“I don’t…know…what…”
Teacher rose to her feet, “You paid him only two-thirds of what we agreed. You stole from me.”
She walked behind him, took something from the man in white, and whispered in Sergey’s ear. “I thought of you as a son.You were my salvation, my chance to escape from Hell. How could you have betrayed me?”
“I did––” His words were lost in a gurgle of blood as Teacher slid the razor-sharp blade across his throat, then drove it repeatedly into his heart.
Covered in blood, she stood panting and staring at the body bleeding out onto the dinner table. She looked across at Wacki, dropped the knife, and went back to her seat at the head of the table.
She reached for her wine glass. She stared at the bloody fingerprints on her glass, and drank. She put down the glass and stared at Wacki.
“I shall take his body with me so that I may bury him at sea.”
She took another sip. “It is a tragedy when one you trust does not prove worthy.”
She stared at Wacki. “That would never prove to be you, would it?”
Wacki’s voice cracked. “No. Never. Absolutely never.”
Teacher nodded. “Good. I will be around far longer than many think. In time someone will take over for me and I hope whoever that is will be able to trust you as well.”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“For whoever follows me will likely be even more ruthless than I. That seems to be the way these days. Show how you can be tougher than your predecessor.”
She paused to take another sip. “I want you to go back to Mykonos and wait. We will forget about this hotel deal. Sergey will simply disappear, the hotelier Lefteris will be disappointed, and rumors will spread but die away.
“Still, a seed has been planted, and the possibility looms in the minds of those who matter that there is great profit to be made for those willing to sell their birthright. We just must be ready for the opportunities. They will come in many forms as Greeks struggle to find a new direction. You shall be my eyes and ears on Mykonos.”
She picked the wine glass and said, “To our future together in paradise.”
Wacki picked up his glass but did not drink, only stared at the body of Sergey.
Teacher smiled. “Don’t worry, the poison was in his glass, not the wine. Chin-chin.”
***
A week had passed and, according to the Mykonos police, Sergey had vanished from the island.
Andreas took it as good news, but remained careful where he parked his car. The best news by far was that Tassos was back to his cantankerous self. At first he’d pondered about calling it quits, taking his pension, and settling down with Maggie.
Maggie’s response to Tassos’ suggestion was instantaneous. “If you intend on hanging around with me 24/7, I’m taking a second job.”
Kouros was packed and all set to leave Andreas’ and Lila’s apartment when his hosts opened the bottle of champagne he’d given them as a thank you gift and began toasting his farewell.
“To no more assholes, just good friends,” said Andreas raising his glass.
“Interesting toast, darling.”
“You’re right. I should have said, ‘To my fantastic wife and her childhood friend, the minister of tourism.”
“Which reminds me, do you think it’s okay to tell her to put the real memorandum of understanding back in the ministry’s files?”
“Not yet. Besides, it’s only going to mean something to someone who gets into her files who shouldn’t be there. The minister knows where the real one is if she needs it.”
“The minister is such a straight shooter…How did you ever convince her to substitute the real memorandum for our phony one?” said Kouros.
“I told her my husband was convinced our lives were in danger if the ‘wrong people’ saw the real one.”
“Speaking of people‘in danger,’ our boss is about to get his balls cut off courtesy of the minister of finance,” said Kouros.
“How do you know that?” said Andreas.
“Before coming here, I stopped by the office to give Christos’ files back to Maggie for safekeeping. She told me she just got off the phone with her girlfriend, the finance minister’s secretary, who said that in connection with the ministry’s ongoing tax fraud investigations her boss was about to release a list of Greek government officials with undisclosed Swiss bank accounts. And Spiros’ name is on it.”
“That should get him a real warm reception in the press,” said Lila.
Andreas shook his head. “I warned him not to come to that meeting with me. I knew that somehow he’d find a way to piss off the finance minister,” said Andreas.
“It’s his gift,” said Kouros.
“Sounds like you two may soon be working for a new minister.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” said Andreas.
“Any more word on Teacher?” said Kouros.
“Nope, and I like it that way. I prefer staying off her radar screen.”
“Funny, isn’t it, how we ended up teaching Teacher a lesson.” said Kouros.
“I think the better word is ironic,” said Andreas.
“Interesting. Did you two know that the word ‘irony’ comes from a stock comic character in Ancient Greek theater?”
Kouros and Andreas looked at each other with blank stares.
“You guys would be perfect for the role. Eiron brought down his opponents by making himself seem less than he actually was.”
Kouros shook his head. “You have us confused with that American TV detective, Columbo.”
“Yeah,” said Andreas. “Here in Greece, cops are more like Sisyphus. Always pushing the same damn boulder up the same damn hill. Sometimes I feel like just letting go, jumping to the side, and watching to see what the hell happens.”
“I think you need a vacation,” said Lila.
“Why don’t you guys come with me?” said Kouros.”It’ll be a blast.”
“Where to?” said Lila.
“To Mykonos, of course,” said Kouros. “Where else?”
Andreas nodded. Mykonos in August. Where else indeed.
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