ATHENS, GREECE
ONCE SHE WAS SAFELY INSIDE A CAB, TAYLOR OPENED THE suitcase and pushed aside clothes and saw a teddy bear. She pulled it out and squeezed it but didn’t feel anything solid. Her eyes went to the two icons in the bottom of the suitcase—maybe that’s where they were hidden. She needed to find a more secure place to unpack, though.
But first, she had to see what the lawyer had told Jeremy. The Athens traffic was thick, and the sound of blaring horns filled the air. It was over an hour before she reached the hotel, and when she did, she saw Jeremy waiting for her in the lobby, a questioning expression on his face.
“I think I have them,” she said. “But I’m going to run into the ladies’ room and make sure they’re in here.”
She found the lobby restroom and entered the handicapped stall, then put the suitcase down on top of the toilet seat and unzipped it again. Removing the first icon, she ran her hand over the front to see if she could feel anything. She turned it over and held it up to the light, then pulled a pen from her purse and ran it along the brown paper covering the back to discover a thicker layer of cardboard behind it. Working the pen until it made a hole, she turned and turned until she could get a finger in, then ripped out a small piece. She held it up again. She saw the glint of silver. Aha! She returned to the lobby with a smile.
“They’re in here,” she reassured her brother. “How did it go with the lawyer?”
“He’s already arranged for a hearing, but it won’t be until next week. He said there’s no way they’ll let her out on bail, since she has no real credentials and could be a security threat. They have to verify her identify. Technically she’s an American citizen, but she’s been living here illegally all these years. I think we’re going to need to bring a lawyer back with us and we’re going to need a DNA test to prove who she is and have the death certificate nullified.” He pulled in a long breath. “In the meantime, she’s going to have to stay put.”
Taylor shook her head. “What a mess! We can’t just leave her there, but we need to get the . . . suitcase . . . back home. Plus we’ve got to figure out where Crosse is.”
“I think we need to fly back tonight. I’ll arrange for everything for wheels up at eight. Do you want to go by the jail and see if they’ll let you say good-bye to her?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I’ll meet you at the airport. Why don’t you take the suitcase?” She handed it to him and enclosed him in a hug. “See you later.”
* * *
When Taylor arrived at the police station and gave them her name, she was made to wait until an older gentleman in a suit came out to get her.
“I’m Detective Stavros. Please come with me.”
“Are you taking me to see my mother?”
He gave her a strange look. “Come with me, please.”
She followed him through the door and into a room where two other officers already sat.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
The detective took a seat across from her. “There’s been an incident.”
She felt her blood run cold. “What do you mean?”
“Someone came to question your mother. He had credentials. But. . . .” He stopped, looking at the man across from him.
“But what?” Her palms were damp with sweat and she looked back and forth at the two men. Her voice rose. “Has something happened to my mother?”
He cleared his throat. “I’m afraid she’s dead.”
She heard screaming and it took her a moment to realize it was coming from her. “No. She can’t be dead. How did you let this happen?” She stood. “I want to see her! Take me to her now.”
“That’s impossible. You can’t see her until the crime scene has been processed.”
Taylor took a deep breath, willing herself to think clearly. She needed to get the lawyer to come back with her. “Can you tell me what happened exactly?”
The detective sighed. “There was a shift change of the guard. The new guard let in a man claiming to be from National Intelligence. When the guard checked on your mother a few hours later, she was lying in a pool of blood. The man had slit her throat.”
The image of her mother bleeding out on the floor flashed in her mind. Taylor felt like she would be sick. “When can I see her? Have her buried properly?”
“You can check back in the morning. I’m sorry, there’s nothing else we can do for you today.”
She stood up and walked from the room on shaky legs. Once outside, she ran as fast as she could away from the jail until she was out of breath, then hailed a cab for the airport. She fell back against the seat, imagined images of her mother’s murder bombarding her mind, unable to process what had just happened. She hugged herself tightly, crying loudly. Soon, she was heaving big sobs, and at the light the driver turned to look back at her.
“Eísai kalá?” he asked, a concerned look on his face.
“I’ll be okay,” she answered in Greek, taking deep breaths and trying to calm herself down. Finally they reached the airport and she paid him and jumped out.
Jeremy was waiting outside by the steps to the plane and Taylor ran to him, throwing herself into his arms, her sobs starting again.
“She’s dead!”
He pulled back and looked at her in shock. “What? What do you mean?”
“Someone got into my mother’s cell and killed her.” She relayed what the police had told her. “We have to go to the lawyer’s office and have him help us. They wouldn’t let me see her . . . so I don’t even know if they’re telling me the truth.”
All the color drained from Jeremy’s face. “It must have been Crosse. He must have found out that she’s alive . . . which means he might know we’re here.”
The only thing Taylor could think about was that they had to go back to the jail. They couldn’t leave her mother’s body there. “I don’t know. But we have to get her.”
The noise of a loud engine made them look up and they saw a black Hummer racing toward them.
Jeremy didn’t waste a minute. “Get in the plane, now!” he yelled.
They raced up the stairs and just as the hatch was closing, the Hummer came to a stop and two men with machine guns in their hands jumped out and began shooting.
As the door closed, and the plane began taxiing down the runway, Taylor saw that the front of Jeremy’s white shirt was turning red.
“You’ve been shot!”
“Tell the pilot to go faster! We have to get out of here.”
“But you’re bleeding! And what about my mother?”
He stumbled to a seat and sat down as the plane began to lift. “We can’t stay here. It’s too late to help her now. They must know we have the coins. We have to go!”
Taylor ran to the bathroom and returned with towels, pressing against what thankfully seemed to be only a shoulder graze, trying to stop the bleeding. It didn’t look terrible, but she also didn’t know how they were going to fly for ten hours with him in this condition. She got up and asked the flight attendant for the first aid kit. When Taylor walked back, she looked at Jeremy. “This is going to hurt.” She took off his shirt and poured the alcohol on the wound. He clenched his fists but remained still. Then she took the towels and put pressure on the shoulder. Within seconds it was red with blood. She put on a second then a third before the blood started to ebb. “Maybe we should land somewhere closer and get you medical attention,” she suggested.
He grimaced. “No. We need to get to the States. I’ll be okay. It’s just surface.”
She hoped he was right. But as far as she was concerned, they couldn’t get back on the ground fast enough.
She called Jack. “We’re in the air. Someone came after us. I think they killed my mother. I don’t know, they wouldn’t let me see her body—and Jeremy’s hurt. Bring a doctor. Did you find a place for us to go? We can’t be anywhere near home right now.”
“What! . . . never mind, yes, yes. . . . It’s all set,” Jack, sounding shocked, assured her. “I’m taking care of everything. I’ll be waiting at the airport when you land. Be safe. Love you.”