Toni shrugged.
“Please, at least try to describe how you do what you do. There’s no telling how it might help launch me in the right direction.”
Toni stared at her. “And you expect me to tell you all this at three in the morning, on my second consecutive night of too much drinking.” She raised her hand holding the sandwich. “I know, no more jokes.” She sighed. “Okay, here goes.” She took a small bite and chewed it slowly, as if taking the time to think. “Forget about my gig at the piano bar. That’s driven by inner demons I can’t explain. Music is more an addiction to me than a career. I can’t shake it and don’t want to. Whatever it takes to get a fix, I do it. Almost without limits. But that’s another story. A very long one. So, let me focus on my day job as a finder of stolen goods.”
Toni took a sip of beer.
“So, the thefts I follow typically involve a heavy concentration of what I call the four C’s: cash, computers, cameras, and cell phones. In my experience, victims tend to be least upset about the loss of cash. It’s fungible and replaceable. But the computer often holds a lifetime of records in need of a backup; the lost camera means bye-bye to a lot of meaningful memories; and the missing cell phone is a royal pain in the ass, whether backed up to the Cloud, or not.”
She took another sip of beer and put it down on the sand. “Of course, there are also credit cards and passports. Some thieves take a shot at using the cards before their victims have time to notify the credit card companies, and others can even sell the passports, but most thieves discard them. Not worth the effort.”
Lila didn’t budge from her chair, move to sip her beer, or taste her sandwich.
“The first thing I do when a client is burglarized is conduct a thorough search of the area surrounding the scene of the theft, including every nearby trash container. That bit of effort often turns up the missing credit cards and passports, yielding me an easy fee and satisfied clients.
“It’s the stolen jewelry and watches that get tricky. First, I accompany my clients to the police and assist them with the paperwork they need in order to file insurance claims back home.”
“Hmm,” said Lila. “Did you ever think that could be the tourist’s way of cashing in back home?”
Toni picked up her beer from the sand and took a sip. “I see you are a cop’s wife. Yes, thoughts of insurance fraud have crossed my mind, especially after I’ve located the thief and—in negotiating the return of my client’s property—the thief swears he never took certain items my clients claim were stolen. That’s not to say I trust the word of a thief over that of my clients, but then again, the concept of a burglary victim adding a few extra items to a list of stolen valuables does reinforce my take on the basic larcenous nature of our species.”
“How do you find the thief?”
“Ah, now you’re trying to get at my trade secrets.” Toni smiled. “If my clients come to me straightaway, I’ve a good track record at getting their stuff back. In part, because I know most of the lowlife thieves on the island, and they know that I won’t turn them in if they cooperate. I’ve even been known on occasion to split a client’s fee with the bad guys, assuming they return the property. It’s not a perfect world, but it’s a living.”
Lila sat back in her chair. “Amazing. And you figured out how to do all of this on your own?”
“If you’re asking whether there’s a Fagin to my Oliver Twist, the answer’s no. It’s just little old me. My mentor is human nature.”
“Meaning?”
“Human nature explains many things, such as why our civilized society tolerates so much criminality. As I see it, too many folks whom we like to think of as upstanding members of society share a primal kinship with those baser types who look to take criminal advantage of the system at every opportunity.” She leaned closer to Lila. “Let me give you an example drawn from my experience with what could be called ‘the fifth C,’ the most popular item in the stolen-goods trade: clothing. There’s a thriving bazaar-like market in Athens—in Piraeus port, to be precise—for high-end secondhand clothing, especially shoes. If my clients are interested enough in recovering their stolen clothing, I’ll take them there. On occasion we’ve been lucky enough to find the missing items. Rather than threatening to call the police, I get them a good price—so good, in fact, that many clients often buy other items without so much as a passing thought about the provenance of their new purchases.”
Lila shook her head. “It’s the world we live in, I guess.”
Toni tapped Lila on the knee. “Speaking of the world we live in, I think we should move along. Our little sisterly chat on the beach is about to be crashed by a crew of drunken tourist guys headed our way.”
Lila turned toward around to see five men staggering toward them, yelling, “It’s time to party.”
“No, boys,” said Toni loudly, “it’s time to go home.” Toni pulled Lila up onto her feet. “Leave the chairs. It’ll give our newfound friends hope that the sort of ladies of the evening they’re looking for might stop by to fill them.”
“Human nature?”
“You got it.”
Andreas beat Lila home in time to claim the moral high ground, but just barely. He feigned sleep until she’d crawled into bed. “Everything go okay?”
“Yes. And with you?”
Andreas paused. “Just the usual night-out-on-the-town sort of excitement.”
“Me too. We’ll talk in the morning.”
“About what?” asked Andreas.
Lila didn’t answer. She’d faded off to sleep.
“I said ‘about what’?”
Still no answer.
About what? kept Andreas tossing and turning for nearly a half-hour, but nothing he did roused her from her sleep. Finally, he drifted off…and missed the broad smile on his wife’s face once he had.
