Someone wants this Gem. And has a lot of Firepower

"Good morning, Miss Croft." Said Wilson as Lara came back from the shower. Lara was wearing a light sports suit and ran a towel through her hair. Her two friends had probably come into her room while she was in the shower. The window was wide open, and she immediately saw that something was bothering her friends.

"What is it?" she simply asked and looked at them.

"We're a little worried about you Lara." Bryce said at Wilson's place and when Lara looked at him questioningly, he kept talking. "Well..." he just said and lifted the bra off the floor and looked at her questioningly.

"So?" Lara just asked as she threw the towel over a chair.

"What Mr. Bryce is trying to say is just..." Wilson tried to say as Lara looked at them both and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her big tits were squeezed together and the two knew the gesture and kept silent.

"Listen boys. It's really sweet that you're worried about me, but THIS... is none of your business," she grinned and grabbed her bra and threw it carelessly into a corner. She giggled as Wilson went after it and picked it up and gave her a warning look. "Sorry Wilson. Next time I'll throw it straight into the suitcase" she grinned broadly, and Wilson smiled gratefully.

"That would be too kind, Miss Croft. Can we assume that everything is all right, then?" he asked again to be on the safe side and she nodded.

"I'm sorry I alarmed you, but if it makes you feel any better. I was alone all night and there was no fight." She said reassuringly and the two nodded in relief. Then she clapped her hands loudly and looked at them. "Guys... I need your attention now. Wilson. We're going on a field trip to the dig site today. Please pack everything I need. Bryce. I need information on rumors and legends."

"Sure. What is it about Lara?" said Bryce and swung himself to his computer, preferring a writing pad.

"Golden rod shaped like a snake...

"Really, Lara? That's it?" he asked astonished and Lara nodded thoughtfully.

"It's just a hunch and has nothing to do with anything here, I think. But I just want to be sure. Wilson. When can we leave?" she finally asked, and he stretched out with a rucksack in his hand.

"I am ready, Miss Croft. May I ask what we're going to do with the chest?"

"We'll leave it here." Said Lara, looking at the chest. "Yes... We don't know what to expect at the excavation site, and so far, nobody knows I'm here except the Professor. Until then it' s safe here."

"Very well. By the way, I found this in your bed." Wilson said and lifted the ruby and Lara smiled.

"Must have fallen into bed yesterday." Then she took it from his hand and put it in one of her pockets. "We'd better take it with us. Not that Bryce will even think of selling it!"

"Then why not the box?" Bryce said insulted and Lara leaned on his shoulders and laughed at him.

"Because you can get rid of a ruby more easily than a golden chest that comes from ancient Egypt."

"Oh... yes!" Bryce grinned and then went to work.

She then went with Wilson to the Humvee in the garage and when he went to the driver's door she raised an eyebrow. It took a few seconds before he realized his mistake and cleared his throat embarrassed.

"I just wanted to open the door for you." he smiled and then got in the passenger side. "Amazing. You drive so properly," he said as Lara moved through the streets of Cairo and she grinned at him and pulled the handlebars around as soon as they had left the city. The engine roared as she accelerated, and he immediately grabbed the grip as the heavy Humvee flew over a dune and crashed hard to the ground. Laughing, Lara accelerates further, and Wilson clears his throat. "How could I have thought you' would use a road?"

"Roads are boring after all!" she laughed and drove on. After 3 hours the two of them had reached the excavation site and were warmly welcomed there. But the adventurous Lara soon noticed that there was nothing to get here. It was a long-known excavation site and only by accident the secret chamber had been discovered. It would take weeks until they had examined all the remaining rooms and this kind of research was not something Lara was really into.

She stayed there for hours and talked to the scientists and researchers. Thanks to her good reputation, they were also willing to share their knowledge with her. Unfortunately, this was a dead end. All Lara found out was that the chamber was not as old as the box. When the two of them walked alone to their car Wilson looked at her questioningly. Lara wouldn't say anything until she was in the car and as soon as the door was closed, and they drove off she said.

"This is a dead end, just as I thought. The box is almost three times as old as this resting place. That means it was an ancient treasure that doesn't fall in the same period as Pharaoh."

"So, what's in the box is all the more valuable." Wilson agreed with her and Lara nodded.

"Right. No one would hide an ancient artefact like this in a hidden chamber. If the Pharaoh should have taken it with him into the afterlife, it would have stayed with him and not hidden it away. No. I rather believe that the pharaoh was chosen to guard this box.

