The Forty Column Castle (13 page)

“Ney, ney.”

Oh, thank you Sweet Jesus, it was Yannis.

“Yannis, it’s Claudie, we have sixty seconds, tell me what’s so urgent?

“Princess? Where are you? Are you okay? What is going on?”

“I’m fine. Please I only have sixty seconds, what’s so urgent? Have you heard from
my aunt? Is she okay?”

“We have heard nothing from your aunt. The police, of course, are looking, but she
seems to have vanished from the face of the Earth.”

“Then what was so urgent?”

“Zach Lamont is wanted by the FBI in the United States for smuggling antiquities and
weapons. He is a felon and a criminal and has served time in jail. The Cypriot police
are looking for him. Are you still with him?”

Holy Mother of all the Greek gods. “You can’t be serious.”

“Princess, I have never been more serious in my life. Where is he?”

“I was with him, but I’m not right this instant.” I knew I was stretching the truth,
but I couldn’t tell Yannis. It could put him in danger. What if someone was monitoring
the call? “He’s been protecting me, sort of.”

“Claudie, you must go to the police. Get away from him.”

Sixty seconds. I hung up and faded into the shadows by the building on the corner
that housed a noisy music store. I flattened myself against the warm concrete of the
building, hoping I might disappear. I needed to think.

Zach, a smuggler? How did he know about the safe house? And the NYPD badge? Of course,
it had to be a forgery. If he circulated in the world of criminals, forging documents
was probably an everyday necessity. What was Zach’s motivation in holding me captive?
An easy piece? That was comforting. If he thought that I was tied up with my aunt,
my value to him was a way to access what he wanted. He must really think I was a thief.
Maybe that was the attraction. And the men following us? Zach must have something
they wanted. A horrible been-had feeling crept through my gut. My skin felt like it
was crawling with worms. Slippery, slimy, creepy worms.

I took stock. I had the clothes on my back and my purse. Zack had the keys to the
car. I had to get a taxi and go to the police. But if I went to the police, they might
throw me in jail, and I still wouldn’t know where my aunt was. If I went to Limasol
which was over an hour away, maybe I could find my aunt’s boy friend. Maybe he knew
where she was. But Zach had the address. That meant I’d have to call Yannis again.
But not from here.

Taxi. I needed a taxi. I needed to get away from Zach. I didn’t want to think about
what we had been doing back there in the car. Making whoopee with a criminal? I was
slipping to a new low.

I peeked around the corner of the building, back toward the restaurant. No Zach or
Lonnie or gray haired old ladies in sight. I crossed the street and headed toward
the main boulevard that would take me to Limasol, scanning for a cab while I walked,
trying not to hurry, trying not to look like a woman on the run. Surely, there would
be a cab on the main drag. Another block and I was there, half way into the street,
holding up my hand, waving the universal signal for a taxi. With the honking of the
horns and the noise from the traffic I didn’t hear the footsteps until they were right
beside me.

A big, strong muscular arm went around my shoulder and another arm joined mine waving
for a taxi. I yelped and jumped straight up three feet.

“Where are we going, darlin’?”

I looked into Zach’s dark, unfathomable eyes.

“You weren’t going to leave without me, were you?” His smile had an edge to it and
wasn’t sexy in the least.

“No, of course not.”

“Do we need a taxi? We have a car waiting for us back at the beach. And you haven’t
had dinner yet, have you?”

His smiled got even tighter, definitely false around the edges. We stood in our ridiculous
tourist get ups, squared off in mid-traffic, angry drivers honking and shaking fists
at us. I was at a loss for words. How did he find me so fast? He pulled me out of
harm’s way and back onto the sidewalk.

“We’re creating a scene. Would you like to tell me what you’re doing?”

Evening strollers passed by on both sides of us, some staring at the strange tourist
couple. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. “You didn’t mention you
are wanted by the FBI.”

“Ah.”

I saw the light of understanding in his eyes.

“You talked to Yannis. Not the police, I hope.”

“Yannis. But I’m on my way to the police. I’m going to get a taxi and ride away, and
I don’t ever want to see you again.”

“But what about the beach this morning and our play time in the back seat of the car?
Doesn’t that mean anything?” He cupped my neck with his warm hand and smoothed his
thumb across my cheek.

I slapped his hand away. “Stop it. You’re a criminal, a fake, you lied to me and I
…” The tears started and that infuriated me more. “I hate you.”

Geez, that was real adult. Now we were starting to draw a crowd.

He grabbed my elbow and propelled me forward. “Walk with me. We’re making a scene.
You’re upset. Try to calm down.”

I trotted away from him, and he hurried to catch up.

“Calm down? Me calm down? After your lies?”

I stopped and poked him in the chest with my finger. “My aunt could be dead by now.
Yannis says she has disappeared off the face of the Earth. Because of you, I’ve lost
two vital days trying to locate her. Two whole days.”

“Walk,” he said again, pulling me along, as a crowd started to form around us. “You
haven’t lost two days because we’ve been looking for her. You’re being unreasonable.”

“Don’t let him get the best of you, honey,” shouted one tourist, shaking his fist.

“You’re creating a scene,” Zach said, “and if we are both wanted, that wouldn’t be
such a good idea, would it?”

He steered me down a side street. We were heading back to the beach. By now it was
dark. Maybe I could out run him on the beach and hide somewhere in the ruins. The
sunset had dimmed and an evening star glowed on the west horizon. Around us the shop
lights burned bright. Street lights flickered on. I didn’t know what chance I stood
running on the beach in the dark, but it was worth a try. I had to get away from this
maniac. Our fling was over.

I hurried ahead, but he was right behind me. We were on a rough side road that led
to the ruins, a road used only by the archeologists and excavation workers that was
more rock than road. As soon as we were out of the glare of the street lights and
surrounded by darkness, he yanked on my arm forcing me to stop.

“I can’t let you go, my dearest Claudie.”

I refused to look at him, so he grabbed my chin hard and turned my face so I had no
choice.

“You know too much. Besides, aren’t we one of a kind? Aren’t you in this with your
aunt? It will be much easier on both of us if you tell me where she is.”

“Why? What could she have that you want?”

This was the part that baffled me.

“Your aunt’s the head of the smuggling operation on the island along with those three
widow friends of hers. All she has to do is tell me where they stashed the antiquities
that they stole. That’s all I want. I wouldn’t report her to the police now, would
I, if I’m a thief myself?”

I thought that one over. But something he just said gave me pause. What stash of antiquities?
And who did they steal this stash from?

“Let’s back up. You say there is a stash of antiquities involved, not just a few statues
and potsherds?”

“Don’t play dumb, Claudie. You know about this.”

“Let’s pretend I don’t, just for the heck of it. You tell me what’s involved.”

He crossed his arms and stood studying me. A rainbow of emotion flickered over his
face. Disbelief, suspicion, caution, calculation, doubt.

I knew what the problem was. If I wasn’t a thief, and he told me about the stash,
I could do a number of things that might dig him in deeper if I ever got to the police.
Like tell them about the stash he was after, what was in it if he would tell me, what
the stakes were in the smuggling operation.

He came to a decision. “All right. Let’s pretend you don’t know the stakes in this
game. Here it is. Berengaria’s jewels were found in the excavation of the Forty Column
Castle.”

I looked at him and a smile spread across my face. “Are we talking gold jewelry set
with precious stones worth maybe two to three million on the black market?”

His eyes lit up, and I could tell by the lively interest in those deep brown eyes
that I was getting close.

“I’ve never seen them,” I said, “but I heard about them when I worked on the excavation.”
I started laughing. “Give it up, Zach. It’s all rumor and legend. Those jewels don’t
exist. There never was such a find at the Forty Column Castle. It’s just one of those
funny stories that circulate around digs about buried lost treasure.” I smirked at
him. “You’ve been had, and, you know what? I’m glad.”

He smirked back.

“No, darlin’, I’ve seen the jewels. I had them in these hands.” He held up his big
hands. “They were stolen from me. Why do you think Max and Irene are dead?”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Why do you think the guys in the Maruti are following me?”

My eyes widened. “Why?”

“They want the jewels, and they think I have them.”

“Do you have them?” I asked. This was getting ridiculously confusing. The whole thing
had always been confusing, hadn’t it?

