“Here.” Drakos opened the sacristy door and the group found themselves in the katholikón. They stood behind the high altar, in the ambulatory. On the other side of the high altar, opposite the sacristy, was the Diakonnikon, or vestry. This was a room reserved for sacred vessels, books and vestments. It was called the Diakonnikon because the church Deacons were responsible for these items. It corresponds to what Catholics or Protestants consider the sacristies of their churches.

  The katholikón was beautiful. Here, in a monastery built to house a hundred monks, the order built a church with space for five hundred. Hecate stood behind the high altar and stared at the icons and stained glass. She turned in place, dazzled. The katholikón was in the center of Koitída Sofias, at the top of the cliff. The sun shone brightly through the windows. Electric blue and blazing red colors were cast on the floor, the altar, and the faces of the guests. Hecate glanced at Stein, saw the young woman’s face painted blue, red and gold. Saw her eyes light up with wonder.

  Drakos stepped around the magnificent high altar. The space around the altar was demarcated by polished wooden rails. This was the sanctuary, the most holy part of the katholikón. Four sets of stacidia, high-backed wooden chairs, were arranged on either side. The bearded Greek stepped over to one of the chairs, threw himself down, and motioned to Hecate and Stein to sit across from him.

  “Are you impressed?” Drakos asked Hecate.

  “It’s beautiful.” Hecate studied their host. She had known Drakos all her life. Never had she seen him like this.

  Harding-James collapsed on a chair next to Hecate. Kyrios sat next to Stein. The stacidia were uncomfortable. Hecate studied the enclosed space of the sanctuary. It was grand, but it was separated from the nave of the church by a tall wooden screen, the iconostasis. Hecate knew the katholikón would be at least three times the size of the sanctuary in which they found themselves.

  The iconostasis was meant to symbolize the separation of the congregation from the holiest of holy places. It symbolized that the sanctuary could only be reached through striving. In the center of the iconostasis was the gilded Royal Gate. On either side of the Royal Gate were two deacon’s doors through which clergy passed into the sanctuary in the course of ceremonies.

  “Why have you brought us here?” Stein asked.

  Drakos looked taken aback by the question. “To wait for the gold to be loaded, of course.”

  “The Grigoro Fidi is fast, but it was never designed to haul cargo.” Stein was thinking out loud. “The Medusa is well hidden. The cave is perfectly camouflaged. Why not take the gold away on a more appropriate vessel? A cargo ship you can load under cover of night? One equipped with cargo booms and holds? It will take hours to load Grigoro Fidi.”

  Drakos said nothing. Toyed with his USP. The remainder of his bodyguards filed into the katholikón. Two stood on either side of the high altar. Others spread out around the ambulatory.

  Hecate looked sharply at Stein. She’d underestimated the American. Looked at her as a woman, not a professional. Stein was observant. Considered exactly the same issues Hecate had considered.

  “You wanted to bring us here this afternoon,” Stein said, “in the Grigoro Fidi. You wanted to load the gold onto the yacht, but you wanted us all with you. Why?”

  “Why do you think?”

  “Breed’s found this place.” The triumph in Stein’s voice was unmistakable. “He knows where you’ve hidden the Medusa. That’s why you rushed us here in the Fidi. You were planning to transfer the gold to a freighter—a month from now. Breed’s forced your hand.”

  “Yes,” Drakos said. “He has. I expect he tried to call you, on the yacht. I’ve left a nasty surprise for him on Ésperos. Unfortunately, even if my men kill him, he must have made a report to authorities. They will come for us.”

  Hecate’s heart pounded in her chest. Stein looked grim. “That’s why you brought us.”

  “Of course,” Drakos said, “I need hostages.”

  Every movement causes my stiff muscles to scream in pain. I get up and pace. Move my left arm in circles to loosen my shoulder. The movement loosens me up. My eyes are dark adapted. The moonlight is beautiful.

  I turn to Hecate.

