“Well, I had my speech tomorrow, and I was supposed to have a few days to relax afterward, maybe visit an old dig or two, but I guess that’s out of the question now, right?” She pulled some tickets out of her purse and handed them to a woman in the box, who gave her two brochures with color photos of the temple.

The temple loomed in front of them, huge white columns against a dark blue sky. It was a beautiful ruin, he had to admit. But it didn’t diminish the feeling that he was missing something key. Something he should have remembered. It chilled him that he wasn’t on top of his game, and he wondered if it was Molly fucking him up, or his own special demons doing the job.

As they walked around the site, he thought for the first time since he’d hit Athens about his EOD brother Danny, who had died in an explosion when he’d playfully kicked a soccer ball, on patrol in Afghanistan. A ball that had been filled with explosives. It had been nearly a decade ago, but as his therapist pointed out over and over, seeing the explosion, feeling the blast, smelling the burned flesh was not normal. Remembering it was normal. Being horrified by that memory was normal. His life however, was not normal, and at this stage he didn’t even know what normal looked like.

She sat on a bench facing the ruins. “I like to imagine the people who lived here, who worshipped here.”

He sat beside her and put his arm around her like they were teenagers on a park bench. Embarrassed he drew it back again, but she grabbed his hand and snuggled in his shoulder, despite the heat of the day. She fit there.

He took a breath, and then another. He wanted to just enjoy this today, because tonight they would both be gone and this would be a memory. Even if she wouldn’t tell him exactly what was going on, after today he didn’t really need to know her secrets. And would probably be better off not knowing them.

A man in a suit entered the site. He didn’t stop at the ticket booth, he just showed the lady something. David stood up. “Is there another way out of here?”

“Only over there.” She pointed to the other side of the temple, close to the way they’d come in.

David made a fairly simple deduction. The man was in a suit, so he wasn’t a tourist. He didn’t buy a ticket, so he probably flashed a badge or some kind of ID at the ticket woman. And, he and Molly were virtually the only people there.

“Molly, listen to me. I think that man is either with the police, or something worse. I’m going to distract him while you get to the exit. Go meet Victoria for lunch and I’ll meet you there, you remember where she said?”

“Sure. Sina and Skoufa.” Molly gathered her purse and looked anxiously at the exit.

“Great. Order me a doner kebab will you? I’ll be right behind you.” He caught her hand as she made to move and kissed it, trying to alleviate the concern etched on her face. The same concern that he felt.

She gave him a quick smile and headed in the opposite direction around the temple.

He coughed loudly to make the man look at him. It worked. Their eyes met and the other man’s step faltered a little. Excellent.

“Hi there,” he said lifting his hand and flashing a wide, wide smile. “How ya doin’?”

The man slowed right down and looked behind him in confusion. By the time he looked back, David was right on top of him. He stopped walking.

“Whatcha doin’ here? Looking at the temple? It’s quite somethin’ isn’t it?” He played a Deep South accent, cowboy-type. The type people expect to find in an American abroad.

The man up close was clearly out of place, pale, thinning hair, badly fitting suit. There was not much he could do to cover what he was doing. He was a dud in a suit at a tourist site. He knew he was busted.

“Who are you here for? Me, or the family over there?”

“Excuse me,” he replied in accented English as he tried to brush past David.

David just turned and walked with him. “Did your buddy tell you that I videoed him interrogating an American citizen without allowing her any legal recourse? That was so cool. Look, I can show you the footage. It was awesome. He took out his gun and everything. Just like an old school KGB officer. You know, Cold War days.”

The man stopped and looked closer at David, and then at the phone he was holding up. He shrugged. “You know it’s not so much cold war anymore. These days it’s an arctic freeze. And you don’t want to be in the middle of that. The exposure could kill you.”

David couldn’t believe his ears. “You’re in Greece, buddy. That’s in the European Union. Ally of the USA. You’re not going to be able to ride roughshod over the authorities here.”

“And you, ‘buddy’ should read a newspaper every so often. Greece is considering breaking with the EU and looking to its old World War II ally, Russia, for a bailout. And when we seal the deal with the new government”—he lowered his voice into a whisper—“we’ll have Russian military bases in a NATO country. Oh the fun we will have with you then.”

Jesus, he really did need to read a newspaper. He knew things were up in the air with the Greek government and the EU, but not that far up in the air. “You’re talking EU politics here, and we’re American. If you make a move on her—for any convoluted reason—I will ensure you will pay. You personally.” He dipped his head. “Okay, maybe also your friend.”

The man sighed and shook his head wearily. “I don’t care. I’ve been doing this for nearly thirty years. I do what I’m told when I’m told to do it. I don’t make waves, and I’m not about to start now. But let me tell you this. There are things in play here that even I don’t know. High level. I’ve been told that you are waging a war against my country.” He shrugged. “That means we’re following you, and following the girl. Beyond that I don’t know.”

Following the girl? David suddenly chilled in the hot air and turned his gaze toward the direction he’d sent her in. Shit.

He turned back to the Russian. “I didn’t post that video of your colleague, you know.”

“I do know that. There is an honor among thieves, and sometimes an honor among spies. It is for that professional courtesy, I tell you this about the girl so you can do whatever you need to do. Me? I’m here for the temple. It is a beauty.”

David looked at him for a couple of seconds. Who would have thought? “Enjoy it. Here.” He shoved the brochure into his hand. “Thank you.”

“Spasibo.” The man nodded and turned away.

David ran for Molly. He hoped he hadn’t sent her into harm’s way.

CHAPTER FIVE

Molly walked past the ticket seller again and back toward the hotel. As much as she wanted to, she didn’t look back. She was sure that David could handle himself, but still a finger of fear jabbed at her resolve to be a big girl. As she cleared the site, she ran across the two-lane road again and slipped down a small pedestrian street.

She pulled out her cell phone to try calling Brandon again. This whole “serve your country” thing was so far out of control now. There was no reply.

She took a chance and dialed the telephone number that was one digit away from Brandon’s. A woman picked up.

“State Department, Brandon Peterson’s office.” The voice sounded tinny in the city air.

“I’d like to speak to Mr. Peterson please.” Molly was relieved to be actually through to his office. Maybe he could fix all this. She ducked into a store and stuffed her finger in her other ear so she could hear better.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Peterson is out of the country. Can I take a message?”

Damn. Damn.

“Can you tell me when he’ll be back?” she asked, hope dying with every word.

“I’m afraid not. Who is this please?” This time it was more of an indignant command. Molly pictured her with her hair in a bun, glasses perched on her nose, pressing some kind of CRAZY PERSON alarm button on her pristine desk. “Who is this?” Even more insistent. Almost panicked.