Chapters (96)
- Cover
- Berkley titles by David Ricciardi
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- CHARACTER LIST
- PROLOGUE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- EIGHTY-FOUR
- EIGHTY-FIVE
- EIGHTY-SIX
- EIGHTY-SEVEN
- Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- What’s next onyour reading list?
IT WAS TWO and a half hours later when Athena’s regular driver dropped her off at the Varoulko Seaside restaurant in Piraeus. It was a Friday night and dozens of heads turned as she walked through the crowded bar. She was a beautiful woman, but it was more than her looks that generated all the attention. Shipping was big business in Greece, and she was the head of one of the largest lines in the country.
The front of the restaurant was well-lit and open to a scenic harbor where nearly a hundred pleasure craft were docked—but the agent was in a darkened booth in the back. He popped the cork on a bottle of Cristal as soon as he caught Athena’s eye.
—
THANYA WAS LAUGHING out loud as they walked down the sidewalk. She was wearing a short skirt and a wide hat and had her arm tucked inside Jake’s. He wore a fashionable pair of sunglasses and a jacket. Except for the nearly translucent latex gloves they were wearing, they looked like a couple having a night out on the town. They stopped in front of the agent’s building and Jake smiled at something Thanya had said as he held his wallet against the keycard reader that controlled after-hours access.
Earlier in the day, when Athena had walked through the same building, she’d been carrying a device in her purse that had queried every keycard within a three-foot radius and stolen its radio frequency identification data. She’d been especially diligent about passing within range of the cleaning crew and the agent, who would have the access the CIA team needed.
Thanya had taken the device from Athena and created a duplicate keycard for Jake.
The door beeped, the magnetic lock released, and they were in. There was a closed-circuit surveillance camera at the end of the lobby, positioned exactly where Athena said it would be, and Jake stared into the lens as they walked to the elevators. Invisible infrared LED lights in the frame of his sunglasses and sewn into the band of Thanya’s hat blinded the camera until they boarded the elevator. There was another camera in the elevator’s ceiling, but the two CIA officers stared at the floor for the entire ride.
—
THE SHIPPING AGENT poured the champagne into a pair of crystal flutes and handed one to Athena. He proposed a toast to her father. It was a gratuitous move, and the agent’s ceaseless attempts to bed her stoked her temper, but they each had their secrets, and Athena decided that it was worth playing along to avenge her brother’s death.
She raised her glass, then settled down and got into character.
—