Please note: I've never actually been to Athens and what I've written about the city has been, more or less, made up.
"Annie," he said, prodding her shoulder. "Annie, you need to wake up." She had been sleeping so peacefully, he hated to wake her up but they needed to get on the road to make it back into Athens. It wasn't a very long drive back to his flat in the city, but there were a few things he needed to take care of before picking up Annie's new passport at noon and getting her safely on a flight out of Greece in the afternoon.
Her eyes flew open and focused on his face leaning over her. "Oh," she gasped. "I thought finding you was just a dream."
He laughed and straightened up. "I don't know about a dream, but it's certainly been something."
She stretched, sat up, and slid her legs over the edge of the bed. She slid her boot over her taped ankle and groaned.
"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I think so," she answered with a smile. "Just don't ask me to jump from any fire escapes."
Eyal raised an eyebrow wondering if this was her was of telling him how she managed to sprain her ankle in the first place. "We'll, that wasn't exactly in my plans for today."
Annie smiled slyly as she looked up from zipping her boot. "Oh yeah? And what kinds of plans did you have." Her voice was breathless, expecting.
"Among other things, I thought we'd get you a new passport." His smile broadened. He could feel their easy rapport coming back. It had been a long time.
They both climbed up the ladder onto the deck taking in the bright morning sunshine. The air was cool and crisp, perfect for a fall day.
Eyal climbed over the side first; reaching his hand out to help Annie onto the dock. She smiled as she touched his hand and the electric spark that he felt warmed him through to his heart. She landed on the dock with just inches between their bodies. Eyal looked down into her shining hazel eyes. The pull to her was incredible.
Regretfully, he dropped her hand and looked away. "Time to get going. I've got a meeting in about two hours," he said checking his watch and hurrying along the dock.
"A meeting? About what? With who?" Annie asked hurrying after him.
"Curiosity killed the cat," he quipped, glancing back. "I'm meeting a cobbler I know. A man who calls himself Hermes."
"As in?"
"Yes. As in the Greek god of travelers. Don't ask. The man's a bit of Greek mythology buff and possibly a little crazy, but he's one of the best cobblers I know."
"You called him while I was sleeping?" She caught his wrist as they stepped onto the parking lot asphalt. He stopped and faced her. "Thank you."
He shrugged and gave her a half smile before continuing to his car. "It's nothing you wouldn't do for me," he said as he unlocked his silver sedan.
"What is it with you and silver cars?" She teased as she slid into the passenger seat next to him.
"What is it with you and your flashy little red car?" He asked, an eyebrow raised. "I like it. It's nondescript. Unlike a certain car you drive."
"I like that car," she said with a smile, looking off into the distance. "It was a great car, but I don't have it anymore. I sold it when I left for this assignment. Instead, I have a vintage corvette convertible waiting for me in a storage unit in DC."
"A corvette, huh? Yes. Much more nondescript. Perfect for a spy. Where on earth did you get a car like that?"
Annie looked down at her hands and replied quietly, "Auggie gave me it ages ago."
Eyal didn't say anything. He knew that the two had dated for a time but had had a sort of falling out in the year or so after. He found himself wondering, as he drove into the city, what had caused the rift between the two.
He pulled easily into his usual parking space in the Psirri area of Athens. "We're here." He smiled happily at Annie before getting out of the car.
Annie scrambled to catch up to him as he strolled to the other side of the street. "Where's here?" she asked, confused, and matching his strides.
"Epikourou and Sarri."
"Not helping," she said with a hint of irritation.
"This, Annie," he said turning into a narrow ally, "is my flat." He gestured to the windows at the forth and final story of the building they stood in front of. She laughed and a grin spread across his lips. "Come on," he said taking her hand and pulling her up the stairway just inside the door.
He had never actually brought a woman up to his flat. Sure there had been women in his life over the last few years but he always took them back to their place or somewhere else. Bringing Annie up to the loft felt a little like bringing a piece of himself home.
"Eyal, really," Annie said, out of breath, when they reached to top, "the forth floor?"
"I'm not a spy anymore, Annie." He slipped the key into the lock and and turned it. "Besides, I didn't buy this place for spy reasons..." He opened the door and let Annie into his spacious loft.
