by Kim Baldwin
Chapter Eleven
Aegean Sea
“How are you ladies this splendid morning?” Kostas greeted his wife and her guests, who had moved today’s biriba game to the sixth-tier outdoor lounge, under a canopy. Two stewards stood at the ready to service their needs, and more would join them when it was time to set up lunch. Though he took his responsibility as host seriously, he was there primarily to make sure Christine would be well occupied for the next hour or so and unlikely to return to their suite.
The women all gave him polite replies and greetings and quickly resumed their gossip and card game.
So far, he’d successfully managed to keep his illness a secret from his family, but both his wife and daughter were growing more concerned by the day about his frequent coughing spasms.
Whenever his family was preoccupied and he could slip away from business matters, Kostas went to his room and prayed to the icon, asking the Holy Mother to bless him with her healing powers. Though he could detect no change thus far in his condition, that only meant he’d not yet prayed hard enough or long enough. His faith in the Theotokos was unshaken, because he could feel its miraculous powers every time he touched it.
He was happy to see when he let himself in that the maid had come and gone, so he would not be interrupted. Nikolaos had already gone ashore for the day, and Ariadne was planning an outing away from the yacht as well.
Kostas went into the bedroom and opened the wall panel that concealed his panic room, a steel-walled enclosure intended as a secure location for his family in the event pirates or other desperate individuals ever overtook the yacht. The man who’d installed it was the only outsider who knew about this secret hiding place. It had a thick, reinforced steel door and was accessed by a code known only to his family. The room was well stocked with food, water, guns, ammunition, and communication devices but was otherwise unused, so he kept the Theotokos there when he wasn’t praying to it.
He kept his other valuables in his wall safe, which was hidden behind another ancient fresco. The safe held gold bricks, valuable gems and jewelry, important papers, and a handful of precious items from his artifact collection. These included unpublished biblical papyri dating back to the time of the Library of Alexandria, a number of Dead Sea Scrolls, and five of the eight Imperial Fabergé eggs considered lost for nearly a century.
Kostas reverently removed the case containing the panic room’s newest treasure…the Theotokos…and placed it gently on top of the bed. He was almost shaking with awe and anticipation, as he did every time he neared the magnificent representation of the Holy Mother.
He knelt beside the bed, unlatched the case, and slowly pulled back the linen covering the icon. For a long moment, he didn’t breathe. He merely gazed at her, as though seeing her beatific face for the very first time, because each time, he felt her blessed presence even stronger than the time before.
She would heal him.
Kostas placed his fingertips on the bottom of the halo surrounding her face, bent his head, and began to pray. He began with the Orthodox prayer to the Virgin Theotokos, then added his own. “Oh, Holy Mother, I implore you to look with favor on your faithful servant and bless me with your healing.” Tears began to stream down his face as the power of the icon washed over him. “My family needs me, Blessed Virgin,” he cried out, his voice breaking. “I ask of you…I beg of you, be merciful.”
*
Thessaloniki, Greece
Allegro wiped the sweat from her forehead. Though it was seventeen hundred hours, temps were still in the high nineties, which was a radical change from the mild weather she’d left behind in Venice. She’d been sitting on the same bench outside the Electra Palace Hotel for hours to get a feel of the area and keep an eye out for TQ. Her orders were to report The Broker’s every move, but five hours later, the deranged virus of a woman still hadn’t made an appearance and her patience was wearing thin. “I need a cold frappé,” she said under her breath to no one in particular. “And a long, cold shower.”
A young kid, probably not more than ten or twelve and dressed in dirty, worn clothes, walked up to her and said something in Greek.
“I have no idea what you’re going on about,” Allegro replied.
“Money,” the boy said in English, and held out his hand.
The city was swamped with underage gypsy beggars and Allegro had no small change, just a two-euro coin and some five- and twenty-euro bills. “Listen, get me a frappé from over there…” She pointed to an outdoor café as she reached for the coin, “and I’ll give you five euros.”