  “Drakos means to escape in the Grigoro Fidi and took you all hostage. Somehow, you managed to escape.”

  “Yes,” Hecate says. “Night fell. I asked to use the toilet. It was on the other side of the iconostasis, at the end of the nave. Drakos sent a bodyguard with me, and he waited outside. I found a window I could crawl through. Landed in the courtyard, ran to the nearest building, and found an unlocked door. I heard them come after me, tried to hide.”

  “They shot down my helicopter and killed three of the crew. A US destroyer is going to come for us. They’ll stop the Grigoro Fidi.”

  “They’ll free my father and Stein.”

  “It’s not that simple. Once they’ve stopped the Fidi, there will be a standoff. Drakos will have his hostages to play.”

  “What do we do?”

  “Free the hostages.”

  19

  THE FOURTH DAY – PREDAWN, KOITÍDA SOFIAS

  “How do we rescue them?” Hecate asks.

  “They’re being held in the katholikón. Drakos had six bodyguards. I’ve just killed two, which leaves four. Drakos heard the gunshots. That’s got him wondering.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The first man I killed didn’t have his gun drawn. He was looking for you in the dark. The other man who chased you down the hall? He didn’t draw his gun until he saw me step into the corridor. Drakos told them to bring you back unharmed.”

  “He would not want to anger my father.”

  “Drakos doesn’t know I’m here. He doesn’t know why his men were shooting. He’s going to send more to find out what’s going on.”

  “Do you think he’ll send them all?”

  “No. He’ll send two. They all have phones. When he can’t reach Miklos and Sarkis, he’ll assume something’s wrong. He’ll think you’ve taken a weapon from his men and used it on them.”

  “He might call more men from the cave.”

  “I don’t think so. He won’t want to divert men to find one girl, armed or not. I reckon he has one man on the north wall, one man with him in the katholikón, and two men free to search.”

  My shoulder is throbbing from the impact of the falling rock. I rotate my arm, flex the muscle to maintain mobility. “We have to take Drakos by surprise. How many entrances are there to the katholikón?”

  “Two that I know about. The secret staircase and the door at the end of the nave.”

  “It doesn’t make sense, does it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “This place is a thousand years old. Crete doesn’t enjoy holiday weather all the time. Isn’t it odd that the monks didn’t build a covered passage to the church?”

  “It’s a short walk.”

  “They joined the other three buildings.” I sit next to Hecate. “At a minimum, there’s a ground-level entrance somewhere around the sanctuary. All churches have that. But I think there’s another underground passage leading into that church. That’s what we have to find.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “I’m not. But these medieval monks loved their secrets. A secret cave, a secret passage to the cave. Why not a secret passage connecting their refectory to the church?”

  “Where?”

  “It has to be in the basement. In this building, because it’s the oldest.”

  “Alright. What do you want to do?”

  “The first thing is to peel off whoever Drakos sends after us. I’m going to lead them away from you, then come back.”

  Hecate grabs my arm. “Don’t leave me.”

  “You’re safer here. Don’t worry, they’ll be too busy worrying about me.”

  I step through the darkened corridors of the monastery. Drakos won’t want to uncover the north approach, so he’ll send two men. Where are they? If I were in their shoes, I’d start from the bottom and push toward the top floor. A quarry trapped on the top floor is as good as dead.

  Drakos’s men are probably sweeping the ground floor right now.

  I descend the staircase and turn off the light on the ground floor landing. Push the door open and enter the corridor. Everything is quiet. I push open a door to my right and enter a large chamber. Windowless, because it is against the high stone wall facing the cliff. The chamber is empty.

  Turn, go into the chamber across the corridor. This one is equally large, but is graced by wide windows at ground level that look onto the courtyard. The katholikón occupies two-thirds of the space. The cruciform architecture isn’t clear from this angle. It looks more like a rectangular building with two domes. The transepts are shadowy protrusions, probably occupied by chapels.