"It's incredible," she gasped as she made her way over to the picture windows lining the outside wall. "Your view is the Acropolis. Wow." She whirled around as Eyal walked over to his kitchen table and began emptying his pockets.
The coins clinked against the sides of bowl, echoing throughout the room. As he pulled his phone out of the other pocket, another item caught on his fingers and fell to the floor with a loud thunk.
"Is that?" she gasped rushing to his side as he bent to retrieve the key and chain.
"Yeah, uh..."
"Oh, Eyal. You have no idea how glad I am to see this," she said reaching for the key dangling from the chain. "I thought I was going to have to call Auggie. I know exactly where we need to go."
"We?" he questioned. "No, Annie, you need to go home. Back to Langley where they can protect you." He laid his hand on her forearm.
"Do you know what this key is?" she asked, a smile spread across her face.
"The key you got in Russia?"
"No. It's not. It just sort of looks like it. It's for a safety deposit box in Zurich that contains not only funds and a clean passport, but also the full file on the counterfeit ring. It could lead us to whoever is causing this nightmare."
"Wait," Eyal said, dropping the chain into Annie's hand. "Are you telling me you left me this key as security?" She nodded smiling. "But you never told me anything about it." He shook his head ran his hand trough his hair. "How did you know I just wouldn't get rid of it?"
"I didn't," she admitted and, holding the key tightly in her hand, Annie began pacing the length of the kitchen floor. "The reason I came back to the boat that night... It was to tell you. I never expected what happened to...happen.
I had a plan that night. I was going to give you the key, tell you that I was going on a mission, and if anything happened to me you would hear from Auggie. When I woke up that morning, I panicked. I left the key and went back to DC where I gave another copy of the key to Auggie.
There's a lawyer in DC, outside of the agency, that is supposed to deliver a message to Auggie with directions to find you and directions to where the safety deposit box is. After all this time, there's still no one I trust more than the two of you to find whoever killed me."
He wasn't sure what to tell her at that moment. The whole plan of hers sounded a bit paranoid, not to mention a little ridiculous, but then again she did end up burned and running for her life. Maybe it hadn't been such a paranoid move after all.
Annie stopped and turned to him. "We've got to get going."
"What?" He was still processing what she'd just told him.
"We've got to go. Quickly. When are we meeting with Hermes? We need to get that passport and get going to Zurich." Her eyes were wild with determination. In her apparent excitement, Annie began walking toward the door.
Eyal caught her by the elbow as she passed, stopping her. He turned her to face him putting both hands on her shoulders so he could look her directly in the eyes. "'We' aren't going anywhere. I am going to meet with Hermes and then you are going to get on a plane back to DC this afternoon so that you can get to Langley. They can protect you."
She frowned. "No. I'm coming with you," she insisted stubbornly. "And then we're going to Zurich. It's the only way..."
"For once, Annie, can't you do what I ask?" His frustration was evident. He dropped his hands and walked around the corner and into his bedroom.
He slid open one of the mirrored doors of the closet and pulled out his favorite long sleeved navy blue t-shirt. He tossed it onto his bed before tugging off the shirt he'd worn the night before and dropping it in the basket at the floor of the closet.
As he closed the door, he caught an image of Annie standing next to the screen that separated the bedroom from the living room, staring. She blushed lightly and looked away. Pulling his clean shirt on, he found himself sighing.
"Look," he said, combing a hand through his hair, "it's just better if you stay here right now. We don't know if you've been followed here to Athens. I don't want to chance someone out there catching sight of you while out on a simple errand."
He brushed past Annie into the living room and turned into the kitchen where he plucked his black wool pea coat from the hook by the door. He slipped the coat on as he turned to face her.
Annie's arms were crossed over her chest and her lips were turned down in a frown. Her irritation was so apparent that he nearly gave in. He reached for her arm, letting his fingers trail from her shoulder to her elbow.
"I just want you to be safe right now, Neshama," he said, the old pet name slipped from between his lips before he could catch himself. "I'll only be gone a couple hours at most. We can figure out what we're going to do next when I get back." He smiled and opened the door. "Why don't you take a shower or eat something? There are towels in the bathroom and food in the fridge. You'll feel better," he suggested as he walked out the door locking it behind him.
