Greek Odyssey Part 6

"That boat's heading our way. Think we can hitch a ride?" she asked, grabbing Mick's arm.

He shrugged. "It's worth a try."

Nancy took off her bright orange cap and tried to flag down the boat. She was waving frantically when she recognized the boat's yellow hull and distinctive star. It was the Sea Star Sea Star. "Theo!" she shouted.

"Well, fancy that," Mick said. He stood up as the boat swerved toward them and slowed down.

Theo seemed surprised to see Nancy and Mick stranded on the low cliff. Within minutes he had taxied ash.o.r.e on an inflated dinghy and brought them aboard the Sea Star Sea Star. When Nancy and Mick warned Theo that they were in danger, he sped away immediately, without asking questions.

Nancy waited until the boat was a safe distance from Dragonisi before she filled him in on their close brush in the cave.

"That is amazing!" Theo exclaimed, the wind rippling his hair. "Those caves you were exploring have drop-offs and hidden pa.s.sages. Did you notice a pond in one of the caves?"

Nancy nodded. "Yes, in the cave that the people were camped in."

"That's called Kea Lake. It has a channel that leads out of the cave-a tunnel of water. It connects to a small pond on the other side of the point, where you flagged me down."

"Do you mean we could have swum out of the cave?" Mick asked, somewhat surprised.

"It is possible," Theo said. "But it is very tricky if you do not know the cave."

"You seem to know Dragonisi well," Nancy told Theo.

He shrugged. "I have maps, but the caves are dangerous. I'm glad you weren't hurt."

"Lucky for us you were in the area," said Mick. "We saw your boat on the other side of the island before lunch. How was the fishing?"

Theo glanced away. "Not so good. No fish today."

Nancy looked over at the empty fishing net and wondered what Theo had been doing all day. "Maybe you saw the people we had the run-in with," she said. "I think they were out swimming before they returned to the cave." She went on to describe the man and woman.

Theo frowned and suddenly became preoccupied with navigating his boat. He definitely seemed uncomfortable with her questions. In fact, she was sure he was hiding something. "I didn't see them," he said, concentrating on the open sea.

Changing the subject, he said, "It will be almost an hour until we reach Chora. In the meantime, I will try to radio Nikos so he does not search for you. Why don't you relax?" he said, nodding toward the seats on the aft deck.

With a sigh, Mick sank onto an orange cushion. "I'm glad that's over."

"We'll have to report it to the police on Mykonos," Nancy reminded him as she sat down next to him. In the frenzy of their confrontation in the cave, she hadn't had time to tell him about the pa.s.sport photos she found there.

"Wow!" Mick exclaimed once she told him. His green eyes flickered with interest. "Along with the explosives, it all adds up to something illegal-and deadly."

"Do you think those people in the cave are connected to the three pa.s.sports?"

Mick shrugged. "How do you figure that?"

"I don't know," Nancy said, hugging a cushion to her chest. "But I thought of it when I saw those photos in the cave."

As she spoke, Nancy looked down at the cushion in her arms. Something about it struck a familiar chord in her mind. The square cushion was covered with smooth orange canvas cloth. She turned it over and found that a star and a few Greek letters had been marked on the cushion with a black felt-tip pen. The Greek word ended with the letters aooa aooa.

Nancy's eyes widened in surprise. The same cushions had been sitting near the sleeping bags in the cave with the explosives!

Chapter Nine.

"WHAT'S WRONG?" Mick asked.

Nancy glanced ahead to make sure that Theo couldn't hear them. Then she showed Mick the marking on the cushion. "I saw the same cushions in that cave."

"Are you sure?" Mick questioned. "We don't know the Greek alphabet. Maybe some of the letters just look the same."

"I'm positive," she said emphatically. "It was a star, followed, by these symbols." A quick search of the other cushions on the aft deck revealed that they were all marked the same way.

Mick's eyes darkened, and he said, "Now that I think of it, what was Theo doing on that deserted part of Dragonisi-after he refused to take us there? He could have been on his way to see the people in the cave!"

Nancy tensed. "And remember that woman we saw him talking to, next to the snorkelers? She had red hair..."

"Just like the woman in the cave," Mick finished. "I think it's time Theo gave us some solid answers," he added, suddenly on his feet.

Nancy grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "If he is is involved with those people, we can't afford to confront him while we're out on the open sea." involved with those people, we can't afford to confront him while we're out on the open sea."

"Good point." Mick took her hand and settled in for the ride.

Nearly an hour later, as they arrived in Mykonos's harbor, Nancy held up one of the cushions and said to Theo, "These are nice. But what do those letters say?"

