Mykonos After Midnight

by Jeffrey Siger

  “It’s the contents of Christos’ second safe. The one I didn’t mention in my report.”

  ***

  Anna woke wishing she hadn’t. The celebration of the night before had turned nasty. Sergey insisted on getting drunk and that everyone join in. Then he had sex with her. In front of the other two men. She knew where things were headed, and tried to get out of the apartment as soon as Sergey finished. But the two men grabbed her at the door and brought her back to the bed.

  She didn’t struggle. She remembered what they did to Christos. They hurt her, but other men had done much worse.

  Sergey did nothing to stop them. He sat on a chair by the table drinking his vodka, watching it all. By far that was the worst thing any man had ever done to her.

  She tried rolling off the bed, but the two men were asleep on either side of her. She pushed herself by her elbows toward the foot of the bed. One of the men grabbed her arm. She smacked his hand and cursed him. He let her go and she quickly slid off the bed and onto her feet.

  She felt throbbing, burning pain everywhere down there and feared what diseases those sick bastards might have given her. She stared at Sergey sleeping with his head on the table.

  And you let them do it to me. She staggered to the bathroom and turned on the water to fill the tub. She prayed for a bit of hot water.

  She wondered how she could have been so stupid. How she’d wrecked her chance to get away from scum like this. She stepped into the tub. It was soapy from the residue of past baths never scrubbed clean. But the water was warm. “Thank you, God,” she said quietly to herself.

  She sat down and lay back in the tub, watching the water spill out onto her toes and creep up along the sides of her thighs to above the places of pain and onto her belly. It had reached her chin when the door opened.

  “Good morning, my love.” Sergey was naked. “What a glorious party.” He aimed his penis at the toilet bowel and began to piss. “And it would have been nothing without you.”

  “You miserable piece of shit. How could you let them rape me?”

  “Rape? But I thought you were enjoying yourself so. I know how much you like making love to other men, so I thought why not let our colleagues enjoy you as well.”

  What she wanted to say wouldn’t come out.

  “Besides, those poor men have not been with a woman in a very long time, possibly never with one as beautiful as you. And it was the least we could do for all the generous help they’ve given us.”

  “We! Those degenerate bastards raped me.”

  “But, my darling, you are my girlfriend.” He bent his head forward, shook it vigorously from side to side, and jerked it back up, causing his hair to fall to the sides of his face. “I also suffered watching those men violate you. I, too, sacrificed—have you no compassion for what I endured?”

  She stared at him, the water now up to her lips. She tried to speak but choked on the water. She sat up and turned off the faucets.

  Sergey shook his dick, turned, and sat on the edge of the tub. He stroked her hair.

  “Perhaps, if you hadn’t become so close and special to Christos I would not have let that happen. But you did, and so what was the harm in letting them enjoy you too?”

  “What are you talking about? I came back to you.”

  He nodded. “I know and appreciate that. For without your return I never would have learned of the glorious opportunity awaiting us on Mykonos. A chance for a new beginning.”

  “And for that you let them fuck me! That’s how you show your thanks?”

  He shrugged. “But it would have been such a waste not to let them enjoy you.”

  She started to speak, but he put a finger to her lips. “Shhh, let me explain, my love.”

  He took his finger away and went back to stroking her hair. “Christos would never give up his club. No matter how much money he was offered. Many had tried. It was his life. And no one could rival him. Not because others didn’t know how, but because they would never get permission to do so. Christos owned everyone in government whose approval was necessary to open a place, and not even the largest bribe could shake his grip.” He squeezed a fistful of her hair as if to emphasize his words. She winced and he opened his hand.

  “There was nothing in the harbor of Mykonos to seriously compete with Christos’ place, and as long as he lived, there never would be. Certainly not any by us.”

  “Why do you say that? You never even met the man. You have no idea how he might have reacted if you’d bothered to ask instead of sending those…those beasts of yours. That was your plan all along, wasn’t it? To kill him.”

  Sergey shook his head. “My love, I know how powerful men behave. How they must behave to remain powerful. I intend to be such a man on Mykonos. One other men fear. There cannot be two such men in the same place. It is against the natural order of things.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I had a lot of time to think in prison, having so few visitors. And––”

  “I couldn’t come and you knew that.”

  Sergey put his finger to his lips. “Shhh, yes, yes, my darling. As I was saying, and I often wondered about opportunities outside of Poland and our poor Balkan neighbors for one willing and prepared to do what must be done to seize them.”

  He smiled. “And as if fate were eavesdropping on my thoughts, you showed up on my very first day out of prison bearing a golden goose.”

  “But Christos is dead. How are you going to get what you needed from him now?”

  “His influence died with him, and now it is up to the strongest to step in and take advantage of the vacuum.”

  “The locals will fill it. They’ll never let you in.”

  “No need for you to worry. Christos and his club are no longer relevant. There are better opportunities, and with the right connections and arrangements, the golden goose will be ours.”

  “But I can’t go back to Mykonos. Not after the murder.”