Forty-five minutes later he slipped into a seat at the small cafe across the street from the A. Antonopolou Art, where Hermes had asked to meet. In reality, the museum was just around the corner from his flat but he'd wanted to make a quick stop at a friend's shop.
With the help of an over-flirty saleswoman, he managed to purchase a soft green sweater and royal blue pea coat for Annie. The coat was maybe a bit flashy for spy on the run, but the color had reminded him of a dress she'd worn a few years earlier. It had taken his breath away.
Eyal had just received his lunch when a man, not too much older than himself, sat down in the empty chair across from him. He was a larger man with a long black beard threaded with grey and no hair on his head.
"Eyal, so nice to see you," the man said with a smile.
"It's been a long time, Hermes."
"Yes it has. I thought you didn't help spies out of the country anymore."
"Who said anything about spies? This is just a special case."
The man across the table raised his eyebrows slightly but said nothing. Instead, he slipped a slender blue book from his pocket and set it lightly at the center of the table. Eyal picked it up and leafed through the pages quickly. When he was satisfied he slipped it into the inside pocket of his coat and extracted a thick envelope, placing it where the passport had sat moments ago.
"You do excellent work, as usual," Eyal commented, taking a drink of water.
Hermes picked up the envelope on the table and slid it into his own pocket. "Yes I do. But let me give you a piece of advice, my friend. You walk a thin line helping someone who is wanted by the CIA."
"What?" Eyal asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Let me put it this way. A CIA contact of mine approached me two days ago looking for a blonde American woman in her mid-thirties that looks very much like the woman in the passport you hold to your chest. He said the CIA believes she has committed treason and is currently on the run. I told my contact that no such woman had approached me."
Eyal felt his blood run cold. "And if you're asked again?"
"For you, I will say the same."
"Remind me to buy you a drink sometime."
"I'll remind you to buy me a few," Hermes said as he stood. "Be careful, my friend. I hope she's worth it."
Eyal nodded and watched the man leave. He waited a few more minutes before standing himself, leaving his half finished lunch and some bills on the table to cover his meal. He picked up the shopping bag at his feet and made his way out to the street.
Armed with the piece of information, Eyal stood in front of the cafe, thinking. If what Hermes said was true, the CIA would have had eyes on him. So, in turn, now they would have eyes on Eyal.
He turned and began walking in the opposite direction of the flat. If he did have a tail now, he needed too loose them quickly. Keeping to streets bustling with tourists, he weaved around the masses of shoppers. He stopped occasionally, studying the reflection in a shops window.
After three stores, Eyal had his man; medium build, dark hair cropped very close to his scalp, wire-rimmed glasses, brown leather jacket, and khaki pants. Very nondescript, but he'd been across the street at every stop Eyal made.
As he began walking, his mind traced the route he would need to take to corner his tail, incapacitate him, and get back to the flat. He turned right at the next empty ally. It was lined with doorways.
Eyal chose a particularly deep one and pressed himself up against the door, dropping his bag at his feet. He waited only a couple minutes before he could hear the footfalls of his tail enter the ally. A moment before the man would have discovered him, Eyal lunged from his hiding spot and sucker punched the man scare in the jaw.
The move dazed the man enough so that Eyal could wrap his around the mans neck, effectively locking his elbow under his tail's chin. Eyal tightened his grip. Too tight for too long and he would kill the man. But for just the right amount of time would render the man unconscious.
He felt the man go limp in his hands. He waited a few more seconds before releasing his hold and catching him before he hit the ground. Eyal propped the man in the closest doorway before retrieving the bag with Annie's new clothes and moving as fast as he could back to the flat without causing suspicion.
It was fifteen minutes before he unlocked his front door. Punching a code into the number pad next to the door, he turned on the alarm for the door at the bottom of the stairs.
"Annie," he called. "Where are you?"
"Hey," she said coming around the corner from the bedroom. "You're back." A smile spread across her lips. She stood in front of him, barefoot with wet hair, wearing her jeans and one of his t-shirts. It was too much like that night on the boat.
He steeled himself and quickly moved to her placing his hands on her shoulders and looking her directly in the eye. "You don't need to tell me everything, but I do want to know how deep of shit I'm getting myself into. Annie, did you betray your country? Did you commit treason?"