by Helen Brenna
“Cured. So they say. Since then, though, Angelo and I never take a single day for granted. We cherish our friends, present and past, more than ever. It’s good to see you.”
No wonder Angelo had been so open and friendly.
At that moment Angelo came out onto the patio carrying a tray filled with traditional Greek breakfast items. In the bright morning light the man’s wrinkles seemed more pronounced.
“Let me help you with that, Angelo.” Riley took the tray and nudged the patio door closed.
“Let’s sit and visit.” As if his joints ached, Angelo slowly lowered himself onto a chair.
Riley set the tray on the table and they enjoyed thick, heavy Greek coffee, honey with bread, chilled melon and fresh homemade spanakopita, a phyllo pastry filled with egg, spinach, feta cheese, onions and spices. The best part about his stay in Greece all those years ago had been Nadi’s cooking.
“Angelo tells me your daughter is here,” Nadi said. “I would like to meet her. Where is she?”
“Still sleeping. Angelo put us up in your guest bedrooms. I hope that’s all right.”
“I wouldn’t have had it any other way. And Kate? Maggie’s sister?”
“Downstairs. In Angelo’s workroom.”
“Well, I will have to meet her as soon as she can take a break.”
While they ate and soaked up some of the bright morning sunshine, they caught up on each other’s lives. He enjoyed hearing about their children and grandchildren, some of whom he’d met years ago. Filling them in on the events of Ally’s life was cathartic for Riley. Maybe he hadn’t been as absent as he’d thought.
“Ally must bring you great joy,” Nadi said.
“She’s a terrific kid.”
They’d been visiting for some time when the cell phone March had given Riley rang. “Signómi, Nadi and Angelo. Excuse me. I must take this.” Not wanting to take the chance of Ally overhearing by going inside the house and lacking a more private option, he stood, went to the rail and turned his back on his hosts. He flicked the phone open. “What?”
“Miss me?” March asked, his voice quiet and entirely too confident.
“Screw you.”
“Ah, ah, ah. Get nasty with me and I won’t let you talk to Jenny.”
“Put her on the phone.”
“After you give me an update.” March paused. “Have you acquired both statues from Ostia?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you now?”
“Let me talk to Jenny.”
“You’re not being very cooperative. I may have to take that into consideration next time Jenny needs to be…fed.”
“You mistreat her, March, and I swear to God—”
“You’ll what?” March yelled over the line. “If you’d called me when you’d reached Athens, and if you hadn’t removed the tracking devices after picking up supplies yesterday, we wouldn’t need to be having this conversation now, would we?”
Riley bit back the barrage of foul comments running through his mind. “All you need is the statues,” he said, keeping the tone of his voice firmly under control. “You have no reason to track my every move.”
“Because I want to is reason enough,” March said. “Do you have Bebel’s statue yet?”
“No. I’ve been monitoring his house. I’ll have it by tomorrow.”
“Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Riley couldn’t keep his hands from clenching into fists. There was a moment of silence, and then a soft feminine voice said, “James?”
“Jenny. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Ally?”
“She’s good. Don’t worry about us. Is March treating you well?”
“They’re leaving me alone. I get food, water, sleep. I’ll be fine—”
“That’s enough,” March said, back on the line. “Put Kate on.”
“She’s taking a shower.”
An uneasy moment of silence hung between them.
“Would you like me to have her call you back?” Riley asked in as sarcastic a tone as he could conjure.
“Not necessary,” March said. “My contact verified that she was with you yesterday. Call me when you get to Moscow.”
The line went dead.
It was all Riley could do not to throw March’s phone straight down Lykavitós hill. Sucking in a deep breath, he stuffed it into his pocket and turned back around to find Nadi and Angelo watching him. The concerned expressions on their faces said loud and clear that they’d likely heard most of his side of the conversation.
“Be careful,” Angelo said quietly. “Danger gleams like sunshine in a brave man’s eyes.”
