Where the Ghosts Lie

Chapter Six

"We have to be careful." Nolan said, thrusting his arms into a leather jacket.

Toby slung a rifle over his shoulder. "You don't say?"

Nolan stretched a clear plastic chord up to his ear and attached the earpiece to it. His stomach knotted up for the millionth time that day. The plane ride had been horrendously long and was the perfect amount of time to think. For Nolan, that was rarely a good thing. He'd calculated everything that could go wrong on a minor scale as well as a catastrophic one. These hackers could turn out to be hostile, the location could be a complete bust...anything could happen.

The city of Kavala was still in mourning and security was high. Apparently the bombing was a terrorist act of rebellion towards the government, but Nolan wasn't so sure. If there were criminal hackers in town, it seemed like quite the coincidence that there was an attack at the same time.

He grabbed the small bag of equipment they would be using and slung it over his shoulder. The contents included a tiny drone that was remotely controlled and a viewing screen that connected to it by satellite to spy on the suspects.

He watched for a moment as Toby strapped on a belt of knives and ammo.

That's a bit...excessive.

"I'll be waiting outside." He said. "Let me know when you're finished, Rambo."

Nolan ignored the list of insults tossed at his back as he exited their shared hotel room. The Oceanis Hotel sat directly on the water. The building itself was pretty shabby, but it was well worth the view.

As soon as he opened the door, a blast of sweet air filled his lungs. Nolan recalled reading about the ancient Athenians and how they prided themselves on the clean air. It seemed like a strange thing to be proud of, especially in a place like Greece where there was so much to marvel at. But then Nolan remembered how they also used the streets as public bathrooms and guessed he would really appreciate fresh air too.

The sky was blue at the dusk hour and shimmered over the ocean. To the left, buildings surrounded the coast like orange-lit candles dancing around the water.

A cool breeze ruffled his air and brought a strange sense of calm to his tense muscles. He didn't like any of it. Even the handgun at his side seemed to burn against his skin. He'd always felt comfortable with a weapon, but he hadn't used one in ten years.

Mistakes played through his mind. He should've had some form of training before all of this, to hone his skills just in case something were to go wrong. Even Toby wasn't prepared...despite the copious amounts of artillery he'd purchased from Howard's "contact" that had turned out to be a pawn shop owner with a pet monkey named Frito. Not exactly a reliable source in Nolan's opinion, but he'd gleaned a shiny new G19 from it, so he wasn't too disappointed.

The entrance door to the hotel opened and Toby appeared.

Nolan gave him a once-over. He'd done a pretty good job of concealing all the weaponry he had on him, but the rifle underneath his jacket was a bit of a giveaway.

"You want some war paint to go with your getup?" Nolan asked. "I thought we agreed that we weren't going to use any of this unless it was absolutely necessary."

Toby's eyes narrowed. "We did. I'm just coming prepared, unlike you."

"Mmhmm. Well, I don't care as long as you know how to operate a drone. I've only worked with them a couple of times."

"James gave me rundown before we left."

They paid a taxi to drive them towards the heart of Kavala. Although the city was relatively modern, the whitewashed buildings were clustered together in a disorganized fashion. Nolan didn't mind it, though; it'd be easy to lose someone if the need were to arise.