Read Online The Forty Column Castle by Marjorie Thelen - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Marjorie Thelen
Ads: Link
him. Instead I said, “You operate in some pretty powerful
circles, if you could pull off a reduced jail sentence.”
“I have good connections.”
“I would have to see my aunt first. I need to know she is okay.” I hoped this crazy
scheme to play along worked.
Zach nodded. “That can be arranged.”
We turned off the rough road onto an even rockier one. Zach kept taking right turns
up the mountain. We climbed in a great circle. Cedar and cypress trees lined the road.
Gray dust sprinkled the ground cover.
My cell phone went off, and I pulled it from my hand bag and glanced at the incoming
number. Yannis. Before I could hit the talk button, Zach reached over, snatched it,
and flipped the case shut.
“You don’t need a phone.”
I was getting the distinct feeling I was a prisoner.
The road leveled off, and Zach turned into a lane that led to a clearing where a solitary
house stood. He pulled in front of the house, switched off the motor and sat looking
around, a perplexed look on his face.
“Something’s wrong,” he said. “It’s too quiet.” He looked at me. “Can I trust you
to wait here?”
“I don’t know where I would go even if I could.”
“I’m going to look around. Can you shoot a gun?”
“My Dad was a hunter. He taught me to shoot a rifle.”
He pulled his bag from the back seat, extracted a heavy, black gun and checked the
ammunition.
I was struck dumb. I thought the bag held his overnight gear, not heavy metal. He
pulled out a second smaller pistol, checked it and handed it to me. The thought crossed
my mind that now was the time to shoot him. Then where would I be? Would killing a
cop get me life or the electric chair? On Cyprus they probably gave life sentences
without possibility of parole. I’d look it up later.
“No, you aren’t going to shoot me,” he said.
The guy was uncanny.
“You need someone on your side. I just might be that person. Remember that. Now I’m
going to look around. Normally, my friends would be out in the yard on a day like
this. Maybe they went into town, but I don’t like the feeling I have.”
So he worked on intuition, too. I’d have to ask him what his intuition was for me.
He trusted me enough to hand me a gun.
He nodded toward a half open window in the front of the house. A lace curtain fluttered
in and out. “They don’t ever leave a window open like that. The wife is too fastidious.”
His eyes locked on mine.
“Don’t leave the Rover. Stay right here and cover me. And please, don’t shoot me in
the back.”
“I couldn’t do that. How would I ever find my way back to town? Besides, you know
where my aunt is.”
He smirked. The first time I saw him come close to a smile since Pafos. “Smart girl.”
He eased open the door of the Land Rover, stepped cautiously out, and headed toward
the front of the house, gradually circling to the back.
I watched from my post in the Rover and studied the yard and the house. To the left
was an open shed that held what looked like wood working tools. A saw, shovels, tools
hung in rows above a workbench. A wash line strung from the house to the shed held
three men’s work shirts, pinned upside down and blowing in the hot breeze. Beyond
the shed and house was a vegetable garden surrounded by a wire fence with a gate.
I could see plump, red tomatoes hanging from the vines. The gate was open.
I froze.
What was that on the ground in the garden beyond the open gate? I reached over and
pulled the binoculars from the side pocket of the driver’s door, sat forward in the
seat and focused on the garden gate. The first thing that came into focus was the
bottom of a pair of shoes. Women’s shoes or maybe sandals. The feet were small. I
felt beads of sweat break out on my upper lip, even though a breeze came in through
the open windows.
“Dear sweet Jesus.”
I looked around for Zach. He must have entered the house through the back
circles, if you could pull off a reduced jail sentence.”
“I have good connections.”
“I would have to see my aunt first. I need to know she is okay.” I hoped this crazy
scheme to play along worked.
Zach nodded. “That can be arranged.”
We turned off the rough road onto an even rockier one. Zach kept taking right turns
up the mountain. We climbed in a great circle. Cedar and cypress trees lined the road.
Gray dust sprinkled the ground cover.
My cell phone went off, and I pulled it from my hand bag and glanced at the incoming
number. Yannis. Before I could hit the talk button, Zach reached over, snatched it,
and flipped the case shut.
“You don’t need a phone.”
I was getting the distinct feeling I was a prisoner.
The road leveled off, and Zach turned into a lane that led to a clearing where a solitary
house stood. He pulled in front of the house, switched off the motor and sat looking
around, a perplexed look on his face.
“Something’s wrong,” he said. “It’s too quiet.” He looked at me. “Can I trust you
to wait here?”
“I don’t know where I would go even if I could.”
“I’m going to look around. Can you shoot a gun?”
“My Dad was a hunter. He taught me to shoot a rifle.”
He pulled his bag from the back seat, extracted a heavy, black gun and checked the
ammunition.
I was struck dumb. I thought the bag held his overnight gear, not heavy metal. He
pulled out a second smaller pistol, checked it and handed it to me. The thought crossed
my mind that now was the time to shoot him. Then where would I be? Would killing a
cop get me life or the electric chair? On Cyprus they probably gave life sentences
without possibility of parole. I’d look it up later.
“No, you aren’t going to shoot me,” he said.
The guy was uncanny.
“You need someone on your side. I just might be that person. Remember that. Now I’m
going to look around. Normally, my friends would be out in the yard on a day like
this. Maybe they went into town, but I don’t like the feeling I have.”
So he worked on intuition, too. I’d have to ask him what his intuition was for me.
He trusted me enough to hand me a gun.
He nodded toward a half open window in the front of the house. A lace curtain fluttered
in and out. “They don’t ever leave a window open like that. The wife is too fastidious.”
His eyes locked on mine.
“Don’t leave the Rover. Stay right here and cover me. And please, don’t shoot me in
the back.”
“I couldn’t do that. How would I ever find my way back to town? Besides, you know
where my aunt is.”
He smirked. The first time I saw him come close to a smile since Pafos. “Smart girl.”
He eased open the door of the Land Rover, stepped cautiously out, and headed toward
the front of the house, gradually circling to the back.
I watched from my post in the Rover and studied the yard and the house. To the left
was an open shed that held what looked like wood working tools. A saw, shovels, tools
hung in rows above a workbench. A wash line strung from the house to the shed held
three men’s work shirts, pinned upside down and blowing in the hot breeze. Beyond
the shed and house was a vegetable garden surrounded by a wire fence with a gate.
I could see plump, red tomatoes hanging from the vines. The gate was open.
I froze.
What was that on the ground in the garden beyond the open gate? I reached over and
pulled the binoculars from the side pocket of the driver’s door, sat forward in the
seat and focused on the garden gate. The first thing that came into focus was the
bottom of a pair of shoes. Women’s shoes or maybe sandals. The feet were small. I
felt beads of sweat break out on my upper lip, even though a breeze came in through
the open windows.
“Dear sweet Jesus.”
I looked around for Zach. He must have entered the house through the back
Similar Books