"Those are the markings of the Sea Star Sea Star," Theo replied. He threw a line around a wooden stanchion in the marina, then turned to Nancy and traced the handwritten symbols on the cushion. "The name is also marked on the hull of my boat."

"Do any of the other boats have the same cushions?" Nancy asked him.

"Oh, sure. But not with these markings-at least, they shouldn't," Theo said sternly. "I noticed that some of my cushions disappeared a few days ago." He lowered his voice. "But I think some of the older fishermen here at the marina are playing a joke on me."

Mick and Nancy exchanged a look that said they both doubted the story. Mick started to say something, but Nancy shook her head, stopping him.

It wouldn't be wise to press Theo. There were too many questions-about the cushions, about the redheaded woman, about Theo's presence at Dragonisi, and about the deadly explosives. She needed to investigate on her own before she let Theo know how much she suspected.

The hot sun and excitement had taken its toll on Nancy's energy, but she wanted to report the incident on Dragonisi right away. Fortunately, there was a police station located on Mykonos's harbor between a cafe and a souvenir shop. Inside, Nancy and Mick waited on a bench in a dusty gray room while the desk officer located someone who spoke English.

Finally Officer Rossolatos appeared, with a younger police officer who had short black hair. Nancy and Mick reported the incident on Dragonisi without too much trouble. The only problem was, every time they said something, Officer Rossolatos translated it, and a barrage of conversation-all in Greek-followed. Nancy was dying to know what the men were saying.

She kept hearing one word crop up. It sounded like "diafevgo." But when she asked what they were discussing, Officer Rossolatos brushed her questions aside.

"We will send a boat to Dragonisi to look for these people, but please, stay away from that place," he warned Nancy and Mick. "These people... they may be very dangerous."

"I'm a world traveler once again!" Bess said, waving her new pa.s.sport in the air as she pulled out a chair and sat down at the table.

George and Kevin sat down next to her. "Now at least you don't have to worry if anyone asks for ID when we go to Naxos tomorrow."

"Great," said Nancy. She, Mick, and Zoe were already sipping iced fruit drinks at Kounela, a waterside taverna in Chora. They had left a message at the hotel telling Bess, George, and Kevin where to meet them for dinner.

As soon as everyone settled in, the group agreed to let Zoe order up some traditional Greek dishes that they could all share. Then Nancy got a full report on her friends' trip to Athens.

"The pa.s.sport stuff took a couple of hours," Bess said, taking a sliced orange from the rim of her gla.s.s. "Then we got to watch Kevin interview Angelique Seferis! She's just as beautiful as she looks on TV-and nice, too."

"I'm glad you girls could come along," said Kevin. "It made the interview a lot more like fun."

George smiled at him, but Nancy could see that she wasn't as ecstatic as Bess. "Watching you in front of the camera reminded me how hard you work," George told Kevin. "And you're off to Spain on another a.s.signment in a few days."

Kevin placed his hand over George's and gave it a squeeze. Nancy felt a little sorry for George. It had to be frustrating to be in love with someone who was always on the road.

"Everyone set for Naxos tomorrow?" Bess asked, putting aside her menu.

The group gave a chorus of approval. "The hydrofoil is the fastest way to go," Zoe said. "It will give us more time to explore the island."

Just then a procession of waiters appeared, each bearing a platter of food that made Nancy's mouth water. Zoe explained all the dishes, from cubes of roasted lamb, called souvlakia souvlakia, to spicy meatb.a.l.l.s called ghiuvarlakia ghiuvarlakia. There were also platters of dried octopus, fish steeped in olive oil, and grape leaves stuffed with spiced meat.

The platters were being pa.s.sed around the table when Bess inquired, "How was Dragonisi?"

"Poor Nancy and Mick had a terrible time!" Zoe said, stabbing a grape leaf with her fork.

"What happened, Nan?" George asked, a concerned look in her brown eyes.

Nancy and Mick took turns telling the others about their day. First, Nancy recounted the story of their close call in the cave and of finding the explosives and pa.s.sport photos. "Hardly standard camping gear," she remarked dryly.

"It's an odd coincidence," Kevin said. "But how could they be connected to the pa.s.sports that were stolen from the hotel?"

Nancy let out her breath in a long sigh. "I'm not sure," she admitted, "but these people are definitely trouble. Maybe they need pa.s.sports to get out of Greece. They might have found out about Dimitri's studio and asked him to insert their photographs on the stolen pa.s.sports."

