Demon never wanted to play a visible part in the Kostopoulos operation, but there was no one else he could trust to do it. He’d brokered the arrangements privately, as he always did, among disparate groups who would never work together openly. Only he knew each one’s role, and he dared not chance involving another in coordinating the operation. That was how he ended up in the Ramrod.
‘Demon, please, be careful how you hold him.’ He was holding the baby out in front of him, under his arms, as if looking for a place to dump him.
He’d thought of tidying up the only loose end linking him to the murder, but the death of the mother of his child might bring him more attention than letting her live. Besides, Anna had no idea he was the one who set her up, even if the cops should find her. Still …
He smiled. ‘Sorry, I’m not used to babies.’
Anna was glaring at him. ‘So, why this surprise visit at three in the morning?’
Why is she so angry? ‘I felt badly, I haven’t seen you or the baby in days.’
She took the baby from him. ‘Weeks, and he has a name. If you remember it.’
Ahh, that explains it, he thought, no attention. ‘I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.’ He leaned over to kiss her.
She pulled back. ‘I know.’
‘Can you use some money?’
She hesitated.
His face didn’t show what he was thinking: same old Anna, when money comes up, bye-bye principles. He found that reassuring. It’s what kept him interested, her predictability.
‘Sure, we could use it.’ The fire was gone from her voice.
‘Good, put the baby down and come over here. I’ve missed you.’ He put two hundred euros on the table and gestured toward the couch.
Anna hugged the baby as she carried him to the crib, then kissed him, carefully tucked him in, and walked over to the couch. Her face was blank. He touched her breasts, then squeezed them and slid his hand under her nightgown. ‘That’s my girl.’ She just stood there, letting him do as he chose. He pushed her down onto the couch, and within a minute was on her, burying his face in her neck. ‘That’s my girl, that’s my girl.’
He never saw the tears running down her cheek. He was too busy proving to himself how much she still needed him.
14
Lila couldn’t sleep. She had an idea how to find where the Kostopoulos family might be. It came to her several hours ago. She kept peeking at her bedside clock hoping for the hands to move to where she’d feel comfortable making her call.
‘Hello, Christos?’
‘Huh, who’s this?’ The voice was not a happy one.
‘It’s Lila. Lila Vardi.’ She tried sounding perky.
‘Lila … it’s five fucking o’clock in the morning.’ No apology was offered for the language.
‘Sorry, hon, but it’s really important.’
‘Great. You’ll have to wait another minute. Since you woke me up, now I have to pee.’
He was the frankest man she’d ever known, perhaps because he was gay. She stared at the drapes beyond the foot of her bed. They masked the steel gates that rolled down every night, over virtually every window, in virtually every home, in every wealthy Athenian neighborhood.
‘So, what’s so important, kukla?’ He called all of his customers by the Greek word for doll.
She started off saying what everyone in Athens but Christos knew wasn’t true. ‘I know you can keep a secret—’
‘Of course, absolutely.’ His tone suggested indignation that the statement even had to be made.
‘Hon, I have a slight indiscretion to share with you.’ She knew that would have him holding his breath for a juicy bit of gossip. ‘I don’t know who else to turn to for help.’ She held back from sobbing. No need to gild the lily.
‘Kukla, kukla, your Christos is always here for you. How can I help?’
She let out a long breath. ‘Someone asked if I could arrange for them to borrow a rare piece from the museum. They were putting on a very private, ambassador-level dinner party and wanted to use it as the centerpiece. I knew the museum would never agree, but they promised a huge contribution and, well … being who they were … it wasn’t as if they were going to run off with it.’
‘Of course not.’ His voice sounded thoroughly supportive. ‘So, I made some private arrangements.’ Her emphasis was meant to mean she took the piece without asking permission.
‘Yes, yes, I understand. Of course you did. What choice did you have?’
Now she sobbed. ‘I don’t know what to do. I’m in such trouble.’
‘What happened? What can I do to help my kukla?’
She sniffled. ‘Ahh, such a mess, and I really can’t even blame the people. They have so much going on in their lives right now that I’m sure they’ve completely forgotten about returning it.’
‘Of course, I’m sure. Such people would never betray your trust.’
She could tell he was dying to hear the name.
‘I know, but I can’t find them.’
‘What?’
‘I can’t find them, they’re gone. They moved away in the middle of the night!’
‘I can’t believe it. But there must be someone you can speak to. A maid or a lawyer, someone?’
‘Yes, of course, but how can I ever tell any of them of my … uhh … indiscretion. How?’
He paused. ‘I see. But how can I help you find them?’
‘Darling, you underestimate yourself. You are a legend.’
His voice showed that he agreed. ‘Well, thank you, kukla, but still, how can I help?’
‘You are the finest hair colorist in Athens. There is no woman alive who would leave her colorist without at least trying to get her formula to take with her.’
‘Many have tried.’
She guessed he was smirking. ‘So, I’m praying that the wife is your client, or you know who she sees and somehow can find her for me.’
Silence.
‘Christos, is something wrong?’
‘No, not at all. I’m just waiting for you to tell me her name.’
