The two men reached the target, and Gikas bent down to show Bourdon how far the spear’s point had stuck into the hay bale. “Imagine what it would do to a human,” he said nonchalantly.
“One of those to the chest or stomach would mean almost certain death.”
“Essentially.” Gikas stood up straight again and put his hands on his hips. He gazed out across the field, surveying his property. His eyes passed over Thanos, who stood with his back to them. He held a cell phone to his ear, busily talking to someone. Gikas reached down and yanked the javelin out of the target. He stared at the shiny object for a moment, admiring the fine craftsmanship that had gone into its creation.
“It really is an elegant weapon, don’t you think?”
“That’s a good way of putting it,” Bourdon agreed.
Gikas set the base of the shaft on the ground for a moment, holding it upright next to him. “Sometimes, it’s good to hold on to the old ways. Like with this javelin. It’s important to remember that old things can still be of service to us.”
Bourdon nodded, though he hid his confusion. He wasn’t sure where the wealthy Greek was going with his line of thought.
“Of course, sometimes we have to let old things go, especially when they have worn out their usefulness. You won’t find a rotary telephone outside of a museum. When a new television comes out, you get rid of the old and replace it with the new one.” Gikas waited for a moment. “It’s particularly crucial to get rid of things when they no longer work. If you had an old television set that stopped working, you would need to get a new one whether you wanted to or not.”
“I suppose so.”
Gikas nodded, looking in the direction of his head man. In a quick movement, he jerked up the javelin and turned his body toward Thanos. In three short steps, the shaft soared through the air. It only took a second to reach its target. The tip of the javelin sunk deep into Thanos’s back and ripped through his ribcage, protruding out of his chest. For a second, the bald man wavered. The cell phone fell from his hand onto the ground as he reached down with both hands to clasp the spear. He staggered around for a few seconds, spinning in a circle. His face was awash with confusion and anguish as he peered into his boss’s eyes one last time. Then Thanos slumped over in the grass, his body concealed from view by the tall, waving blades.
Teo said nothing, nor did he appear shocked by the sudden murder of the man who’d brought him onboard with the Gikas operation. He simply stared stoically at the spot where Thanos had collapsed.
“He served me well for many years, Teo. But even someone who has been loyal to me as long as Thanos has can wear out their usefulness. Just like the television that doesn’t work anymore, he had to be replaced.” Gikas turned back to the mercenary. “You’re in charge now, Teo. I do not want you to live in fear that any failure will result in your death. Failing is how we learn, it’s how we grow and adapt to the things that life throws at us.”
Bourdon lowered his eyebrows. “This isn’t about losing Wyatt and any connection to the map?”
Gikas waved a finger in the air. “Oh, it most certainly is about that. Failure can be acceptable. But when the failure is so huge that it is difficult to repair, that becomes a different issue completely.”
“I see.”
“So, do not fail me the way Thanos did, and you will be fine.” He put his hand on Teo’s shoulder.
“Understood, sir. Failure is never an option for me. Especially big failures.” Teo’s face hardened with determination. “What would you have me do first?”
“Have the men toss Thanos into the sea. After that, get something to eat. I understand I brought the two of you out here before you had a chance to get breakfast.” The stark contrast between the cold murderer and the caring, sympathetic man speaking at the moment wasn’t lost on Teo. He kept his observations to himself, however. “When you’ve finished eating, come to my study. We will need to find a way to learn of Sean Wyatt’s whereabouts and track him down before it is too late.”
Teo’s mind ran with questions. He asked the first one that came to mind. “What would Wyatt want with the device you seek?”
Gikas threw his hands up in the air. “I’m not sure. He’s a treasure hunter. For several years he worked for the International Archaeological Agency, which is really just a front for pilfering the treasures of the ancient world.”
“I’d think you would admire that part,” Bourdon tested his boss’s demeanor.
For a second, Gikas thought about the comment, and then let out a thunderous laugh. “You’re right. I do admire them for that!” His voice continued to boom across the meadow for half a minute. When he finally let the moment pass, Gikas continued speaking. “I have to assume that he is trying to find the Eye of Zeus because he believes if he finds it he will find his woman, the Spaniard.”
“Ah,” Bourdon gave a nod. “That makes sense.”
“But Wyatt is not one with whom you should meddle. He is quite dangerous.” Gikas held up a warning finger.
Bourdon crossed his arms, contemplating what his employer had said. “I know about Wyatt. In his previous life he worked for a United States government agency called Axis. I read his dossier after being brought on the job by Thanos. His exploits are fairly remarkable, but I am confident he is more lucky than anything else.”
“Oh?”
“Wyatt finds himself in sticky situations quite often. I personally observed his escape from the train station. In any other spot, we would have had the drop on him and killed him before he could do anything. Unfortunately, we were in a train station. Next time, he won’t be so lucky.”
Gikas nodded. “Good. I like your optimism. See to it that he is not.”
“As to our meeting and determining what we should do next, sir, I have a man in Rome that can be at Wyatt’s hotel room within the next thirty minutes. Wyatt and his companion left most of their belongings in that room. At some point they will have to return to get them.”
“They will be wary of watchful eyes, Teo,” Gikas said, doubtful.
“Certainly they will. But my man will remain unseen, and he is an expert at surveillance. Wherever Wyatt goes, we will know.”
“Excellent,” Gikas said patting the younger man on the back again. “I already can see I have made a good choice with you.”
Chapter 37
Paulino pressed the end button on his cell phone. His highest-paying client had just called him from somewhere on the Greek island of Corfu. Teo hadn’t needed to tell him where he was. Paulino knew within twenty seconds of receiving the call. The homemade tracing software had been downloaded onto his mobile device so he could use it from anywhere in the world that had a cell or Wi-Fi signal. At some point, he planned to link the phone to a network of satellites, thus creating a more powerful platform to find anyone who called him, from anywhere, regardless of signal strength. He sat back in his black mesh desk chair and put his hands behind his neck, stretching out his muscles. He needed a break after staring at his four computer screens for the last nine hours. His machines had been running hard all day, downloading information at an incredible rate and maxing out the bandwidth normally available to an entire city block. A wry grin snuck onto his stubbled, muscular face as Paulino considered all the angry people in his building, frustrated by the fact that they couldn’t get on their beloved social media networks.
It had been a simple enough trick to build the bypass into the system and redirect the bandwidth directly to his apartment. He’d cleverly made the setup impossible to track, sending a fake signal through the fiber optic network all over the city. At the moment, the decoy signals were telling the local Internet providers that someone in the Vatican was using up the bandwidth. It was one of his prouder ruses. Paulino doubted the Internet company would even make the phone call to question as to why it was happening. Eventually they would, but by then he’d have already set up another decoy.