The cold coffee only cost one-fifty, so she was sure the kid would come back with her frappé. But the little guy shrugged like he didn’t understand and kept his hand an inch from her face.
“You know, I really want to like kids, but most of you make it real hard.” She pulled out the coin. “Here.” She gave him the two euros. “Now get as far away from me as possible and tell whoever spawned you to send you to school.”
He stuck his tongue out and ran off as fast as his bare feet could take him. The boy kept looking back at her as he ran, and Allegro saw him bump into the backside of a woman exiting the Electra Palace. He dropped the coin and had started to pick it up when the woman turned and looked down.
“Well, hello, freak show.” Allegro recognized TQ. She had two men at her side, one tall and thin, the other squat and bald.
She immediately pulled out her cell and started taking pictures to send to Reno. She was far enough away they wouldn’t notice her, but her zoom was good enough to get very usable images.
The bitch stepped on the kid’s coin and wouldn’t move. The boy tried to move her foot, but she kicked him in the face and yelled something. Bystanders glanced their way, but no one stopped to say or do anything. Gypsies were known to be menacing thieves throughout the Mediterranean, and they often worked in groups.
As the boy wiped his bloody nose and got up, her two goons stepped in front of TQ. The boy ran for his life and TQ laughed. She bent down, picked up the two-euro piece, and put it her purse.
“I guess some never get over poverty.” Allegro followed the trio as they headed down a busy sidewalk, and ten minutes later, they stopped at an upscale lounge bar facing the water and took seats outside under a huge umbrella.
Allegro took a table close enough to hear them, grateful that the olive skin and caramel eyes of her Persian heritage helped her blend in like a native. When the waiter came for her order, she said simply, “Frappé.”
It wasn’t long before TQ and her goons ordered as well and got down to business.
“I can’t believe the fool,” TQ said. “He has such a treasure and won’t show it the respect it deserves.”
“Why do you care?” the bald one asked. “It’s not like he’ll have it for much longer.”
TQ sighed. “Yes, but we don’t know how much longer he’ll need it for his voodoo ritual, which makes it difficult for us to determine our next move.”
“I say we move as soon as possible.”
“Yeah, the guy could croak any day, and then what?” the tall goon added. “We’ll never know what happened to it or where to look for it.”
No one spoke while the waitress set their drinks down.
“I know all this, imbeciles,” TQ continued after she’d gone. “But I haven’t heard back from my contact yet. If he doesn’t locate the icon, we can’t make any kind of move.”
“You sure we can trust him?” the bald guy asked.
“When am I ever not sure?” TQ rolled her eyes. “Few have fooled me, and they were way above his status.”
“And they’ve…departed.” The skinny one laughed.
“All except one.”
“She means Jack.”
“I know who she means,” the bald guy replied.
“It’s only a matter of time.” TQ frowned.
“But you prom—”
“I said, it’s only a matter of time.” TQ glared at both men angrily, and Allegro
watched them shrink back from her. “But…” She smiled then, a cruel smile devoid of warmth. “First things first.”
“Want me to contact him?” the skinny guy asked.
“Yes, do that. Tell him if he takes any longer, you’re going to remove his testicles and mail them to his mother.”
*
Near Colorado Springs, Colorado
“Jack, your phone’s ringing,” Cassady called from the kitchen.
“I hear it.” Jack pretended to be busy fixing a problem with her PC. “Can’t right now.”
Cassady came in and walked over to the table where she was sitting to look at the caller ID. “It’s Landis.”
“Oh.” Jack looked up. She’d rekindled her long friendship with Landis Coolidge, aka Agent Chase, when they’d worked together to free Cassady from the clutches of Andor Rózsa, the madman who’d unleashed his deadly Charon virus on the world. Recently, she’d left several messages asking Landis to come visit them, but her friend was apparently away on a mission. “About time.”
