I send someone."

"Listen," Nicole snapped. "I can see you're very busy. A woman, an American has gone missing."

"I hear. I send someone."

"When?"

"Three weeks. You give me number."

Waverly read out her mobile number, watching as the officer added it to the top of his pad along with her name. "You American too?" he said, looking directly at Nicole. "I practise on you."

"I'm a cop."

The smile fell from his face. "I send someone."

"Yeah, right. Three weeks."

"Soon. I take number too."

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Seriously, you want my number too. Is that how it works here?"

"I speak with you."

"Look mister, if you think I'm interested you're wrong."

"I speak with you only."

"I'm not your type. I'm-"

Waverly dragged Nicole away before she could finish.

"At least he's taking it seriously now," Waverly replied.

"What the...seriously! What the absolute. He's not. He just wants to. Can you believe? I was about to tell him I'm-"

"Not here. Maybe because you're a cop."

"You never told me your friend was a cop," Robert interrupted.

"Sheriff," Waverly said, proudly. "My home town, and now Mission. Very busy."

"Sheriff. Impressive," Robert replied. "Congratulations. You must be good at your job."

"Very," Nicole snapped.