The Forty Column Castle

Eighteen


I drove that sorry excuse for a car, pedal to the floor the whole way back to Pafos, passing with reckless abandon any car that slowed me down, not caring what side of the road I was on. I headed for Yannis’s house. Nothing was going to stop me. I would turn myself into the police and tell them about the American couple and Zach. I couldn’t help them with where he was, but I could tell them everything.


Everything.

And I did.

After I got to Yannis’s and he had hugged me to oblivion, we called the police, and they came to his house. Inspector Polydeuces, the same cousin I had met on Sunday, listened attentively to everything I said. His assistant, a neat looking woman in uniform, made notes as I spoke.

The Inspector nodded gravely at the part about Zach being wanted for smuggling, Mr. Bellomo harboring my aunt, the American woman kidnapping me, and Berengaria’s jewels. After asking me every possible question relating to the antiquities theft, he remained in silence, looking troubled and pulling at the corner of his bushy moustache, as if that would help him think.

Finally, he said, “Miss Lowell, there are one or two facts of which you may not be aware. I need to share these with you, as you are now in our custody and under our protection.”

That gave me pause since I expected him to haul me off to jail. My heart sank into my cute little sandals which had stayed faithfully on my feet through the whole ordeal. I waited on the edge of my seat.

“You see, Miss Lowell, Zachary Lamont is a double agent. He works for the New York Police Department anti-terrorism unit but is on assignment with a consortium team through INTERPOL. They are trying to help us destroy this terrorist cell we know is forming on the island of Cyprus.”

“He’s wanted by the FBI for smuggling,” I said. “Yannis said you are looking for him.” I stared at Yannis while I was saying this. He gave me a don’t-ask-me shrug.

“Yes, I know. That is his cover. We gave Yannis that information so that no one would suspect Mr. Lamont’s true identify. It was crucial that his cover not be blown, I think you say. The American couple is the front for the cell that is trying to build an operation here. They had to believe Mr. Lamont was a criminal. You see, they were monitoring Yannis’s phones.”

“Oh,” I said, a rather lame response to the information bomb the Inspector had dropped. I wanted to get the whole picture, so I pressed on with my questions.

“Who is Helena then?” I asked.

“She is a Cypriot police woman. She is his contact here, his go-between.”

“I see.” She had been his partner, but as one of the good guys. This was comforting. Some things that didn’t make sense before made sense now.

The Inspector had more to say. “We know that your aunt did not steal those statues. The American couple planted them on her to throw us off the scent. We had to detain your aunt, as we at first suspected she might be involved. We apologize for the inconvenience to you and your aunt. As fate would have it, when the American couple heard we had retained your aunt, they got bolder. They took more chances. They believed the story that Mr. Lamont had Berengaria’s jewels.”

“You mean there are no jewels?”

“They are part of the deception.”

“Then in our own blundering way, my aunt and I helped the cause.”

The Inspector nodded.

“But Zach didn’t let me go when he could have,” I said almost to myself.

The Inspector cleared his throat, as if he had just swallowed something unpleasant like a scorpion. “That was Mr. Lamont’s doing. Perhaps he wanted to keep you with him. Perhaps there was something else going on between you that he wanted to work out. Keeping you was not part of his orders. He was to monitor your activities.”

I narrowed my eyes. The Inspector loosened the top button of his shirt and didn’t meet my gaze. Wait till I got my hands on Zachariah Lamont. “Where is Zach now, and why did he leave me at the mercy of that horrid American woman?”

The Inspector pressed his lips together. “I cannot say where he is or why he left you. I would speculate he didn’t realize the American woman was close at hand, and, of course,” he cleared his throat behind his hand, “he had work to do.”

Red heat crept up my neck into my face until I was a tomato, I’m sure. I didn’t want to know how much the Inspector knew about our relationship. What a spider web this was. I felt its sticky tendrils clinging all over me.

The Inspector stood and shook hands all around. “I fear it is late and that you might want to get some rest. You have had a difficult experience. In the morning we would appreciate your coming to the office to sign a statement, if you would be so kind. There will be a twenty four hour watch placed upon you so that nothing untoward happens again. Good night.”

“Wait, what about my aunt?”