  Sergey shook his head. “I know. It is a shame. And, as I said, a great waste.” He leaned in, kissed Anna hard on the lips, and pulled back. He ran his fingers lightly along her wet skin down to her breasts, cupped them in his hands and squeezed the nipples. “Yes, yes, yes…a terrible waste.”

  He looked into her eyes, smiled, slid his hands up to around her throat and squeezed again, forcing her head underwater as he did.

  Chapter Five

  Andreas carefully avoided touching anything in the briefcase with his fingers. He used the eraser end of a pencil to push around among ledgers, recording tapes, DVDs, CDs, flash drives, photographs and dozens of sealed envelopes.

  “What’s all this?” said Andreas?

  “Like I said, the contents of Christos’ second safe.”

  Andreas spoke through taut lips. “Why didn’t you mention any of this in your report?”

  Tassos tapped his fingers along the open lid of the case, his face angry. “My friend, if you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking…” He paused and gave a broad smile, “I completely understand why. But I assure you those days are behind me. Besides, if I were intent on, shall we say, an unofficial confiscation, the last cops I’d bring in on the deal would be The Lone Ranger and his sidekick.”

  “I thought you didn’t like American western movies,” said Kouros.

  Tassos shot the open palm equivalent of a middle finger in Kouros’ direction but kept his eyes on Andreas. “Do you get my point?”

  Andreas’ face relaxed. “Okay, but what’s in there that’s so important you have us acting like spooks in a B movie.”

  “Fair question. With the aid of a pair of latex gloves I saw enough in the ledgers to explain how Christos managed to keep so many of Greece’s major players and public officials on his side for decades.”

  “If you’re saying you’ve found evidence of corrupti
on, I’m shocked.” Andreas raised his hands as if surprised. “Greek government officials taking bribes? My, my, what is our country coming to?”

  “No one’s going to care,” said Kouros. “All the world knows they’re goddamned crooks.”

  “Thinks they’re crooks,” said Andreas. “But good luck on getting a prosecution. I spend more time trying to light fires under prosecutors than chasing bad guys.”

  “Fellas, give me some credit. If this were just about payoffs we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Yes, the ledgers show a lot of bribes to a lot of important people, but bribes only guaranteed their loyalty until someone else offered the corrupt bastards more than Christos did.

  “Christos’ real influence was what he had on virtually every politician and family in Greece that’s mattered over the last forty years. It’s all described in the ledgers. Enough toxic events and transactions to have them all by the balls.”

  “Come on,” said Andreas. “You can’t be saying that every prominent person in Greece has something that serious to hide?”

  “No, I’m not, but virtually all of them have at least some family member who does. And that’s all the leverage Christos needed. After all, he wasn’t asking to get away with murder or rob the National Gallery. All he wanted them to do was make sure he could run his club without complications or competition.”

  “I wonder if that’s what drew all the movers and shakers to his club?” said Kouros.

  Tassos nodded. “Because they knew if you wanted to be indiscreet, Christos’ place was where you could do your thing and get away with it.”

  “As long as you protected him,” said Andreas.

  “Smart guy,” said Kouros.

  “Dead guy,” said Andreas.

  “Some of his ‘friends,’” Tassos accented the word with finger quotes, “were pretty fucking kinky. Those folks preferred to use his house. From what I could make out from the ledgers, the Marquis de Sade would have been proud.”

  “Do you think he was murdered because of what’s in the briefcase?” said Kouros.

  “Don’t know, but my instincts tell me it’s a hell of a lot more likely he was killed because of what’s in there than because Christos’ girlfriend and her buddies botched a robbery.

  “If I had to guess, I’d say he was supposed to die and the reason for his death is answered by something in the briefcase. As for just what that might be or how it all ties together,” Tassos gestured no with his head, “I don’t have a clue. But one thing I know for sure. If what’s described in that ledger ever gets out, it will bring on an international media shit storm like this country’s never seen before.”

  “Terrific, just what we need. More international press stories screaming about our ‘national character.’” This time it was Kouros using finger quotes.

  “Bad press might be the least of our worries if the blackmail value of what’s in there is as powerful as you say,” said Andreas.

  Kouros smiled. “You mean like a tape recording of our prime minister lip-locked in an intimate cell phone conversation with his lover?”

  “Joke all you want about that old bit of political gossip, but don’t underestimate what the right sort of pressure applied to a politician’s vulnerabilities can achieve in knowledgeable hands.” Andreas nodded at the case. “Did you find anything else interesting in there?”

  “I only looked at the ledgers. Didn’t touch anything else.” He smiled. “I thought it best that I wait for you. But I assume it’s supporting proof for what’s in the ledgers, because next to each ledger entry are categories labeled, ‘dates,’ ‘times,’ ‘names,’ ‘places,’ and ‘storage media.’”

  “Seems pretty well organized,” said Kouros.

  “Looks like Christos recorded or at least made detailed notes of every conversation he ever had with someone of importance. Plus, I’ve a feeling there’s proof in there that people who should have known better did a lot of very stupid things in public at the end of a long night of partying.”

  “Like I said, he was one smart guy. So, where do we go from here?” said Kouros.