She laughed. ‘You can tell how distraught I am. How silly, it’s Ginny Kostopoulos.’
‘Ouch.’
‘Why “ouch”?’
‘She’s not my client. And she uses the biggest dickhead in Athens. We don’t speak.’
Lila knew whom he meant. Christos was right; he’d never cooperate with her either. ‘Oh.’ Her voice was down.
‘But don’t worry, kukla. All’s not lost.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘There’s still Zanni. He’s been my client for years.’
She perked back up again. ‘No wonder he looks so good.’
‘I wouldn’t go that far, except of course for his hair.’ They both laughed.
‘Do you think you could find out where his family is?’ She held her breath.
‘I don’t know. He doesn’t seem in the mood to talk about his family and I certainly didn’t ask.’
‘You spoke to him? I mean since his son’s death?’
‘Kukla, I’m his hairstylist. Of course we talk; I call him all the time. He says I’m the only one who still makes him laugh.’
Lila laughed. ‘I can imagine.’
‘Where are they?’ She held her breath.
‘I don’t know where they are, just Zanni. He’s alone in his summerhouse. On Mykonos. I’ll be more than happy to call him about the piece.’
She was about to say what piece when she realized her cover story had come home to roost. ‘Oh, god, no. Please don’t do that. There’s already enough trouble in that family. I really should speak just to Ginny. I don’t think her husband knows of our arrangement and I don’t want to start another problem. If you could find out where she is that would be the best way to approach it.’ She spoke so quickly she wasn’t sure he heard it all.
He didn’t seem surprised. ‘Okay, if that’s how you want it. As long as I was able to help my kukla. Anything else, or may I go back to sl
eep now?’ He sounded amused, not angry.
As flighty as he might seem to some, Christos was as skilled as any high-society psychiatrist at feigning concern over the most trivial, insignificant matters that his clients chose to elevate to levels of earth-shattering import. She hoped he’d lump this call into that category and not regard it as worthy of repeating.
They said good night, she hung up the phone, and fell back on her pillow. She turned and looked at the clock. Too early to call Andreas. She stared at the ceiling. What the hell is Zanni Kostopoulos doing alone in Mykonos?
Andreas found a pile of new gossip magazines on his desk. The cover note read, ‘Just in case you’re interested. Maggie.’ She’d earmarked specific pages and each had one thing in common: a photograph of Lila Vardi. From what he could tell, there wasn’t a significant social event in Athens she missed. He stared at the photographs.
The phone rang. ‘Andreas Kaldis here.’
‘Hi, it’s Lila.’
‘My god, I was just looking at your photograph in Hello.’ He wished he hadn’t said that.
‘Flock, touch red.’
He hadn’t heard that superstitious playground phrase since childhood. ‘Yes, flock.’ He smiled and touched a red miniature soccer ball on his desk.
‘I hoped you were in early. I’ve been up for hours dying to tell you what I found out.’
Andreas looked through the magazines at pictures of Lila as she explained how she came up with the idea of calling Christos, and started through them again when she began her word-for-word recounting of their conversation. There she was, sounding like an excited schoolgirl, once more. But she didn’t look much like a schoolgirl in the photographs. He stopped looking and interrupted her when she got to the part about where to find Zanni Kostopoulos.
‘Where is he?’
‘Mykonos.’
‘Mykonos?’ He couldn’t believe it. It made no sense. Why flee Athens to Mykonos? There’s no place to hide there. Well, almost none. ‘Why would he go there?’
‘I’ve been asking myself the same question all night. As soon as the press gets a whiff of his presence, it will be all over the news. Guaranteed. Christos says he’s hiding out in his house, but if Christos knows … Kostopoulos can’t be planning on keeping it quiet for very long.’
Andreas drummed his fingers on the table. ‘Maybe he intends to bury the boy there?’
‘Without the mother? I don’t think so.’ She paused. ‘Maybe he had a fight with his wife and wants to be alone?’
He shook his head at the phone. ‘If we’re right about the banishment thing, Greece is the last place in the world for him to come to nurse his wounds. A lot can happen if the wrong people learn where he is.’
‘What are you saying?’
‘People could get killed. I think I’ll fly over and pay him a visit. Surprise him. Nothing to lose.’
‘Good, when do we leave?’
His heart skipped a beat. ‘What do you mean “we”?’
‘Andreas, I’m the reason you know where he is, and if he does agree to see you and starts talking about Athens society, you won’t know who he’s talking about. But I will. Consider me your interpreter.’
That wasn’t a very good argument. But … he looked at one of her photographs. ‘How’s tomorrow? We can fly over in the morning and be back by late afternoon.’
‘Perfect, just let me know when and where to meet you.’
‘Will do. And Lila … thanks. You did some great work.’
The schoolgirl excitement was back. ‘I’m so happy you feel that way!’
‘But do me a favor. Please don’t try chasing down any other families until after we speak to Kostopoulos.’ He didn’t want her curiosity getting back to the bad guys.
‘Okay. This time I’ll listen to you. Bye. Can’t wait until tomorrow.’
He couldn’t either.
