“You look as though you have something spinning in that big skull of yours,” smirked Cam, looking at Eric. He flipped him off and then nodded.
“We need to figure out what’s so important about a little, tiny island with nothing of note for the economy. No one kills the leader of an island, informal leader or not, just to have the island under their control unless there’s something on that island that needs to be controlled.”
“Or someone,” said Hex.
“Keep going,” said Luke staring at him.
“What if that island has a resident that knows something very important that the government doesn’t want anyone to know about?”
“Wouldn’t Nicolai have known that?” asked Cam.
“Let’s go ask him.”
The men walked out of the offices, following Cam toward the gardens. They stood on the fringe as Mama Irene spoke about the importance of the soil and ensuring that it doesn’t vary.
“If you ever think something is amiss here, you need to let Rachel know. She’ll know how to fix it.” Irene looked up to see Hex, Cam, Luke, and Eric. “I assume you boys aren’t here about the gardens.”
“Grandma, we need to speak with Nicolai,” smiled Luke.
“Go head. He’s right here,” said Irene daring them to shoo her away. They all just grinned and nodded.
“Nicolai, you said there was nothing of importance on your island. No minerals, gold, gems, nothing of tremendous value. But what about a person? Is there someone on the island that has some information, value, or something that the Greek government would be interested in?”
“No,” he said emphatically. “I know every man, woman, and child on the island. Most are so old they can barely survive by themselves. I’ve worried every minute since this happened that they will be forgotten.”
“No new tenants?” asked Eric.
“I know what you’re asking but if you saw my island, you would understand. There is nothing there for young men such as yourself. No industry. No excitement. It is quiet. We only just got satellite dishes to receive news from the mainland. We like it this way.”
“Alright,” nodded Luke. “We’re going to send a team to see what they can find on the island. They’re going to go in as tourists.”
“That’s the best way,” nodded Nicolai. “Most will spend one-night simply because of the lack of regular ferries. There are some wonderful ancient ruins on the island. An old temple, remnants of a civilization we believe was both Greek and Roman. It’s just old rocks, but it’s ours.”
“I’m going to bet it’s amazing,” said Eric. “As Americans we have nothing manmade that’s older than two or three hundred years. My wife’s people, and other indigenous people, left behind things much older but so much of it has been destroyed.”
“That’s very sad,” frowned Nicolai. He looked around, lifting his head.
“Are you alright, Nicolai?” asked Gwen.
“I’m embarrassed to say this but I smell something wonderful and my stomach is growling to have at it.”
With laughter filling the gardens, they all nodded, pointing the way to the cafeteria. Gwen just laughed.
“Get used to it Nicolai. It happens like clockwork around here.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
The island the team was looking for was in the Gulf of Corinth, just a few miles off shore. Inland, you could see the Temple of Apollo on a clear day.
“Can you believe this place?” said Bodhi. “So much damn history all in one location. Hopefully, we can get someone to take us out there.”
They’d flown into a small private airstrip outside of Athens, driving toward the location closest to the island. Repeatedly they asked people how to get to the island and no one said a word. They would simply turn and walk the other way.
“That’s not strange or anything,” frowned Frank. “Why wouldn’t they want us to go out to that island unless they were told no one should go out there?”
“Let’s see if the ferry office will give us a ticket,” said Devin. He walked to the ticket counter and spoke fluently in Greek, asking the agent for a ticket to the island he pointed to on the map. She looked up at him and shook her head.
“What does that mean?” he asked. “Is there no ferry today?”
