by Nick Carter
Again I grabbed the bar, trying to wrench it from Stavros' grasp, and we both lost possession of it. Stavros turned and raced up some crumbling stairs to the upper level of the structure where there was an edge of second-story floor. He was directly over me as I regained my feet. He grabbed a large piece of loose stone and hurled it down on me. It glanced off my shoulder and pain rocketed through it. I started up the stone steps. I was going to catch Stavros and kill him with my bare hands.
When I reached the top, another chunk of stone came flying at me. I ducked, and it went clattering down below. Stavros was standing on the back edge of the narrow floor section, the open side of the structure behind him. Desperation had crept into his square face as he stood there scowling at me. He looked at the rise of ground behind the building, boulder-cluttered and stony. After just a brief hesitation, he jumped.
I saw him hit the rocks and roll. He grabbed at his ankle, and his face twisted in pain and rage. He crawled to a large, round boulder sitting precariously on a rocky ledge. The boulder was about three feet in diameter and had a smaller stone jammed under its front edge on the slightly inclined ledge of rock and grass. Stavros was reaching for the small stone to use it against me.
I leaped to the ground near him, and the impact stung the bottoms of my feet. I fell forward, but quickly scrambled upright, unhurt. Stavros was frantically wedging the stone away from the boulder. As I started for him, he pulled the stone loose with a superhuman effort and stayed there panting and waiting for me.
"Come on," he hissed. "I'll smash your skull. I'll…"
We both saw the movement at the same time. The boulder near him, with the supporting rock removed, began moving down the incline of the rocky ledge just a foot above Stavros. It seemed to stop for a moment while he stared at it in horrible fascination, then it moved forward and off the small ledge toward him.
Because of the heavy rock he held in his hand and because of his broken ankle, he couldn't move fast enough. I started to cry out a warning and then realized the pointlessness of it. Stavros' face was twisted with horror as the boulder reached him.
"No!" he shrieked, when he realized, like a man who has fallen off a tall building, that inevitable death was only seconds away.
When the boulder reached Stavros, dwarfing him, he threw his hands up as if to stop its progress, but it had gained far too much momentum. It rolled slowly on his chest, swayed a moment and stayed there. When it first touched him, there was a sharp, piercing scream from his throat. Then it was choked off very suddenly, as if someone had turned off a radio.
Grimly, I walked over to where I could see Stavros' head and shoulders protruding from under the boulder. His eyes were open, staring unseeing at a white, hot sky. A hand jerked and twitched as a muscle died, and then he was lifeless.
Twelve
Nikkor Minourkos and I sat under the cool canopy at the waterfront cafe and looked past the brightly colored fishing boats to the cobalt blue of the Aegean beyond. It was a pleasant morning, and we were enjoying it.
"Colonel Kotsikas and I have explained the entire matter to the authorities, and they are very grateful to you and Erika," Minourkos was telling me.
Erika had left the cafe for a few minutes and was a short distance away at a store buying an English newspaper.
"We must have caused some excitement here locally," I grinned, "until they got an explanation for all the shooting. I'm sorry about Galatis. He stood up to Stavros at an inopportune time."
"In every war, large or small, there are casualties," Minourkos said, finishing up an ouzo.
"One man can cause a lot of grief," I remarked.
"Stavros could have caused much more if you had not stopped him," Minourkos said. "That is why I flew here to Mykonos to thank you personally. Kotsikas wants to thank you, too. He wants to present you and Miss Nystrom with honors at a public ceremony in Athens as soon as you return."
I shook my head sideways. "Thank him for the thought," I said. "But in my business you're not allowed to take any bows." I could imagine Hawk's reaction to a public ceremony.
"But there are ribbons," Minourkos protested. "May we at least send the ribbons to you and Miss Nystrom?"
I grinned. "Why not? Are you back in the penthouse now?"
"I am moving out of the place," Minourkos said. "This episode has made me realize that a man cannot and should not hide himself from the outside world. I believe I may still have much to contribute to my country, and I can accomplish the most by personal contacts. Which brings me to another reason for my flying here to see you."
I sipped my ouzo and looked over at Minourkos. I liked his face. He was a man you could respect. "What's that, sir?" I asked.
His dark eyes looked into mine. "I owe you my life, Nick. But more than that, I like you. I like the way you operate. I want you to come to work for me. I want a man to oversee my security system and to be at my side when I wish to talk to a real man. I need you, Nick."
I started to speak, but he put a hand on my arm.
"You would have a salary that I'm sure you would find more than sufficient. And I would give you stock in the shipping lines. I'm not going to live forever. You could end up very wealthy."
I clasped the hand on my arm. "I'm sorry, Mr. Minourkos…"
"Nikkor."
"All right, Nikkor. I'm sorry, but I can't."
"Why not?"
I took a deep breath and let it out I stared out over the blue harbor to where a glistening white cruise ship in the distance was making its way toward us. "It's hard to explain," I said. "I tell myself several times a year that I'm insane to keep on in this work, that it's a thankless job, that nobody gives a damn. But people do give a damn. And, despite the bad pay and the long hours and the danger, it's a part of me. It's what I do best, Nikkor. It's where I'm needed most."
There was a long silence. A gull flashed its wings in the sun. Finally Minourkos spoke. "I understand."
A moment later, Erika was beside the table with a London paper. "I don't know how they can fly these here every day and charge so few drachmas for a copy," she said.
"Any mention of Stavros?" I asked.
She held the paper up so that we might read the headline: GREEK COUP THWARTED, There was a picture of Minourkos.
"Maybe this will raise the price of your stocks," I said, smiling.
I rose and put an arm around Erika. I was going to take a couple of days at the Rhenia with her, no matter how hot David Hawk got under the collar. I figured we were entitled to it.
"We're heading back to the hotel," I said to Minourkos. "Like to walk with us?"
He shook his head. "I think I know when two people want to be alone. I will just sit here until plane time, thank you, and watch that cruise ship come in. I always liked to watch a fine ship move gracefully into harbor."
"Then goodbye, Nikkor," I said. "Maybe our paths will cross again under better circumstances."
"Yes," he said.
