Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 84544 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84544 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Athena handed the wallets she’d procured up to her brother. Isidore grabbed what cash could be found and set the wallets aside. Kairo would go through them later when he had access to his computer. He was definitely digging into the backgrounds of these bastards. If they were still alive, he was going to make sure they regretted ever hearing the name Panopoulos.
After a couple of minutes of relative silence broken only by the purr of the air conditioning and the soft chittering from Joey, Isidore announced, “Counting the forty you said you grabbed, we’ve got five hundred euros.”
“Not great,” Athena murmured.
“But better than I was expecting,” Kairo said with a sigh of relief. “It’s enough for food, a cheap cell phone, minutes, and a cheap place to stay for the night. After that, I can get my friends to wire us more if they can’t reach us soon.”
“It might be a good idea to get a first-aid kit and you a change of clothes.” Isidore reached out, pinched a bit of his T-shirt, and gave it a tug. Kairo glanced down and was reminded that he was covered in blood. It was not a good idea for him to be out in public.
“True,” Kairo agreed, flashing him a small smile as Isidore released his shirt. “Let’s get farther away from Meteora and closer to Athens. A smallish town where it is unlikely we will run into any of Vanko’s people or anyone who might recognize you.”
“Kairo, thank you,” Isidore whispered.
Kairo’s brow furrowed and he wanted to look over at Isidore, but the road had become very steep and winding through this part of the mountain descent. He didn’t want to risk tearing his eyes from the road. “For what?”
“For rescuing us. For protecting us. For your patience and understanding despite being kidnapped. Part of me is sure you could have escaped long before now and left us behind, but you didn’t. You’ve risked your life for a pair of strangers.”
With a chuckle, Kairo shook his head. This man was too sweet. “We might not have met under the best circumstances, but there’s no way in hell I was leaving you and Athena in that house. I’m just worried that you’re skeptical of my skills now since I didn’t arrange for the escape. That was all Athena and Joey.”
Athena’s giggle managed to somehow be sweet and evil at the same time. “I swear I did not plan for that to happen!” she cried out. “But I’m not stupid. It was a great distraction.” She snorted and muttered under her breath. “If they were going to be dumb enough to bring Joey along for the kidnapping, they should have been prepared for ferret antics.”
“I’ve never owned a ferret, so I am fully unprepared for ferret antics. Please, have pity on me,” Kairo replied.
“Maybe. We’ll see,” Athena said.
“Athena! He’s already risked so much for us. Be nice,” Isidore chastised.
Kairo smiled to himself, listening to the Panopoulos siblings bicker. Every once in a while, Isidore would provide directions out of Kalambaka, putting them on a southerly course. Athens was a good destination, but it was also the place where Isidore and his sister were most likely to run into people who knew them and might want to hurt them. Kairo wasn’t willing to step one toe into that city until he had backup. If they had proved anything to him, it was that he could not handle both Isidore and Athena on his own.
After an hour of driving, Isidore directed them off the highway into a medium-sized town with a nice, large shopping plaza. He hated it, but he was stuck in the car with Joey thanks to his blood-splashed shirt and slightly swollen face. Isidore and Athena would easily blend in. He would not. They quickly divided up the money. Athena was going to the grocery for some food supplies while Isidore went into another store that would carry cell phones and other random items. He gave them fifteen minutes to make their purchases and return.
It was the longest fifteen minutes of his life.
Kairo sunk in the driver’s seat, Joey snoozing in his lap, and watched the various people walking to and from their cars as they ran their errands. They all looked like locals to him. No one appeared to glance in his direction. Their attention was on their phones or on the store in front of them. Some people even tilted their faces toward the sky and sighed at the heat of the sun beating down on them. He’d turned off the car to conserve battery power. They should have plenty of juice to get them pretty much anywhere in Greece, but he was being cautious. They would need to ditch the car very soon. For now, he was relying on the breeze to keep him cool and praying Joey remained asleep. There was no way in hell he was chasing the ferret through a busy parking lot.