Chapter Seven
Chapter
Seven
Theo
In Theo’s ten years as an archaeologist, he’d never once taken his research to a grocery store. He’d also never considered the myth of the Minotaur was anything but that. A myth. Guess there was a first time for everything.
He still wasn’t convinced there was a hidden labyrinth on Crete or an “eye” of the Minotaur, but Dani was right.
They had only five days. Even if this olive oil excursion turned out to be a waste of time, at least they wouldn’t be squandering energy chipping away at walls underneath Knossos that certainly wouldn’t lead to any sort of relevant discovery.
He knew Knossos inside and out, having done an internship there back in graduate school and after spending six months there during a research stint once he got his doctorate, back in the days when he still went on digs.
Sure, there were likely many more discoveries to be made at Knossos.
But the Minotaur’s eye wasn’t one of them.
If only his papou were still alive. Then he could ask him about the story he’d told him before bed when he was a kid.
Theo reached up and held the gold medallion hanging from the chain around his neck. If only.
He had to admit, his interest had been piqued.
Maybe this grocery store stop, however, could be an opportunity to get Dani the hell out of there. Grocery stores meant people. People meant unpredictability. Unpredictability that he might be able to use to his advantage.
If Dani insisted on going rogue, then he could go rogue, too.
Once they explained their olive oil theory to Maurice and Louis and figured out which market the torn sales paper belonged to, they made their way through town and pulled into the store parking lot. But as Theo started unbuckling his seat belt, Maurice reached back to stop him.
“You’re staying here with me,” he said.
What? No! How was he supposed to create a diversion to help Dani escape if he was stuck in the car with Maurice?
“But…but I need to go in with her,” he said, trying to calm the panic in his voice.
“Uh-uh. I don’t want the two of you trying any more of your tricks,” Maurice said. “They’ll go in and find what you’re looking for,” he said, motioning between Dani and Louis.
“But neither of them speak Greek,” Theo protested.
“Well, that shouldn’t be a problem since they have no reason to be speaking to anyone.”
“What if they need help finding the olive oil? Or deciphering the label?”
Maurice rolled his eyes.
Theo was running out of excuses, then he looked at Dani, beautiful as always. Even though she belonged to someone else, his heart ached as he stared at her.
And that was reason enough.
“I’m sorry,” he said, taking her palm in his. She stared at their hands, furrowing her brow, and then looked at him, wondering what he was up to. “But it’s been over a year since I saw her, and I just…I don’t want her out of my sight.”
He stared into Dani’s eyes, and he saw that look. That hopeful, questioning look he’d seen so many times. The look she’d given him that night in her apartment.
It’s always been you.
“Aw, come on, Maurice,” Louis said. “They’re in love. What’s the harm if we all go?”
Dani quickly looked away and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
A light rosy color spread across her cheeks.
He’d seen that look, too. Like the night of his parents’ thirtieth-anniversary party when she caught him staring at her from across the room after his dad said, When you know, you know.
None of it mattered now that she was with someone else. But when she looked at him that way, he still heard those words.
When you know, you know.
“Fine,” Maurice said. “But if you try anything, if you breathe one word to anyone about who you are, I swear to God you will regret it. And don’t think I’m above hitting a woman.”
“Got it,” Theo said through gritted teeth.
They all got out of the SUV and headed toward the store, but Theo took Dani’s hand in his. She snapped her attention to him and tried to pull her hand away, but he only gripped harder and gave her a slight tug back.
“What are you doing?” she muttered under her breath.
“I’m supposed to be unable to bear not having you by my side, remember?”
“Well, you’re laying it on a little thick, don’t you think? I could have found the oil on my own.”
“I don’t want to be separated. Besides, we need to be convincing.”
“We need to find the oil. Come on, Casanova.”
“Casanova was Italian.”
“Okay, then who was the Greek god of love?” she asked.
“Eros. God of love and sex.”
She shot a glance at him at the word sex.
Those rosy cheeks had returned. Funny, he never pictured Dani the type to get bashful.
