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“Inez—”

My blood simmered, roiling hot in my veins. “Why didn’t you write? Why didn’t you comehome?”

“I couldn’t,” she said. “It was too risky. There are very few people I trust, and I couldn’t guarantee that any letter would reach you untouched.” She smoothed the hair off my face. “I’ve been so worried about you. It killed me to have to stay away from you.”

“Too risky,” I repeated. “To write to your own daughter? Imournedyou. I’m still mourning you.”

Mamá shut her eyes in resignation. “I’m begging you to keep your voice down.” She sighed and when her eyes opened again, they were haunted and terrified. “We don’t have much time, tesora. When I saw you arrive, I thought it was a mirage. What are you doing in Egypt?”

“What do you mean? I came to find out what happened.”

“I should have expected that.” Her face crumpled. “Lo siento. I don’t know how you’ll ever be able to forgive me. But I wouldn’t have done it if it weren’t important.”

Her words finally registered. “Wait a minute. Yousawme arrive?”

“I’ve made camp on Philae in a secluded area, far from the temple.” She hesitated. “I’ve had help from the women in staying out of sight.”

“I don’t understand,” I said slowly. “You’ve been on this island the whole time?”

“Not the whole time.” She hesitated. “I’ve been in hiding.”

My hold on her tightened. “Hiding? From… from Tío Ricardo?”

Her mouth dropped open. “How did you know?”

“Know what?”

She leaned forward and cupped my cheeks. “Has he hurt you, Inez?”

I shook my head. “I found your letter.”

“My letter?” She furrowed her brow. “What letter?”

“The one you never sent to Monsieur Maspero. I found it in the hotel suite and read it. Mamá, why are you afraid of your own brother?”

Her face turned white in the dimness of my room. “Inez, you must go back to Argentina,por favor. The situation here is too perilous.”

“Yes, we’ll go together and—”

“No, you have to go without me. I can’t—Iwon’tleave until I finish what I started.”

“What is it? Tell me what’s going on. I’ve been frightened ever since coming to Egypt. Did Tío Ricardo hurt you? Did he hurt Papá?”

She brushed more of my tears away with the back of her hand. “Inez, your uncle has involved himself with an illegal smuggling trade of Egyptian artifacts. I’ve been trying to stop him, but he’s too well connected. He’s different, more desperate and—” Her voice cracked. “He’s not the brother I’ve known all my life. He’s changed, and I watched it happen.” Her face twisted. “Iletit happen. This is my fault.”

My mind reeled. I recalled Maspero’s fear of the return of illicit auctions. But it sounded like they had not only returned, but the buying and selling of artifacts had been running rampant. My mother made a small noise at the back of her throat, and she looked so guilty my heart cracked.

“How could you say that?” I asked gently. “He’s a grown man.”

She turned her face away, her chest rising and falling with agitated breaths. I’d never seen her so discomposed, rattled, and nervous. My mother never let her emotions run away from her, at least in parenting me.

“Inez, when I come to Egypt, I—” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I act a little differently, and I’ve allowed myself more freedoms than I normally would while in Buenos Aires.”

I knew, instantly, what she meant. I remembered the more youthful clothes I’d found in the hotel room. I had wondered about them, at the different side of my mother I had never seen before.

“Go on,” I said softly.

“Your father and I let ourselves become distracted, and I was swept up in the grand adventure,” she said, her lips turning downward. “I knew my brother was toeing a fine line, but he assured me that he had everything under control, that he would never become involved with the set of people rumored to be involved in illegal activities. I ought to have paid better attention. I ought to have talked to him more, asked for help. Your father and I didn’t know what to do, so we did nothing.” She lifted her gaze, turned toward me. Her hair hung in dirty strands, framing a tight and narrow face. “I don’t know if I can protect you. I need you to go home, Inez.”