Andreas woke to the sound of Tassaki running around the house imitating a police siren. He patted the bed next to him for Lila, but she was gone. He looked at the clock. Ten a.m. Not bad. A lot later than the kids usually allowed them to sleep. In this case, allowed him to sleep. He wondered what time Lila had gotten out of bed. Which brought him back to thinking of his unanswered question to her on the subject of the night before.
He went to the bathroom, pulled on a pair of shorts and a tee-shirt, and followed the scent of the coffee. Yianni and Lila sat on the terrace, Sofia between them in a high chair as Tassaki terrorized the nanny by the pool. A picture-perfect scene of domestic tranquility.
Andreas kissed Sofia on the forehead, poured himself a cup of coffee, and sat down across from Lila and Yianni. “Morning, my fellow revelers.”
“Morning, my love.”
“Ditto,” said Yianni.
“What time did you get up?” asked Andreas.
“About nine,” said Lila.
“A half-hour ago,” said Yianni.
“Thank you for letting me sleep in.”
“Me, too,” said Yianni.
“After what happened last night, you two needed it.”
Andreas glanced at Yianni. “What did you tell her?”
“I told her we went to The Beach Club, and had a bang-up time bumping into old and new friends.”
“Now, dear husband, why don’t you tell me what really happened?”
“It’s like Yianni said.” Andreas took a sip of coffee. “So how was your evening?”
“Not much. A man showed us what he had in his pants, and we decided to do what he asked.”
Andreas stared at her. “Stop putting me on.”
“It’s precisely as I said.” She forced a smile and poured herself some orange juice. “Amazing, the sorts of people you run into on a Mykonos late night.”
Andreas glanced at Yianni. “What did you really tell her?”
“Chief, you’re about the most guilt-ridden innocent I�
�ve ever seen. I told her N-O-T-H-I-N-G.”
Lila sipped her orange juice. “If you want to hear about my evening, you better tell me the truth about yours.”
Andreas fluttered his lips. “We went to a club on the beach to question a witness in a murder investigation. On the way back, we had an accident with another motorcycle. The other guy was seriously injured and had to be airlifted to Athens.”
“That’s terrible. How is he doing?”
“I don’t know,” said Andreas.
“I checked,” said Yianni. “He’s still unconscious, but they expect him to live.”
“What’s his name?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Me either,” said Yianni. “But the local police said he’s not Greek.”
“Your turn,” said Andreas, looking at Lila.
Lila leaned forward and her face lit up. “It was fascinating. Toni is an extraordinary young woman. Her outlook on life is spot-on. She reminds me of my college roommate, a true free spirit with a big heart, who was always there for you when you needed her.” Lila swallowed and looked at Yianni. “She passed away a few years after graduation, long before Andreas and I met.”
Andreas gave a quick look at Yianni before catching Lila’s eye. “I’m not sure I’m going to say this right, because I do like Toni, but, darling, you sound like you’re using the memories of your roommate to vouch for the virtues of a new acquaintance.”
Lila paused. “Could be that you’re right, but I’ve always gone with my first instincts on meeting someone new—”
“And look where that’s landed you,” interrupted Yianni, pointing at Andreas.
“Okay, guys, I get it,” said Andreas, waving his hands in surrender. “Forget what I said.” He looked at Lila. “So, tell me about the guy with the thing in his pants?”
Lila smiled. “Oh, that little old thing. Hardly worth talking about.”
Andreas turned his look into a stare.
Lila picked up her coffee cup. “Some worker on the island wanted Toni to get his daughter away from the bad influences of a local boy. He showed us the knife he was planning to use on the boy if she didn’t agree to help.”
“I knew you shouldn’t have gone out alone.”
Lila shrugged. “What are you talking about? We had a great time, and no one we bumped into ended up in the hospital.”
“Touché,” said Yianni, picking up his coffee cup.
“You know what I mean,” said Andreas.
“Of course I do. In your world, we little women need the protection of you big, strong men. If you look at things honestly, I think in most situations you need more protection from each other than we do from you.”
Andreas shut his eyes. “This conversation is going nowhere. Let’s go to the beach.”
“Which one?” she asked.
“You pick it.”
Lila looked at the sea. “With this wind, the best beach is one you don’t like.”
Andreas sighed. “I don’t like it because of the clientele, but I agree it’s the best beach for today.” He slapped his thighs. “Okay, your choice it is, and we’ll eat there, too. Just to show you I’m a good sport.”
Lila stood. “More like to show you have a guilty conscience.” She picked Sofia up out of her high chair and sing-songed over her shoulder as she carried their daughter inside, “But don’t we all?”
Lila stood in the nursery changing Sofia’s diaper. Andreas was right about why she felt so strangely close to this complete stranger. In Toni she saw the spirit of her old friend. That was the only logical explanation for feeling as if she’d known Toni all her life.
But that’s a good thing. Isn’t it?
Both possessed a contagious zest for life. Lila did things with her friend she’d never imagine having done on her own. Crazy, wild things; but never hurtful, and always with a good motive—even if authorities didn’t sometimes agree. Lila smiled at the memories.
Her friend had glorious plans for living a life doing all that she could to better her world, but in her way. Yes, glorious plans.
