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Ace squeezed Jasmine’s hand gently as he held his breath, waiting for Dmytro’s answer.
The Ukrainian nodded. “He has a small boy with him.”
Ace released the breath he’d been holding, his gaze on Jasmine.
Tears filled her eyes and slipped down her face. “Is he okay?” she asked, choking on her words.
“He told his staff the boy is his nephew, staying with him while his parents are on vacation. They are treating him like family.”
Jasmine brushed the tears from her cheeks. “Good. Now that we know where he is, we can get him back.”
“One problem,” Dmytro said.
Jasmine tensed. “What is it?”
Ace’s gaze went to the back of Dmytro’s head, his heart pinching hard in his chest.
“We are not the only ones who know where Bertolli is.” Dmytro paused. “Athanasios Demopoulos flies there now in his private jet. It can take him there in one hour. It will take us three hours in Air Dmytro.”
Chapter 12
Jasmine willed the little helicopter to go faster and for a tailwind to speed them along. It didn’t matter; the aircraft could only go so fast compared to a jet airplane.
Demopoulos would arrive well before they would.
She worried that Demopoulos would steal Eli from Bertolli and use him as leverage to get the copper scroll.
The rumble of the engine eventually lulled her into an exhausted sleep.
A hand on her arm woke her hours later.
Ace pointed out the window.
The helicopter descended toward an island. The mainland wasn’t far away. Lights shone from both.
When the helicopter slowed over the water and dropped low, Jasmine gripped Ace’s hand. What was Dmytro doing? He couldn’t land in the water.
Lights blinked on, illuminating a helicopter landing pad on a yacht moored off the coast of Corfu.
Dmytro sank lower, hovering a few feet over the pad before gently touching down.
As soon as the chopper landed, Dmytro killed the engine. The spinning rotor blades slowed.
Before the blades stopped completely, Dmytro’s voice came over the headset. “You need to move quickly. Demopoulos has people monitoring ATC. He knows we landed and probably has coordinates by now. My friend will see us to a boat that will take us to shore.”
Ace unbuckled his harness and then Jasmine’s. He flew out the door, turned and held out his hands.
Jasmine leaned out.
He gripped her around the waist and swung her, satchel and all, onto the yacht’s deck. Fearghas dropped out of the chopper beside them.
A deckhand handed Ace a backpack and Dmytro a satchel similar to Jasmine’s.
Dmytro held up his satchel. “These might save your lives. If Demopoulos does not know who is carrying the artifact, he might instruct his men not to shoot for fear of hitting the scroll.” The Ukrainian shrugged. “Or not. We will hope it will deter his men from shooting at us.”
The men slung the bags over their shoulders.
The deckhand waved them toward a set of stairs leading to a lower deck and ladder that dropped over the back of the yacht. A small motorboat bobbed in the water at the base of the ladder, with a man at the throttle, waiting for all to climb aboard.
