Assassins of Athens

Andreas put up his hand. 'No, no, I'm not going that way with this. Whatever went on there is out of my jurisdiction. Mykonos is your jurisdiction. You're in charge, and I have no interest in what happened other than curiosity. Trust me on that.'

Tassos smiled. 'There's hope for you yet, Kaldis.'

Andreas rolled his eyes. 'Thanks. So, what happened?'

'Bottom line, Kostopoulos did not have as much confidence in the recording equipment as I did. My guess, and it's only a guess, is he was willing to cooperate with your plan and remained cool on the phone with the Old Man because he had his own plans. You should have seen his face when I told him they were coming by boat. He went white as a ghost. The major and his men had been at the airport all day doing God knows what. Kostopoulos took off to find them and that was the last I saw of Zanni until he showed up at the hospital asking to see the Old Man's corpse.'

'Whew.'

'Yeah, he wanted to see all the parts they'd been able to find.' Tassos shook his head. 'As for the scene at the port, that bus blocking the road miraculously started and dis appeared right after the… what did you call it?'

'Pancake party.'

'So, I leave to your imagination whether the bus was a setup to block the only other way out of the port to the Cultural Center. And the construction site wasn't supposed to be working at that hour, so the guy running the excavator wasn't union. From Kouros' description, I think we both know who he was, but Kostopoulos insists the major was with him at the time.'

'Neat, very neat.'

Tassos nodded. 'Want to bet whether the ones who actually killed Zanni's son are still alive?' Tassos waved a finger. 'Don't take it. Bad odds on the negotiator, too.'

'What are Linardos' chances?'

'Pretty good, unless Kostopoulos is suicidal.'

'What are you saying?'

'I don't think the Old Man's cronies in this banishment bullshit missed Kostopoulos' message — delivered on a steel bucket inscribed with the head of their leader — that their potsherd days were over. But that created a problem for Zanni. He doesn't know who the others are, but they know who he is. They're probably deciding right now whether to walk away or put a bounty on his head.'

Andreas smiled. 'How much would it take to get the major's attention?'

Tassos laughed. 'That's why I think Linardos is safe. If Kostopoulos goes after him, that guarantees the others will pay whatever it costs to take him out rather than wait around and wonder if he's coming after them too.'

'All it takes is for one of them to get nervous enough to put up the bounty.'

Tassos nodded. 'I think Zanni now realizes that his power-trip bullshit has brought home a curse. My guess is he'll leave Greece and spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder, trusting no one. A pretty miserable penance.'

'For a pretty miserable guy.'

Tassos shrugged.

'Speaking of penance, do you know what Linardos is doing these days?'

Tassos head-gestured no.

'Playing Demosthenes' guardian angel. He hired the MedEvac unit that airlifted Demosthenes to a private hospital in Athens and is paying all his bills. Kouros tells me Linardos visits Demosthenes and prays. Sits by his bed and actually prays.' Andreas paused. 'But the prayers aren't working. His doctor told Kouros that if he survives it will be as a mind trapped in an utterly useless body.' Andreas paused again. 'Like being buried alive and forced to silently watch the rest of the world walk over your grave until the day you die.'

Tassos let the thought drift away before speaking. 'You'd think he'd want Demosthenes to die, to get rid of the last bit of incriminating evidence.'

'Makes you wonder what will happen if Demosthenes dies.'

Tassos shook his head. 'Can't imagine Linardos is worried about anything Demosthenes has on him. The Old Man is a martyred national hero, and no politician wants to tarnish that image by letting this story get out. It just might get the people wondering who in government can they trust.' He paused, then rolled his left hand in the air. 'As far as the media are concerned, they're no different. If they go after Linardos they're going after one of their most respected own — with a story guaranteed to make enemies of some of Greece's richest and most powerful families. Besides, God knows what shit Linardos has on his colleagues in the Greek press.'

'Yeah, but there's always the foreign press.'

Tassos smiled. 'Spoken like a true Greek. But, as much as we like to think they do, the rest of the world doesn't give a damn about what goes on here. Unless something is burning, Greece doesn't make the international news. Even then, not for long.' He shook his head again. 'No matter what coverage this gets outside of Greece, the story is dead here because everyone wants it to go away. Linardos knows that. My guess is he's not praying out of concern over what might happen to him if Demosthenes dies.'

'Then, why? For his granddaughter, for Greece?' Tassos spread his arms and looked up as if asking for an answer from above. 'Who knows? Both could use some heavenly intervention.' He let his arms fall to his sides and looked back at Andreas. 'Maybe it's just guilt for whatever part he played in all this, or simply a matter of thanks that he's not the one who'll end up living out the rest of his days on a slab. My guess is it's a bit of both.'

Andreas shrugged. 'Well, we keep track of everyone in and out of Demosthenes' room. Sooner or later, something will break and,' Andreas pointed up to where Tassos had been looking, 'god willing, we mere mortals might get an answer.'

'Or he dies and you find out faster.'

'That's the easy way.'

Tassos winked. 'I know.'

Andreas laughed. 'And so you sum up our differences, my friend.' They embraced and said goodbye.

Andreas still was smiling as he walked into Lila's room.

'Happy, stranger?'

'Very.'

'Come over here and hold my hand.' Her eyes were wet.

'What's wrong?'

'Nothing. I'm terribly happy, and hope you are too.' She kissed his hand. 'I have something to tell you. The doctors spoke to me this morning. They're still running tests. They're not sure yet about the extent of the damage-'

Andreas' heart jumped. He prayed it would be good news.

'But they wanted me to know they were very hopeful.'

Thank god. He squeezed her hand.

'Only one test is unequivocal.' Lila stared into Andreas' eyes. 'I'm pregnant.' Watch out for the next novel by Jeffrey Siger Coming soon from Piatkus: