"I don't judge people by their clothes," Catherine said firmly. "I'll make a reservation."
She took Atanas to lunch at Lyons Corner House. He sat across from her, awed by his surroundings. "I - I've never been in a place like this. It is so beautiful."
Catherine was touched. "I want you to order anything you want."
He studied the menu and shook his head. "Everything is too expensive."
Catherine smiled. "Don't worry about it. You and I are working for a very wealthy man. I'm sure he would want us to have a good lunch." She did not tell him that she was paying for it.
Atanas ordered a shrimp cocktail and a salad, a roast chicken with fried potatoes, and he finished off his lunch with chocolate cake with ice cream.
Catherine watched him eat in amazement. He had such a small frame. "Where do you put it all?"
Atanas said shyly, "I never gain weight."
"Do you like London, Atanas?"
He nodded. "What I've seen of it, I like very much."
"You worked as an office boy in Athens?"
He nodded. "For Mr. Demiris." There was a note of bitterness in his voice.
"Didn't you enjoy it?"
"Forgive me - it is not my place to say it, but I do not think Mr. Demiris is a nice man. I...I do not like him." The young boy glanced around quickly as though he might have been overheard. "He - never mind."
Catherine thought it best not to pursue it further. "What made you decide to come to London, Atanas?"
Atanas said something so softly that Catherine could not hear him.
"I beg your pardon?"
"I want to be a doctor."
She looked at him, curious. "A doctor?"
"Yes, ma'am. I know it sounds foolish." He hesitated, then went on. "My family comes from Macedonia and all my life I have heard stories about the Turks coming into our village and killing and torturing our people. There were no doctors to help the wounded. Now, the village is gone and my family was wiped out. But there are still many wounded people in the world. I want to help them." He lowered his eyes, embarrassed. "You must think I'm crazy."
"No," Catherine said quietly. "I think that's wonderful. So you came to London to study medicine?"
"Yes, ma'am. I'm going to work days and go to school nights. I'm going to become a doctor."
There was a ring of determination in his voice. Catherine nodded. "I believe you will. You and I are going to talk more about it. I have a friend who might be able to help you. And I know a wonderful restaurant where we can have lunch next week."
At midnight, a bomb exploded in Spyros Lambrou's villa. The blast tore out the front of the house and killed two servants. Spyros Lambrou's bedroom was destroyed, and the only reason he survived was because at the last moment he and his wife had changed their plans and decided to attend a dinner party given by the mayor of Athens.
The following morning, a note was sent to his office reading, "Death to capitalists." It was signed: "The Hellenic Revolutionary Party."
"Why would they do a thing like this to you?" asked a horrified Melina.
"They didn't," Spyros said bluntly. "It was Costa."
"You - you have no proof of that."
"I don't need any proof. Don't you understand yet what you are married to?"
"I - I don't know what to think."
"Melina, as long as that man is alive, we are both in danger. He will stop at nothing."
"Can't you go to the police?"
"You said it yourself. I have no proof. They would laugh at me." He took her hands in his. "I want you to get out of there. Please. Go as far away as you can."
She stood there for a long time. When she finally spoke, it was as though she had reached a decision of great importance. "All right, Spyros. I will do what I must."
He hugged her. "Good. And don't worry. We'll find some way to stop him."
Melina sat in her bedroom alone during the long afternoon, her mind trying to take in what was happening. So, her husband had really meant his threat to destroy her and her brother. She could not let him go through with it. And if their lives were in danger, so was the life of Catherine Douglas. She's going to work for Costa in London. I will warn her, Melina thought. But I must do more than that. I must destroy Costa. I must stop him from harming anyone else. But how? And then, the answer came to her. Of course! she thought. It's the only way. Why didn't I think of it before?
Chapter Twenty-two
Confidential File Transcript of Session with Catherine Douglas
C: I'm sorry I'm late, Alan. There was a last-minute meeting at the office.
A: No problem. The delegation from Athens is still in London?
C: Yes. They - they're planning to leave at the end of next week.
A: You sound relieved. Have they been difficult?
C: Not difficult exactly, I just have a...a strange feeling about them.
A: Strange?
C: It's hard to explain. I know it sounds silly, but...there's something odd about all of them.
A: Have they done anything to...?
C: No. They just make me uneasy. Last night, I had that nightmare again.
A: The dream that someone was trying to drown you?
C: Yes. I haven't had that dream in a while. And this time it was different.
A: In what way?
C: It was more...real. And it didn't end where it had ended before.
A: You went past the point where someone was trying to drown you?
C: Yes. They were trying to drown me and then suddenly I was in a safe place.
A: The convent?
C: I'm not sure. It could have been. It was a garden. And a man came to see me. I think I dreamed something like that before, but this time I could see his face.