"But three pa.s.sports were stolen," Zoe pointed out, "and there were only two people in the cave."

Mick snapped his fingers. "But there were three knapsacks! One guy could've been out running an errand or swimming or something."

"That's possible," Nancy agreed. "Someone went through the hotel safe and carefully selected the ID of two American men and one American female-that could match the group hiding in the cave. And Officer Rossolatos told us that American pa.s.sports are highly valued in the underworld."

"Wait a minute," Bess said, swallowing hard. "Are you saying that the woman from the cave is going to escape the police by using my my pa.s.sport?" pa.s.sport?"

"Possibly," Nancy said. "But she and the others need to have the photo page altered first. That's why. I think there has to be a talented forger at work somewhere on these islands."

As Nancy described their trip to the police station, she remembered the word that the Greek police had kept using. "Diafevgo," "Diafevgo," she said, turning to Zoe. "I hope I'm saying it right. Can you tell me what it means?" she said, turning to Zoe. "I hope I'm saying it right. Can you tell me what it means?"

"It's the Greek word for 'flee' or 'escape,'" Zoe said thoughtfully. "Maybe they were relieved that you and Mick escaped from those people."

Still not satisfied, Nancy said, "That might be it-but it seemed like something was going on. I wonder if the police have had dealings with those people with the explosives before."

"Too bad Zoe wasn't at the police station to translate," Mick remarked.

"Or in the cave," Nancy added. "The man in the cave kept saying something... shara shara. What does that mean?" she asked Zoe.

Zoe shook her head. "It's not a Greek word."

The table was silent for a moment as everyone considered Nancy and Mick's close call. Then George said, "Nan, don't tell me you're going back to Dragonisi to look for that couple."

Nancy shook her head. "No way-not with those explosives lying around. I thought it would be wiser to wait for the police to check out that cave. Unfortunately, they didn't find anything."

"Nothing?" Bess asked incredulously.

"Hardly a trace," Zoe put in. "I called the police just before we left the hotel. They found the cave Nancy and Mick described, but the only thing left behind was the remnants of their campfire. They must have moved-and fast."

"Not a good sign," Nancy said, wincing. "They're on the run. I think we've stumbled into some serious trouble here."

"What are you going to do, Nan?" Bess asked.

"Keep an eye on Dimitri. If he's the forger, he might lead us to the others involved. There's one other person who concerns me, too." Nancy told them her suspicions about Theo.

Kevin scooped up the last bit of souvlakia souvlakia on his plate, then looked at Nancy. "Let me get this straight. You think Zoe's friend Theo is helping those people with the explosives?" on his plate, then looked at Nancy. "Let me get this straight. You think Zoe's friend Theo is helping those people with the explosives?"

"I don't know," Nancy said, "but so far, a lot of evidence points to it. Besides the cushions, I think I saw him talking with the red-haired woman who chased us from the cave. I want to check out his boat as soon as I can."

Zoe was dubious. "I've known Theo for many years. We tease him about how he'll do anything for money, but that's a joke. He would never help criminals."

"Maybe he doesn't know they're criminals," Mick pointed out.

"It just doesn't sound like Theo," Zoe insisted stubbornly. "I don't know what he was doing on Dragonisi, but he's never been interested in snorkeling before. I think you're wrong," she told Nancy, raising her chin.

Not wanting to argue with Zoe, Nancy let the subject drop. But if Theo wasn't a snorkeling fan, what was he doing with that group of divers?

After dinner the group walked along the waterfront to one of Chora's discos, which featured a circular dance floor and a live band.

The walls seemed to throb with the loud drumbeat of rock music as Nancy took her seat at the table. Within minutes George and Kevin were among the young people on the crowded dance floor. Two tables were taken up by a soccer team from Germany, and a few of the guys came over to talk to Zoe and Bess.

Nancy and Mick had danced through half a dozen rock songs when Nancy decided she needed a breath of fresh air. She and Mick made their way out to a small garden terrace. Zoe was already there, she saw, drinking a soda.

"Trying to escape the party animals?" Nancy teased, trying to ease the tension that had cropped up between Zoe and her over Theo.

Zoe nodded. "Just for a moment. It's such a beautiful night."

As a light breeze ruffled her hair, Nancy had to agree. The sweet scent of jasmine filled the air, and the moon cast a milky glow over the mulberry trees along the patio.

"Looks like there's a full moon tonight," Mick observed, staring up at the bright disk that lit up the island.

"A good night for sleuthing." Nancy hesitated, looking at Zoe, before adding, "I'll bet I'd be able to find my way around Theo's boat without a flashlight."