The mustached lieutenant frowned. “A helicopter has been making a sweep of the mountains. Some of the officers are out searching the area for him, but so far there’s been no word.”
“How long has he been missing?”
“Almost three hours. All the quarry employees have been accounted for. None could shed any light and were told to keep this quiet. We’re about finished getting statements from the students and teachers. Then they’re free to go on to their next stop in Thassos.”
Three hours... It had taken her too long to get here. By now the dark blond boy could be hiding anywhere in these mountains. Thankfully, with the eighty-degree temperature, it wouldn’t get too cold tonight, if he wasn’t found by dark.
“Before they leave, I need to talk to the tour guide.”
“Of course.”
“Excuse me.”
She hurried over to Georgios, the short, wiry Greek who knew this business backward and forward. “This is a ghastly thing to happen. How are you holding up?”
He shook his head. “I’ve been with the company for fifteen years and never lost anyone before. After the tour had finished, the quarry manager said the group could look around. You know the routine. I told them to be back at the bus in a half hour. Darren told his teacher, Mrs. Shapiro, that he needed to visit the restroom before heading for the bus.”
“That’s when he gave her the slip?”
“So it seems.”
“She must be as devastated as you are.”
He nodded. “We did a head count when everyone got on the bus, but he was missing. One of the students who had sat by him remembered he was wearing his backpack while they toured the quarry.”
“In this heat you wouldn’t want to be hampered by a backpack without good reason. It sounds like he might have had a plan before he ever arrived here,” she theorized.
“That’s what the police think too. I’m inclined to agree with them. The group knows to leave their belongings on the bus during an excursion, but it wasn’t a hard, fast rule. After this experience, I’m going to insist on it. That is, if I don’t get fired.”
Andrea shook her head. “Sakis knows this isn’t anyone’s fault but Darren’s,” she assured him. But she knew how the public would react. Anyone and everyone would be blamed. “According to the file, he isn’t on any medications, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility of his taking recreational drugs. What’s he been like?”
“Throughout the tour, his behavior didn’t stand out one way or the other. His teacher says he’s an honor student, somewhat on the quiet side.” He scratched his head. “His parents have to be notified.”
“I’ll report back to Sakis and he’ll take care of it if he hasn’t already. Right now you’ve got a group of hungry, thirsty students and teachers who need attention. Go ahead and get them on board. I’ll catch up with you later and help you any way I can.”
“Thanks, Andrea.”
She turned away just as a black Mercedes sedan suddenly appeared out of nowhere and drove right up, blocking her path. A tall, dark-haired male with a powerful build alighted from the front seat with an aura of authority that couldn’t be denied. The man, maybe in his early thirties, was so ruggedly Greek and gorgeous, her mind went blank for a minute.
Before she averted her eyes to keep from staring at him, her gaze took in the lime polo shirt and light khaki gabardine pants. His clothes only emphasized his hard-muscled body. He wore a gold watch, but no wedding band and looked as expensively turned out as the gleaming black car he drove. Andrea had no idea such a man existed. Where had he come from?
“Kyrie Konstantinos!”
The lieutenant’s exclamation, plus his show of deference, answered her question. This stranger with black hair swept back from a visible widow’s peak had to be one of the men whose family owned and ran the internationally renowned corporation.
He shook the lieutenant’s hand. “After the plant manager told me the news, I got here as soon as I could. Tell me what happened.” The two men discussed the situation and talked about keeping this incident from the press while the search was ongoing.
Between impossibly black lashes, his dark gray gaze swerved to Andrea. For a heart-stopping moment, she was subjected to a thorough, faintly accusing male scrutiny of her face and body that made her go hot and cold at the same time. To have such a visceral reaction to a man she’d never met stunned her.
He broke off talking to the lieutenant and moved toward her. Switching to English, he said, “I take it you’re the American teacher who was in charge of the runaway teen? How was it possible he disappeared on your watch?”
He’d fired the question with only a trace of accent. That didn’t surprise her given his affluent background and education. What did surprise her was the fact that he’d correctly assumed she was American. Something about her had given her away. Furthermore, it seemed he’d decided that she was the teacher in question, the one whom he’d already tried, judged and convicted as the guilty party without knowing all the facts.
Andrea expected the lieutenant to step in at this point and explain, but his attention had been diverted by one of the officers. It was up to her to clarify the situation before he made any more erroneous assumptions.
“I believe introductions are in order first,” she answered in Greek. “My name is Andrea Linford. I’m a representative of PanHellenic Tours in Thessaloniki. My boss sent me out to be of help to the tour guide, Georgios Debakis, and offer any assistance before I return to the office with my report.”
She held out her hand, which he was forced to shake. His firm grip tightened a little before he released her, but she felt the imprint of his hand travel through her whole body and stay there. There it went again. That shocking sensation from just being in his presence. To fill the disturbing silence since he hadn’t spoken yet, she said, “Which Konstantinos are you in the hierarchy? Leon, Stavros, Alexios or Charis?”
More silence ensued before he muttered, “Stavros.” She’d studied the facts of the company on the way here and remembered that Stavros was managing director of the Konstantinos Corporation. “You’ve done your homework, Kyria Linford.”
“Despinis,” she corrected him. She wasn’t married.
“My apology for misreading the situation.”
His apology had been difficult for him to verbalize, but she would cut him some slack. “You were half-right. For all my sins, I am American. But I’m not poor Mrs. Shapiro, who no doubt you assumed didn’t have the maturity to handle a group of teenage students away from their parents. If I’m wrong in that assumption, then my apology.”
His intelligent eyes flickered with some unnamed emotion. “You weren’t wrong,” he admitted in his deep voice.
“Thank you for your honesty. I think we can both agree this is an ugly situation all the way around and no one is at his or her best. My boss is beside himself. He has to make the call to the teen’s family and explain that their son is missing. Hopefully they’ll supply him with a reason why he might have run off midtour.”
“Let’s hope he’s found within the hour.”
She nodded her blond head. “We all want that. Unfortunately, his disappearance happened on your company property and will put the Konstantinos name in the spotlight, bringing you adverse publicity. As for poor Mrs. Shapiro and Georgios, they’ll be in agony until Darren’s found.”
He raked a bronzed hand through his gleaming black hair. “I asked the lieutenant to keep this quiet for as long as possible.”
“I heard you. Let’s hope one of the officers doesn’t leak it