To his surprise, his new boyfriend stood up, stuck two fingers into his mouth, and whistled loudly, silencing the noise. “Fucking A, people. Screw your heads on right for a second. You’ve all been watching me spend countless hours behind my computer, hacking my way through Isidore’s family and friends list. And it’s not just those people. His entire staff list needs to be scoured to make sure none of them have been bought off. I’ve been able to mark off a quarter of those names. It’s going to take me months to potentially locate our target this way. While I’m glad you’ve all been enjoying your vacation, Isidore and Athena need to return to their normal lives. We need something faster.”
Isidore reached out and threaded his fingers through Kairo’s. He lifted his hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the top. “Well, a new normal at least.”
“Okay,” Alexei piped up. “You’ve got me interested. Do we call all your family and various enemies to a secluded house, take their phones, and then set them free on the lawn for us to hunt down?”
“I think they did that onThe Simpsons,” Ed murmured.
“That definitely sounds like an Agatha Christie thing,” Athena added.
Isidore groaned. “If you keep that up, I’m definitely making you sit and watch all the Poirot episodes with me when you come home for the winter break.”
Kairo moaned softly and scrubbed a hand over his face.
Will—thank you, Doctor Will—came to their rescue from the insanity. “We’re not big-game hunting Isidore’s family,” Will proclaimed and then tacked on under his breath, “even if they probably deserve it.”
Isidore squeezed Kairo’s hand and took over the explanation. “I have a very large house on the island of Santorini. It’s an incredibly popular vacation spot. Beaches, restaurants, shopping, blue ocean, plus lots of rich celebrities wandering around. My idea is to throw an end-of-summer party combined with a farewell for Athena before she leaves for school. I’ll invite all our family as well as my major business partners. We will have cameras and microphones spread all about the grounds. In addition, the team will be mingling in with the guests as my personal friends and business partners. Athena and I will be there, acting as if nothing ever happened.”
“And you think that someone will crack the second they see you,” Ed said with a nod. “Not a bad idea. It does mean making both you and your sister bait.”
“True, but if one of you could stick close to Athena, that would ease my mind.”
“We could also sew a separate tracking device into your clothes for the evening. That way if your phone is taken again, we’ll still be able to find you quickly,” Kairo suggested.
“I think this is an interesting idea, but are you sure our target will take the bait?” Soren inquired.
“No, of course not. There’s no guarantee this will work. If it doesn’t, I’ll have to beg to keep Kairo with me for a bit longer as he completes his digging, and Athena will have to suffer with increased security for a while.” Isidore sighed.
“But this method is relatively harmless to innocent people,” Athena stated. She shrugged and relaxed a bit in her chair. “They get to attend a flashy Panopoulos party and have an excuse to stay on Santorini for another day or two.” She paused and narrowed her eyes on Isidore. “You were thinking of doing this on a Saturday, right?”
Isidore rolled his eyes at her. “I’m not a complete heathen.”
“Dora’s catering?”
“Naturally.”
“Signature-themed drinks?”
Isidore sighed. “It’s like you think I’ve never thrown a proper party.”
Athena waved a lazy hand at him. “Yes, well, even if this party is just a sham, I don’t want you to be the laughingstock of Santorini with a half-assed effort.”
“I promise to put my full ass into this.” Isidore smirked as snickering filled the room.
“Goddamn, these guys have been a bad influence on you already,” Kairo lamented, which only earned him a kiss on his bearded jaw.
“There are ways of tightening the screws on our targets if we think it’s necessary,” Isidore continued with a smug smile.
“Like how?”
Isidore lifted their hands in the air so everyone could see. “The first step would be to introduce my new boyfriend. I’ve never been in a long-term relationship before, nor have I been in one that I displayed in public. That would signal to people that it’s quite serious. If that’s not enough, we announce that we’re engaged.”
Athena snorted beside him. “That’s evil. Really freaking evil. You’d be painting a giant target on yourself and him.”
“Kairo can handle it,” Isidore stated confidently. He turned his attention to the rest of the table. “Those interested in the family money would now be fearful of my fiancé’s influence and whether he had a chance at getting his hands on the money.”
“So you would have created a new incentive for the culprit to act,” Ed nodded. “Not a bad idea. People are sloppy when they make impulsive decisions.”
“It also sounds like an announcement like that could be tossing chum in shark-infested waters,” West observed. “You could be drawing people to act who had nothing to do with the kidnapping.”