“You don’t think?” she asked, turning in her seat, excitedly.
He shrugged. “It’s not the most far-fetched thing I’ve ever heard in this job. I’ve certainly seen stranger things be true.”
“Stranger than a giant Minotaur with glowing red eyes?”
“Glowing red eyes?” he asked, quirking his lips. It was the first time she’d seen him smile all day. A glimpse of the Theo she knew.
She loved that smile. Even on the coldest of cold Michigan winter days, that spark from Theo would warm her up. Raise her spirits. Make her believe anything was possible.
Except for a Minotaur with fiery eyes, that was.
“Ididn’t make it up,” she said, pointing at her chest with a matching grin. “Cosmo did.”
“Who’s Cosmo?”
“The tour guide. Oh my God, you should have heard him spinning a yarn to the group.” She laughed.
“Spinning a yarn like Ariadne did to help Theseus escape the labyrinth?” Theo joked.
“Enough!” Maurice called out, instantly silencing them. Theo playfully grimaced, like the teacher had caught them passing notes. “You need to explain and tell me where we’re going.”
“To the grocery store?” Theo asked, looking at Dani.
“To the grocery store.”
Chapter
Seven
Theo
In Theo’s ten years asan archaeologist, he’d never once taken his research to a grocery store. He’d also never considered the myth of the Minotaur was anything but that. A myth. Guess there was a first time for everything.
He still wasn’t convinced there was a hidden labyrinth on Crete or an “eye” of the Minotaur, but Dani was right. They had only five days. Even if this olive oil excursion turned out to be a waste of time, at least they wouldn’t be squandering energy chipping away at walls underneath Knossos that certainly wouldn’t lead to any sort of relevant discovery.
He knew Knossos inside and out, having done an internship there back in graduate school and after spending six months there during a research stint once he got his doctorate, back in the days when he still went on digs. Sure, there were likely many more discoveries to be made at Knossos. But the Minotaur’seye wasn’t one of them. If only his papou were still alive. Then he could ask him about the story he’d told him before bed when he was a kid.
Theo reached up and held the gold medallion hanging from the chain around his neck.If only.
He had to admit, his interest had been piqued.
Maybe this grocery store stop, however, could be an opportunity to get Dani the hell out of there. Grocery stores meant people. People meant unpredictability. Unpredictability that he might be able to use to his advantage.
If Dani insisted on going rogue, then he could go rogue, too.
Once they explained their olive oil theory to Maurice and Louis and figured out which market the torn sales paper belonged to, they made their way through town and pulled into the store parking lot. But as Theo started unbuckling his seat belt, Maurice reached back to stop him.
“You’re staying here with me,” he said.
What? No! How was he supposed to create a diversion to help Dani escape if he was stuck in the car with Maurice?
“But…but I need to go in with her,” he said, trying to calm the panic in his voice.
“Uh-uh. I don’t want the two of you trying any more of your tricks,” Maurice said. “They’ll go in and find what you’re looking for,” he said, motioning between Dani and Louis.
“But neither of them speak Greek,” Theo protested.
“Well, that shouldn’t be a problem since they have no reason to be speaking to anyone.”
