“Hey, a man of parts,” Aleko said in English.
“And an American friend, Blake Johnson.”
Again, Aleko shook hands. “Come this way. I’ve closed the taverna for the rest of the day so we can have privacy.”
Yanni, Dimitri, and Stavros were at the bar and Ferguson greeted them like old friends. As Blake and Dillon watched, Aleko said, “Quite a man, the Brigadier. He got a message to pick up one of his agents from Albania a few years ago. We get to the beach and find six policemen, and the Brigadier slips over the stern with a Sterling submachine gun and takes them from the rear. Shoots two in the back and holds the rest up.”
“That’s quite a story,” Blake said.
Anna appeared with coffee on a tray, put it on the bar, and embraced Ferguson, and more introductions were made. Finally, everyone sat and got down to business.
“We took a run up to the castle this morning,” Aleko said. “Using the fishing boat. There were two men on the battlements, one with a rifle slung from his shoulder.”
“So?” Ferguson nodded.
“I’ve been thinking,” Aleko said, “that if we are going up there at night, I’ll get a few fishing boats to go as well. Good cover.”
“An excellent idea.”
Aleko nodded. “So what do you really expect of us?”
“My two friends here, armed to the teeth, intend to penetrate the castle and liberate the two women held hostage there. The six men in residence, the opposition, are all former Israeli soldiers.”
“Mother of Christ,” Yanni said. “It could be a blood bath.”
“That’s their business,” Aleko told him, “and they look as if they know their business to me. So our job is to land them?”
“And without alerting the guards,” Dillon said. “Is that possible?”
“Anything is possible, Mr. Dillon. Are you a scuba diver? We’ve got equipment.”
“Yes, I’m a master diver.”
“Well, that lets me out,” Blake said. “I was blown up a few years ago on an FBI case and my right eardrum was ruptured. Anything underwater is out for me.”
“Never mind, we’ll come up with something,” Aleko told him.
Dimitri said, “What’s it pay, Brigadier?”
Ferguson glanced at Blake, who said, “Money is neither here nor there on this one, but let’s say a hundred thousand dollars.”
There was dead silence, and Yanni said, “And who in the hell do we have to kill?”
“These are bad people,” Dillon told him. “And they can handle themselves. They might kill you.”
“Well, we’ll see about that,” Yanni said with the bravado of youth.
Aleko looked serious. “You told me about one of the women being your assistant, this Chief Inspector Bernstein.”
“That’s right.”
“So it’s the other woman that’s the key, the one who’s really important?”
“Not now, Constantine. One day you’ll know, but not now,” Ferguson told him.
Dillon stood up. “I’d like a look at the boat, if that’s possible.”
“Sure.” Aleko turned to the rest of the crew. “No need for you to come.”
“And I’ve seen it all before,” Ferguson said. “Perhaps the boys could unload the equipment we’ve brought, the weapons and so on.”
“Sure thing, Brigadier.” Aleko turned to Stavros. “Have everything taken to the barn. Anything the Brigadier wants he gets.”
“Sure thing,” Stavros said.
Aleko nodded to Dillon and Blake and he led the way out.
The Cretan Lover was still draped with nets drying in the sun and there was the good salt smell of fish mixed with the smell of the sea. Dillon and Blake looked the boat over while Aleko sat on the thwart and smoked a cigarette.
“So, you still fish?” Dillon said.
“Why not? It gives us something to do when we’re not engaged in the Albanian trade, and we need the front.”
“Are you telling me the customs and the navy people don’t know what you’re up to?” Dillon was peering down the hatch into the engine room. “You’ve got enough down there to power a torpedo boat.”
“Sure they do. The police sergeant knows, but he’s my second cousin and the lieutenant commanding the most important patrol boat, but then I trained him myself when I was in the navy. On the other hand, things have got to look right from the navy’s point of view.”
“Then everybody can look the other way with a clear conscience?” Blake said.
Aleko smiled. “I’ll tell you what. Let’s go for a little run and see if we can come up with a solution to your problem.”
He went into the wheelhouse and pressed the starter button. As the engines rumbled into life, Dillon cast off the stern line and coiled it and Blake did the same in the prow.
The Cretan Lover coasted out of the small harbor and Aleko boosted power, the boat lifting over waves at that point. It was all very pleasant in the hot sun. When they were about four or five hundred yards from the harbor, Aleko cut the engines.
“Let go the anchor.”
It was Blake who saw to that and Aleko braced himself against the wheelhouse door, the boat tilting as the water heaved in long swells.
“Let’s imagine the fishing boats put their nets out about this far from the castle jetty. It’s pretty similar.”
“How deep?” Dillon asked.
“Eighty fathoms, sometimes a hundred. Plenty of sardines this time of the year and they don’t go deep, so it would all look legitimate.”
“It’s the getting to the shore without being seen that’s the thing,” Dillon said.
“Well, underwater’s the obvious way.”
“But not for me,” Blake reminded him.
“Let’s give it a try anyway, if only to check the feasibility. What about it, Dillon? I’ve plenty of gear in the cabin.”
“I’m game,” Dillon said. “Lead me to it.”
They manhandled a couple of tanks on deck and Aleko provided inflatable jackets, masks, and fins. “No need for diving suits. We’ll go in at fifteen or twenty feet only and it’s warm enough at that level.”
They got the gear on, Blake helping out. When they were ready, Aleko opened a box and produced a couple of Marathons, passing one to Dillon.
“What’s that?” Blake asked as Dillon switched it on.
“A dive computer. Absolute bloody marvel. Gives you an automatic reading of your depth, elapsed time under water, how much time you’ve got left.”
“Is that necessary?” Blake asked. “I didn’t think there were problems when you stick to shallow waters.”
“There’s always a chance of some kind of decompression sickness at any depth, small, but it’s there. Diving’s a hazardous sport.”
“Okay,” Aleko said. “Let’s go.”
He went backwards over the side. Dillon tightened his weight belt, checked that the air was flowing freely through his mouthpiece, and followed. He swallowed a couple of times to equalize the pressure in his ears and went after Aleko.
The water was very blue and seemed to stretch into infinity, and it was so clear that they could see the white sand of the bottom eighty feet or so below. There were fish everywhere, most of them quite small, and once a motor boat passed overhead and Dillon was rocked in the shockwaves of the turbulence.
He kept on going, just a couple of yards behind Aleko, aware of an off-shore current carrying them in and of the sea bed shelving. As they entered the harbor, it was no more than thirty feet deep. They swam under the keels of numerous fishing boats and surfaced beside stone steps leading from the jetty.
Aleko spat out his mouthpiece and checked his watch. “Fifteen minutes. Not bad, but we had a strong current pushing us along.”
“Not too good for the journey back,” Dillon said, and at that moment, Yanni appeared on the steps above them.
“What are you doing here?” Aleko asked.
“They didn’t really need me up at the barn, so I thought I’d see what you were up to.”
“Good lad. Now go and get the inflatable. You can run us back to the boat.”