  The view of the katholikón convinces me even more that there is an underground passage to the church. Greece isn’t all sunshine and light. Ferocious storms lash the Aegean and Mediterranean. Those tempests have filled these waters with shipwrecks for three thousand years.

  The room has a different arrangement than the libraries on the top floors. This room looks more like a classroom. Long rows of wooden desks sit in the dark. Low cabinets pushed against the wall stand empty. There’s no moonlight here, despite the windows. This is the shadow side of the building.

  It’s a scriptorium. Centuries ago, before the advent of the printing press, monks sat here and copied books by hand. Most of those hand-copied books probably sit in the libraries of Koitída Sofias, Metéora, and Mount Athos.

  I walk to the door and step back into the corridor. Look left, advance with the Mark 23 at retracted high ready.

  A shadowy figure steps out of a room at the far end of the corridor. Shouts in Greek, opens fire with an MP5. Short burst, ten or fifteen rounds, half his magazine. Muzzle flashes flare like lightning in the dark space. I throw myself against the wall, extend the Mark 23, send two rounds downrange. The gunman dodges back into the room. Squeezes off a second burst.

  I throw myself against the door that opens to the stairwell. A second man enters the corridor from the opposite stairwell, dumps a magazine in my direction. I slam the door shut behind me. Flinch as 9mm rounds splinter it into matchwood.

  Pounding footsteps. The men are on their way, confident of their superior firepower. I run up the stairs to the first story, flick off the lights. I hear the ground floor door crash open, and I run to the second story. Flick off the lights there.

  I’m leading the gunmen away from Hecate. They know I have NODs, they know that turning off the lights gives me an advantage. If I’ve turned off the lights on the first and second stories, I’m not on the first. They pound past the first story and start up the stairs to the second.

  Leaning around a switchback, I send a couple of rounds downrange. Draw a hail of 9mm submachine gun fire. I turn and dash to the third story. Flick off the lights on the landing, run inside.

  The lights are still off on the third story. Sarkis’s body lies sprawled on the other end of the corridor. He’ll keep these two busy for a while. They’ll check to see if he’s alive, they might look for Miklos. I dart back into the library I used to enter the monastery. Hurry onto the balcony and close the door behind me.

  Holster the Mark 23. There are a couple of ways to do this, depending on what I want to achieve. If I want to go straight back down and rejoin Hecate, I can climb down the drainpipe to the first story, re-enter the building, and find her.

  On the other hand, I can try to whittle down the enemy force. To do that, I want to get behind them. Achieve an element of surprise. This is not so easy.

  I examine the windows. They run the length of the building. There are windows behind the balconies. There, they flank the balcony doors. The windows have thick wooden frames that protrude an inch and a half from the wall. Set around the frames are window casings, another half inch in thickness. The top of each casing is the head. The bottom of the casing is the stool, which is slightly thicker than the head. Beneath the stool is an ornamental apron, cut to look like the eaves that border the roof.

  The structures all look sturdy enough. Standing close to the wall, I mount the balcony rail. It’s wide enough to stand on. I place one hand against the wall for support, reach up to the eaves with the other. For a second, I stare at the dizzying drop.

  I hear the door to the library open. Step onto the stool of the window to my left, test it with my weight. I grip the eaves with both hands. I can feel the wood of the eaves under my second knuckle. My fingertips are pressed against the galvanized iron of the gutter behind. I use the three points of contact to take my weight and shift my right foot to the stool.

  Standing in this way, my stance is secure. I shift sideways past the first window and plant my left foot on the stool of the adjacent second window. Slide my hands along the eaves so I am braced between the first window and the second. Left foot on the stool of the second, right foot on the stool of the first, both hands on the eaves. Now I’m not facing a window. I’m facing the wall between the windows.

  Take a breath, look down into the four-hundred-foot abyss. High winds could make things more interesting, but the air remains still. I’m perfectly safe. I could do this exercise five feet off the ground and not think twice.