“Of course I don’t. But your aunt might know where they are and that’s why we need
to find her.”

Something then occurred to me. Was it possible that during her vacation this time
in Cyprus my clueless aunt had unwittingly gotten these jewels? But how? Now I was
thinking like the jewels were real. Zach said he had them in his hands, but he had
a way of saying things that weren’t always true.

“Isn’t that a coincidence? We both want to find my aunt, but for different reasons.”

Zach looked uncomfortable. He wouldn’t look me in the eye but seemed to be studying
something in the darkness.

I found a big rock to sit down on and let out a soul draining sigh. “Unbelievable.”
Then I remembered that I never had had dinner, and my stomach was growling with no
hope of respite any time soon.

I was at a loss. I was no good at being a detective. The Great Above only knew what
was happening to my mutual fund although I had great confidence in Lena’s ability
to carry on without me, maybe permanently but I hoped not. My aunt could be dead if
those desperados thought she had the mythical jewels. The police were looking for
me and Zach, and he was a bona fide criminal. But the sex was great.

I realized I was studying Zach’s muscular, hairy calves. “You have nice legs,” I said.
I couldn’t think of anything else to say. “And I need a bracer. A raft of Cyprus brandy
sours might do it.”

“Thanks but I need to lie low, and you will have to lie low with me. How about we
get the car, drive over to Limasol, and look up Mr. Bellomo.”

I squinted up at him, not finished with the inquisition yet. “Did you find Lonnie
and the widows and what did they say?”

Zach stared off into the darkness of the night. I looked over my shoulder to see what
could be so interesting. Only blackness as far as I could see. He took off the baseball
cap, smoothed back his hair, put the cap carefully back on. The breeze was picking
up and ruffled the lapels of his ridiculous shirt.

“You didn’t talk to Lonnie?”

He cleared his throat. “Yes, I did.”

“And?”

“It seems the widows have gone on to Jerusalem to complete their vacation. Those weren’t
our girls with his touring party today. They’ve left your aunt twisting in the wind,
I do believe.”

“That’s fine, just fine.” I stood, dusting off my Capri pants. I was beginning to
like them and thought about picking up another pair. My bikini bottoms were in a wedgie
under the Capris, and I was sticky and sandy from the beach. I wanted a nice hot shower
and a comfortable bed. By myself.

We started trudging in the direction of the car. I stumbled and had to resort to holding
on to Zach’s arm. The stars and a bright half-moon provided some illumination. Those
lovely ruins that looked so romantic under a setting sun now looked spooky.

I was jumpy, and my skin was crawling. As a kid I always hid my head under the pillow
when ghost stories started flying around Girl Scout campfires, and I hated horror
films. Stephen King? Never. I didn’t like being terrified. So what was I now?

We passed the castle then the mosaics. Ghosts might be hanging around an old ruined
castle. I clutched Zach’s arm tighter. We passed the Odeon with the fine acoustics.
The breeze blowing through the ancient rocks whistled eerily, making me more jittery.
The place had to be haunted with all those people dying over the centuries. I hoped
I didn’t see any ghosts. They were in the same class as terrorists. It would be too
much for my heart.

We neared the beach where we swam earlier, picked our way down the old goat path,
Zach helping me over a rock or two, when he stopped so suddenly I stumbled right into
him. He steadied me but continued to look over my head in the direction of the parking
lot.

“I don’t see the car.”

I squinted, trying to make out the form of the Honda SUV with the memorable back seat.
Nothing. We studied the area.

“Maybe we’re at the wrong place. It has to be there. Did you lock it?”

“Yep, but that wouldn’t stop a tow truck from hauling it away.”

I took a few steps forward. It had to be there. Auto theft was unheard of on Cyprus.

Zach held my shoulder. “Better not go any closer. They’re probably watching the area.
They might already see us.”

“They?”

“The police. They probably tracked us through the car rental agency.”

“But why would they take the car? Wouldn’t they just put a watch on it until we returned?”

“Maybe. Or our friends in the Maruti might have taken it. They’re good at stealing
cars. Might have wanted my gear.” He looked sad at the thought. “I guess we’ll have
to spend the night in the ruins.”