On the drive to Pafos I had called Zach’s cell phone. Since I had sleuthing to do, I wanted to tell him I wouldn’t be able to meet for a swim. He didn’t answer, so I left a message that I’d call later. I had to get this mess with my aunt resolved. If it meant taking matters into my own hands, I’d do it.
Yannis knocked again on the weathered wood door. Just as I was beginning to think no one was home, the door opened and a Cypriot woman, attired in a plain cotton dress, greeted us.
“Is Mrs. Crawford in?” Yannis asked her in Greek.
The woman said the lady was sightseeing and would be back later.
“Efkaristo,” I said. At least I knew thank you in Greek.
I climbed in the left front passenger side of Yannis’s Mercedes. He yanked the steering wheel and gunned the motor to get back onto the narrow street.
“I don’t understand why you had to come with me,” he said. “If this is an international smuggling ring, they could be dangerous.”
“Because, my handsome friend, you might have needed someone to rush you to the hospital in the event an elderly woman tried to beat you to death.”
I got a half smile and a look out of the corner of his eye.
“Besides,” I said, “I wanted to meet my aunt’s new friends, the ones who might have led her astray. These fine palatial homes don’t look like a smuggler’s neighborhood.”
“Not in the daylight,” Yannis shot back. He was more than annoyed with me. “We’ll try later this evening since the widows aren’t at home.”
We rode in silence for a while, bouncing down the uneven, worn pavement.
“We’re at a dead-end,” he said. “Let’s go to the beach you like above Ayios Georgios. It will cheer us both up and help our thinking process.”
I pictured my aunt sitting in a jail cell while I was sunning on a beach. But I had done everything possible, down to arranging for bond and a lawyer, a relative of Yannis, of course. Her friends wouldn’t be around until later, and the beach wasn’t that far. We could go for an hour or two, then come back to try to find the widows. The sun was high in the sky, and it would be good to feel it on my skin. I needed to relax before I tied myself up in a super Gordian knot.
“Okay, you’re right, let’s go to the beach.” I rummaged in my Coach purse and came up with the business card Zach had given me.
“Zachariah Lamont, Security Consultant,” I read aloud. “Look, Yannis.” I held up the card for him to see. “Zach, my friend from the plane trip over, is in security. He never mentioned exactly what kind of consulting he did. Maybe he would know how to catch smugglers.”
“I doubt it.”
Being the perceptive person I am, my radar picked up on Yannis’s lack of enthusiasm for the addition of a male companion to our twosome.
“Maybe not, but I’d like to talk to him. The Coral Beach Resort is on the way to the Ayios Georgios. Let’s stop by and invite Mr. Lamont to accompany us.”
A grunt was his reply.
The man at the desk at the Coral Beach Resort said Mr. Lamont could be found in the health spa on the lower level. We crossed the lobby decorated in bright white lattice work and polished wood floors. Everything was open to the outside, and a pleasant breeze stirred the potted palms.
The spa wasn’t big, and I spotted Zach on the Nautilus leg press. He was clad in white gym shorts. His muscular body glistened with sweat. His abs were model perfect, his deltoids nicely defined. He wasn’t bulky like a weight lifter but had the smooth lines of a competition swimmer.
I discreetly took a deep breath to slow my pulse.
He lowered the leg lift and smiled, as I walked toward the machine.
“Hi,” he said. “Nice surprise.”
I smiled but my tongue seemed to be glued to the roof of my mouth. The display of beautiful male flesh had rendered me speechless.
Yannis came over and stood behind me.
Zach shifted his gaze to take in the intruder.
“He’s with me,” I said, ungluing my tongue. “This is my old friend, Yannis Vasilis.” I caught Yannis scowl out of the corner of my eye, like he didn’t care for the term old.
“Zach Lamont.” He held out his hand and the two shook, Zach with a friendly smile, Yannis without one.
I cast about for something to say. “How do you like the hotel?” I asked. I decided to stick to the mundane. It was funny how my tongue was getting all twisted up trying to talk. I hadn’t had that problem before.
“It’s improved greatly since you arrived,” Zach said, smiling into my eyes. “I have the day free day to relax.”
“Speaking of relaxing,” I said, rushing, hardly taking a breath between syllables, afraid if I stopped I’d never get the words out, “we’re going to a lovely, rather isolated beach north of here, above Ayios Georgios, the church that sits near the beach. Would you care to join us?”
He picked up a towel and wiped the sweat from his face and neck, as if giving the invitation serious consideration. He slid the towel over his chest and arms. I followed every move. My eyes were bolder than my tongue.
“I’d like to,” he said with a grin. “Let me shower and change. Have you had anything to eat?
“Yes, but I could use another cup of coffee. Couldn’t you, Yannis?” I hoped my pleasantries would offset Yannis’s frowning face.
He crossed his arms and grunted.
“Why don’t we wait for you at the restaurant on the outside terrace?” I said.
“Great, I’ll see you there in fifteen minutes.”
I slipped into the ladies room on the way to the restaurant and changed into black bikini bottoms under my skirt. I never traveled anywhere on Cyprus without bikini bottoms, beach towel, and sun tan lotion. Topless saved on half the price of a bathing suit, and I loved the feeling.
I ransacked my brain for the right way to tell Zach about my aunt and enlist his aid, as I walked out to the terrace where Yannis was seated at a table decked out in blue and white checked cloth. If I could get my tongue to work, coming right out with the truth would probably be best.
Yannis stood and helped me into a chair with a cushion that matched the table cloth. The table was next to the railing and overlooked the cove that the Coral Beach claimed as its own. A huge, meandering swimming pool stretched below us and beyond that a beach with a small harbor filled with pleasure craft.
“We don’t need this guy’s help,” he said. His face was fixed in an unbecoming scowl, and he drummed his fingers on the table. “I have important contacts that we haven’t used yet.”
“I’ve been mulling that over.” I propped my chin on my hand and looked at him. “I want to know what a security consultant does. Let’s ask and then decide.” I gave him a smile, trying to dispel the frown he’d adopted at the sight of Zach. “We may need all the help we can get.”
Zach joined us in less than fifteen minutes. The waiter brought him a fresh cup of coffee and refilled ours.
“Great coffee,” Zach said after sampling his. “Sure is nice to be back on Cyprus.” He looked around, taking in his surroundings. “This is my kind of living.”
I nodded in agreement. The setting was spectacular.
The waiter returned to take Zach’s order. He ordered breakfast even though we were well into the afternoon. We faced the sea, and the sun blazed on the water. Fair skinned Northern European tourists were scattered around on blue and white lounge chairs, working on a sun burn. A slight breeze blew the place mats up on the table, and Zach leaned forward to catch my napkin, as it tried to follow the breeze. Yannis seemed unaware of his surroundings. He sat with his arms folded across his chest, scowling into the distance.
“What have you been doing?” Zach asked, directing his gaze at me.