“Forget the bike. What about you? You scared me to death. I can’t believe you’re not dead.”
“I’m fine,” he said, walking over to the side of the bridge, looking down the embankment. The car had landed on its roof. “I don’t think he’s doing too good.”
The man who’d given Remi the ride held up his phone. “The police are on their way. Do you want me to stay here with you?”
“No, thank you,” Remi said. “We’ll be fine.”
After he left, she looked at Sam. “I’m trying to decide if you’re insane or a genius. This is that thing you were talking about in Cambodia?”
“Let’s just say it worked a whole lot better there. Probably the dirt roads.”
Remi wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry. As the adrenaline fled her body, she found her knees giving way.
Sam helped her sit down on the side of the road. After what seemed like an eternity to Remi, they fina
lly heard a siren in the distance.
“I’m not sure if it matters to you,” Sam said, “but by the time we get done with the police, we’re likely to miss our ride back to Fourni.”
“The way I see it, that might work out for the best.”
“Why’s that?”
Shaking, she let out a deep breath. “After this? I’m going to need time to recover from the copious amount of drinking I’ll probably be doing tonight.”
“That makes two of us.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
Sam and Remi arrived in Fourni the following morning, dropping off the motorcycle at the rental shop. It was still drivable, having suffered mostly cosmetic damage. Sam—grateful he’d purchased the extra accident insurance after all—apologized once again for the damage as he and Remi left. From there, they walked over to Skavos’s café to meet up with everyone for lunch.
Dimitris, Zoe, Manos, and Denéa were waiting at a table on the patio when they arrived.
“Zoe, you’re looking better,” Sam said, pulling out a chair for Remi.
Zoe, her right arm in a cast and sling, reached up with the other, touching the lump on her forehead. It and the bruising that had settled down beneath her eye had turned from dark purple to a lighter green tinged with yellow. “And feeling better.” She held a photocopy of the sketch from her book, setting it on the table. “What did the professor say?”
“That it was probably a Gorgon,” Sam said.
Remi nodded, adding, “We found a store with a bunch of Gorgon heads that had that same angry look. I even bought one to bring home to you.”
“You did? I can’t wait to see it.”
“Unfortunately, I needed it to ward off evil. It broke in the process. But, good news. It worked.”
Sam glanced at the photocopy of Zoe’s sketch. “I think we can rule out the Gorgon sisters as the model. I don’t see any resemblance to snakes or women.”
Denéa tapped on the sheet of paper. “What about this thing sticking up from the head? Maybe that’s a snake?”
“Why only one?” Manos asked. “That’d make for a pretty sad Gorgon.”
“Maybe,” Zoe said, “it’s a mistake. Or artistic license.”
Sam considered the possibility, then dismissed it. The strokes of the appendage on the top of the head were as bold as those on the face. “I don’t think it’s an afterthought.” He studied the photocopy as he drank his coffee.
Remi, however, was distracted by a gray and white cat with topaz eyes that had meandered onto the patio. It hopped up onto a planter, balancing, its tail straight up, the tip of it twitching back and forth as it stared at them.
Sam and Remi watched the cat a moment, looked at each other, then the photo.