The Inspector smiled for the first time, a slight turn of his lips. “Mr. Bellomo takes good care of her. Such good care, I believe he is talking of marrying her. Good night.”

Yannis and I sat looking at each other while his mother brought plates of sliced lamb and a salad of tomato and cucumber. She poured tiny cups of coffee and placed them before us.

“Yannis,” she said, placing her hand on his shoulder, “A little wine perhaps or some brandy.”

“Brandy, mother, please,” he said and looked at me. “Make it two.”

“He’s a double agent,” I said. “The dirty rat. Why didn’t he tell me?”

“He could not is the obvious reason.”

“Then why did he keep me with him?”

Yannis rolled his eyes. “Claudie, have you looked in the mirror lately? You’re gorgeous. You possess a body that any man has trouble keeping his eyes and hands from, you’re intelligent and fun to have around. I can understand why he didn’t want to let you go.”

That was a powerful statement coming from Yannis. However, at the moment I felt ninety-two and like a wrinkled old hag. It was hard to believe what he was saying.

“Do you know where Zach is?” I asked.

Yannis shook his head. “I’m just a government worker in the Department of Antiquities. Zach operates in rare circles. At this moment, I wouldn’t even hazard a guess as to where he was.”

I shivered.

“You cold?” he asked.

“No, just a passing thought of that tomb. Yannis, what if the terrorists got Zach, and he’s laying in one of those tombs?”

“Zach is a big boy. He’s trained. He’ll get himself out, if he is in a dangerous situation.”

Yannis’s mother sat brandy snifters before us and a plate of home made baklava, my favorite dessert in the entire world.

“Thank you, Mrs. Vasilis, you are very kind,” I said in my dilapidated Greek.

Even though it was late, she had that endless energy that all Cypriot mothers seemed to have, especially when it came to feeding her brood and friends. She beamed a wide, warm smile in my direction. She said something in Greek that translated into her wish that I rest well because I looked tired.

Yannis agreed. “Would you like to call your aunt?”

“What time is it?”

“Around one A.M.”

“I’ll wait and call her in the morning even though it already is morning.”

I sipped the brandy, thinking over the evening’s events. The police had been dispatched to search the tombs for the hateful woman that had kidnapped me. They were sure to find Zach if he had ended up there which I hoped he hadn’t. But even if they found the woman, they could only charge her with kidnapping not antiquities theft. Her husband partner was still free. I hoped I hadn’t killed either one of the two that I had whacked. I wondered what kind of murder that would constitute.

Yannis gave me a warm hug. “I’m glad you are safe, Princess. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get some rest so I can go to work in the morning.”


“Thank you dear friend for all you have done for me.”

He brushed my cheek with a kiss and smiled into my eyes then wandered out of the room, yawning and scratching his belly.

I remained at the table and helped myself to another baklava. Mrs. Vasilis brought more coffee, gave me a kiss on the cheek, wished me good rest, and left the room. The windows in the dining room were open to the night. No screens. Cypriots didn’t believe in them even though they shared the island with the ubiquitous mosquito. I turned out the over head light and sat in the moonlight.

I was wide awake but lost in thought when the stone hit the table. My automatic reflex was to look in the direction the stone had come. There, leaning through the open window, was Zachariah Lamont.

“Busy?” he asked, nonchalantly, and climbed through the window. “I thought Yannis and his mum would never go to bed.” He studied the food on the table and pulled the platter of lamb to him. “I could eat a whale.”

“Where have you been?” I asked, like a kidnapping had not occurred since last we were together.

“Trying to get back to you.”

I moved the salad toward him and the plate of baklava. He topped Yannis’s glass of brandy from the decanter and drank deeply.

“How are you, Princess?” Our eyes met. I knew he could see the smoke coming out my ears. He held up one hand, nails neatly trimmed. “Don’t give me the details. I heard your recitation to Inspector Polydeuces.”

“How long have you been out there?”

“Since the police arrived. I came running as soon as I found out that you had re-surfaced here, and they were on their way to question you.”

He looked none the worse was the infuriating part. Like he had just come from the library or something. He had on a new outfit, pressed black slacks, collarless gray silk shirt, hair neatly combed. He continued to sip his brandy and study me.

“You’re gorgeous, has anyone ever told you that?”