Cassady pressed the answer button and handed the phone to Jack.
“Where the hell have you been?” Jack asked.
“At the office,” Montgomery Pierce replied.
Jack shot Cassady the look of death. She placed her hand over the mouthpiece. “You’re gonna pay,” she whispered.
“Man up,” Cassady replied, and left the room.
Jack cleared her throat. “I thought you were someone else.”
“I see.”
Jack played with the mouse. “So, what’s up?”
“Not much. Nothing much changes here,” Pierce replied. “How about you?”
Jack prayed for a zombie apocalypse or some kind of disaster to occur so she could hang up. “Oh, you know, laundry…dishes…a bit of vacuuming, and all that other exciting shit that domestic life includes.”
Pierce laughed. “You’ll never be the domestic type.”
“I know, right? I mean, how do so many women do it, day in, day out?”
“They’re not you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’re too talented to be sitting at home folding underwear.”
“I don’t think my resume can get me an office job.” Jack was already getting irritated.
“But you enjoy working with the kids, right?” he asked, referring to her long-time passion of counseling troubled teens.
“It’s okay, but it’s only part time, and then…well, it’s back to dishes.”
“You’re probably not ready to hear this, and definitely not from me, but…” Pierce paused. “I think I have a solution.”
“I’m not going to work for you.”
“I’m aware. I understand, and I don’t want you to.”
How refreshing. “So?”
“Can we meet in person?”
She didn’t see that coming. “I…I, uh…when?”
“This week. Whatever day works for you.”
“Friday?”
“Great.” Pierce sounded sincerely pleased. “Promise you’ll try to keep an open mind.”
“I won’t promise anything.”
“I’ll take it. See you Friday.” He hung up.
“Damn it,” Jack said.
“What happened?” Cassady walked in.
“Pierce wants to meet Friday.”
“And?”
“I said I’d do it.”
“Is that why you’re agitated?” Cass asked.
“No.” Jack sulked.
“Then what?”
“He hung up before I did. I hate that.”
Cass came over and sat on her lap. “Poor baby.” She kissed Jack. “Did Daddy hurt your feelings?”
Jack got up with Cass in her arms. “I told you what would happen the next time you teased me.” She carried her to the bathroom.
“No!” Cass struggled, but only halfheartedly.
Jack turned on the cold water to the shower. “Yes.” She set her down, right under the cold stream.
“You suck.” Cassady laughed. “Oh, God, what’s that?” she said seriously, looking down.
“What?” Jack peered into the shower to see what she was looking at, and as soon she did, Cassady pulled her in.
“You suck more.” Jack adjusted the temperature and grabbed Cass by the waist. “Since we’re already wet, why not get wetter?” She bit Cass’s ear.
Chapter Twelve
Aegean Sea
Next morning
“You have to ask him to come,” Melina pleaded across the breakfast table. “Please, don’t say no.”
“But it was going to be a girls’ day out,” Ariadne replied. She was looking forward to their shore excursion to a private, secluded beach, but not if Melina got her way.
“Every day is a girls’ day out. Come on, I’ve been good this trip. No men, hardly had a drink, and I haven’t smoked at all.”
Ariadne lifted an eyebrow.
Melina sipped her coffee. “Weed doesn’t count.”
“Uh-huh.” Ariadne, together with Jo and Natasa, had made Melina promise to stop smoking, and so far she was making a worthy effort. “I’ve arranged for Manos to set us up and hang out,” she told the others.
“Oh, yay!” Jo said. “He’s a hoot.”
“But why?” Melina frowned.
“I thought you liked Manos,” Ariadne replied. “You’ve spent the past two summers clubbing and barhopping with him.”
“Yeah, but that was different,” Melina said. “And I’ll have enough girlfriends with me today.”
“Manos will be disappointed.”
“So invite both,” Natasa stopped eating just long enough to mumble.
“Yes, Manos can take my place while I get to…know Alex better and…” Melina looked at Natasa. “Your eggs are not going to hatch, you know. Take a breather.”
