Spy School Egypt

Chapter 7: Trap

"Benjamin," Catherine said, looking back at me in the helicopter.  "If we're heading to Giza, do you know where in Giza? Giza's enormous."

"I do," I said. Catherine and Erica's ears perked up. We were in the helicopter. We had snatched out bags from the rundown hotel and then came to Giza. Alexander was flying it, and Mike and Trixie were peacefully sleeping. I had just woken up from my sleep.

"I remember one that that Cyrus said to me before we left. Make a run for it," I told them.

"He told you to make a run for it?" Catherine asked, looking confused. "What does that even mean?"

"That's what I was thinking," I agreed. "You can't run on a plane. If I ran, then I would die from jumping out of the plane. If you think about it, what do you notice?" I asked.

"Erm, er, I don't know," Catherine said.

"I think I know what Ben means," Erica said and then took out a slip of paper from her unity belt. She scribbled something on it.

Erica circled the first letters of the sentence. It spelled out MARFI.

"MARFI," Catherine gasped, staring at the paper.

"That's right," Erica explained. Mike and Trixie woke up yawning at each other.

"What's all the commotion about?" Mike asked.

"Ben figured something out," Erica said and then showed them the paper.

"MARFI? Isn't that a clothing shop?" Trixie asked.

"That's right, I just noticed it now; let's go save Cyrus," I said, which meant that Cyrus knew that he was going to be taken to the clothing store. And for Croder, it made sense that they would try to blend in a clothing shop. They always hide in plain sight. Which meant it was evident that they would hide in a shop.

A few hours later, we arrived at Giza. It was near dawn soon, which meant we had to hurry.

"So according to google maps, MARFI is here," Catherine said, pointing to an average-looking shop. There was a "closed, come back tomorrow sign."

"This is it?" Alexander said, looking skeptical.

"What did you expect? A huge villa with a dolphin fountain? They always hide in plain sight. It's by the time you know that," Erica said.

"Um, I knew that; I was just testing if you guys knew that," Alexander said, trying to cover this mistake. Erica didn't buy this for a second.

"Come, one dad, stop being a lazy coward; we have to go save grandpa," Erica grumbled, dragging his arm. Erica quickly picked to lock on the door and then swung open the door. She grabbed a gun and then pointed it towards the door. Inside there were racks of clothing, t-shirts, shorts, and cool souvenirs of Egypt's goddesses and pyramids.

"Ooh! Dibs on the gold pyramid souvenir!" Mike yelled, running towards a rack of souvenirs.

"Michel, we're not here to steal Crowder's stuff in here," Catherine said, barely able to drag Mike away from a gold piggy bank on the counter. After (finally) pulling Mike away, we proceeded into the shop. Although I also really wanted to check these things out in this shop, I resisted and kept on walking forward.

"For all we know, Croder could have hidden anywhere. In the walls, underground, maybe even a secret area behind a rack," I said, looking around the area. "And, all the lights are off, so I can barely see anything. There's not even a single window in here!" I grumbled. "How do people bear to shop in this horrible place?"

"It doesn't matter what people think. We need to find grandpa," Erica said. Suddenly Trixie let out a wailed yelp. Erica and Catherine perked up.

"Trixie honey?" Catherine asked, concerned. There was no response but silence. We ran over to check on her. There was no sign of her but drops of blood on the floor. Erica never showed emotion on a mission except for a few times with me, but it looks like the ice queen had cracked. Erica's eyebrows widened, and she held herself from crying. 

"It's alright, honey, we'll get her back," Catherine soothed, rubbing Erica's back. Suddenly all the lights flicked on. A voice started to speak from the speaker.

"Hello everyone," a voice spoke. It was rigged, so we couldn't tell if it was a woman or a man.

"If you want Cyrus and Trixie back, then you're going to have to pay up. Tell the CIA; we want ten million dollars, all in cash," the voice said. My eyes widen. Where were we going to get that much money?

"Oh, and don't bother telling the police or the FBI, you know what happens when you get other people involved," the voice spoke again.

Suddenly the lights flew on and we found someone standing there. It was none other than the famous Joshua Hall.

Joshua Hall was Erica's old crush, or people like to say her ex. Erica used to be soft, at least softer than now. Joshua and Erica had gone seriously close until the day Joshua betrayed Erica. Joshua had sharp and good-looking features, until recently when I had pushed him off a cliff, and he had broken an arm and a leg, plus an eye. After that, they also broke this other leg and arm, turning him into a cyborg pirate. Joshua was also at the top of his class, similar to Erica Hale. After Joshua betrayed Erica, Erica had built an ice wall around her, preventing herself from being hurt again until now, when she met me. I had broken her ice wall and had become close to her, well, at least close as you could be to the ice queen.

Erica's eyes narrowed, and she was ready to kill Joshua. After all, he had betrayed her and the CIA and had captured her sister and grandfather. She started to run towards him, ready to attack, when Joshua pushed her to the ground and pulled out a gun.

"Don't even bother to try, old friend," Joshua said, and Erica got even angrier. I was surprised that Joshua had called Erica her old friend. They were anything but close.

"I hate you," Erica growled at him.

"I know, but don't try anything unless you want a bullet in your head," Joshua said.

"As I was saying, we need ten million dollars, and yes, Cyrus brought you right to a trap. He originally gave you another clue in his words, but you misunderstood it, and it brought you here, silly pants. And now, because of his mistake, you're all dead. So you're going to..." Joshua said, talking on and on. While he was talking, Erica kicked him so hard in the leg, we all heard it snap. Joshua dropped his gun and clenched his leg. Erica then shot him in the ear, just slightly. And then, snatching the weapon, she bolted.

"Ben, come on, let's run before Joshua called backup!" Erica yelled, grabbing my hand and motioning us to run. We darted out of the store and out onto the streets.