Is she showing me this on purpose, or is this an accident? Pastor Luther had told him, Look once, you’re human; look twice, you’re not a pastor.
Chris lifted his gaze and focused on her eyes. “Are you a friend of Xander’s?” he asked, pretending not to know the answer. By asking a question she could answer truthfully, he could establish a baseline for her posture and speech when she was telling the truth. Then he could use deviations from the baseline to help him detect her lies.
“He’s my father,” she said, leaning forward with a smile.
Chris returned the smile. “Really?”
Abruptly, her eyes shifted to the French doors. She pushed her handkerchief forward and inched her chair away from Chris. He turned and saw a handsome man in his mid-twenties, with long blond hair and blue eyes. He stood there with a surprised look on his face as if he’d just been mugged.
The man made a slight motion with his hand that seemed as if he was about to apologize for interrupting what he hadn’t heard. Suddenly, the backyard felt crowded. Quiet filled the air, awkward as an elephant, but the man appeared even more awkward, as if suspended in time and not knowing if he were coming or going. His eyes lowered first, then his head. And he walked back into the house.
“Do you know him?” Chris asked.
“That’s Animus… my fiancé,” she said. “He’s also Daddy’s protégé.”
“Oh?”
She leaned forward. “Why’d you come here? To Greece?”
“My name is Chris. I’m a legal attaché for the US State Department,” he said. “I’m searching for information about the kidnapped American, Michael Winthrop.”
Her eyes widened.
“Is something wrong?”
She fidgeted with her handkerchief. “Nothing.”
“You seem troubled.”
“You better go,” she said in response.
Chris paused for a moment. “A moment ago you were smiling…”
“You should really go.”
“Do you know something about Michael’s kidnapping?” he pressed.
“You have to go. Now.”
“I can protect you,” Chris said. “Michael’s life is in danger.”
Abruptly, she stood up. “I’m sorry.” She walked briskly across the patio, opened a French door, and disappeared inside the mansion.
Having stumbled upon something important, he felt dazed. Somehow, Xander or his family was involved. Concern for Hannah and Sonny filled him at the thought, and he hurried into the mansion. Once inside, he slowed down and tried to present an appearance of calm. There seemed to be nearly a hundred people inside the mansion now, and although Xander continued to mingle with his guests, Hannah and Sonny were nowhere in sight. He checked one of the restrooms, but it was empty. After more searching, he found Sonny in a hall, but he shooed Chris away. Maybe Hannah was searching for intel inside one of the rooms while Sonny stood watch.
Chris returned to the main room and waited. Feeling conspicuously alone, he spotted some guests serving themselves from a wide silver platter of hors d’oeuvres and realized he still hadn’t eaten anything. He made his way toward the table. Xander and a gaggle of guests flowed through the crowd in his direction, heading for the hors d’oeuvres, too, until Chris and Xander stood almost face-to-face.
“I met your daughter,” Chris told him.
“Oh?” Xander raised an eyebrow. “I was not aware she was here.”
“She seems like a nice girl.” Chris ate a cube of feta cheese from a toothpick that also skewered an olive and some meat.
Xander glanced around the room. “She must have come through another door.” His gaze returned to Chris, and his normally smooth demeanor ruffled around the edges. “What did you two talk about?”
“Nothing much. My understanding is that she was at the embassy party with you the same night Michael disappeared.”
Xander picked up a drink without hesitating or trembling and took a sip. “Yes, she was,” he said, his voice equally smooth once more.
“I’d like to ask you another question, if I may.” Chris ate the olive from his toothpick.
“Yes, of course.”
“How strongly do you support the creation of TAP in Greece?”
The mention of TAP seemed to cause the ears of nearby guests to perk up, and heads turned in their direction. Xander didn’t answer.
“The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline?” Chris clarified, popping the piece of meat into his mouth.
“Yes, I know what TAP is,” Xander said impatiently.
“Would you say you support it strongly?”
Xander’s eyes were calm. “It is not for me to support or oppose.”
“I like how you put that,” Chris said with a nod.
“How is that?” Xander asked.
Chris forced a grin. “Carefully.”
Xander stared.
“Maybe you can help me understand how you feel about Michael Winthrop’s kidnapping,” Chris whispered, glancing around. Now others were not only looking but listening to their conversation.
Xander frowned. “As I said, it is a terrible thing. I hope he is rescued soon.”
Chris’s gut told him Xander was lying, but he kept the tone of his voice polite. “Thank you. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”
“No bother. I hope he is rescued soon.” He picked up his drink. “Now if you do not mind, I would like to talk to some more of my guests.”
“Certainly.”
Xander walked away, and Chris couldn’t get over how calm and cool he was — too cool.
He felt a gentle hand on his back and glanced over his shoulder.
“What were you two talking about?” Hannah asked, Sonny standing beside her.
Chris looked for a trash receptacle to dispose of his toothpick but saw none, so he handed it to one of the wait staff. “I’ll explain in the car. Are we ready to go?”
Hannah and Sonny nodded and followed him as he weaved through the crowd toward the front door. Outside, they loaded into the BMW, and Chris flicked on the lights and drove away from Xander’s estate.
Hannah checked the side-view mirror. “Sonny guarded the hall while I gained physical access to the laptop in Xander’s study,” she reported. “You remember after our last mission how Young showed us how to bypass the login?”
Chris nodded, focused on both Hannah and the road.
“I got into Xander’s laptop and logged into Young’s website.” One merely needed to use the target’s device to log into Young’s website and then he could access the device remotely and begin hacking. Then he could install hidden monitoring software that wouldn’t show up in the start menu, control panel, or index. Using the hidden software, he could keep a keystroke log of e-mails, chats, and other internet usage. In addition, the monitoring software took routine screen captures. “Young is hacking Xander’s computer as we speak.”
Chris grinned.
“What?” Hannah asked.
“I actually sent Young a digital recording of my conversation with Xander and asked for a voice match. The more time I spend around that man, the more my spider senses tingle.”
“Me, too.”
“Me, three,” Sonny said.
4
In the villa north of the pool, Animus stood in the living room while Evelina sat slouching on the sofa. “What was that all about?” he asked.
“What was what all about?”
“Who was he?”
“Who was who?” Evelina said innocently.
He was determined to get an answer. “You know who I’m talking about,” he said.
She sighed. “If you must know, his name is Chris. He’s a legal attaché from the US Embassy.”
A hard knock came at the door, and they stopped talking. Animus reached for his pistol, keeping it concealed under his suit jacket as he approached the door and looked through the window. “It’s your father.”