Misplaced
Dedicated immigration attorney, Victoria Barròn’s new client, Khara, claims to be an Egyptian princess from 2181 B.C. When the young woman convinces Victoria she’s telling the truth, the unlikely pair searches for the means to return her to her pivotal place in history. Pursued by a disgraced historian who recognizes that Khara’s coronation bracelets represent the find of a lifetime, they flee El Paso for The Land of Enchantment.
In desperation, the pair turns to the legend of the Anasazi, and the mysterious place where they disappeared as their last hope to preserve history as we know it.
Excerpt
“In that box over there,” Khara gasped, trembling. “What is it?” She turned away from the acrylic case, ashen-faced, as though she’d seen the specter of her own death.
“That? It’s a reproduction of the Sphinx.”
“Why has the Great One been defaced?” she asked, eyes wide, voice quivering. She tried to scramble away from the case but slipped on the polished wood floor. The ground had seemingly turned to ice.
“It’s been in that condition for centuries. What’s wrong?”
Khara collapsed. Dropping to her knees, Victoria grabbed her shoulders. “Talk to me! What’s happened?”
She shuddered, unable to speak. Victoria tried lifting her, but it was useless. “Please, tell me what’s wrong. I don’t understand…”
Footsteps approached, and she was grateful to see Elias moving quickly toward them. He knelt at Khara’s side. The look of bewilderment the Egyptian princess cast upon him was one Victoria would never forget.
“How many years has the Great One rested in the sand?” When neither Victoria nor Elias answered, she shrieked, “How many?”
“No one is sure,” Elias responded. “The best estimates say that Pharaoh Khafre of the Fourth Dynasty had it commissioned.”
Trying to clarify, Victoria kept her voice gentle. “Please, Uncle, how many years ago?”
“Approximately 4,500, if archaeologists have the correct dynasty. Why?”
“Is there another such as this?” Khara asked. “Brightly painted, with the golden ceremonial beard of a pharaoh?”
“Of the seven wonders of the ancient world,” Victoria began, “only the Great Sphinx has survived. There is no other.”
“The ancient world?”
S. L. Hulen 