Assassins of Athens

Demon decided to see Anna. He had nothing else to do.

He knocked on her door. No answer. He took out the key she didn't know he had and opened the door. He called out her name but there was no answer. He walked around. The place was empty. Then he noticed the drawers were open. Everything was gone. The bitch had run out on him. Andreas woke up when the sunlight hit his eyes. He still was holding Lila's hand. He looked at his phone. No messages. Angelo and Christina should be in Mykonos by now. He figured the Old Man would be taking a flight leaving Athens around seven at night. But he might take his own plane, or a helicopter. No matter, they'd be ready for him at the Cultural Center.

He called Kouros. 'Hi, how's Demosthenes doing?'

'I'm hoping miserable and horny. He made a late-night visit to Anna's place, but she and the kid were gone, packed up and left. He was pissed. Started throwing furniture around from the sound of things.'

'Where is she?'

'Caught a train at Larisis station, headed north to Thesaloniki.'

'A new start in another city?'

'Hope so, for her sake. We have someone on the train. Just in case.'

'And Demosthenes?'

'Back in his apartment. I'm staying on him.'

'I've got two watching the Old Man. He's still home.'

'Guess things won't get moving until this afternoon.'

'But when they do-'

'I know. We'll be ready, don't worry.'

Andreas did worry. He wanted to be on Mykonos, but couldn't risk it. His presence would be noticed, and if it got back to the Old Man that the cop in charge of the Kostopoulos murder investigation was on Mykonos on the day of their meeting, it was certain to spook him away. At least Tassos was there. Andreas hoped that was a good thing. At three sharp, Demon was at the Kolonaki Club. Five minutes later, the Old Man and he were in the back of a Mercedes 600 limousine heading toward the airport. The Old Man seemed remarkably calm. Neither spoke.

'He missed the turn.'

The Old Man gestured no. 'He didn't.'

'Sure, he did, the airport is to the right.'

'We're not going to the airport. We're catching the Hi Speed at Rafina.'

'The ferry? Why are we taking a boat?'

The Old Man smiled. 'You'll see.'

Twenty-five minutes later they pulled onto the pier. A man dressed in black fatigues gestured them toward a line of four black Porsche Cayennes. Two pulled onto the boat ahead of the limousine, two behind.

'I thought some prudence was in order. Considering what happened in Sardinia, I wasn't about to go anywhere without equivalent assistance. Oh, yes, I spoke to Linardos about our little chat yesterday, and he checked with his newspaper sources in Italy. It wasn't police. It was mercenaries. You were right about one thing, though: Mr Kostopoulos is a very dangerous man indeed.' The Old Man picked up a newspaper and started reading as if he didn't have a care in the world.

Demon made a mental note to get copies of those tapes and envelopes into the hands of more than one friend. Of all the nuts running around threatening to kill him, this was the one most likely to do it.

It was a slightly less than three-hour trip, and passengers weren't allowed to stay with their vehicles. They had to go above unless, of course, you were part of the Old Man's party. There always were exceptions for him. Demon watched one of the dozen men in fatigues tinker with a pair of headphones. 'What's he doing?'

The Old Man looked up from his newspaper. 'Practicing.'

Demon sounded impatient. 'Practicing what?'

'He's trying to catch signals. He's a counter-surveillance specialist. That's some of his equipment. He can pick up a gnat recording a hum a mile away.' He smiled. 'After your little recording session at the club, you didn't think I was going to make that mistake again, did you? If this turns out to be a setup, I think the operative word is "duck."' 'The Old Man and Demosthenes are on their way to Mykonos, but they're in a black Mercedes limo taking the fast boat from Rafina and traveling with a dozen military types in black fatigues. The limo's surrounded by four black Cayennes. Looks like a goddamned military convoy.'

Andreas hadn't left the hospital. Kouros updated him every half hour. 'I was afraid of something like that. But it's not unexpected. I'll let Tassos know. Anything else?'

'I'm on the boat with them. I tried walking by the limo on the way to the upper deck, but the Cayenne-guys started checking me out, so I didn't push it. I'll try again later. But it won't be easy. I've no excuse for being down there. The boat was full, and they wouldn't take my car. I had to flash my badge to get on as a passenger.'

'Don't worry, I'll have someone meet you when you get in.'

'It's due in at six forty-five p.m., at the new harbor in Tourlos.'

'Okay. Let me know if anything changes.'

Andreas hung up. He hadn't bothered to leave Lila's room. It didn't seem to matter how loud he talked or what he said. He wondered if she'd ever hear him again.

He called Tassos. 'The Old Man is on his way by boat from Rafina.'

'Boat?'

'Yes, the Hi Speed. It gets into Tourlos at six forty-five p.m. Looks like he's trying to surprise you by showing up early.'

'Don't worry. We'll be ready for him.'

'It's ready for them. He's traveling with Demosthenes and a dozen guys like Kostopoulos' major. Two Cayennes in front and two in back of the Old Man's limo.'

'What kind of limo?'

'Is that important?'

'Could be.' 'It's a Mercedes 600.'

'Thanks.'

Andreas paused. 'You know, if he's hiring first-rate professional talent, my guess is they'll sweep the place for bugs.'

Tassos didn't sound concerned. 'We're ready for that.'

'How?'

'We just are. Like I said, it's set up to run through the Center's system. It's undetectable. Gotta run — have to get ready for our guests. Bye.'

Andreas hoped Tassos knew what he was doing. But if anything went wrong, it was Tassos' people who would take the heat. That reminded him: he'd better have someone pick up Kouros at the harbor, and tell his own surveillance guys to be careful. This was no time to take unnecessary chances. He didn't want anyone else getting hurt. At least not any of the good guys. Mykonos' new harbor lay like a chubby-bottom north-to-south 'H' about one mile north of the island's historic old harbor. The western leg of the 'H' sat out to sea, connected to the onshore leg by a hardly noticeable bridge. The distance between the two legs was well less than one hundred yards at the south and no more than forty yards at the north. Cruise ships docked at the seaward northern end of the western leg. The Hi Speed and other large ferries docked and unloaded from the stern at its southern seaward end. The areas between the legs were for smaller craft.

A part of the onshore leg ran alongside and from three to nine feet below the main road into town. It was approximately a quarter-mile long and seemed forever under construction. People were used to it. A giant's sandbox, complete with all the old-time trucks, cranes, bulldozers, and other sorts of tank-tread earthmoving equipment every giant's little boy would love to play with. It even had a set of blocks: car-size concrete ones, lined up along the seaside and used to keep pressure on footings that some day would support the 'soon to be completed' marina.

The loudspeaker blared, 'We are arriving at Mykonos. Drivers please return to your vehicles.'

Demon was sleeping, the Old Man dozing. The Old Man leaned over from the passenger's side of the back seat and said to the driver, 'Did you tell them where we're going?'

'Yes, sir.'

'And how to get there?'