“Yes, Yannis did a few minutes ago.”

“I thought I was the only one who noticed.”

“Not according to him.” I wanted to rub something gooey and sticky into his smug face.

He cupped my neck and smoothed his thumb over my cheek. “She didn’t hurt you, did she?”

I shook my head. “I gave her a headache though. The driver, too.”

“Well done, Princess.” He ran his hand down my back and up under my shirt. “Have anything on under here?”

“Stop that.” I socked his arm as hard as I could. “If you think you’re going to get off easy, you aren’t. Where did you disappear to?”

“Claudie, I felt certain you would be safe in the hotel room. Besides, I had to find the American couple. I found him, but unfortunately she found you. I’m truly sorry.”

He scooted his chair over so he could put his arm around my shoulders and pull me into him.

I resisted his embrace and pulled away. “You’re a cop, not a criminal. Why did you play that infernal game with me of suspecting I was a criminal when it was all a game, and you knew it?”

He shrugged. “It wasn’t a game at first. I did suspect you, because I didn’t know who had planted the antiquities on your aunt, or if in fact she was involved. So I tried to draw you out, hoping, of course, that you weren’t involved. Besides, I have this gorgeous creature who comes to me, damsel in distress, and you think I’m going to let her out of my sight?”

“Likely story. I’m not buying it. You nearly got us both killed at your so-called safe house. What about Max and Irene? That was carrying things a bit far, don’t you think?”

With the tip of his finger he moved my chin so I had to look into his eyes. “I told you that wasn’t in the plan. The whole business was unfortunate. You fitted into my charade, and we started to enjoy each other.” He grinned into my eyes. “Tell me you didn’t relish our interludes.”

I huffed and looked away. I hated giving him the satisfaction of saying yes. “What happens to the American couple?”

“He’s still on the loose. She’s in police custody, thanks to you. They found her in the tombs. I need him to lead me to the jewels. Tonight I hope to catch him in the act, and we’ll have all of them, if everything goes according to plan. With their demise the terrorist cell’s source of funding will be gone and their operation, too.”

Moon glow lit his face. Maybe it was the silvery play of moonbeams around us that threatened to weave me back into his spell. I was relieved to see him in one piece.

He checked his watch. “I’ve got to go. I wanted to make sure you were all right. Wait for me here, will you, so I know you’re safe?”

I avoided his eyes, and he moved his face into my line of vision. “Promise me, you’ll wait here. I’ll come back for you in the morning. Okay?”

I had to look into those deep brown eyes, and I searched the darkness and depth of them.

“Okay,” I said in a small voice.

He left through the kitchen and went out the back door. As he crossed in front of the window, I saw he was carrying the duffle bag. He couldn’t be going that far I reasoned, since he was walking and carrying a heavy satchel. Of course, I wasn’t going to allow him go without me. Not after all we had been though.

I followed him along several back streets through a Cypriot neighborhood lined with small, neat, adobe houses and shadowed by orange and lemon trees. He was headed in the direction of the ruins at the west end of Pafos. He ended up at the beach parking lot where we had parked and enjoyed each other in the back seat of the green Honda SUV. The blue Honda SUV was the sole vehicle parked there. I took cover behind the rocks on the beach. He changed clothes, put on the photographer’s vest and loaded it from the duffle bag, then took off across the rocky terrain. I followed at a distance, using the light of the moon to keep track of where he was going and praying the rocky goat path would not be my undoing. The surf pounded to the west. I hoped the sound of it would cover my footsteps. The only breeze was off the sea, for which I was grateful.

His destination was the Forty Column Castle. The moon shone on the ruined castle, the arches shadowed and menacing. I lost him as he rounded one of the massive walls outside the main entrance to the castle. I hurried so not to lose sight of him. As I rounded the wall, an arm snaked out and covered my mouth and crushed me against him. I was forced into a crouch, and a familiar voice said, “You promised to stay at Yannis’s house and wait for me.”

I couldn’t say anything because he had his hand clamped hard over my mouth. I didn’t make a squeak. He hauled me to the shelter of a mound of rubble from the excavation. I could tell by his ungentle manner of dragging me that he was mad.

“Why can’t you do what you promised,” he said in a hoarse whisper.

“You need help.”

“I have help.” He blew out a breath of frustration.