“I’m not looking for trouble, Angelo. Jenny’s safety is all I’m after.” Briefly he explained what was going on.
“Is there anything we can do?” Nadi asked.
“Thank you, Nadi, efharistó. But you and Angelo have already done more than enough.”
“You could take a couple of my men with you to Moscow,” Angelo suggested. “Or they could meet you in Turkey.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m not sure that would do any good.”
“Do you need weapons, supplies?”
“I have a contact in Moscow, but do you know someone in Istanbul?”
“I can set something up. You will have everything you need.”
“Thank you.” He glanced from one face to another. “And there is one more thing, if you don’t mind.”
“Name it.”
“Can Ally and Kate stay here with you until this is over?”
They glanced at each other.
“Málista. Absolutely,” Nadi said. “I’m sure your daughter will be no trouble, and I look forward to getting to know Maggie’s sister.”
“If anything should happen to me and Jenny, my parents—”
“We’ll make sure Ally makes it safely to your family,” Angelo said.
“But you must come back from Istanbul,” Nadi whispered. “That’s simply all there is to it.”
“Well, I’ve had about all I can take of sitting around and waiting,” Riley said. “Angelo, let’s go fix your surveillance system. You’ve got a blind spot I want to show you.”
KATE PUT DOWN HER TOOLS and rubbed her eyes. She felt nearly cross-eyed from focusing on this statue. She’d roughed up the basic shape within a couple of hours last night. Unable to keep her eyes open after that, she’d caught several hours of sleep and was awake this morning before everyone except Riley.
Riley. Her feelings for him were getting so confusing that the moment after he’d poured her a cup of coffee she’d gone straight to the lower level to get back at creating Chaos. It was ironic that chaos was exactly what she felt every time she thought of him. She couldn’t believe he remembered her butterfly tattoos. That had been perhaps the most disturbing part of last night, learning that she actually had made an impression on him all those years ago when he’d escorted her home from Greece.
And still he’d left. Just like her father. Like Rufus. He was going to leave her again. When this business with March was all said and done, the same way Riley had abandoned his daughter, he was going to abandon her. There was no way around it.
Kate glanced at the clock. It was early for lunch, but she was starving and needed a boost. On leaving the workroom, she found Ally in the kitchen with an older woman Kate had never met. They were eating lunch in the breakfast nook. “Hey, Ally.” Kate rubbed the girl’s shoulder. “How are you doing?”
“I’m great.” Smiling, she appeared more relaxed than she’d been since all this had started. “Have you met Nadi?”
“You must be Kate Dillon,” the woman said, standing. “I’m Nadi Bebel, Angelo’s wife.”
“Nice to meet you.” Kate shook her hand. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your lunch.”
“No problem at all. Are you hungry?”
“Actually, I’m famished.”
“Sit,” Nadi said. “I’ll get you something.”
Kate sat
across from Ally. While Nadi prepped Kate’s lunch, she filled the older woman in on how Maggie, Nick and their three kids were doing.
“I’ve known Nick since he was a little boy,” Nadi said, setting several plates in front of Kate with the makings for gyros—slices of spiced lamb, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, tzatziki sauce and pita bread. “I am so happy he found your Maggie.” She brought over a large plate with a side salad of tomatoes, feta cheese, olives and onion tossed with dressing and then poured out three glasses of freshly squeezed lemonade.
“Me, too,” Kate said. “They’re perfect together.”
The moment Nadi sat at the table to finish eating, Kate dived in. “So what have you been up to all morning?” she asked Ally.
“Watched some TV. Then Nadi took me shopping in the Kolonáki area.”
The central Athens neighborhood, not far from Angelo’s house, was set on the slopes of Mount Lykavitós and was filled with trendy shops and restaurants. Kate regretted not being able to join them. She’d come to enjoy spending time with Ally. Having to say goodbye to Riley wouldn’t be the only downside to putting an end to this deal with March.