“Mind your own hormones and let me eat. I’m PMSing,” Natasa snapped.
“And this is why Alex has to come along.” Melina turned back to Ariadne. “Estrogen overload is not good for me.”
Ariadne had deliberately asked Manos to come set them up for the barbecue and day at the beach. For some reason she couldn’t explain, she wanted to put some distance between herself and Alex and had avoided inviting him. He was a nice enough guy, but something about him bothered her. And the biggest problem was, she wasn’t sure if that was his fault or her own.
He was gentle, polite, interesting, and interested, so why did Ariadne feel awkward around him? Men were always fun company and they never made Ariadne feel uncomfortable, even when they flirted with her. But Alex did, and that was annoyingly unfamiliar and unnatural, because that sensation was reserved for women.
“I really don’t think he can make it, anyway,” Ariadne lied.
“Hey!” Melina yelled and waved. “Alex! Over here!”
Alex, who’d been nearby talking to one of the deckhands, hurried toward them at a jog since Melina was shouting and floundering in the chaise like a dying fish. “Is everything okay?” He looked concerned.
“Yeah…well, actually no.” Melina smiled. “I hear you’re too occupied to assist us with today’s beach barbecue.”
Alex searched Ariadne’s eyes before he answered. “Yes, that’s correct.” He smiled politely at Melina.
Melina shoved Ariadne. “Well, don’t just sit there. Do something.”
Ariadne sighed. “I’ll talk to my father about changing your schedule for today,” she told Alex without looking at him.
“I’m sure Mr. Lykourgos needs me around.” Alex clearly understood she didn’t want him to come along to the beach.
“I’ll talk to him.” Melina started to get up.
“No.” Ariadne stopped her. “I’ll take care of it. I’m going to meet with him in an hour anyway.”
“So, Alex…” Melina turned toward him with a provocative smile. “Get your…whatever you swim in ready.”
*
Halkidiki, Greece
Sw
itch and Manos had to make two trips in the Zodiac to carry everything required for the women’s upscale barbecue on the beach—portable tables, folding lounge chairs, barbecue grill and supplies, two coolers with ice and drinks, and more coolers with the wide array of foods the chef had sent along. In addition to the souvlakia, pancetta, octopus, and fresh fish destined for the grill, he’d prepared tzatziki, spanakopita, dolmades, taramosalata, horiatiki, freshly baked flatbread, and the beetroot, feta, and lentil salad that was Ariadne’s favorite.
As she finished setting everything up, she sent Manos back in the Zodiac for the women. The beach they’d chosen was as good as private, since they were the only ones in sight. Tourists and locals tended to congregate on the easily accessible stretches of sand, especially those with a beach bar nearby. The temps were pleasant here with the steady breeze, much cooler than in the city, and the sea was a clear, azure blue. Conditions could not have been more perfect for a day ashore.
The Zodiac returned just as Switch finished setting up the lounge chairs under the shade of some pine trees. When she saw the women stepping onto the beach, she was glad she was wearing her shades.
Melina headed straight for her, wearing a broad, anticipatory smile and little else. She’d seen a lot of barely there bikinis, but this one was a mere thong that left Melina’s bare ass exposed, and the top didn’t have enough material to cover a mouse. If she coughed, her nipples would be exposed.
Jo and Natasa, walking behind her, wore bikinis that were only marginally less distracting. It seemed as though they were all in a contest to expose as much flesh as possible.
But it was Ariadne who took her breath away. She stepped off the Zodiac with her black bikini provocatively outlined under a sheer, see-through top, her blond hair shining in the sun and blown away from her face by the breeze. At that moment she could have been a model for some Greek tourism ad, and the world would have rushed to come find her.
Switch could have stared at her like that all day, though the sheer top made her feel like a voyeur peeking into Ariadne’s bedroom, but Melina was determined to gain her attention.