I was almost sorry I had come. Almost.

“Look, there’s no time now for talk. I don’t want to blow this sting operation. I’ve worked a long time to nail this bunch. Don’t blow this for me.”

I shook my head, not daring to talk.

“Here.” He pulled a small pistol from his vest pocket.”Take this. I’ve got to go closer and watch the entrance. Stay right behind me and don’t make a sound.”

He led the way to another pile of rubble where we had a good view of the entrance. I crouched beside him, and we watched for signs of activity. The moon slowly traveled across the sky. The shadows changed shapes in the ruins but no one showed.


“Do you really think they buried the jewels in the ruins?” I whispered.

“Yes, because we got the captured Maruti driver to talk. This is where the American couple is to meet the terrorists tonight. The jewels are hidden here. The husband is to show up and retrieve the jewels. Then we arrest him when he passes the jewels to the terrorists.”

My nerves were humming, and it wasn’t the cold since the night was mild. It was extreme fear. Zach was sitting with his loaded gun and vest filled with bullets and heaven knows what else. All I could think of was how scared I was. My small pistol had the safety on. Just thinking about the damage it could inflict made my stomach heave.

My eyes played tricks on me. I saw movement where none was. A small animal, maybe a desert rat, skittered in the bushes to the back of us. I pressed closer to Zach. I could feel the tense alert of his body in the hardness of his muscles. Mine were starting to cramp. I shifted position to take the strain off my back.

He put his finger to his lips and pointed to a spot at the far side of the ruins near the corner where an arch met the massive wall. A shadow moved stealthily, then quicker and with purpose.

We hunkered down lower in unconscious reaction. My breathing was so loud I thought the shadow would hear. But the shadow seemed intent upon its mission and scurried along the front of the castle and ducked through the first arch and into the interior.

“There has to be a second person,” Zach said so low I could barely make out his words. Sure enough, another shadow materialized from the same corner and hurried along the same route. Both figures were black and hooded.

Zach had explained the strategy. Wait until they had located and retrieved the jewels then stop them one way or another. But don’t let them leave the ruins of the castle.

“I’m counting on them leading us to the spot where they hid the jewels. If they don’t, we’ll have to dig up the entire complex up, and the Department of Antiquities would frown on that. I’m going closer.” He reached into one of his vest pockets and pulled out my cell phone. “Here, I’ve been meaning to give this back to you. If something goes awry or you hear gun fire, run away as fast as you can and call for help.”

“Right.” Running was within my range of capabilities.

I watched him do a running crouch closer to the outer wall of the ruin.

The two shadows had disappeared into the interior court of the castle. The ground inside was uneven packed dirt. There were drains inside that had been excavated but mostly hewn rock abounded. I couldn’t imagine anyone would bury treasure where it wouldn’t be obvious it had been recently dug unless they had moved rocks from the walls or drain and replaced them.

I was a lot happier now that my supporting role was on the side of the good guys and that Zachariah Lamont had turned out to be NPYD instead of a felon.

Pop. Pop. The sound was so soft, I almost didn’t hear it. But my mind knew. Silencer. Those were the popping sounds that a gun with a silencer makes. What if I were wrong? I nibbled on my nails in indecision. If I called for help now, and Zach hadn’t caught the thieves red handed, then I’d have blown the whole sting.

What to do? I wasn’t going to run away. Creep closer, I decided, to see if I could see anything. I would have to peer around a good twenty foot wall or climb up over it which meant scaling the loose rubble at the top. But creep closer I did, my heart in my mouth. My creeping consisted of a crab walk and silent cursing as my toes hit unseen rocks and plants with stickers that I never recalled seeing during the daylight hours. I heard nothing more after those two pops. I could not recall Zach saying he had a silencer for his gun.

I made it to the outer wall of the castle and listened. The night was quiet. We were so close to the harbor I could hear the lines clinking against the masts of the sail boats at anchor. No people sounds emanated from inside the roofless castle.

I took several deep breaths to try to quiet my inner trembling. It didn’t help. Everything was chattering -- my teeth, hands, legs, gut, breath. I was a veritable bowl of quivering jelly. I knew if I had to use a gun it would jump right out of my hand.

