Chapter 24 He knew where he was

Two days after getting that fancy membership card, Linda hit up Ellie and was all, "Hey, come join this training class!" Ellie, being all polite and stuff, was like, "Nah, I got other plans."

Actually, she didn't have any plans. Even though she wasn't super mad, Ellie felt this heavy cloud of sadness hanging over her. Yeah, the money thing was a bummer, but what really stung was feeling like she was always getting played.

Ellie was like, "Man, I trusted them, but they just tricked me." She felt kinda bad about dropping so much cash on that membership without even giving her hubby, George, a heads-up.

Four days after she got the card, Ellie had just wrapped up making dinner when George called to let her know he was safe. He said the archaeology crew and the tech guys were finally there and would start digging soon.

Ellie was kinda speechless. George had been gone for days, and they were just starting now? With that kind of slowpoke attitude, how long was George gonna be stuck out there?

She frowned and said, "Dude, your efficiency is, like, super slow."
George quickly jumped in to explain, "Look, the main reason it's taking so long is 'cause the site is huge. We've got several archaeology teams and a ton of tech folks here. With so many people, it takes a while to get everything organized."

He was trying to explain why the digging was taking forever, but Ellie was just getting more antsy. The place was massive, with multiple teams and tech people. Did that mean this dig was gonna drag on forever?

Her heart sank. "So, does that mean this excavation is gonna take forever?"

George, still not catching on to what Ellie was really worried about, said, "Yeah, it's gonna take a long time."

"Like, half a year?" she asked, hoping for some reassurance.

"No, it takes longer, probably gonna take three to five years, maybe even longer," George replied.

Ellie couldn't hold it in anymore. "So, you're not coming back for three to five years?"

George paused for a second, then quickly said, "No, no. I've already talked to the Director. He promised I can come back once the initial work is done. If nothing major comes up, I don't need to be there. Just let me know if something does, and I'll head over."
Ellie blinked, a bit unsure, and asked, "So, you're saying you'll be the boss there now? Once the initial stuff is done, you can come back, and if something pops up, they'll call you, and you can just go handle it and then come back?"

George grinned, looking up at the distant mountain, all excited about the future.
"Yeah, I talked to the Director that we wanna have a kid, and he thinks it's about time since we've been married for a while. So, he's letting me take charge here, trying to ease up my workload so I can spend more time with you and the baby."

He sounded excited; Ellie felt a rush of excitement too, but she tried not to get her hopes up too high. Their Director was a bit of a wild card...

They chatted for a bit longer before George said he had to go.
After hanging up, George packed his backpack, grabbed his compass, and set off for Egypt with Patrick, Oscar, and three other team members.

Tonight, they'd be stargazing to figure out their location. Tomorrow, they'd start marking out the area...
Ellie, who had been in a funk for days, finally felt her spirits lift.
When you were in a good mood, everything just seemed better. So, after dinner, she hesitated for a bit but decided to hit up that training class. After all, she had already dropped $8,800 on it, so no way she was letting that go to waste!

In a dimly lit room, Isaac watched Ellie stroll in with a smile on his face through the surveillance video. She headed to the wardrobe and started flipping through her clothes. His expression darkened a bit.

Even though Ellie didn't spill much during the phone call, Isaac, knowing the Seventh Bureau well, could pretty much guess where George was. With so many people involved, it meant this excavation was gonna be public. And public digs like this? They'd take at least three to five years just to lay the groundwork. Plus, the tomb that needed George's supervision were rare...

Isaac had a pretty good idea of George's whereabouts now.

He watched as Ellie pulled out a pair of sweatpants and sat on the edge of the bed. Then, he picked up his phone and dialed Linda's number.