His uncharacteristically intense demeanor stopped her in her tracks. Whatever the crisis he was dealing with, it had robbed him of his customary easy-going nature. She decided to dial back her own irritation in favor of a more supportive role, and settled in beside him. “What can I do?”
Pierce, who was in the midst of sending a live-chat message, did not immediately answer. Gallo recognized the user name of the person on the receiving end. It belonged to Cintia Dourado, the Herculean Society’s senior logistician.
Dourado’s affiliation with the Society went back even further than Pierce’s. As a teenaged prodigy living in the slums of her native Belem, Brazil, the self-styled ‘black hat’ had, on a whim, followed a trail of whispered rumors to their source. She hacked the Herculean Society’s computer network. Alexander, impressed by her innate talent, and perhaps more importantly, recognizing that the best defense against a hacker of Dourado’s skill was Dourado herself, had personally recruited her into the fold. He had used her to organize operations around the globe and to search out and erase rumors of the sort that had led her to the Society in the first place. Gallo had never met Dourado in person—the young woman was the quintessential telecommuter, now operating from a slightly more upscale residence in Belem—but they had communicated often by e-mail and teleconference.
Pierce sent his message, and then he turned to face Gallo. His expression remained grim, which prompted Gallo to lean forward and give him a light kiss on the lips. When she drew back, she saw little change. “What’s wrong?”
“Fiona and I had a little run-in with your old boyfriend.”
The acid in his tone felt like a physical assault. “My old…?”
“Liam Kenner. He tried to kill us.”
“Kenner and I were never… Wait. Tried to kill you? How? Why?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. He knew we’d go to Heraklion. He knew that we would be going after the Phaistos Disc.”
It took a moment for the significance of this to sink in. Gallo felt her pulse quicken as her body went into full defensive mode. “You don’t actually think that I had anything to do with that? I haven’t spoken to Kenner in years. I haven’t even thought about him. And not that it’s any of your business, but we were never together. He asked me out. I refused. End of story.”
Pierce closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he said, eyes still closed. “I guess almost getting buried under Mount Psiloritis has me a little on edge.”
Gallo glanced over at Fiona, who was watching the exchange wide-eyed. The mere fact of the girl’s presence was enough for her to bring her ire under control—she was averse to causing a scene. Though the matter was far from resolved. “Why don’t you start at the beginning?”
Pierce nodded and related the events of the previous evening, beginning with the immediate aftermath of their escape from the museum, when Kenner first accosted Fiona, and ending with the early morning flight to the citadel.
“He’s been tracking us,” Pierce concluded. “Stalking me, all these years. Piecing it all together.”
Gallo resisted the urge to emphasize that it was Pierce, and not she, that had been Kenner’s target. After listening to Pierce relive the ordeal he and Fiona had narrowly survived, she felt a little more inclined to excuse his brusque manner. “You weren’t exactly the soul of discretion back then.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think anyone took me seriously.”
“I did. And evidently, so did Kenner.”
Pierce mumbled his agreement, and then added, “But he’s not working alone. Someone is bankrolling him. I’ve got Cintia working that angle. We have to find out who, and then shut them down.”
Gallo looked around. “Why did you come here? Athens would have been a lot closer.”
“If he’s figured out that Fi and I made it out, then he might come after us again.”
“Him, or that ogre he was with,” Fiona added.
“And you think he might come after me, as well,” Gallo said. She did not elaborate on what Kenner’s intent might be in such a scenario.
Eight years ago, when she had arrived in Athens as a freshly minted post-doc, eager to carve out a niche for herself in the academic world, she had fended off the relentless advances of more than a few of her colleagues. Liam Kenner, who was not quite as dashing and sophisticated as he imagined himself, had been just another strutting peacock trying to catch her eye.
Pierce alone had treated her as an equal, not a prize to be won. They had become friends first, and only later had their relationship deepened. When Fiona’s adopted father had asked Pierce to take over the Herculean Society, as he had from Alexander, Pierce had not hesitated to include Gallo. They were more than just ‘in a relationship.’ They were a team.