“I’ve got to talk with him.”
“He’s coming back to my place tonight.”
“Have you two finally moved in together?” It was Andreas who’d unwittingly introduced his friend and longtime widower to Maggie, not knowing he’d rekindled an old romance.
“Only when he’s in Athens. He still considers Syros his home.”
“Islanders are like that. Please, get him on the phone.”
“Will do.” Maggie disappeared behind the closing door.
A couple of minutes passed before Maggie yelled, “He’s on.”
Andreas picked up the phone. “How are you feeling, my friend?”
“Why is it that everyone asks me the same question?”
“Maybe because they care for you?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Good point. It’s probably because you look as old as the Acropolis.”
“That’s more like it.” Tassos laughed. “So what’s up? My love said you had to talk to me right away. She pulled me out of a very important meeting.”
“Is it already lunchtime on Syros?”
“No, coffee in the harbor.”
“I’ve got a problem developing here that’s touchy. How secure is your phone?”
“My cell phone I wouldn’t trust as far as I can drop it. Too many people want to know what I know and have connections at the carriers to listen in. But I’m using a landline at the taverna. Maggie thought it might be a ‘touchy’ subject.”
“How does she know these things?”
“I hope that’s not what this call is all about because that’s a subject only the gods at Delphi might be able to answer.”
“No, my problem is with someone who just thinks he’s a god.” Andreas told him of his meeting with Spiros, run-in with Orestes, and thoughts on what Orestes had in mind.
“Orestes is a chip off the old block. The only time you knew for sure that you could trust what his old man or grandfather had to say was when their lips weren’t moving. Orestes is running the same routines as those two did in hustling foreign companies to do business through them in Greece. They didn’t really need the influence they claimed as long as they got the mark thinking that they did. Once they had the deal with the company, any Greeks they actually needed to make it work fell into line because by then they had money available to spread around.”
“Wonderful system.”
“It’s not just Greece that’s like that.”
“No, but it’s a Greek bastard who’s trying to make me look corrupt.”
“I suggest you tell him to go fuck himself,” said Tassos.
“Frankly, I’d rather do it to him.”
“Sounds personal.”
Andreas didn’t want to mention Orestes’ old interest in Lila. It would sound stupid. “No, I just don’t like the guy.”
“Hell, if we spent our time trying to get back at everyone we didn’t like, we wouldn’t have time to breathe.”
“Since when have you become so Zen?” said Andreas.
“It comes with age. Besides, it’s really a waste of time looking into that Crete thing. The fix has been in for years on the gas. Now it’s just a matter of reshuffling a few chairs at the dinner table to accommodate the late arrivals.”
“Late arrivals?”
“New ones in power who could create problems.”
“You’re one hell of a cynic.”
“You mean a realist born of experience. The louder a politician screams for the rights of the people, the more he wants for himself.”
“Spare me the civics lesson. What can you tell me about what Orestes might have in mind?”
“My guess is he’s selling himself to the Russians. The Europeans already have their connections here and the Americans seem more interested in their own gas reserves. It’s the new boys on the block who need influence.”
“What about the Chinese? They’re buying up our port operations.”
“And making them profitable. But they already have their contacts. No, my bet is on the Russians, a big energy player with strong national interests in keeping the European energy markets wedded to them. They’re just hoping Greece doesn’t turn into another Cyprus. The financial catastrophe there threw a lot of light on its gas field discoveries, and drove a lot of serious players involved in exploiting Cyprus’ gas scrambling to lower national expectations. After all, if the gas fields are billed as the country’s economic salvation, that leaves a lot less cash to bury in Switzerland.”
“Are you running for office?” said Andreas.
“No, not crooked enough.”
“Jesus, Tassos, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying stay away from Crete. You’ll never be able to change what’s going on over there.”
“How can I do that?”
“Easy. Just don’t go. Get a prosecutor to subpoena records on the project from every company on Orestes’ list. Their lawyers will inundate you with enough paper to keep every lawyer in Greece busy for years. That’s how it would end up anyway, no matter what your investigation turned up. So, give it to a prosecutor and keep yourself out of the line of fire. If Orestes bitches, tell him you did precisely what he’d asked, gone after everyone on his list.”
Andreas drew in and let out a breath. “There is another angle to take on this.”
“Being?”
“If you want to find the rotten apple in a barrel, follow the worm.”
“I never heard that one before.”
“Because I just made it up. But that worm Orestes inspired me. I’ll just keep an eye on him and see where it leads me.”
“Yeah, it sure sounds like it isn’t personal.”
“I don’t like being set up.”
“Just be careful. Is Kouros working on this with you?”
“He’s down in the Mani. His uncle died.”
“That uncle?”
“Yes, ‘that uncle.’”
“I knew him.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Cute, wiseass. It just so happens that back in the late 1800s, when Syros was in its heyday as the shipping capital of Greece, a businessman from Syros with roots in the Mani and a merchant from the Mani teamed up to create a commercial center in the Deep Mani port of Gerolimenas. It thrived for generations. Those days are long gone but many families from both places still remain close.”
“Yianni thinks his uncle’s death might not be the accident it seemed.”
“That should lead to some fun times in the Mani.”
“He’s worried about that, too.”
“If he needs any help, just tell him to give me a holler.”
“I’ll pass it along.”
“Notice I didn’t offer to help you,” said Tassos.
“The thought did cross my mind.”
“It’s because Yianni’s problem is capable of having a solution. Yours is not.”
“I guess that means I won’t be seeing you.”
“Of course you will. Maggie spoke to Lila while waiting for me to get to this landline and call back. We’re all having dinner tonight.”
“Why am I always the last to know?”
“I see we’re back to questions for the oracle. See you tonight. Bye.”
Andreas put down the phone. Tassos was right. He should forget about going after Orestes.
“Maggie, get me the prosecutor on the phone.”
Andreas drummed his fingers on the desktop. “And the personnel file on that cop Petro. I might just have a special assignment for him.”
***