“Have you ever eaten at Hondros?” Zach asked.
“Many times. Let’s go there. Good Cypriot food.”
“I don’t think we’ll be recognized but keep your hat on just in case. Besides it looks good on you.”
He had donned his Panama for the walk over and looked the tourist. The floral shirt put him over the top. The short gravel road we followed from the castle brought us to the main paved street out of lower Pafos. On the corner sat the Hondros restaurant. I was primed for a glass of wine and good food, especially Cyprus chips.
The waiter seated us, and we studied the menu. It was too early for Cypriot diners. A party of Brits sat at a table across the room enjoying cocktail hour. We sat facing the street, everything open air. Our drinks arrived, a Keo for Zach and a glass of red wine for me.
As I sipped the wine I engaged in some serious people watching. A scruffy looking guy in fatigue shorts and flip flops walked by, trailing a group of people that included three gray-haired ladies.
I grabbed Zach’s arm and in a low voice said, “There’s Lonnie and look who’s with him.”
“The widows.”
“I’m going to talk to them.” I got up to go but didn’t make it half-way out of my seat before Zach had his hand on my arm to restrain me.
“Wait. Let me go. They don’t know me, and they might have heard about you.”
He gave me a hard stare. “You wait here.” His look softened. “Please. Stay here until I get back, okay?”
I nodded and smiled and as soon as he left the restaurant, I looked around for a pay phone. The waiter said there was a pay phone on the corner half a block down. I told him we both would be back and took off down the street. First I dialed Yannis’s number.
“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.