She’d always been a casual dater, never with any guy for more than a month or two.
They didn’t necessarily talk about those sorts of things, but they had made plenty of jokes and innuendos over the years, especially whenever Eddie was around, since he hated the thought of his sister being a woman with needs.
But Theo assumed Dani enjoyed sex, given how comfortable she was with the topic. Until now.
Fuck.
Theo shook the thoughts away. It wasn’t the time for distractions.
They entered the store, and he scanned the space for opportunities.
Exits. People who looked like they might be able to help.
Any sort of commotion that could distract Maurice and Louis.
The store wasn’t much different from what they would’ve found in the United States.
Even the layout was reminiscent of a supermarket chain back home.
They wandered through the store in a wad with Maurice and Louis following way too close for comfort, which in and of itself garnered a few curious glances.
It also didn’t help that Maurice and Louis were dressed in black as though they were on a tactical ops team while Theo and Dani wore more of Vautour’s Grecian resort wear—flowing linens in whites and blues.
They were a bizarre foursome, to say the least. They weaved down the aisles, searching for the olive oil, even though Theo already had a good idea of where it would be.
But he needed to figure out a plan. So he took his time, calculating potential moves in his head.
Finally they came to an aisle that had a display of various bottles of oil at the end, providing an entry to a wall and shelves of oils in bottles of all shapes and sizes.
“Holy shit,” Dani said staring at the assortment.
An employee walked by right at that moment and Theo grabbed his attention, but not without Maurice sidling up to Theo, giving him a silent warning.
Theo took the sales paper from Dani’s hand and showed it to the employee. “Do you know this bottle?” Theo asked the young store employee in Greek.
“No, I’m sorry,” the boy responded.
“Thanks, anyway.”
Theo ran his hands through his hair as Dani started going down the aisle, running her finger along each bottle so as not to miss it.
There had to be an easier way, though. There were at least a hundred different varieties.
In theory, he may have supported the olive oil farm idea, but really he was buying time.
Louis joined Dani in her search while Theo continued asking passersby about the sales ad, Maurice standing closely beside him.
The idea that a person would recognize a brand based solely on a symbol was a bit of a stretch.
It wasn’t like Theo could remember what was on the label of oil he had back home.
He scanned the area when his eyes fixated on another employee restocking a tower of oils, and an idea popped into his head. What would it take to knock it over? A bump? A nudge?
Slowly, Theo backed up, pretending not to see the display, when he finally backed into the stack, knocking a few bottles from the top before an all-out cascade of bottles came crashing down, breaking into a million pieces.
Bright greenish-yellow liquid spread over the floor as the bottles clattered and the employee called out, “Help, help!” trying to stop the entire display from falling.
Maurice and Louis rushed over to help, finally distracted, when Theo reached over to grab Dani’s wrist so they could get the hell out of there. But she stopped him, completely oblivious to the commotion around them, and she reached onto her tippy-toes to grab a bottle on the top shelf.
“I found it!” she called out, spinning to face Theo and holding the bottle high above her head. Her eyes went wide as she noticed the scene unfolding around them.
“Great, Juicy! Now, come on!” Theo said, taking her hand and pulling her away from the shelves. This was their chance to run.
But one step back and he skidded on the oil, his footing slipping out from under him. He went crashing to the ground, but not without taking Dani down with him. He landed on his back with a thud, then caught Dani on top of his chest in his arms.
“Oof,” he winced when she cradled the olive oil between them, pushing it right into his abdomen.
“Oh God,” she said, placing her hand on the ground alongside him to try to prop herself up, but her hand slipped out from under her, and she crashed atop him again, bracing herself on his shoulder.
He hissed in pain at the pressure. It was the same arm that Maurice had twisted behind his back a few months ago.
The shoulder he’d fallen on while climbing down a cave on an expedition a few years ago.
The one he’d injured back in college playing intramural softball.
Thankfully, it hadn’t popped out of the socket like the last time he’d injured it, but damn, it hurt.