Gate Deadlock (14 page)

He moved his body so that he could see into my
eyes. He looked puzzled. It was obvious that he had expected a
different reaction from me.

‘Are you sure?’ he scrutinized my face, still
worried.

‘Yes. Don’t worry. I’ll do whatever it takes to
be with you, to keep us both safe.’ He kissed me softly and sighed
in relief.

It was time to get ready for school but I knew I
could not deal with classes any longer.

‘I’m quitting the summer school. Can you drive
me over there so that I tell my tutor?’

‘Are you sure about that? Don’t you want to
think it over?’

‘No, I’m sure. I just have a lot on my mind
right now.’

‘I guess you’re right.’ he agreed.

He drove me to my apartment to change first. I
made up my mind and told him I wanted to drive to the university
myself. I needed to be alone.

Christopher asked me if I wanted to go to his
place again for the night and I told him to come and pick me up
later in the afternoon.

I did not know how much time we had
left.

Looking back, I think my mind was made up that
afternoon. The plan was already set in my mind but as much as I
wanted to trust Christopher, I would not let him into it for his
own safety. If things went wrong, I would be the only one to take
the blame and he would be safe.

6.

FAILURE

Three days later, I
was sitting behind my desk, contemplating my plan, looking for
possible mistakes or deficiencies. Christopher had taken care of
the paperwork regarding my withdrawal from Project-Em and the
donation of the piece of property to Brantel. I had just signed the
papers and that was all. Christopher had also fired the
archeologist on behalf of Brantel, since the excavation had been
cancelled.

We had spent the last three days together and he
had been very supportive and sweet, making it a lot easier for me
to leave it all behind me. That last week I had deliberately
avoided Kate and I had announced to her my decision to give up on
my father’s dream, over the phone. She was surprised of course, but
she had just said,

‘If that’s what you want, then go ahead with
it.’ I knew that if I met her, she would read my eyes again and I
would not be able to hide all those absurd secrets from her.
Christopher had made it clear that even the slightest hint would
put her life at risk.

She must have been startled by the unheralded
change in my behavior, but I was sure she would justify it under
the scope of my infatuation with Christopher. The truth is that I
had really missed my friend and I knew she had missed me too. I
promised myself I would make it up to her, when all this would be
over.

On Friday morning, Christopher told me that he
had to go on a mission with Tom, unintendently making me depressed
at the thought that I would not see him from Saturday to Tuesday
morning. I knew how much he too hated to leave me alone in such a
difficult situation, but Plato needed him urgently. Saturday was
the day the works for the coverage of the area, which now
constituted Brantel’s property, would commence and Christopher knew
that I would be especially vulnerable on that day. It did not help
that I would have to be away from him as well. I assured him that I
would be okay with Suzan, trying to sound as convincing as I could.
Besides, there was another aspect to this.

As much as I hated the idea of being away from
him, I found the timing to be perfect, as it would be much easier
for me to carry out my plan if he wasn’t checking on me all the
time. Of course there was still Suzan, but I would manage to
overcome this obstacle. Still, I had to settle things until
Saturday morning, as Christopher had booked two rooms for Suzan and
me in a four star hotel on the island of Hydra, in another effort
to distract me from what was going on in Mesinia.

He had said in a worried voice, ‘I’ll be back on
Tuesday morning and I don’t want you to be alone under any
circumstances. Please go with Susan, try to have fun and don’t do
anything foolish that will put you in danger. Will you do that for
me?’

‘Just come back to me safe.’ I had just said in
response.

As soon as he had left, I drove to my
apartment before Suzan woke up. I had slipped a note under her
door
‘Something came up at school. I’ll
take care of it and I’ll meet you here as soon as possible,
Emma.’

I turned on my computer to find the letter I had
typed last Wednesday and made twenty copies, put them in envelopes,
stamped them and wrote the addresses of the recipients. I checked
my watch. It was time to call Yanni, the civil engineer I had
recommended to work for Brantel on this project. I knew he would be
in Pylos by now.

The noises of trucks and bulldozers made it hard
for him to hear me, and I had to shout.

‘It’s Emma.’

‘Hi Emma.’

‘Is everything okay?’

‘Everything is going to be as you said. Nobody
noticed the change.’

‘Remember, if anyone asks, you simply found the
plan like this; you don’t know anything about the changes.
Otherwise, you may be in serious trouble.’

‘When it comes to preservation of natural
resources, I’m pretty fanatic, you know this. I’ll be as silent as
a grave. Besides, you still owe me that drink.’

‘Deal. Call me when this is all over. Thank you
Yanni.’

‘I’m simply doing the right thing, nothing
more.’ he said.

I had played dirty this time. It had been very
easy to have Yanni make a small change to the plan. I had asked him
to put Point-X on the other side of the area, and leave a surface
of 10 square meters uncovered, right above the real Point-X. I had
to lie to him that my dad had found a well underneath, which would
be useful for the surrounding area in the future, as the locals
were facing problems of drought that had put their crops in great
danger. He had strongly agreed that there was no point in covering
a well with concrete and was more than willing to hide Point-X for
me. I had deliberately exaggerated, of course, on how Brantel did
not care about wasting such a valuable source of life for the area
of Mesinia to arouse Yannis’ nationalistic instincts.

I was not sure what exactly I had achieved by
doing that. I just hoped that I would gain some valuable time until
some of the recipients of my letters decided to check this case
anyway, looking for answers. The answers that I had been
refused.