  “One place we definitely won’t be going is to Spiros. At least not now,” said Andreas. “He’ll have an orgasm at the thought of how many favors he’ll be owed if he handles things right. The arrogant bastard will blame it all on a robbery gone sour, and with an easy conviction of the girlfriend and her accomplices, close the case without ever mentioning the contents of the second safe. Then he’ll spend the rest of his days reminding the rich and powerful that he was their savior.”

  “Or worse,” said Tassos. “There’s enough blackmail material in here to make him a very, very rich man.”

  “Let’s hope he’s not gone completely over to the dark side,” said Andreas. “But I get your point.”

  “The eleventh commandment. Thou shalt not lead thy boss into temptation,” said Kouros.

  “The first thing we need to do is find out exactly what’s in this massive pile of shit you so kindly dumped in our laps.”

  “That’s going to take a lot of time and we can’t do it here. My friend will be back any minute.”

  “Assuming you don’t mind turning the briefcase over to me, we can do it back in my office in Athens. At least I know that small part of police headquarters is secure.”

  Tassos shut the lid, pressed the locks closed, scrambled the tumblers, and pushed the case across the table toward Andreas. “Done. This mess is now officially yours. Uhh, make that unofficially. By the way, the combination is Tassaki’s birthday.”

  “Nice touch.”

  “I did it in the hope that by the time his next birthday rolls around we might have some idea of what the hell’s going on here.”

  “His birthday is almost a year away.”

  “You’re right. That’s not enough time, I should have said––” Tassos reached for a police radio on his belt. “It’s vibrating.” He tinkered with a dial and brought the communicator up to his ear.

  “What is it?” said Andreas.

  “Three men just robbed the national bank on the ring road. They escaped on motorcycles.”

  “Descriptions?” said Andreas.

  “Foreigners.”

  “That’s a big help,” said Kouros.

  “All approximately six feet tall, Caucasian, muscular, each wearing jeans, long sleeve grey work shirts, light blue windbreakers, work boots and ski masks.”

  “So, what’s the foreigner tie-in?” said Andreas.

  “The one who did all the talking had an Eastern European accent.”

  “What about the bikes?” said Kouros.

  “All yellow, and fast. Probably stolen. They took off north in the direction of the new port.”

  “They’ve probably hooked up with a fast boat and are on their way to who knows where by now,” said Kouros. “The only one with any chance of catching them now is the coast guard.”

  “Don’t be so sure,” said Tassos. “Are you two Athenian desk jockeys up for a bit of old fashioned, down home police work?”

  Andreas looked at Kouros, then back at Tassos. “Why not?” He picked up the briefcase and headed toward the door, “The Lone Ranger and Tonto are always up for a little adventure.”

  ***

  What locals called the “ring” or “new” road was finished in the late 1990s and enclosed a much older inner road that marked the land-based perimeter of the old port area of Mykonos. Beyond the north and south edges of the original town the old road hugged the sea as it made its way north to the villages of Tourlos, San Stefanos, and Houlakia, and south to the village of Ornos. At a turnoff to Ornos Beach the old road split, continuing south to the area of Agios Ioannis of Shirley Valentine film fame, and west, past the island’s soccer stadium, to the steep rocky hills of Canalia peninsula, a modern construction miracle or a development curse, depending upon your point
of view.

  The new and old roads connected south of Mykonos town at Ornos, and north of the town at the sea midway between the old port and the new port in Tourlos. Between those two junctures, and out of sight of the old town, the new road ran up and down hills for approximately two miles in three unequal north, central, and south sections, separated by rotaries at the north and south ends of the central section.

  At the north rotary a road to the west snaked down to meet the old road just above the town, along the way offering the island’s most spectacular views of the majestic old town below. The road east from the rotary passed by the Mykonos hospital, cultural center, and a gauntlet of businesses as it wound its way around brown-beige hills toward the town of Ano Mera three miles away at the heart of Mykonos’ agrarian roots.

  At the south rotary, the road off to the west entered the old town in an area known as the bus station, and with an abrupt left, turned into a flagstone lane that narrowed down over a quarter mile until ending close by the six windmills symbolizing Mykonos. The road to the east led to the airport and police station. Professional and business services, notably banks, clustered around the south rotary, possibly in the belief that proximity to the police station might minimize robberies.

  The new road was a godsend for those seeking relief from choking summer traffic along the old inner road, but to others it was the devil’s work in disguise. The new road offered easy access for armies of heavy construction equipment and building supplies streaming off of ships on their way to undeveloped parts of the island.

  In less than two decades Mykonos went from being a quaint Greek island to a world-class summer playground with an international reputation for a free-wheeling 24/7 seasonal lifestyle and a vibrant tourist-driven economy. As for the traffic, some said it was worse than ever.

  Many saw a golden lining in all the changes. They were the ones who believed that regardless of what might happen to the rest of Greece, Mykonos’ jet set international reputation would continue to bring prosperity to their island. It did not matter what part the devil might have played in creating their modern paradise, for as the world knew, all were welcome to do their thing on Mykonos.