And while Kairo might be a little dense, he wasn’t so dense that he missed the hidden message that he was being bludgeoned with from Athena.If you don’t mean to be the settling-down type, keep your distance from my brother.
Fine with him. He had no designs on Isidore, even if the man was stupidly hot and sweet. Kairo had his friends and job to worry about. His life was set and moving in the direction that he wanted.
Thankfully, Isidore returned to the car soon after their conversation, saving Kairo from any more dire warnings from Athena. He’d picked up a simple flip phone and one hundred prepaid minutes. That was more than enough for him to get in contact with Charlie and make plans for their next step.
Isidore offered to get it all set up while Kairo drove them around the small town until he finally located a quiet park with very few people. Isidore pulled together a light meal for them from what Athena got at the store while she watched over Joey as he scamped through the grass and chomped on chunks of lamb heart.
Kairo stepped away from them and dialed Charlie’s number. He had all their phone numbers memorized for just such an event.
“Who is this?” Charlie demanded by way of greeting and Kairo’s heart did a weird little skip of relief.
“Geez, Charlie. You’d think you’d miss a guy after he’s been gone for almost a week,” Kairo teased.
“Kairo?” Charlie gasped. There was an explosion of shouts behind him and Kairo laughed. Ed was the loudest of them, but he was pretty sure he heard Soren, West, Alexei, and Will all talking at the same time. “Shut up, you fucking idiots! I can’t hear him!” Charlie bellowed, not bothering to cover the phone, leaving Kairo’s eardrum feeling bruised.
“Missed you guys too. I’m safe for now. We escaped, but I could definitely use some backup.”
“You’ve got it. Let me put you on speaker so you can tell everyone what’s going on.”
There was a brief moment of silence, and then he was greeted by all of his friends. It was so good to hear their voices, to know that nothing had happened to them while he was gone. After all the nonsense was over, he quickly and concisely filled them in on all that had happened since he was taken from Uruguay and his current state of affairs.
“I’ve got all your stuff. Computer and phone,” Ed offered up and Kairo nearly wept with relief. He figured they’d grab his gear, but he had been afraid his phone had been lost somewhere when he’d been kidnapped. There was no way his kidnappers would be stupid enough to bring it with them to Greece.
“The good news is, we’re already in Athens,” Charlie added. “We managed to track you that far, but lost the trail shortly after your private plane landed. We can’t be more than a couple of hours from you now. You can stay there and let us come get you or you can come here.”
“I’d rather stay out of Athens until we have a working game plan,” Kairo said. “We need somewhere safe we can lie low, make plans, conduct research, gather equipment if needed.”
“Got an idea?” Charlie asked.
“Just a sec.” Kairo walked over to where Isidore and Athena were seated across from each other at a stone picnic table. “My friends are in Athens. I need a place where we can meet up a safe distance from Athens but a good-sized city. We need to blend in with the crowds and disappear.”
“In August?” Isidore sounded so very amused. He looked at his sister and they flashed a mirror-image smirk that was cute and creepy. They answered in unison, “Delphi.”
“Really? That’s the oracle city, right?”
Isidore nodded. “Outside of the islands, Delphi is second only to Athens in terms of tourists and general busyness. There will be a wide assortment of accommodations and lots of people.”
“Plus, Delphi is only about two hours from Athens. We’re roughly the same distance from Delphi as well,” Athena added.
“You catch all that, Charlie?” Kairo said, winking at both Isidore and Athena.
“Got it. We can be on the road for Delphi in about fifteen minutes,” Charlie agreed.
“Make it twenty. I’m leaving the accommodations in your hands this time.”
“I’ll put Soren on that since he’s the one who’s developed the expensive tastes,” Charlie agreed.
“Only because if you let West do it, we’d end up in a tent on the beach,” Soren shouted in the background.
“Kairo! Kairo, are you okay? Do you need any medical attention?” Will’s voice came in loud and clear suddenly, as if he’d snatched the phone right out of his boyfriend’s hand.
Kairo chuckled, something inside of him growing so warm to hear Will as part of the regular group now. Fuck, Charlie needed that man in his life more than he needed beer and sex. “I’m fine. Besides, I’m pretty sure you can’t patch me up over the phone if I did need something.”
“I’m serious, Kairo,” Will stubbornly pressed. “If you’ve been injured, I can stop and pick up more medical supplies along the way so I can properly stitch you together when we meet.”
“I’m fine. I swear. I’m a little battered and bruised, but it’s nothing ice, aspirin, and a beer can’t fix. You just keep Charlie in line and drag them to Delphi as quickly as possible.”
“Got it,” Will agreed in a firm voice and Kairo wanted to cackle. The surgeon was going to whip those men into action.