"So, we should concentrate on the story of the Pharaoh," he asked, and Lara bit her lips and remained silent. When they came into the hotel room they saw Bryce lying on the floor, tied up with cable ties. Lara immediately grabbed at her back and pulled out a pistol. Wilson was not armed but remained calm as well. Without looking at each other, they both knew what to do. Wilson went to Bryce and examined him. Lara on the other hand searched all the rooms and finally came back and shook her head. Bryce sat on the bed again and held his head. Lara did not need to ask. He knew exactly what would follow.

"There were five guys. Dressed like the boys from the estate. They rushed in here as fast as lightning and overpowered me. They asked me about the box. Then they examined my pc and packed the box. They erased all the data."

"Can you save anything?" she asked after she was sure he wasn't badly hurt. The loss of the box was bad, but nothing was more important to Lara than her two friends.

"I beg you!" Bryce laughed tormented and went to his computer. Hastily he entered some commands and then grinned. "Since the incident 2 years ago, I mirror everything I do on the computer with an external computer in a safe place."

"You mean your mother's computer," Bryce asked and the grin came back.

"No one would dare hurt my mum! She swings a really bad rolling pin," he grinned back and then looked at Lara. "Lara, by the way. When they examined the computer one of them said something. It sounded like... juror... no... Jaffir..." he pondered as Lara pulled her brows together.

"Jafar." She said calmly, and Bryce nodded at her.

"Right. What does it mean?"

"That maybe the box isn't as important as we thought!" she said and grabbed her belt to pull the gem out. „I think... it's about the stone!"

"Then they will come back." Wilson said, and Lara looked around thoughtfully. Then she pointed her pistol at the windows and pulled the trigger twice in quick succession. Almost at the same moment two soldiers in black Kevlar armor came crashing through the window. The first of the two hadn't even touched the ground when a projectile drilled into his skull and he did a somersault just to stay on the ground. The second bullet hit the 2nd soldier directly in the chest plate. The bulletproof vest stopped the bullet but gave Lara enough time to fire a third shot. This shot shattered the soldier's skull and made him fall to the ground before he could fire a single shot.

"They were never gone. They were just waiting for us," Lara said and went to the bed. She opened it and pulled out a heavy belt. In a few minutes she had strapped two holsters to her legs and put the weapons in. Wilson had spent the time gathering the most important documents and equipment. As always Lara's backpack was pre-packed and contained everything she would need. Bryce had pulled the hard drive from the main computer and plugged in his laptop.

"How do we proceed?" he finally asked as Lara looked at the rope with a grin.

l "m distracting them. I'll meet you at the airport." She said that before she grabbed the rope and jumped out the window. Directly above her she could see two other soldiers who were also rappelling down and looking at her in shock. But this shock did not last long. They pulled out their submachine guns and immediately began to open fire. With the rope tightly wrapped around her waist, Lara ran across the glass windows of the high-rise building. As she did not have any proper climbing equipment, it was a risky game for her. But she managed to dodge the bullets and then pushed herself far away from the windows to gain momentum. Here her training came in handy and she wrapped the rope around her legs with some quick movements. She let herself fall backwards and held all her weight through her legs. She pulled both pistols and returned fire. After a short firefight, she crashed shoulder first against one of the glass windows and still aimed upwards in case more soldiers appeared. Then a thunderous shot rang out and Lara felt a projectile miss her by a very small margin. The large-caliber bullet shattered the glass behind her and she crashed into the foreign flat. It was immediately clear to her that there must be a sniper on the opposite roof and she immediately rolled to the side. Just in time, because the place where she had been lying was shredded by another bullet. Seeking cover behind a wall, she raised both guns and took a deep breath. Her breathing went perfectly still, and her breasts didn't lift at the speed one would expect with such a load. She assessed the distance to the door and then took a deep breath. A well-aimed shot shattered the lock and the door swung open slowly. But the sniper would only wait for it. Grinning, she pulled her coat out of her backpack and packed it in cushions. Then she threw them both into the room just to watch the coat get torn to shreds. Then she stormed off and with a wide pike reel she came through the door before the second lap came loose. If these teams were set up in the same way as the team in her flat, the sniper was the last attacker and was quite limited due to his position. She ran off and left the building on the other side. While she heard the sirens in the distance, Lara got into a taxi and was taken to the airport.