Tears welled up in Lila’s eyes.
But then she died.
Not in some dramatic fashion. Not on some glorious quest, not tending to the injured on some far off battlefield, not as a victim to a heinous crime, or even an accident. She died with a whimper alongside her daughter.
In childbirth.
Tears streamed down Lila’s cheeks.
If Toni is but half as dear to me as you were, she will be a glory to your memory, my beloved friend Sofia.
Chapter Twelve
Andreas drove the SUV up to the beach entrance servicing both the nearby restaurant and the beach. He handed the keys to the parking valet, who immediately requested twenty euros in advance.
Andreas handed him a twenty. “And so the fun begins,” he muttered to no one in particular.
Lila, holding Tassaki’s hand, and Anna, carrying Sofia, led the way onto the beach. Andreas and Yianni followed behind, both with a beach bag in each hand.
A body-builder-sized beach attendant in black shorts, white tee-shirt, Ray-Ban Wayfarers, and a black baseball cap, asked Lila if he could help her. She asked for four sunbeds and two umbrellas.
“That will be four hundred euros.”
“What?” shouted Lila.
“I said four hundred euros. It’s two hundred euros for two beds and one umbrella. Those are the only beds available.”
“That’s preposterous.”
“I’m sorry, madam, but after all, this is the most desirable beach on Mykonos and it is high season.”
On that, Andreas stepped in between the attendant and Lila. “That’s okay, my dear, we’ll just spread our towels on the open sand next to this high-rent district.”
The attendant wiggled a finger at Andreas. “You can’t do that here.”
Andreas forced a grin. “Of course we can. All beaches are open to the public in Greece.”
“Not here.”
Andreas gave him a knowing smile. “Son, I know that’s how beach businesses with seasonal leases from the town to rent sunbeds would like the law to be. After all, clients of yours who pay exorbitant sums for a prime spot don’t want just anyone dropping down beside them on a towel.” He shook his head, “But Greek law holds that all beaches are open to anyone, and you need not rent a sunbed if you don’t want one. Beds also may not go up to the water’s edge, though I suspect those concepts are politely ignored by your municipal officials charged with enforcing the laws. I shall not guess why that is.”
The attendant crossed his arms. “I repeat. You can’t put a towel down here.”
Andreas motioned for Lila to lead the way to an open bit of beach just beyond the sunbeds.
The attendant waved for two burly fellows dressed all in black standing by the beach entrance to the restaurant.
“Andreas, please don’t start anything. We can find another beach,” said Lila.
“Don’t worry. Yianni and I will be right along.”
“You ought to listen to your wife, sir,” said the attendant.
Lila turned to Anna. “Quick, let’s get the children away from here.” They headed off toward the open area.
The beach attendant and his fellow no-necks took up a position blocking Andreas and Yianni from following Lila.
“Boys, I’ve taken great pains to explain the law to you. May I suggest you reconsider taking a course of action that will soon bring great personal pain to each of you? Not to mention the potential need for extensive rehabilitative physical therapy.”
“Enough with the fancy tough talk, asshole,” said the attendant, assuming a karate stance.
“Ah, so much for the sirs,” said Andreas. “Last chance to walk away.”
Yianni tossed the beach bags he’d been carrying to
the side and motioned with his hand for the two no-necks to come at him. “I’ll try to leave you two in good enough condition to carry your numb-nuts buddy to the ambulance. But no promises.”
The rapidly escalating confrontation had generated excitement among the sunbed crowd—a bit of a break in their roast-until-you’re-toast sun-worshipping routine. Rent-a-cop sorts like these guys, with the encouragement of their employers, enjoyed putting on a rough house show for the paying clientele when someone protested their bosses’ fees and rules too strongly. After all, there was big money to be made in sunbed rentals. Some restaurants made more off the rentals than they did from their food operations. Pricey places like this might even make more from one day’s rentals in high season than the total annual fee they paid to the government for the right to rent their beds.
Andreas stood still, one beach bag in each hand, and facing the attendant, waited for him to make the first move. The man lunged, and Andreas stepped back, swinging the bag in his right hand up to catch the man hard under his chin, immediately followed by a wide overhead arc crashing the bag in his left down on the back of the man’s head, dropping him to the sand.
“Never underestimate the striking power of a baby formula thermos bag.”
The two men facing Yianni hesitated. Andreas angled his stance toward them while keeping his eyes on the man on the ground. “Wise decision, gentlemen. You’re about to assault a detective and chief inspector of the Hellenic Police.”
The two men stared at each other for a few seconds before turning away from Yianni, and moving in to help the attendant to his feet and away from the scene. None said a word.
Andreas and Yianni turned to follow Lila but stopped when Andreas heard his name shouted from up on the restaurant’s terrace. “Andreas, stay there. I’ll be right down.”
A small, deeply tanned man dressed in white linen with tasteful gold chains draped around his unbuttoned neck scurried over. He owned the restaurant and held the license for the exorbitant beach-chair rentals. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea what was going on until one of my staff told me there was a fight on the beach.”
The Mykonos Mob Page 15
