Assassins of Athens

The Old Man shook his head. 'Terrible predicament. I wish this had been handled better. I had such high hopes for you.'

Keep your cool. 'I know, and I wish I hadn't dragged you into this. I'll never be able to forgive myself for having brought all this misery into your home.'

The Old Man pointed to his chest. 'My home? What does this have to do with me? You certainly don't think any of them would dare come after me, or my family?' He leaned forward and showed his teeth. 'And if you think you can scare me by saying you'll talk, forget it. No one will believe you.' He leaned back.

'I know, you're absolutely right. Who in Greece would take my word against yours? But then again, I'm not trying to convince Greeks. Well, at least not Greeks according to your definition. I just have to convince some mobsters that you cost them hundreds of millions of euros and one very hard-assed Greek you don't think belongs here.'

The Old Man shrugged. 'I'll take my chances. As far as Kostopoulos knows, this is something between you and hired killers in it for the money. The others, well,' he waved his hands, 'they wouldn't dare come after me on your word.'

Demon leaned back and stretched. 'You are so right.' Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out a metal object, pointed it at the Old Man, and pressed.

The Old Man sat straight up in his chair. 'What are you do-'

'Hello, Demosthenes, do you know my old friend Sarantis Linardos?' It was a tape recorder, and those were the Old Man's words. The tape continued. 'Sarantis, Demosthenes says he is in need of a considerable sum of money in order to resolve a rather messy and unexpected situation involving a family I know you're familiar with.'

The Old Man put up his hand to Demon. 'Stop.'

Demon didn't, and the Old Man's voice continued on the tape. 'Kostopoulos doesn't know about us.'

Demon pressed stop. 'But he will, and this is what he'll hear.'

'We need order and must do whatever is required to achieve it. The Kostopoulos boy's death was necessary. You know that.'

Demon smiled. 'But not just him. Copies of the tape of our entire meeting are in envelopes addressed to every political party, newspaper and television station in Greece, plus of course, CNN, BBC, and whatever international antit errorist organizations I could think of. And, if anything happens to me… yes… you guessed it, voila, they get them. Frankly, once this comes out, I don't think Kostopoulos will want to kill you. He'll be getting too much pleasure watching you and your family being destroyed.'

Demon leaned over and patted the Old Man's knee. 'If I were you, I'd start considering suicide. If you have the balls.'

The Old Man was shaking. 'You miserable piece of shit.'

Demon smiled. 'Now that we understand each other, would you like Kostopoulos' phone number?' Demon held out a piece of paper. 'Make nice and do whatever it takes to get an appointment to see him by tomorrow. Just remember-' He pressed the button again. It was Demon's voice this time. 'I'd prefer not to die, and bringing you down takes me with you. I need you too much. Almost as much as you need me.' He clicked it off.

The Old Man's face was so red and his breathing so rapid, that for a moment Demon feared he might have pushed him into a heart attack. The Old Man glared at Demon, then reached out and snatched the paper from his hand. 'Are you recording this too, or was the other day here a special occasion?'

Demon shrugged and smiled. 'You can't be that surprised, considering how many of your distinguished colleagues in government find their recorded indiscretions making it into the press these days. My personal favorite is that DVD secretly shot by the lover of our prime minister's married fat friend from the culture ministry. Poor guy didn't know what to do, so he jumped out a window. Too bad he picked a low floor. He's lived to see his DVD a big hit on the Internet. But you're smarter; you'll pick a higher floor. As you say, one can't be too careful.'

The Old Man sat quietly for a few moments, then picked up the phone on the table next to him and dialed the number on the paper. He identified himself to the man who answered and asked to speak to 'Mr Kostopoulos.'

'I'm sorry, Mr Kostopoulos is not in at the moment. May I have him call you back when he returns? It should be within the hour.'

The Old Man hesitated. Demon looked at him and mouthed, 'Yes.'

'Yes, that will be fine.' He gave him the number for the Kolonaki Club and hung up.

Demon smiled. 'Good. Now, we just wait.' He looked around the room. 'You know, I'm really starting to like this place. Why don't you propose me for membership?'

The Old Man showed no expression, just stared at the floor.

'After all, don't you think I fit in?' Probably more than either of them imagined. Tassos used the hour going over everything again with Kostopoulos. If Zanni lost his notorious temper… Tassos didn't want to think about it. He placed the call, and when the Old Man answered said, 'I am putting Mr Kostopoulos through now, sir.' He pointed to Zanni to pick up the extension.

'Hello, Zanni Kostopoulos.'

'Oh, yes, Zanni, how are you?'

'Busy.'

'I'm sure.'

Kostopoulos didn't say a word.

'I understand there have been several tragic events involving your family, and I thought perhaps we should meet to see if there is anything I can do to assist in bringing all of this unpleasantness to an end.'

Tassos cringed. If Kostopoulos didn't lose it here…

'And how do you think you can help?' Zanni was as calm as a falling snowflake — headed toward hell. He seemed in a trance to Tassos.

'Oh, I think I can be very helpful. People trust me. They know that I get things done. Resolve misunderstandings.'

'Let's put it this way. I don't have any idea what you're talking about. Except that you want to talk. If you want to meet, fine. But I'm only going to do it where I feel safe. Understand?'

The Old Man paused. 'Understood.'

'Then we meet here. On Mykonos.'

Again a pause. 'As long as I pick the place. I have similar concerns.'

Kostopoulos looked at Tassos. 'Let's agree on a place now. Otherwise we're wasting each other's time.'

'Okay. How about the new Cultural Center, past the hospital coming out of town on the way to Ano Mera?'

'The Gripario?' Kostopoulos looked at Tassos, who nodded yes. 'That works. I'll speak to the mayor and make sure we have the place to ourselves. When do you want to do it?'

Another pause. 'Tomorrow night, around eight?'

Again, Tassos nodded yes.

'Okay,' said Kostopoulos.

'See you then. Goodbye.'

Tassos let out a breath. 'Good job.'

Kostopoulos' expression hadn't changed. 'Unpleasantness. This is "unpleasantness" to him.' Kostopoulos kept repeating the word as he walked out of the room.

A minute later, Tassos called Andreas and told him it was a 'go' for tomorrow. They had a lot to do in less than twenty-four hours.

Everyone did.

26

Tassos promised Andreas to have the Cultural Center wired for sound and video by noon. He was doing it through the place's existing audio and video system. Nothing would seem out of the ordinary; no one would even know it was running. It was the perfect setup.

The first thing Andreas did after hanging up with Tassos was arrange for the immediate transport to Mykonos of his two best surveillance teams — vans, equipment and all. He was taking no chances. If something went wrong inside, they'd be there to pick it up. No way he would let some screw-up allow those bastards to get away. The Old Man told Demon to go home and get some sleep; that they'd speak in the morning. Demon told him not to even think about meeting with Kostopoulos alone. No telling what the Old Man might try to pull on him if he wasn't there to protect himself. They agreed to meet at the Kolonaki Club at three the next day and leave for Mykonos from there.