I leaned close to the wall. The stones still retained the heat of day. The warmth helped calm me till my nerves were humming instead of jangling. I had to go on. I had to find out what those pops were. I inched around the opening and ducked into the niche in the wall to the entrance. From there I was able to view into the interior court but saw only more walls made of blocks of hewn rock.

I hesitated. Maybe I should go back, get clear of the ruins and call. What if Zach had been shot? I kept going and cleared another one of the interior walls which were labyrinthine in nature. I pressed close to the wall, trying to stay in the shadows. I heard another pop and almost in the same instant a bullet ricocheted off the wall about three inches from my nose. I ducked and streaked back toward the entrance of the castle. But I wasn’t alone. The pounding of footsteps behind were as loud as the beating of my heart. I hurtled through the entrance and smacked into the waiting arms of a midget. It wasn’t really a midget, but he was small and our grunts were about the same volume. I walloped him with my pistol before he had time to recover which bought me enough time to get away from the little guy but not from the hand that grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.

“Stop,” said the hooded figure.

The gleam of the gun barrel gave it a silver moon hue. It was pointed at my face. It had a big, long silencer fitted onto the end.

“Drop your gun.”

I stopped in mid-struggle and dropped it. When the gun pointed at you is bigger than yours, drop it. Or at least I did. It was an automatic reaction. No thought involved.

“Walk.” The arm gripping my shoulder pulled me back into the interior of the castle, none too gently might I add, and not where I wanted to go. The voice was rough and hoarse, like the man who owned it had been shouting all day. This was the part of the caper in which I had not wanted to get involved. But I wouldn’t listen to Zach, would I?

We wound our way into the smaller interior rooms that had probably been used for milling and baking. Unfortunately, I recognized the path. We were on our way to the six latrines that had been excavated. They had hidden the jewels in the latrines. Clever.

Two shadowed figures worked at the end of the main drain, which emptied into the exterior ditch that encircled the castle, where the remains of a man were found during the excavation. The unfortunate gent had tried to escape the falling debris of the earthquake in 1223 by crawling down through the latrines to the drain. But the drain exit was blocked by narrow slits that only allowed liquid waste to dribble outward into the ditch. The poor man had died in place with a blue glass bottle in hand. In the exact spot where the excavators had found the skeletal remains of the hapless earthquake victim, two men were digging at the stones blocks of the drain.

To the side against the wall Zach lay face down in a pool of blood. My heart hit the stone floor of the latrines. He was dead.

My hooded captor shoved me. I hit the wall and sank onto my knees. I wished I had called for help. I could have wished a lot of things in that instant, but my most fervent wish was answered. In the dim light I saw the rise and fall of Zachariah Lamont’s back. He was still breathing.

I counted four thieves including the little guy lying outside. None seemed interested in me. It appeared that the stones of the latrine were being a bit testy about being moved even though they must have been before, if the jewels lay hidden beneath.


Something occurred to me, as I inched as close as possible to Zach’s prone body and clasped his ankle for comfort. His ankle was warm and that cheered my quaking little heart. What occurred to me sitting there watching the three thieves curse and bang their chisels against the reluctant stone was that Zach said this was a sting operation. That meant there had to be more good guys somewhere. My bet was that Helena was waiting in the wings. I tried hard not to look around. But my head wanted to swivel all over, trying to see if I could spot her.

A cry of elation went up from the diggers. All three worked at pulling out the reluctant stone they had been chipping around the edges. I looked around for a rock or something to throw or hit with, just in case. Sure enough, they held up a metal box. One thief lifted the lid and in the ray of a moon beam, I caught the glint of something shiny. The other two grabbed the box at the same time.

“Stop right there and freeze.”

I recognized that female voice. Helena. There she stood on the wall above the latrines, gun in hand, looking like a dark Athena. The thieves looked up at the same time, more surprised than I was to see Helena standing over them. Through the archway trotted Inspector Polydeuces with three other police men, guns drawn.

I sighed out all the breaths I had been holding. Then Zachariah Lamont rolled over onto his side and sat up much to the astonishment of the thieves. He stood, brushing himself off and dabbing at the sticky liquid on his shirt.

“Bullet proof vests do come in handy, Princess, but this catsup-honey combo is a bit too sticky sweet for my taste.”