She could just kill Kostidis! He’d not only ruined her encounter with Cliff Gordon, but also her entire day! Alex Sontheim—the star of Wall Street, the selfless rescuer of the opera singer Madeleine Ross-Downey—was actually nothing but a girl from Germany who had gotten involved with a dubious social climber, Sergio Vitali, the godfather of New York City! What would President Gordon say if he found out she was the lover of a man who ordered murders?
With tears welling up she searched for a cigarette in her purse. Someone cleared his throat behind her and she turned quickly around. She could hardly believe her eyes when Nick Kostidis of all people, whom she’d just escaped from, appeared in the doorway.
“Hello,” she said in a discouraging tone, “if you’re looking for the restrooms, they’re two doors further down.”
Kostidis smiled.
“Thanks, I know,” he said and entered the room. “But I was actually looking for you.”
“Really?” Alex took a drag from her cigarette. “Why?”
She was mad about her teary eyes.
“May I sit down with you for a moment?”
She was about to tell him to go to hell, but she managed to keep her composure.
He sat down in the armchair across from her. There was a tense moment of silence between them.
“What can I do for you, Mayor Kostidis?”
“Call me Nick,” he responded. “‘Mayor’ sounds so formal.”
“Okay,” Alex said with a shrug. “Nick. So, what can I do for you?”
“I’m not sure whether you can help me.” Nick crossed his legs and gave her another piercing look. She longed to get up and run away.
“I hardly know you,” Kostidis continued. “Well, as a matter of fact, I don’t know you at all. But I’ve been following your professional career with great interest for quite some time now. And my friends Trevor and Madeleine speak very highly of you.”
“Aha.” Alex was at the edge of her seat.
“You’re a successful woman. Intelligent, ambitious, and courageous.”
“And now you ask yourself why I’m involved with Vitali,” she interrupted him coolly. “That’s what you’re trying to get at, isn’t it?”
If he was surprised, Kostidis didn’t let it show, but then he nodded slowly.
“I know what you think of him,” Alex said, “and probably you think the same of me.”
She jumped up and stepped toward the window.
“No!” Kostidis shook his head. “That’s not true. Like I said, I don’t know you, Alex. I only know what the newspapers write about you and what my friends, the Downeys, say about you, and that’s why…”
Alex turned around again and looked at the man who both impressed and intimidated her.
“Yes?” She tried to regain her usual self-confidence, but to her chagrin, her voice sounded thin.
“Alex,” Kostidis said, leaning forward, “it’s not my intention to interfere with your private life.”
“It’s none of your business anyway,” she countered brusquely. Kostidis stopped smiling.
“Sergio Vitali,” he said with a calm voice, “is a very dangerous man. Many people think that I’m obsessed because I’ve been trying for years to bring him to justice for his criminal dealings. I know a great deal about him and his business, but unfortunately, I’ve never been able to prove anything against him. Vitali doesn’t hesitate to defend his position of power by using violence. We’ve had evidence against him many times, but key witnesses suddenly lost their memory overnight or simply disappeared. Some of them were found again as corpses.”
Alex felt weak in the knees. It is done. Zuckerman won’t utter another word…She felt the horror and nausea all over again. She knew all too well that Kostidis was aware of the truth.
“Why are you telling me all of this?”
“I want you to understand my situation,” he replied in a quiet voice. “It’s not a personal thing between me and Vitali, like the media keeps insisting. The stakes are much higher. One of my predecessors called New York ‘ungovernable.’ I work very hard to get a grip on the public debt, the poor infrastructure, and the disastrous social disparities. But the worst of all evils is the corruption. The reason that Vitali is so untouchable is because he bribes many influential politicians and judges. I can live with corruption to a certain extent, but now I’m afraid that Vitali has an informer within my inner circle.”
He paused for a moment and rubbed his chin. He looked tired.
“A man was shot dead on August fifteenth,” Nick Kostidis said. “He was still young; he had a wife who is now a widow, and two little children lost their father because of this killer.”
Alex swallowed. She knew who Zuckerman’s killer was. Strictly speaking, she was obligated to tell the police what she knew, but she was frightened Sergio would find out, and then she would lose everything. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t help Kostidis.
“This man,” the mayor continued, “could have hurt Vitali significantly by testifying in front of the investigation committee. We were aware of that, so we brought him to a hotel under utmost secrecy to keep him completely protected until he gave his testimony. Very few people were informed about this. And still someone found out and silenced the man.”
His words triggered a black, empty feeling inside of Alex, and she simultaneously felt a raging, helpless anger. What did Kostidis expect from her? He didn’t care one bit about what would happen to her. He wanted to get to Sergio by any means, and he had taken a clever approach by appealing to her conscience. Her nausea intensified.
“I don’t know anything about Vitali’s business,” she said. Did Kostidis know that she was lying?
“I want to be very frank,” Nick Kostidis said, locking his eyes on her. “Based on Madeleine’s and Trevor’s descriptions of you, I had the impression that you would have the courage to do the right thing.”
Alex stared at him in silence. Courage! What did this man know about how cruel Sergio could be? Everything had been so easy for her in the past—people were clearly good or bad—but now her entire world was in turmoil. Nothing was clear anymore. Her future, her career, even her life was at stake! David Zuckerman was dead, and even if she told the mayor who the killer was, it wouldn’t bring this man back to life.
“This has nothing to do with courage.” She had the feeling that Kostidis was able to read her mind.
“Then what?”
Alex couldn’t bear Kostidis’s gaze any longer. He’d succeeded in rattling her. She felt like pouncing on him, yelling at him to leave her alone. What in the world had she done to get into this situation?
“Listen, Nick”—Alex hoped she appeared relaxed and composed—“I’m not indifferent to your worries by any means, and if I could, I would certainly help you. But I can’t. Do you understand that?”
Nick Kostidis nodded slowly and sighed.
“Of course,” he said and smiled again, but there was an alert expression in his eyes. “I understand you very well. Forget what I just said.”
Their eyes locked.
“You know where to reach me.”
“Thanks, but that won’t be necessary,” she replied coolly. Kostidis threw her one last inquiring glance.
“But maybe it will,” he said with a mysterious smile; then he turned around and left the room.
PART TWO