I had written to my lawyers, the district
Attorney, the British Embassy, the Greek Ministry of Cultural
affairs, some Greek and British members of the Parliament,
journalists and TV channels. I had mentioned that some people in
corridors of power had made me and Dr Auburn quit from the project,
and had warned us to cancel the excavation, threatening our lives.
I didn’t want to include Christopher among the bad guys in this
story in any way. I did not mention anything about the League, of
course, but I insinuated that certain people in Brantel were into
this. I hoped that, if a
scandal broke out, the League
would withdraw and try to cover up the case without touching
us.

I realized I was risking my life, I just hoped I
was not risking his. I also wrote a note to Plato, which would be
useful in case something happened to me. I had decided to leave it
in Suzan’s car on our way back from the port. I wrote:

To Plato

Everything I’ve done, I’ve done
it on my own.

Christopher could not stop me
as he was

away. Please do whatever you
can to keep

him safe.

Emma

On my way to Suzan’s, I stopped to drop the
letters in the letterbox outside the post office. They would
probably be posted on Monday morning.

I would have had a great time with Suzan in
Hydra had the circumstances been different. The hotel was luxurious
and we made the most of its facilities, especially the spa that was
Suzan’s favorite pastime.

She had even persuaded me to go shopping with
her in the hotel boutique, where I had no choice but let her chose
a couple of tiny dresses for me.

The weekend was dragging. Those were the longest
two days in my life. I had missed Christopher so much it hurt. Most
of the time, I was unable to concentrate on what Suzan was telling
me, my mind slipping from Christopher to my great plan and back to
Christopher again. I wondered how mad he would be at me when he
found out what I had done. What was the following week going to be
like? Would we be free from the League at last?

We came back on Monday afternoon. It would be
just a few hours before I saw Christopher again. I clung to this
thought to chase out the preapprehension that was slowly poisoning
my mind. Suzan left me at my place and I saw Tony’s rented car
parked outside. He had probably stayed with Kate while I was away,
which made me feel better but still remorseful for being estranged
from her. I found them at the porch.

‘Hey traveler. Did you have a good time?’ Kate
asked casually.

‘Yes. It was really great.’ I said, not so
convincingly. ‘Did anyone ask for me?’

‘No.’ she shrugged. ‘Did you expect anyone to?’
she gazed at me, a hint of worry in her expression.

‘Not really.’ I said, avoiding her inquisitive
look. The only way to make it through was to hide in my room.

I looked around but my room
was as I had left it. I
n fact,
didn’t know what I had been expecting to see.

I took a shower and changed.
I checked my e-mails but there was nothing
unusual
there either. I thought of
going to Christopher’s house and wait for him to come back to me,
but his house suddenly seemed so empty without him. I was certain I
would be awfully lonely there. His absence would be unbearable,
almost tangible.
For
I could
n
ot imagine his big house, the porch, and the bedroom
without the brightness of his presence illuminating it. It just
wouldn’t be the same.

With growing impatience in my heart, I decided
to go to the university library to return some books I had borrowed
when I was still a student in summer school.

I drove my car to the main building and parked
outside. I took the lift to the second floor. Angela, the
librarian, greeted me and I gave her the books. In the library it
was very cool and quiet, and I thought I might find something
interesting to read. I looked at the History department for books
on Pylos and I found one written by a Greek historian under the
title ‘Pylos in Ancient Greek literature.’

I read the first chapter, which included
references on the origin of the place name, which verified
Christopher’s theory.

I was so absorbed into
it
,
that when I looked
around
,
I realized the
library was almost empty.
I looked at my watch. It was
9.30. Angela had closed the doors and was working on her
computer
,
but had the
courtesy to let me and another girl stay in and finish our reading.
(One thing I have always liked about Greeks is their eagerness to
skip formalities, which has always made my life here easier.) But I
did
not want to take more advantage of Angela’s
kindness. I thought it was time to go home, as it was already
getting dark outside. I thanked her and left the
library.

I wondered if my tutor, Dr De Marco would be in
his office, as he used to work late when he had a class the next
day. It might be a good idea to pay him a visit.

I took the lift to the third floor. I was
thinking again it might be a good idea to sleep at Christopher’s
place and wait for him to show
up in the
morning
,
when the lift door
opened.

I only caught a glimpse of a
hand grabbing my arm and pulling me violently to the side, behind
the lift wall. Another hand was covering my mouth and I could
not
breathe.
I
was terrified, unable to understand what was going on. He
held me on his body, my back against his chest.

‘Don’t make a sound Emma.’ he whispered in my
ear.

My heart leapt. Christopher? He had obviously
come back earlier, but why was he acting this way? His body felt
stiff against mine and I thought he was not breathing.

Then I saw them. On my left, in the mirror of
the glass doors, I saw the reflection of two men who had just run
up the stairs. They were dressed in black suits, which were very
unsuitable for this time of year. Their faces were cold,
expressionless. They stopped at the landing and looked around. I
didn’t have to ask who they were. I knew immediately it was the
Squad.

I was frozen with fear. The lift door was still
open. One of them, the one with darker hair and bulkier figure,
made a slight move towards it. For one moment, I thought they were
going to come towards us, but then someone called the lift and the
door closed. He nodded to his partner pointing upwards and they
walked up the stairs to the fourth floor, possibly meaning to check
Christopher and Harry’s office right above us.

When it was safe to move, Christopher pulled me
towards the fire escape. We flew down the narrow, metal staircase
so fast I thought it only took us a few seconds. I wondered whether
the two men might be able to see us through the windows.
Christopher’s car was parked right at the end of the fire
escape.

‘Get in!’ he said to me sharply. I sat next to
him trying to hide my shaking hands. Something was wrong, very
wrong. I wished I had posted the letters earlier so that they would
have reached their destination by now and the Squad would not dare
touch us.