Page 49 of Footprints in the Sand
None of them could have fathomed what William was up to.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Paros Island - July 2025
It took no longer than twenty minutes to explain to Jean-Paul that Eva and Aphrodite were thinking that Kostos and Nico were dealing drugs together and Kostos had gotten involved with something especially sinister and faked his own death. “Maybe Nico helped him,” Aphrodite muttered nervously, bobbing around the marble workshop like she didn’t know where to put herself.
Eva sat at the worktable, eyeing Jean-Paul, thinking how remarkable it was that he could remain so stoic and so soft-spoken at a time like this.
Jean-Paul looked at the photograph Eva had taken on Naxos and closed his eyes tight. “That’s Kostos, all right,” he said finally. “I can’t believe it. I always knew he was a snake, but this is something else.”
Eva’s heart cracked at the edges. She remembered how strangely Jean-Paul had initially talked about Kostos when they’d first met.
She asked, “Did you know about the drug ring?”
“I knew they were into bad stuff,” Jean-Paul said. “I don’t think it’s just drugs, either. I think they steal and lie and do whatever they can to manipulate tourists. But I don’t understand why Kostos would still be in the area. If he wanted to bail on Dimitra, why wouldn’t he just divorce her?”
“It’s certainly dramatic,” Aphrodite said.
“Maybe he wanted to leave her with the insurance money?” Eva suggested. “She must have gotten something when he supposedly died. Right?”
Jean-Paul exhaled deeply. “How romantic.”
“I do think, at one time, he loved her,” Aphrodite said with a shrug. “But I also think he was too frightened to tell her what was really going on. Whatever that was.”
“It was easier to fake his own death than to face up to the truth.” Jean-Paul nodded. “Sure. That sounds like Kostos.”
“It sounds like most men,” Eva said, thinking of Finn.
At least Finn had only stolen from her. At least he hadn’t faked his own death.Ha, she thought.What a twisted web this was.
“You really think Dimitra didn’t know about the drug ring?” Eva asked, furrowing her brow. “She lived with him, slept beside him, and knew his schedule. She must have suspected something was up?”
“I see my brother almost every day,” Aphrodite said. “My mother sees him even more. I never once suspected him of being involved in something like this. With love, it’s so easy to turn the other way.”
They discussed whether or not they thought it was a good idea to go to the police. Jean-Paul was quick to dismiss the idea. “It’s possible they’re involved,” he said. “Kostos was friends with numerous island cops. Maybe they even helped him fake his own death?”
“Then we go to Naxos,” Aphrodite suggested. “It’s the last place he was spotted. Maybe we can figure out more about why he faked his death and what he’s doing now.”
“What about Nico?” Eva asked gently.
Aphrodite closed her eyes. “I don’t want to help you put my little brother away.”
“I know that,” Eva assured her.
“But I’d like to understand why this happened. I’d like to understand how far it goes,” Aphrodite said.
Eva nodded and glanced at Jean-Paul. “We’ll discuss what we do with the information when we find it. Maybe there’s a way to handle it without hurting anyone.”
Jean-Paul’s eyes were difficult to read, but Aphrodite spoke for all of them when she said, “I can’t imagine all of us won’t get hurt with something like this. At least you get to go home, Eva. This is where we’re from.”
Eva’s heart thudded. She knew Aphrodite was right. But they were already knee-deep in the metaphorical rushing water of whatever this was. They had to keep going.
The following morning at eight fifteen, Jean-Paul sailed his boat to the Aliki harbor to pick up both Eva and Aphrodite. Eva hadn’t known that Jean-Paul was a sailor as well. She’d assumed he spent every spare minute in the marble workshop. But Jean-Paul was capable on the water, gliding them between Paros and Naxos easily as Aphrodite and Eva discussed their morning strategy. Because Aphrodite had never spent much time on Naxos, she wouldn’t be immediately recognized as anyone related to Kostos. She was also the only one fluent inGreek. Jean-Paul was decent at it, whereas Eva could only pose as a tourist, because that was what she was. Mostly.
It was difficult to know how to approach it.
Aphrodite’s idea was to pretend they wanted to buy drugs.
