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68 |King George Hotel Athens, Greece
“There she is!” cried Antoniou, pointing at the screen, his wife crawling out from under the car, the gunfire they had been hearing silenced. Black boots filled the screen, then men knelt beside her, revealing their police uniforms as they helped her to her feet. Hugs rounded the room as tears of joy and relief flowed without shame, even Leather, still at the door, glistening.
Acton’s phone rang and he answered it without looking, unable to tear his eyes from the screen. “Hello?”
“Hey, Jim, it’s me.”
“Just a sec, Hugh, I’ll put you on speaker.” Acton tapped the display, and everyone cocked an ear, though kept their eyes on the screen.
“Tell Professor Antoniou she’s safe. We have her.”
Antoniou glanced at the phone, clasping his hands to his chest in thanks, then resumed his vigil. Acton grinned. “Way ahead of you. We watched the entire thing.”
“How? I thought the cameras were inside?”
“Whoever is doing this launched a drone. We watched the whole thing. If you look, it’s probably sitting on the street not ten feet from where Juno was hiding.”
“I’ll check it out.”
“Okay, we’re going to head there now. I don’t think Basil can wait.”
“That might not be a good idea.”
The video went black. “Wait, we just lost the feed.” A message appeared on the screen. “What the hell?”
“What’s going on?”
“The video feed has been replaced by a message.”
“What does it say?”
Acton’s chest tightened as he read the white on black message. “I know you’re watching, Professor Acton. Meet me in thirty minutes. Alone.” He drew a quick breath as everyone stared at him. “There’s a set of GPS coordinates.”
Tommy tapped at his keyboard then swung the laptop around. “It’s the National Garden. About twenty minutes from here.”
“Then I don’t have much time.”
Reading cursed. “That’s the idea. It gives you no time to think.”
“But I have to know what this is about.”
Laura stared at him, wide-eyed. “You’re not going to meet with them!”
“Why not?”
“I can think of a thousand reasons why not.”
Reading growled. “And I can think of a thousand more. How about we start with the fact we don’t know who they are.”
Acton pursed his lips. “There’s only one way to find out. They have to be the ones who have Cylon’s urn. Maybe they want to return it.”
“Why the bloody hell would they want to do that?”
Acton shrugged. “I don’t know. Buyer’s remorse?”
Antoniou shook his head. “My wife is safe. There’s no reason for anyone to put themselves at risk anymore. It’s just an artifact. It’s not worth dying for.”
Laura patted the man on the knee. “I agree.”
“I don’t think they mean to harm me.”
A burst of static erupted from the phone. “Are you clairvoyant now?”
Acton chuckled. “Think about it. This Suqut Brigade is now dead. We know the message isn’t coming from them, it’s coming from the group that was watching them.”
“Right, the same group that shot up the dig site a few hours ago, and put some Taser thing in my chest.”
“Exactly. They didn’t kill you. And you said the man knew me.”
“They didn’t kill me, but they wounded some of the others.”
“Only because they fought back.”
Antoniou shook his head. “You’re defending these people!”
Acton’s eyes widened at the misunderstanding. “No, not at all! Hear me out. This Suqut Brigade attacked the site, killed some innocent people, and a bunch of them were killed. This other group tried not to kill people. I agree, this is horrible, and they should all go to jail for the rest of their lives. But they didn’t even try to kill Hugh or anybody else they didn’t have to. That means they went in with the intent of not killing. There’s no reason to think these people mean me any harm, and there’s every reason to believe they have the artifact. They might have retrieved it for any number of reasons, and maybe that reason fell through. That could mean they’re willing to give it back.”
Reading was having none of it. “This is insane.”
“I agree, but we need to know who was behind all this.”
Laura stared at him, shaking her head. “But we do know. The Suqut Brigade.”
Acton shook his head. “No, I mean the inside person.”
“And we know that. Cy Pulos.”
Acton frowned. “I’m not so sure about that.”
Antoniou’s eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean? They found it in her car.”
Acton jabbed at the air between them. “Exactly! Why would she put it in her own car trunk? It makes no sense. She had to know that it could be searched eventually, and it would point directly at her.”
Laura still wasn’t on his side. “She might not have had a choice. Bullets were flying everywhere. She would be in a hurry, probably a panic.”
Acton shook his head. “You’re forgetting one thing. She knew they were coming. She was expecting the bullets. She would have taken it to exactly where they had agreed to exchange it, and would likely have had a backup plan because of Korba’s men being there. I think whoever took it never intended to put it in Cy’s car, but when things went wrong, decided it was time to go to Plan B.”
Antoniou’s head slowly bobbed. “We did have a custom of leaving all the cars unlocked. Too many car alarms kept going off. It would be an easy thing to just reach in and pop a trunk.”
Laura looked at him. “Don’t tell me you’re buying into this now?”
Acton reached out and took her hand. “I think she’s being framed.”
Laura sighed, staring into his eyes, worry written in the creases around her eyes. “By whom?”
“I’m not sure, but maybe these guys can tell us. They knew about the car too. We still have questions that need to be answered, and they might be the only ones with those answers.”
“But why risk your life?”
“I’m not. Something else is going on here. That message is directed at me specifically. Why? Why not you, Basil? Or a generic ‘you?’ How did they know it was me that was watching, and why do they want to speak to me?” He shook his head. “No, there’s something more going on here, and I intend to find out what.”
Laura stared at him, her eyes wide. “You’re mad!”
He chuckled. “Madly curious, but not mad.”
“Then I’m going with you.”
“You’re mad.”
Leather stepped forward. “If she’s going, I’m going.”
Acton rose, checking the time, precious minutes having ticked away. “No, nobody’s going except me. They said alone. If anyone else shows up, then things could go south quickly.”
Laura stood beside him. “There’s no talking you out of this, is there?”
“No.” He looked at Leather. “I need a car.”
Adelaide tossed a set of keys at him. “I rented one.” She shrugged. “I was bored.” Her jaw dropped, aghast at what she had just said. “I’m sorry, hon, I didn’t mean it that way.”
Leather smiled. “We’ll discuss how I bore you later.” He looked at Acton. “We should wire you.”
Reading replied. “Absolutely not. They obviously know you have the ability to tap into their signals. They’ll be looking for anything out of the ordinary. If you’re going to be a moron and do this, then do it right and follow their instructions to the letter. And if you get yourself killed, I’ll beat the living daylights out of you the next time I see you.”
Acton grinned. “That could get you kicked out of wherever I’m going.”
“Don’t be so sure that’s where you’ll end up.”
Acton laughed and gave Laura a hug. “Wish me luck.”
“You’re an idiot,” she whispered, tears in her eyes. She gave him a gentle kiss. “Don’t die on me.”
His chest tightened as he was about to depart on what was, a moment ago, merely an idea. “I’ll try not to.”