During that time, he’d managed to cross over half of Isidore’s business associates off the list, but only a couple of his family members, which was more disheartening than he wanted to admit. Some of the things he’d seen these supposed family members say about Isidore and Athena made him sick. But did that mean they’d go the extra step and try to kill them?
He hadn’t shared any of it with Isidore or Athena. There was nothing to be gained by showing the siblings that vicious vitriol. They already knew how horrible their relatives were.
It was an actual relief when Alexei’s contact came through with a hit on Vanko. Apparently the poor guy was running low on disposable goons. He’d put out a job posting on a dark-web site for a bit of muscle to help locate his “missing sister and brother” in the Delphi region. It seemed a safe bet that the “borrowed” car had been located. Ed and West hadn’t driven it too far away just in case they needed to lure Vanko out.
Right now, dealing with this asshole and possibly beating the shit out of him for information was preferable to spending another second digging through information on Isidore’s relatives.
They walked down the sidewalk together without drawing too much attention. Tourists came from all around the world to see the ruins of the Temple of Apollo and where the famed Oracle of Delphi would give her predictions and prognostications for the future. The city of Delphi itself was rather small and perched on the side of Mount Parnassus above the Gulf of Corinth. As they walked, they caught glimpses of the water a good distance away while the mountains surrounded them on the other three sides.
From what he could tell, the town was mostly comprised of hotels and restaurants with a handful of shops tossed in that specialized in replicas of ancient Greek statues in knickknack form. The sun beat down from above, leaving Kairo wishing he’d grabbed a hat. His sunglasses were barely cutting it as it was. This was what he got for not leaving his computer often enough. He did fieldwork with the rest of the team on occasion, but the majority of the time, he was back at the base or in a van directing things from a variety of computer monitors.
Ed tilted his head upward and drew in a deep breath before humming happily. “Something smells good. Do you think we’ll be able to grab food to go after this meeting?”
Kairo looked at the man as though he’d lost his mind. They were going to meet with Vanko and very likely, kidnap him so they could beat the truth out of him. Not the nicest part of their job, but Kairo had zero qualms over it when it came to protecting Isidore and Athena.
“There are plenty of good restaurants here, Ed,” Charlie murmured.
“Fine. How much farther to the meet-up spot Vanko selected?” Ed asked.
Kairo had replied to the ad, posing as a hit man searching for a job. The only catch was that he’d demanded to meet with Vanko in person to prove that the gig was real and to get the full information. He was shocked that Vanko agreed to it, but he could only guess the man was desperate for help to complete this job.
“We’re less than a block away. It should be just around the corner, right next to a restaurant,” Kairo said.
Except Vanko wasn’t at thetavernahe said he’d be at. No. He was seated in the outdoor area of the restaurant across the street from their destination. The man was smarter than Kairo had given him credit for. He’d selected a place to watch those who entered thetaverna, giving him the chance to choose whether to enter based on the appearance of those who went inside.
Kairo’s plan had been to wait outside while Ed went in alone. Ed would sneakily take a picture of anyone he thought was Vanko and text it to Kairo. Once Kairo confirmed their target was there, Ed would pose as the hit man and try to get information out of Vanko without using force.
The only problem was that Vanko spotted Kairo at the same time as Kairo spotted him. They were both frozen as if neither could believe what they were seeing. But there was no mistaking the middle-aged man with the salt-and-pepper hair with the jagged scar across his cheek.
“Shit,” Kairo swore between clenched teeth.
Ed turned to look at him and possibly ask why he stopped. Charlie was saying something in his ear, but he didn’t hear it. His brain was only processing the fact that Vanko had jumped to his feet and launched himself over the low railing that surrounded the outdoor seating area.
“That’s him!” Kairo shouted, pointing at the man running down the sidewalk away from them.
Thankfully, Ed didn’t say anything. He just darted after Vanko, leaving Kairo to follow a couple of steps behind.
Edison Walker was a surprisingly fast man for his size. The only problem was his size. The sidewalks were too narrow and crowded with tourists on this bright and sunny August afternoon. People shouted and cursed as they attempted to plow their way through. They jumped out to the street where they could, but there was a steady stream of traffic heading away from the ruins to other parts of Greece. Kairo had no desire to play chicken with European motorists.
Vanko was staying within sight, but they weren’t gaining any ground on him. In fact, he was starting to pull away as he had no problem shoving innocent people out of his way. He crossed the street and headed north, deeper into the small town and away from the busy thoroughfare. The pedestrians thinned out a little but they were now moving uphill, which did not make any of them faster.
Crossing another street, Vanko turned a corner. Kairo snarled and moved ahead of Ed. As he turned the corner he found Vanko standing in the middle of the street with a gun pulled, waiting for him. He just barely managed to dive backward for cover as the weapon exploded. Kairo slammed into Ed before he could turn the corner and then stumbled a few steps.
“That fucking asshole!” Ed snarled.
It had been rather rude to start shooting on a semi-crowded street in the middle of the damn day, but not totally unexpected.
Kairo righted himself and cautiously peeked around the corner to find that Vanko had resumed his run and was moving west, in the direction he’d originally come. The hotels and restaurants grew fewer, and the buildings appeared to be more residences for locals. Vanko left the street and cut through a yard of yellow grass, dirt, and thin bushes to the next street and they followed.
A stitch was forming in his side and sweat covered him. His T-shirt clung to his body like a second skin. He didn’t mind running, but these hills were a bitch. How the hell was Vanko keeping this up? The man had looked like he was in good shape, but Kairo hadn’t guessed that he participated in fucking Iron Man competitions in his off time.
“I got…some danger putty…in my sling bag,” Ed huffed from behind him. “I’m gonna blow…his fucking legs…off.”
“No danger putty!” Kairo shouted. The town was resting on the slope of Mount Parnassus, and these buildings looked freaking old. There was no telling what would happen if Ed used C-4 in this town. He wasn’t going to risk everything sliding down the mountain just to stop Vanko.
“Just a little bit,” Ed whined.
“No. Nearly all of Greece is ancient. I don’t want you destroying some random, undiscovered ruin.”