She took the tombstone, replaced it on the shelf, and remained standing. It was not going to be a long meeting.

“The pirates aren’t striking at random,” Jake said. “These are intelligence-led operations, and something caused them to select your ships.”

“Do you think we’ll be attacked again?”

Jake nodded.

“There’s a very real possibility that someone in your organization is feeding information to the pirates.”

“I’m not naïve, but I find it difficult to believe that one of our staff would sell information, knowing that it would result in the deaths of their colleagues.”

“I’m not accusing anyone, but someone is providing that intel. We need to follow the flow of information and see where it leads us. Roughly half of the tankers that disappeared were loaded with refined products from the Indian coast, mostly Mumbai, Mangaluru, and Kochi. We looked at India as the common element, but other targets were carrying crude and had no connection to India, which is why I’m asking for your help.”

“A common destination, perhaps?”

“Some were headed for the Mediterranean, some for Africa, and some for Asia.”

“I seem to recall something similar happening a few years ago,” Athena said, suddenly intrigued. “Several tankers vanished in the western Pacific. Do you think it’s related?”

“Those ships all reappeared after a few months with new names, counterfeit manifests, and phony flags. It turns out they were smuggling oil into sanctioned countries and trying to hide their tracks.”

Athena looked out the window. “How can I help?”

“Tell me about your ships. Who would have enough advance knowledge of their routes to plan an attack?”

“How much time would they need?”

“At least a week before the tanker sailed, probably two.”

“Outside our company, only the brokers and the shipping agents would have the details that early.”

“Did the same men work the Lindos and the Rhodos?”

Athena pulled a laptop from a cabinet and her fingers flew over the keyboard—despite the enormous diamond that was weighing one of them down. She had an answer in under two minutes.

“They were different brokers,” she said as her eyes rose to meet Jake’s, “but the same agent.”

TWENTY-FOUR

ATHENA MUTTERED SOMETHING in Greek.

Jake didn’t speak a word of the language, but he could tell from the tone that she wasn’t pleased. She reached for the telephone.

“Who are you calling?” Jake said.

“The police,” she said.

“Please don’t.”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Well, to start with, you don’t have any evidence, only suspicion.”

“Then I’ll confront him and force him to admit it.”

“You can’t do that.”

“He killed my brother.”

“My point exactly. These are dangerous criminals.”

“Fine,” she said. She lifted up the phone and started dialing.

“Who are you calling now?”

“My operations room. We have another ship at sea with this agent. I’m bringing it back to port.”