“Then we went to a grocery store, and I helped her make lunch. She’s been teaching me Greek.”
“No kidding. What can you say?”
Ally pronounced several individual words as well as a few common phrases.
“Good job. Maybe later you can teach me.” Kate smiled. “Do you know where your dad is?”
“He’s outside with Angelo and one of the guards, fixing a security camera.”
The one they’d broken last night.
“Angelo and I had breakfast with James early this morning outside on the patio,” Nadi added. “He seems more grounded than he was all those years ago when you were here in Greece with Maggie. Maybe even happy.”
“My dad?” Ally glanced at Nadi. “Happy?”
“Né. He is very different now from how I remember him. I worried about him back then. He was…quiet, almost to the point of being withdrawn.”
She had that right. Kate took a bite of gyro to keep from mouthing off in front of Ally.
“Ally, your father is a very brave man.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Do you?” Nadi smiled. “Well, I’ll tell you, he’s saved Angelo’s life. Twice that I know of.”
“Really? How?”
“The first time was in Kosovo. Angelo had inadvertently gotten involved in some business with a disreputable man. When Angelo refused the deal and left the building through the back door, Riley was there. He helped Angelo and his men out of that nasty situation.”
“That’s not how Riley described it,” Kate said smiling wryly. “He says Angelo saved his life.”
“Né?” Nadi raised her eyebrows. “He is being modest. Angelo has said countless times that if not for Riley, Angelo would be as dead as dirt. This from a man not prone to exaggeration. And still Riley came back with us to Greece, saying he owed Angelo his own life.”
“That’s when I first met him,” Kate said.
Nadi stirred her lemonade. “He seemed so sad back then. All I wanted was to mother him. But then that was not long after your mother had died.” Nadi glanced at Ally.
Ally picked at her lunch. “I wonder what would’ve happened if my mom had lived?” Interesting question.
“I’ll bet he would’ve stayed home more,” Ally whispered. “So maybe if there was another woman. Maybe if he was dating someone…” She glanced at Kate with a suspicious glint in her eyes.
“Oh, no,” Kate said, shaking her head. “Don’t look at me.”
Nadi chuckled.
“But you like him. I know you do.” Ally studied Kate. “It would be okay with me if you and my dad…you know…checked each other out.”
“Oh, it would, would it?” Kate couldn’t help but smile.
“Yeah. I mean, I know he’s not… I mean, I wouldn’t call him hot. You’d never see him on the cover of some magazine or anything. He’s only okay looking.”
That showed how much thirteen-year-olds knew about grown men. As far as Kate was concerned, all the actors and male models of this world could keep their camera-ready good looks. They couldn’t hold a candle to Riley’s virility, his real-life handsomeness. “Let me tell you something, Ally. Your dad’s a lot more than okay looking.”
“You think? Like how?”
“I don’t know.” Kate looked away, feeling more than a little self-conscious. “He just is.”
“He’s kind of bossy, though, but you are, too, so you guys are perfect for each other.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” Kate laughed. “Most of the time we’re more like oil and water.”
“That’s because he hasn’t had a lot of practice with women. I don’t think he’s dated anyone since…well, since my mom died.”
“He’s never introduced you to any girlfriends?”
“Never. But he likes you.” Ally grinned. “A lot.”
Kate felt as if she was back in high school all over again, but she couldn’t help herself. “You think?”
“Oh, yeah. He’s never brought a date home, but I’ve seen the way he acts around women. I mean, I’ve never seen him actually listen to a woman before. Not the way he listens to you. You’re smart, and I think he respects that. And you should see how he looks at, well…” Ally said, pausing. She started to chuckle and then laugh outright.
“What? How he looks at what?”
“You. When he thinks you’re not looking. When you walk away. His eyes go all over you.”
“Oh, stop.” Kate glanced at Nadi, but the older woman’s sly smile only seemed to encourage Ally all the more.
