And then the man in black with the vibrant green eyes was gone, hurrying past him, heading deeper into the terminal.
Green Eyes didn’t get far before a trio of men in casual jeans and T-shirts ran up to him, completely surrounding him. Ed’s heart lurched in his chest and his fist tightened around the object in his hand to watch the man struggle, then completely give up. Rather than escorting him out of the airport, he was taken to one of the gates.
The men who captured him were not Greek airport security or Interpol.
As they stood there stunned speechless, another man dressed like the trio approached them. He was all friendly smiles, but it felt like a slimy lie. Particularly after Green Eyes’s look of panic and his frantic plea.
The new stranger spoke in Greek, but it wasn’t as smooth and crisp as Isidore’s speech. It had to a be second or third language for him.
“He apologized for his friend. Claims he was just playing a prank. He would like to know what he said to you,” Isidore translated.
“Just that…he’s late and can’t find his gate. He left before I could help,” Ed lied, gripping the item in his hand even harder as he held his fist down by his side. He didn’t know if Green Eyes was an evil villain and had just drawn him into his scheme or if he was truly a victim. The only thing he did feel sure of was that the asshole standing in front of him was trouble. His gut had seen him through plenty of trouble over the years. He knew to trust it.
The guy’s slimy smile never wavered as he thanked them and jogged off to join the rest of his gang.
“Ed?” Kairo inquired.
“Car,” was all he said, and it was more than enough. Kairo would understand. There were too many eyes in the terminal and too many cameras. Once they got to the sedan, they’d be able to talk more securely.
They continued at a steady pace through the airport to Isidore’s vehicle. Isidore waved Kairo off when he attempted to slide behind the wheel, arguing that he needed to talk to Ed. With a little huff, Kairo agreed and dropped into the passenger seat beside his boyfriend while Ed jumped into the rear seat.
It was only when Isidore was leaving the parking lot that Ed opened his hand to gaze at what Green Eyes had given him.
“What the hell is that?” Kairo demanded as he peered between the seats at Ed’s hand.
“I’m not sure. The better question is, did you recognize him?” Ed inquired.
Kairo jerked his head back, his smooth brow instantly furrowing. “What? No. Why would I?”
“Because he asked me to send this to your mom,” Ed replied.
Kairo’s mouth hung open for a second, and he stared at Ed as if he’d lost his ever-loving mind. He hadn’t. “What?” he squeaked.
Ed lowered his gaze down to the small black velvet bag in his hand. Very carefully, he tugged at the drawstring until the bag opened and he could tip the contents into his palm. “He said to send this to Dr. Janet Jones. And considering what I’m holding, I think it’s pretty safe to say that he was in fact talking about your mom.”
Laying in the palm of his hand was a piece of jewelry that appeared to be centuries old, made of gold and emeralds in the shape of a scarab. There were symbols that looked like hieroglyphs etched into the gold. He flipped the artifact over onto its back to find more symbols and a folded piece of paper.
“Let me see it,” Kairo demanded in hushed tones.
Ed handed over the bejeweled relic while he unfolded the paper. He’d hoped it would be a note explaining maybe who the man was or why he was in trouble, but it was just several lines of more symbols.
He glanced up to see Kairo holding the scarab up to the light, squinting at the engravings. “Can you read it? Does it look familiar to you?”
Kairo snorted. “I knew only a handful of symbols, and that was when I was a kid. I’ve forgotten most of what Mom crammed into my head.”
“Then I guess you can’t read this?” Ed handed over the piece of paper while taking the scarab. He ran his thumb across the gems and gold, wondering about the man who’d pressed this into his palm, trusting him with something that was so incredibly valuable. It couldn’t have been easy for him to part with it. What kind of trouble could he be in?
And what had Green Eyes seen in him that made him decide that he was the most trustworthy of all the people in that airport?
“Nope. Not at all. But I can tell you it’s not authentic.”
Ed rolled his eyes. The paper was old and worn, but he’d know it wasn’t ancient papyrus. “No shit, Sherlock. I’m guessing the guy who gave me the scarab wrote that. Used the hieroglyphs to make sure no one else could read it but a select few people.”