What the Greek's Money Can't Buy(12)

                With an inward sigh of relief, Brianna reached for her laptop and fired it up.

                * * *

                Sakis’s first glimpse of the troubled tanker made his gut clench hard. He tapped the helicopter pilot on the shoulder.

                ‘Circle the vessel, would you? I want to assess the damage from the air before we land.’

                The pilot obliged. Sakis’s jaw tightened as he grasped the full impact of the damage of the tanker bearing the black and gold Pantelides colours.

                He signalled for the pilot to land and alighted the moment the chopper touched down. A group of scandal-hungry journalists stood behind the cordoned-off area. From painful experience, Moneypenny’s suggestion to bring them on-side rankled, but Sakis didn’t dismiss the fact that in this instance she was right.

                Ignoring them for now, he strode to where the crew waited, dressed in yellow, high-visibility jumpsuits.

                ‘What’s the situation?’ he asked.

                The head of the salvage crew—a thickset, middle-aged man with greying hair—stepped forward. ‘We’ve managed to get inside the tanker and assessed the damage with the investigation team—we have three breached compartments. The other compartments haven’t been affected but, the longer the vessel stays askew, the more likely we are to have another breach. We’re working as fast as we can to set up the pumps to drain the compartment and the spillage.’

                ‘How long will it take?’

                ‘Thirty-six to forty-eight hours. Once the last of the crew get here, we’ll work around the clock.’

                Sakis nodded and turned to see Brianna emerge from the hastily set-up tents on the far side of the beach. For a moment he couldn’t reconcile the woman heading towards him with his usual impeccably dressed assistant. Not that she had a hair out of place, of course. But she’d changed into cargo pants and a white T-shirt which was neatly tucked in and belted tight, emphasising her trim waist. Her shining hair made even more vivid by the fierce African sun was still caught in an immaculate knot, but on her feet she wore weathered combat boots.

                For the second time today, Sakis felt the attraction he’d ruthlessly battened down strain at the leash.

                Ignoring it, he turned his attention to the man next to him. ‘It’ll be nightfall in three hours. How many boats do you have conducting the search?’

                ‘We have four boats, including the two you provided. Your helicopter is also assisting with the search.’ The captain wiped a trickle of sweat off his face. ‘But what worries me is the possibility of pirates.’

                His gut clenched. ‘You think they’ve been kidnapped?’

                The captain nodded. ‘We can’t rule it out.’

                Brianna’s eyes widened, then she extracted her mini-tablet from her thigh pocket, her fingers flying over the keypad.

                One corner of her lower lip was caught between her teeth as she pressed buttons. A small spike of heat broke through the tight anxiety in his gut. Without giving it the tiniest room, Sakis smashed down on it. Hard.

                ‘What is it, Moneypenny?’ he asked briskly after he’d dismissed the captain.

                Her brow creased but she didn’t look up. ‘I’m sorry, I should’ve anticipated the pirates angle...’