The old man sat at his desk toying with an elaborate silver letter opener. Every so often his gold and lapis cufflinks clicked against the desktop. Kostopoulos was soft, a poseur who’d lost his stomach for real blood and fought now only through lawyers and publicists. At least that’s what the old man had thought, what they’d all relied upon. Where did he find this Spartan heart?
No matter, the killing was necessary. Kostopoulos had brought it on himself. He chose to ignore the judgment of banishment and continued to wage war upon a family that had turned to the old man for help. Such arrogance left no choice; it was a harsh lesson, but one the old man had been certain must be taught. To Kostopoulos and any others who might think to question their authority.
Yet he persists. He must be taught a new lesson, a more meaningful one. Let us hope that this time Thanassis Mavrakis’ grandson is a better teacher.
Demon was back in his favorite apartment. Only he knew it was his favorite. He had three. It was part of his no-routine routine. He’d slept a bit on Anna’s couch, left just after sun-up, and passed a few more hours sleeping here. He never set an alarm. Didn’t have to, he had an internal clock that did it for him. That’s what made the chimes by his ear so unexpected. It was a cell phone, one of a half-dozen he kept around. But this one he only answered, never dialed, and rarely did it ring.
‘Hello?’ He was lying on his side.
‘Do you know who this is?’
‘Yes.’ Demon’s voice was flat, as usual.
‘We have a problem.’
Demon sat up. ‘What is it?’
‘The message wasn’t delivered.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘The message wasn’t delivered.’
Now he understood. ‘Is there a new address?’
‘Mykonos.’
‘Where on Mykonos?’
‘I’m sure you’ll find it.’ The phone went dead.
Son of a bitch. The bastard didn’t listen. He’s still here. Something must be done, and quickly. The attitude of the caller didn’t bother him. He had a right to be pissed. There was a lot at stake. For everyone.
‘The bastard didn’t listen.’ This time he said it aloud. He stood up and walked over to the window. The view wasn’t great, just one apartment building window after another, but he liked the way the sunlight hit his room in the morning.
He knew the Kostopoulos house on Mykonos – he knew everything about him. At least he thought he did. Now, to make that bastard regret the day he was born.
Kouros knocked on the door to Andreas’ office a millisecond before opening it. ‘Chief, we found Demosthenes!’
Andreas could tell no response was required to keep him talking.
‘I got an address for him off his ID. It was a long shot, but we got into an apartment across the street and did a laser-microphone set-up to pick up sounds off his windows.’
‘No phone tap?’
‘We never found any phone records for him. He must use prepaid phone cards, and there was no time to get into the apartment to set something up. Besides, going in might tip him off, and you said don’t take the chance.’
Andreas nodded.
‘We didn’t get set up until seven. Someone matching Demosthenes’ description paid a three a.m. visit on Anna last night, but there was no way of telling if he’d left. Too many back doors to her building for our guys to cover. So, we weren’t sure if he was in his place or not. There was dead silence for about a half-hour, then a phone rang and our boys picked it up. We’ve got photos of him standing at the window.’
‘Anything good?’
‘Not sure, but he was upset. He left the apartment five minutes after the call, and we followed him as far as the university. Couldn’t go in.’ Andreas expected Kouros to start in on the law that forbid police from entering the campus, but he didn’t. ‘On the way over he tore apart a cell phone, dropping pieces of it into garbage cans and sewer grates.’
Kouros placed a plastic bag full of phone parts on Andreas’ desk. ‘Maybe we can nail him for littering?’
Andreas smiled.
‘Even found th
e SIM card. At the bottom of a sewer.’
‘Get all of it to the lab. We might get lucky. Any idea what the call was about?’
‘Only heard his side of it.’ Kouros pulled a mini-recorder out of his pocket. ‘Here’s what we picked up.’ He pressed the play button and the sound of chimes was followed by a series of phrases, separated by pauses, spoken in the same voice:
‘Hello?’
‘Yes.’
‘What is it?’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Is there a new address?’
‘Where on Mykonos?’
Long pause.
‘The bastard didn’t listen.’
Andreas shut his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He took two deep breaths, and opened his eyes. ‘Yianni, we have a very big problem. He’s talking about Kostopoulos.’
‘Zanni Kostopoulos? On Mykonos?’
Andreas nodded and leaned forward. ‘I only learned where he was a little after six this morning and this guy hears about it an hour and a half later.’ He ran his hands through his hair.
‘Do you think they found out from the same source?’
Andreas shut his eyes and opened them again. ‘I sure as hell hope not. But I can’t say for sure.’ He patted, then smacked, the top of his desk. ‘I’m off to Mykonos.’
‘When?’
‘The next flight out.’
‘I’ll go with you.’
‘No, stay here and keep an eye on Demosthenes. My guess is he’s gearing up to go after Kostopoulos again, and it’s going to happen soon. Do whatever it takes, but find out what he’s up to—’ Andreas pointed his index finger directly between Kouros’ eyes, ‘but tell no one what’s going on. Understand?’
‘Maggie?’
‘Trust no one!’ Andreas drew in and let out another breath. ‘Except for Maggie. And tell her to have our phones swept for bugs, just in case.’
Assassins of Athens Page 14
