Andreas stared. He knew this man. ‘Sergey?’ Andreas did not lower his gun.
The rear door opened and out stepped a silver-haired man in an impeccably tailored Italian suit. ‘Need I drop to the pavement, too, my son?’
‘Not sure yet. What are you doing here?’
By now, police were everywhere and the military was aiming at everyone. ‘I don’t think this is the appropriate environment for the conversation I’ve come to have with you.’
Andreas realized he still had his gun pointed at the two on the ground. He said to one uniformed cop, ‘Search those two,’ and to another, ‘Check the vehicle.’ He gestured to one of the men with an M-16 to keep it locked on the two on the ground, then holstered his weapon.
He stared at the Protos. ‘I have a place to talk, but just you and me, not your boys.’
‘Chief, this one is carrying.’ The cop was pointing to Sergey.
Not surprised, thought Andreas. ‘What about the other one?’
‘Clean.’
‘This is clean, too,’ said a cop getting out of the Suburban.
‘Hold these two cuffed in a cruiser until the-’ Andreas stopped himself. ‘Until this gentleman and I come back. Everybody else, thanks, and you can go now.’
He turned to the Protos. ‘Why all this cloak and dagger, engine running, open the door but don’t get out dramatics?’
The Protos shrugged. ‘Your office said you were on vacation, and your doorman said you were out but probably would be back sometime after lunch. I decided to wait for you here, and the driver kept the engine running for the air conditioner. You came back earlier than we expected and when we realized it was you, Sergey started to get out but I told him to wait until you were inside the building. I wanted our meeting to be private. I didn’t want to start a conversation on the street, but you surprised me when you sent your wife inside alone and drove off.’
Andreas shook his head. ‘All you had to do was return one of my calls. It would have saved me one hell of an explanation to my-’ he paused again, ‘to Lila about why I rammed her car into yours.’
The Protos smiled. ‘Your explanation actually may be more difficult to make than the one I’ve come to deliver to you. Come, my son, lead the way and I shall explain many things.’
They were sitting in Lila’s study, looking out toward the Acropolis. Andreas, the Protos, and Lila.
‘My son, I’m not sure this is appropriate for a woman to hear.’
‘Your Holiness, in your house I respect your ways, in my home I must ask that you respect mine.’
‘As you wish.’ The Protos drew in and let out a deep breath. ‘I do not know where to begin. Not because I haven’t thought of what I am about to tell you, but because I don’t know where the beginning is.’ He nodded for a moment, just staring out the window. ‘Vassilis was my dearest friend, going back to our days in school. He tried to warn me about the scourge we faced.’ He turned to Andreas. ‘But you know all of that.’ He let out another breath.
‘The scourge is gone, or so it seems. He left his monastery Sunday morning, the moment its doors opened, and took a boat to Ouranoupolis. He borrowed a seaman’s clothes, left the man with all that linked him to life as a monk, and has not been seen since.’
‘I assume you’re talking about Zacharias,’ said Andreas.
The Protos nodded.
‘Has he fled or is he dead?’
The Protos shrugged. ‘I have no idea. As long as he does not return we are blessed.’
‘What about all those people he butchered in the Balkans?’ It was Lila.
‘His ultimate judgment is in the hands of God.’
Andreas hoped Lila would let the subject drop. He knew she had strong feelings on the subject of war criminals. Lila looked down at her nails and said nothing.
‘So, Your Holiness, what does all this have to do with me?’
The Protos nodded. ‘You were our savior.’
Andreas looked at Lila, then back at the Protos. ‘That’s a bit much, isn’t it?’
The Protos shook his head. ‘No.’ He looked back out the window. ‘When I realized who was behind this-’
‘Why can’t you just say his real name, or at least call him Zacharias?’ Lila sounded testy.
‘Because, my child, that name was a monk’s name and this was not a monk in spirit, heart, or soul. He does not deserve to be addressed or spoken of with the same words as revere the memory of a man such as Kalogeros Vassilis. I cannot say his name and never shall. He destroyed much and came close to destroying all.’
‘All?’ Lila’s tone hadn’t changed.
‘If who he was, and what he had done, became public, it would have inflicted irreparable wounds on the church.’
‘You mean on the church’s current leaders.’ Lila wouldn’t stop.
‘I mean on the institution of the church. Its leaders did nothing wrong. We did not know his past, we saw a man gifted in bringing men together, working tirelessly without seeking glory, fame, or recognition for himself.’ He paused. ‘Our error was that we never saw the devil among us. Only Vassilis recognized the false prophet.’ His head sank to his chest. ‘And he died trying to warn us.’
The Protos looked up at Andreas. ‘When I realized what he was I knew we were not equipped to deal with someone of such horrible, ruthless cunning without dooming ourselves openly before the world. He had created a network of followers across our Holy Mountain more loyal to him than to their abbots, and in some cases the abbots themselves had fallen to him. It was an infection we could not treat until rid of the source. That was when I reached a decision. You were the only one who could free us of this scourge, but only if you believed you were being forced to let him escape, that the power of the government — and the church — would allow him to go on, that there would be no justice for his crimes.’ He paused. ‘You have a thirst for vengeance and an ability to achieve it that I do not.’
Lila’s face was livid. ‘What you’re saying is that you used your influence to shut down the investigation to make it seem nothing would be done to Zacharias, just so you could deceive my… my unborn child’s father into risking his life to go after someone you wanted out of the way? Make him your own personal avenging angel? Or would you rather continue with your “savior”…?’ She was glaring, but let the sentence trail off.
The Protos stared at Lila. His face was sad. ‘I don’t see it that way. I see your unborn child’s father as slaying the dragon of Satan. Something no one without sin could have done.’
Andreas wanted desperately to lighten the tone. ‘Now you’re calling me a sinner. I preferred the other titles.’ He said it with a smile.
The Protos forced a smile. ‘You live in a world foreign to me, foreign to many both in and out of the church. We must rely upon others to protect us from the evil of that world, and to serve as judge when necessary — rendering the harshest of judgments at times, because it is the fair judgment and one that must be made. That is why I turned to you. To be our shield and our sword.’
‘Sounds like a speech to the Crusaders,’ Lila mumbled under her breath.
If the Protos heard her, he didn’t react. ‘Please, believe me when I say I am not here to do anything more than thank you for saving our church from certain tragedy, and for bringing the killers of my close friend to justice. I live amid a world that many think is…’ he seemed to be searching for a word, ‘ unsoiled.’
Lila perked up, but did not interrupt.
‘Whether or not I agree is not important, only that I realize no one from that world could have done what you did.’
‘That was an interesting and, I must say, unusual word choice, Your Holiness,’ said Lila.
The Protos smiled at her. ‘I’d thought you might grasp its meaning. You’re a very smart woman.’
‘And a fan of anagrams.’
He stood.
‘Now, there is only one more thing left to do.’ The Protos reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a cross. He waved it above their heads. ‘May the Lord bless you with long, healthy life and happy, healthy children. Make that “many happy, healthy children.” Amen.’