“I’m serious. He thinks you’re hot.” Ally’s smile was more than a little conspiratorial. “So do you like him?”
The hopeful look on Ally’s face was almost too much for Kate. “Honestly, Ally, I’m not sure what I feel for your dad.” Kate chewed on a hangnail. “He…well, he confuses me.”
“There’s a boy at school that confuses me, too. Joel Tate.”
“Do you like Joel?”
“One minute I’m arguing with him and the next I’m blushing because he looked at me.”
Sounded an awful lot like what was happening between Kate and Riley.
“Well, I want you to know that if you do start to like my dad, I’m okay with that.”
“It’s good to know, Ally. And thank you.” She glanced at Nadi. “Thank you for lunch. Now I have to get back to work.”
And safer ground.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
RILEY FIXED THE DAMAGE he’d caused to Angelo’s security camera the previous night and also remounted a couple of the cameras in order to eliminate blind spots. As they took a final walk around the perimeter of the property, Riley said, “I think that should do it. Your estate is now about as secure as reasonably possible.”
“Are you sure I can’t talk you into working for me?” Angelo asked as they headed back to the house. “I think I’m almost ready to retire. I need someone to take over my business.”
“Thanks for the offer, Angelo, but I won’t live this far from Ally. Besides, I’m not sure I’m interested in an imports business.”
His thoughts touched again on those retirement papers sitting on his desk back in D.C. He had enough put away in savings that with his military pension and benefits, he’d never have to work again, but he wasn’t the type to laze around. The only way he could even consider retirement was if there was something to keep him busy. The idea of consulting on private security might interest him. He imagined a civilian lifestyle, and Kate kept popping into the picture.
He hadn’t seen her since first thing that morning and he was itching to see how she was doing on the clay figure. Oddly enough, he had to admit, there was a part of him that simply wanted to see her. All the more reason to stay busy.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?” Riley asked.
“No, we do okay here with most things
the way they are. I hire too many guards to keep them all busy, I suppose, but their families need to eat, yes?”
Either Riley had been too young to appreciate Angelo’s generous spirit or the man had mellowed over the years, possibly a bit of both.
“I’m guessing Nadi prepared an early lunch for us,” Angelo said as they approached the house. “Are you hungry?”
“You know me. I can always eat.”
They entered the kitchen to find Nadi at the counter. “Well, it’s about time you two get back here,” the older woman said.
“I hope you ate without us,” Angelo said.
“Yes. Everything is still on the table for you and James.”
Riley and Angelo sat and made themselves plump gyros from the makings Nadi had laid out for them. Riley had barely swallowed his last bite when Ally wandered into the kitchen, looking bored and restless.
“So, James? Ally?” Nadi said, glancing back and forth between the two of them. “What are you two going to do this afternoon?”
Riley looked toward his daughter.
Ally, though, glanced at Nadi. “Do you want to go shopping again?”
“Oh, dear, I’d truly love to do that with you, but I can’t. I have a friend in the hospital I must visit this afternoon. Maybe your father can take you.”
Ally looked toward him hopefully. “Dad, I know you don’t like shopping much, so can we go do some more sightseeing?”
Even under the best of circumstances Riley was never much for company. Chances were he’d be downright uncommunicative, given the fact that he hated having to wait things out.
“You and I never do things alone,” she said, pumping up the pressure. “If you really want to reconnect,” she whispered so no one else could hear, “then show me.”
How could he turn his back on that challenge? “Okay, Ally, let’s go.” It was probably best for him to steer clear of Kate anyway. “You got your walking shoes on?”
After getting the rundown of must-sees from Nadi and Angelo, they were out the door. Their first stop was the National Archaeological Museum. They could’ve stayed there all day perusing artifacts, statues and paintings and even come back the next day for more, but Ally wanted to see as much as she could. After a quick visit to the Temple of Zeus, they drove through Syntagma Square and around the National Garden.