  In the dark, the pirates will see an empty library. If they look toward the windows, they will see nothing. Not even the toes of my shoes. If one of them should open the balcony door and stick his head out, it’s his tough luck. I’ll reach down with my right hand, draw the Mark 23, and blow his head off. I’ll break a window and swing myself into the library before his buddy figures out what happened.

  The pirates sweep through the library. I hear them blundering into furniture. Why don’t they turn the lights on? They know I have NODs.

  Lights blaze from the windows. They must have heard me thinking.

  Of course, lighting the interior improves my situation. The lights destroy the pirates’ night vision and makes it impossible for them to see what’s going on outside. Okay, I’ll wait for them to leave and make their way to the next room. Then I’ll re-enter the library and come up behind them.

  The pirates leave the room. First, they’ll move to the one across the corridor, then they’ll go to the one next door to this one. When I’m sure they’re in that one, I’ll go back inside.

  I return to the balcony. No need to repeat my cat burglar act. I’ll make my move when they turn the lights on.

  Flip up my NODs. The lights go on next door and I step back into the library. Open the door, enter the hall with my pistol drawn.

  A third pirate pushes open the door to the opposite stairwell.

  Shit.

  Before the third man enters the corridor, I dodge back inside the library. Close the door. That makes it three-on-one. Had he seen me, things might have turned into a holy mess. I would have lost the element of surprise.

  Plan B.

  I walk to the balcony, close the door behind me, and mount the rail. Reach for the eaves with my left hand and the drain with my right. I keep an eye on the lighted windows. There’s no sign I’ve been discovered. They’ll clear this floor, then go downstairs to the second story.

  Find a toehold against the wall with my right shoe. Release my grip on the eaves, transfer my left hand to the drain. Slowly, I make my way down. As I descend, I watch the lights in the third story windows go on one after another.

  They’re panicking. A few minutes ago, they were certain they could trap me on the third story. That’s why they summoned the third man to join them from the opposite stairwell. Now they have no idea where I’ve gone.

  I should have considered the possibility that Drakos would send help. It’s a big monastery, and it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t want to be found. He’s stripping his remaining force. This third man was either pulled off the north wall or sent from the sanctuary.

  That Drakos is stripping his security force is a bad sign. It means he’s focusing all his efforts on transferring the gold to Grigoro Fidi. He wants to leave before dawn.

  The second story is dark, as is the first. I flip down my NODs. Find myself on the balcony outside the library where Hecate is hiding. This time, I know where the pirates are, so I don’t worry too much about noise. Maybe I’m just exhausted and cranky because the arrival of the third man spoiled my ambush. I want to get into the katholikón and be done with this business.

  I test the handle on the balcony door. Find it locked. Put my shoulder to it and hear the doorjamb groan. Draw back half an inch and shove hard. The wood splinters and the door bursts inward. I grab the doorknob with my right hand. Stop the door from slamming open.

  Step into the darkness. The chamber looks empty, as it should. I bend at the waist, see an amorphous bundle crammed under the central reading table. It’s Hecate, hiding. I walk over to her, crouch low, and offer my hand.

  Hecate stares at my glowing green eyes with an expression of relief. She takes my hand and I help her up.

  “They’re on the top floor, but they’ll be coming soon,” I tell her. “We need to move fast.”

  I hold her hand and lead her into the corridor. We step into the darkened stairwell and descend to the basement. The landing is lit. I switch off the light and examine the door.

  There’s no sign of light leaking from beneath the door. Gently, I release Hecate. Hold the Mark 23 in one hand, open the door with the other. I examine the interior through my NODs. There’s a switch on the wall. I push my NODs up on my helmet and turn on the lights.

  Together, Hecate and I step into the basement. I flick the light in the stairwell back on and shut the door behind us.

  We’re about to find out if I’m right. Did the monks build a passage to the katholikón?

 

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