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He kissed my cheek. Still nervous?

I loved him. He always knew when I was distracting myself in silly ways from something that scared me.

Bracken stood, taking his teacup and Stheno’s empty wine glass back to the galley before strapping himself in again. “No matter how this all turns out, Samantha, thank you for allowing me to accompany you. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I’m grateful to have been included.”

The knot in my stomach relaxed a little. I smiled and nodded, not trusting my voice.

Looking out the window, I saw the lights of Athens far below, the Parthenon glowing in the dark. We flew on, landing at a smaller airstrip, not Athens International. The pilot had been able to get us clearance in one that was much closer to our destination.

Once we’d come to a stop and the engine had been cut, the pilot stepped to the outer door and opened it. “Mr. Fitzwilliam, they were able to make the adjustment and have a vehicle delivered here. They said they’re very sorry, but the original luxury SUV you wanted wasn’t available locally.”

“What did they send?” Clive asked.

The pilot looked out the open door and winced. “Apparently, they had to borrow it from an employee. They couldn’t get a newer one here in time.”

“I see.” Clive waited.

The pilot cleared his throat nervously. “It looks to be an older wood-paneled station wagon, sir.” He hit the mechanism to release the stairs down to the tarmac and then stepped quickly back into the cockpit.

Vlad barked a laugh, slapping Clive on the shoulder. “You’ll survive.”

“As long as it runs, it’s fine.” Clive picked up my backpack, shouldered it, and we all filed out, the pilot bringing up the rear.

When I saw the station wagon, joy bubbled up. “I call dibs on the way back!”

“No worries, kid,” Stheno responded. “No one’s going to fight you for it.”

I hurried over and ran my fingers along the sun-bleached wooden side panel. “We had one just like this when I was eight or nine. The back was my reading fort during the day. Sometimes, we’d break out the sleeping bags and bed down there at night.”

Clive wrapped his arm around me. “I’d like you to sit up front with me.”

Shaking my head, I pointed at Stheno. “She’s the one you need as your navigator. I won’t be any help, so I might as well get out of the way.”

“Sir?” the pilot murmured at Clive’s side. “There’s some paperwork inside they need you for.”

“Of course,” he responded. To everyone else, Clive said, “If you’d like a rest room or snack, you can come with me to the airfield office.”

He started to pull me along, but I squeezed his hand and said, “I’ll be there in a minute.”

Nodding, he kept going, with everyone else following. I was distracted by the other private plane on the runway. How were there two of us arriving at this tiny airstrip in the wee hours of the morning? They were a good distance away, but I could see a smartly dressed woman talking to someone who looked to be her pilot. They weren’t the interesting part. There was a little girl spinning in circles, watching the hem of her dress fly out around her. Some experiences were universal.

Darling, can you come in? They need your driver’s license so you can be added as a driver.

Be right there, I responded, but I didn’t move. I was watching the little girl twirl farther and farther away from where the adults stood. In fact, I was almost sure she was now out of eyesight of the woman, given how the plane stood between them.

Instead of going in, I walked toward the little girl. It was the middle of the night and the whole situation was making me nervous. The little girl stopped twirling suddenly. Dizziness had her weaving, but she was still headed away from the plane, away from the one light at the front of the hangar. Then I saw why. A dog.

Out of the weak pool of light, the little girl followed a small, curly-coated puppy. I began to jog. The little girl held out a hand toward the pup. Now that I was closer, I could see she was really young, perhaps four or five, and that the dog was on a long leash. If there was a leash, then there was a person holding the leash, a person who was pulling the dog slowly back, encouraging the little girl to follow.

When the girl disappeared behind the hangar, I sprinted. For all I knew, this could have been someone she knew and the puppy could have been hers, but I didn’t think so. I raced around the back, following the sound of an engine idling.

Chapter 7

THE GODS GIVE GIFTS IN STRANGE WAYS

An older man, holding the other end of the dog’s leash, was standing beside the open back door of a dark sedan. He scooped up the pup and held it out to the girl, motioning her toward the open door and saying something to her in a language I didn’t understand.

When the girl moved closer, I shouted for her to stop, even though I knew she wouldn’t understand me.