“Sure. Holden.”
I stared back at him. Compared to Randall, who wore dark jeans and a black T-shirt, my hero looked like the most overdressed boat captain ever.
“Holden, huh?” I thought I could see the slightest hint of a wry smile. “That your first name or your last name?”
“Does it really matter?”
“I suppose not.”
He shrugged. “Then it’s both.”
“You can call him dickhead if you like,” Randall jumped in, sidling up on my other side. “That’s what always I do.”
I pursed my lips in mock consideration. “You really think he looks like a dickhead?”
“Either that or a fuck-face,” Randall answered gleefully.
“I was thinking more along the lines of a douche-nozzle.”
The bearded man stared back at me like he’d just found a favorite new playmate. “She’s sassy! I like that!” He patted me hard on the shoulder before turning to Holden. “Okay fine. She comes with.”
Comes with… My mind was still spinning a mile a minute. Comes with where?
“Wait!” I said abruptly, whirling around again. “What about your other friend?”
“Other friend?”
“The third guy!” I exclaimed. “Six foot six? Packed with muscle?” They still weren’t getting it. “Looks like a bear?”
Fucks like a demon… the little voice in my head teased.
Silently they shook their heads.
“He was with me,” I said, squirming a little at the double entendre. “Well… sort of. I saw him up in the upper chambers. When I was… well…”
They were both staring back at me in confusion now.
“He’s not with you?”
The men looked at each other for a moment, and I could see something unspoken pass between them. Something new.
“No third guy here, Babydoll,” said Randall. He turned sideways, and his beard flapped wildly in the wind.
“On this mission? It?
??s just us.”
Seven
ANDREA
The dark water stretched out before us, as the engine droned on and on. Off to the right I could see the random twinkling of sparse lights. The easternmost shores of the isle, which for the most part were nothing but moonlit beaches.
“Where in the world are we going?”
“Back to Athens,” said Holden.
“We’re on the wrong side of the island then,” I pointed out. “The airport’s back the other way.”