ENG | The Cursed Scepter

Blessings and Curses

For Jacqueline, everything should be simple. She was enjoying the sheets of a hotel in Colorado, relaxing after a successful capture until a call from her boss put her on the first plane to Cairo. She was supposed to be the liaison between the local government and an obscure retriever.

Little did she know that Ignacio Cortez would forever snatch her heart.

He made her feel special; the way he, unlike her old partners who saw her as just a pretty face, embraced her plans was mind-blowing; the trust in her abilities melted her heart and the adrenaline of always being on her toes drove her crazy.

Not to mention the mischievous smile, which was like an arrow from the god of passion. Those months working together to recover the scepter of Egypt's most famous queen had stirred her up too much.

Jackie didn't know how, but he managed to track the scepter. The plan afterward was smooth: seduce a man, have him take her to his office, knock him out, and from the safe, retrieve the object.

From then on, it was just a matter of delivering the scepter to the government headquarters for analysis to later be exhibited in a museum. In and out, like many other missions she had undertaken. What was supposed to be simple turned complicated.

The sharp features of his face matched the slim and elegant demeanor of the man. His hazel eyes seemed calm, but the bouncing legs and trembling hands as he gripped the door frame gave him away. He was an excellent poker player, to say the least.

"How did you activate the scepter?"

The question caught him off guard, but Jacqueline needed to know. When she retrieved the item from the hands of a neo-Nazi, it didn't activate. Not even when she saw it in all its splendor and completeness the night before when dealing with fools who tried and failed to pass as Mossad agents.

"I don't understand the question."

"Never mind." She shook her head in denial. Stopping at a red light, she grabbed a radio from the back seat, adjusted the frequency, and tossed it onto his lap. "Let me know if Julian's men are close. We need to urgently go to the government headquarters and deliver the scepter, but they might be watching the entrances.

She paid attention to all the cars that passed very close to theirs.

"The Interpol has a safe house." Jackie continued and accelerated when the traffic light turned green. "We can regroup there and ask for reinforcements."

"Sounds perfect." He replied, rubbing his hands. "But Jac..."

"Jane." She looked at him sternly. "I've already told you to use my real name only when we're alone, babe."

"You're impossible." Ignacio chuckled. "And we are alone, but whatever. Ok, Jane, we are surrounded. You don't want to know how Julian is connected. I can call my assistant."

"No, Ig." Jacqueline vehemently refused. "I don't want your apprentice on the front lines against mercenary killers. And I've already told you how I feel about putting him in harm's way."

"I think you underestimate him too much."

"That's not the issue." It was hard to navigate the car through the chaotic traffic of Cairo. "We're adults, the duty of adults is to protect children from the dangers we're facing."

"He is not a child anymore..."

She headed back to the Islamic part of Cairo and entered the old city. Passing through the streets ingrained in her mind, she wove carefully through the center of the ever-awake capital toward the narrow streets and minarets of the enigmatic and sacred region. She had to think fast to take advantage of that moment of respite.