‘I have nothing to say,’ the Englishman said, his lower jaw protruding like the bow of a battleship.
Eventually Mavros turned on his heel and left.
Mikis drove Mavros to the Heavenly Blue.
‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’ he asked. ‘They are your employers, after all. And mine.’
Mavros shrugged. ‘You can leave me at the gate if you want.’
‘What? Like they don’t know I was with you in Kornaria and in the fight afterwards? No, fuck ’em. I’m coming with you.’
‘Thanks.’ Mavros was relieved, but he would have gone through with his plan on his own. As they approached the resort, he made a call.
‘Hi, Cara, good morning.’
‘Same to you, Alex.’ The actress sounded like she was ready to take on the world. Then she remembered his raison d’etre. ‘Any news about Maria?’
‘I’m working on it. Can you do me a favour?’
‘Anything.’ She laughed. ‘Within reason.’
‘Let Luke Jannet and Rosie Yellenberg know that I need to talk to them in your suite.’
‘OK. When?’
‘Ten minutes?’
‘Consider it done. I’ll offer them breakfast. If that doesn’t work, I’ll threaten to stop working again.’
‘You’re good,’ he said, in admiration. ‘Really good.’
‘Why, thank you, sir.’
Mikis parked as near the hotel entrance as he could. ‘Am I bringing hardware?’
‘I don’t think that’ll be necessary.’
‘What about that knife you’re carrying?’
‘I may need to cut some fruit.’
As they crossed the reception area, Renzo Capaldi stepped forward from the door to the Kerstens’ apartment.
‘Mr Mavros,’ he said, smiling ingratiatingly. ‘Everything is fine. I had a man patrolling outside all night. I spoke to Mrs Kersten a few minutes ago.’
‘How is she?’
‘Calm, I would say.’
‘I’ll call in to see her soon.’ Mavros led Mikis to the stairs.
‘Race you,’ the Cretan said, disappearing round the first corner.
Mavros, worried about stretching the stitches in his neck, let him go and took the lift from the first floor. He found Mikis on the fifth with his chest expanding at a normal rate.
‘Is that natural fitness or do you work out?’
‘Both.’
‘Arrogant Cretan shit,’ Mavros said, nodding at the gorilla outside Cara’s suite. They were allowed in.
‘Alex!’ the actress said, when she saw the dressing on his neck. ‘What happened to you?’
‘Yeah,’ Jannet added, from the armchair he was slouching in. ‘Cut yourself shaving?’
‘Something like that.’ Mavros looked around. Alice Quincy was sitting behind her boss, but there was no sign of the producer.
‘Don’t worry,’ Cara said, giving him a cup of coffee, ‘Rosie’s on her way. Who’s your friend?’
‘Mikis Tsifakis,’ the Cretan said. ‘Driver.’
‘You brought the hired help?’ Jannet asked contemptuously.
‘Why not?’ Mavros replied. ‘That’s what Iam, isn’t it?’
Mikis smiled and went over to one of the windows. Shortly afterwards, the external door opened and Rosie Yellenberg came down the hall. She looked at Mavros, but made no comment. He watched as she cast an expressionless glance at her brother and then caught Cara’s eye.
‘What’s this about? Some of us have got work to do.’
‘Aw, chill out, will you, Rosie?’ Jannet said, looking up from his phone.
‘Was she always like this?’ Mavros asked. ‘I mean when you were kids.’
There was silence while people exchanged surprised looks.
‘Well, lookee here,’ the director said, his eyes narrowing. ‘We’ve got ourselves a dick who knows how to dig.’
Mavros wondered if that was a reference to what he had put Oskar Mesner and Roufos’s skinhead through last night. It seemed unlikely as even Waggoner hadn’t seemed to know about it.
‘You and Rosie are brother and sister?’ Cara said, in astonishment.
The producer directed an icy glare at her. ‘Something wrong with that?’
‘Well, yes, actually,’ the actress replied. ‘Like why you’ve kept it secret.’
Jannet looked at his sister. ‘Any reason why we shouldn’t? That is, any reason we have to share personal stuff with you?’
‘It’s weird,’ Cara said.
‘Like everything else in the movie business isn’t?’ the director returned.
‘It’s more than weird,’ Mavros said. ‘What they’ve also failed to mention is that their father, Eugene Tzannetakis, came from the notorious drug-producing village of Kornaria and that he was jailed for drug trafficking in the States.’
‘Kornaria?’ the actress said. ‘That’s where Maria was held, isn’t it?’ She moved towards Jannet. ‘What have you done to her, you animal?’ she demanded, her voice rising.
‘Whoah.’ The director raised his arms. ‘I haven’t done anything to that bitch.’
Cara kicked him on the shin. Given that she was wearing pointed boots, he must have been in pain, but his face didn’t show it.
‘Sit down,’ Rosie said, with authority. ‘And calm down as well.’
Mavros took Cara back to her place at the end of the sofa. ‘Leave this to me,’ he said quietly. He went back to centre of the room. ‘Let’s be clear about this, Mr Jannet,’ he said formally. ‘When you hired me, did you or your sister know where Maria Kondos was?’
The siblings exchanged glances.
‘No,’ they said, in unison. The effect was reasonably convincing.
‘OK,’ Mavros continued. ‘Are either of you involved in the drugs business?’
Again, they looked at each other.
‘Not exactly,’ Jannet said.
‘What the hell does that mean?’
‘Cool it, man,’ the director said, with a wry smile. ‘Here’s how it is. Yes, our old man was sent down for trafficking. That’s one reason why I changed my name — as well as the fact that no fucker could pronounce the full version.’ He looked around but received only stony stares. ‘Anyway, when we came to Crete, we decided to keep away from the village in case any weasel journalist picked up a scent.’
‘If you’re not involved in anything illegal, why would that have been a problem?’ Mavros asked.
‘Now your naivety is showing like a pole dancer’s tits,’ Jannet said. ‘You any idea how hard it is to raise money for pictures these days, especially ones with foreign locations? Tell him, Rosie.’
The producer nodded. ‘Everything in Hollywood is about surface appearance, from Cara’s pretty face and beautiful. . chest, to the people with the money. As long as investors can say to their shareholders that everything looks all right, we can do business.’
‘Obviously you knew that Maria Kondos’s father was a mobster,’ Mavros said, glancing at Cara.
‘What?’ she shrieked. ‘What the fuck is going on here?’
‘Michael “the Bat” Kondoyannis,’ Jannet said. ‘He’s some piece of work. I heard he had a snitch sliced up in front of the guy’s wife and kids. They never went to the cops.’
Cara was staring at him, her eyes damp. ‘I don’t understand any of this,’ she said, with a sob. ‘Are you saying Maria’s some kind of criminal?’
‘Oh yeah,’ the director confirmed.
‘We weren’t sure what she was doing,’ Rosie Yellenberg put in, ‘but in the first week here we saw her with a man we later discovered was the mayor of Kornaria. Then she disappeared.’
Mavros held up a hand. ‘Hang on. If she was tied to the village, maybe as her father’s representative, why was she held captive there? And where is she now?’
‘Fucked if I know,’ the director said. ‘You still on the job or what?’
Mavros walked over to him and let the knife handle appear between the flaps of his shirt. ‘I told you at the beginning that I’ve never failed to find a missing person and I don’t plan on letting you screw up that record. Why didn’t you tell me all this upfront?’