Stefan laughed. “Funny you should say that. Each night I sit here watching people come and go. Almost all are miserable about their prospects and some are in actual fear, but that kind over there,” he pointed to a table, “they are the children of the rich, each coddled and protected by mommy and daddy. Most will never work except in family businesses. They come here much like dancers on the edge of a volcano poised to erupt. They see the smoke, smell the sulfur, but still don’t get it. And when everything goes boom…” Stefan let his voice trail off.
“Are you trying to convince me you actually care what happens to them?”
“Me? No, I’m trying to figure out how I can work an angle on separating them from whatever the eruption misses.” He slapped Tassos on the back and laughed.
Tassos put his beer down on the bar. “On that bit of wisdom, my friend, I’m out of here. When do you think you’d be able to hook me up with Punka?”
“I assume it’s urgent, so I’ll start working on it right away. With any luck, I’ll have an answer for you tomorrow, or the next day at the outside. That’s assuming the rom is still around.”
“Thank you. Night, Stefan.”
Stefan reached over and shook Tassos’ hand. There was something in it.
“Your money. I’m a man of my word.”
Tassos nodded as he thought, at least where only twenty euros was involved.
At breakfast the next morning Andreas announced to Lila that he’d be staying home to help her prepare for the wedding.
“Not on your life,” was her reply. Which was why Andreas ended up back in his office to the surprise of everyone but Maggie.
“I didn’t think she’d want you hanging around. Future husbands have a habit of getting brides nervous by trying too sincerely to act as if they really cared about more than their buddies getting a good table at the reception.”
He stared at her. “And don’t forget the right brand of beer.”
“You get the idea.”
“Okay, hold my calls. No one expects me to be here, so let’s act as if I’m not.”
“Will do.”
About an hour later Maggie stuck her head in the doorway. “It’s Tassos.”
Andreas picked up the phone. “Morning.”
“I think we have a line on the brother of the two murdered tsigani. An informant just told me where we could find him.” Tassos repeated the substance of his conversation with Stefan the night before. “The brother is supposed to be in a taverna out by the airport at three this afternoon and he’s not supposed to know we’re showing up.”
“Do I sense you’re not totally comfortable with your informant?”
“He’s reliable when it comes to information. That’s how he earns his living. But he’d also sell out his mother if he thought it in his perceived self-interest to do so. So, just to be safe, let’s assume Punka is expecting us.”
“Meaning?” said Andreas.
“Carry heavy and wear a vest. It would be a shame to lose a groom so close to his wedding day. I’ll pick you up downstairs at two.”
If Andreas didn’t know better he’d have thought the taverna was an abandoned shack in the middle of long ago exhausted farmland. A few cars about as beat up and ancient as the place were parked outside. You could hear traffic buzzing by on the highway between Athens and the airport. Though built for the 2004 Olympics, it was still known as the “new road.”
Tassos parked the unmarked car away from the building where it gave them a view of the perimeter.
“Keep the engine running, I’ll be out in a minute.”
“And just what do you have in mind?” said Tassos.
“I’ll let you know once I figure it out. Let’s just hope if it’s an ambush it’s not supposed to start until we’re both inside.” Andreas got out and headed toward the taverna.
He focused on the windows and edges of the building as he walked, and his hand touched his crotch as if adjusting his family jewels, but he was just reassuring himself that the pistol in the holster covering those parts was still in place. The front door to the taverna was open and as he drew closer he saw three occupied tables, one with six men, another with two, and the last with a customer alone. All of them looked to be tsigani. A young girl was serving coffee to the table of six. She smiled at Andreas as he came through the door.
Andreas walked in as if he knew exactly where he was headed. He stopped in front of the lone customer, a dark, thin man in his late-twenties. “Punka?”
The man looked up. “Who’s asking?” His upper lip curled as he talked. Like an angry little dog.
“Are you Punka or am I wasting my time?”
The man stared at Andreas. “I’m Punka.”
“And your last name?” This wasn’t the time to be hooking up with the wrong Punka.
He kept staring at Andreas. “Carausii.”
“Good, let’s go.”
“Go? What do you mean ‘go’?” Punka sounded frightened and looked toward the table of six.
“I’m a cop and I’m not going to have a conversation with you about what we have to talk about in a place like this.”
Punka looked again at the table of six. Two of the men stood up.
Andreas raised his left hand toward the six without looking at their table. “Don’t even think about it. Sit down and nobody gets hurt. Move and everybody does.”
The two men paused. Andreas turned his head slightly and stared at them. They sat down. “Good,” he said.
He turned back to Punka. “Now, let’s take a walk.”
“Fuck you.”
Andreas smiled. “Perhaps you misunderstood me, I’m the cop in charge of investigating the murder of your brothers. Test me and I’ll toss you down a shit hole like-” Andreas snapped his fingers. “And you’ll never be seen again. Now, do you want to take that chance or do you want to take a walk and talk about things of mutual interest?”
Punka looked nervously at the six.
“Your friends are smart enough to know better. Are you?”
Punka pushed himself back from the table, stood up, and walked toward the door. Andreas followed, nodding to the six as he walked by their table.
Outside, Andreas led him to the car. “Get in.”
“I thought we were taking a walk?”
“We did. To the car.” Andreas opened the rear door.
Punka hesitated.
“Do I have to make another speech?”
Punka got in and Andreas slid in next to him. “Drive,” he said to Tassos.
Punka started asking questions the moment the car moved, but Andreas and Tassos ignored him. Tassos drove around for about twenty minutes until it was clear no one was following them. He pulled off onto a dirt road and parked amid a grove of olive trees hidden from the road.
The first words Punka heard were, “Get out,” delivered by Andreas after Tassos had opened the rear door on Punka’s side. Andreas slid out behind him.
Andreas held out a pack of cigarettes. “Smoke?”
Punka took a cigarette and waited for Andreas to light it.
“Light your own,” said Andreas handing him a lighter.
Punka’s hands were shaking as he lit the cigarette. “You guys really are cops, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, we’re cops,” said Andreas.
Punka seemed to relax.
Why does that make him feel better? He must be really frightened of someone.
“I want to see some identification. I should have asked for it before.”
“Yes, you should have.” Andreas smiled, but reached into his shirt and pulled out his credentials.
Punka’s lips moved as he struggled to read. “Jesus, you’re Chief of Special Crimes.”
“And you don’t think he’s here just to talk about your two pieces of shit dead brothers, do you?” said Tassos.
Punka glared at Tassos. “Don’t talk about my brothers that way.”
“Stop blowing smoke up my ass,” said Tassos. “You’re the reason they’re dead. You know it and we know it.”
“I had nothing to do with what happened to them.” His left eye was twitching.
“Convince me,” said Andreas.
“Fuck off. I have the right to a lawyer.”