The Forty Column Castle Read Online Free PDF Page A

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