He led her around the corner and up a flight of stairs to the veranda of a bar overlooking the sea, the windmills, and sunset. Many thought it the most romantic view in Mykonos. That wasn't his reason for coming there. He came because it was filled with tourists. He chose a table in the easternmost corner of the place; that way everyone would be looking away from them at the sunset.
'Are you ready yet to tell me why you're here?' He was looking at her eyes; her sunglasses were off.
She looked back. 'I kept calling and leaving messages at your office. I wanted to know our plans for coming here. You never called back, and when I called your secretary, all she said was you were unavailable and she wasn't sure when you'd be free to return my call. I left two more messages on your phone. One, that I'd been captured by terrorists who threatened to cut off my toes if you didn't call back immediately, and another, that I'd meet you at the usual place and please wear black leather.
'You never check your messages, do you?' Anger was in her eyes.
Andreas grumbled something unintelligible.
'I figured you decided to go to Mykonos without me, or were too busy to be bothered talking to me. Either way, my decision was easy. I caught the Sea Jet from Rafina and, voila, I'm here. If you'd called back, I'd say, "Surprise, I'm here, where are you?" and if you didn't, big deal. I'd spend a day or two on Mykonos. I was sure I'd find someone on this island who wouldn't mind my company.' The anger now was in her voice.
He shrugged. 'What do you want me to say? There are too many coincidences involving you.'
She started to get up. He thought she was going to walk out again. Instead, she sat back down, shut her eyes for a few seconds, and opened them. 'You mean bumping into you in the harbor. I just got off the Sea Jet. Check the schedule.'
'That's one.'
'Okay, what exactly are you talking about?'
'I can't tell you.'
She patted the table with her right hand. She nodded. 'Can't tell me.' She nodded again, drew in and let out a breath. 'Andreas, you owe me. I expect you to tell me why you don't trust me.' Her voice was calm.
He swallowed. 'Okay. One example. Within an hour after you told me that Kostopoulos was on Mykonos, someone told the bad guys the same thing.'
He could tell she was struggling to restrain herself. 'And you think I told them?'
His face tightened. 'That's possible. Though I want to think it's more likely you mentioned it innocently to someone, and that's how it got back to them.'
'I see. I'm a dumb, gossiping bimbo who doesn't realize what she's saying?'
'I didn't say that.'
'Or does just the fact that I'm a woman mean the same thing to you big, strong, all-knowing, macho Greek men?'
Andreas decided not to answer.
Lila reached over and patted Andreas' arm; it wasn't an affectionate gesture — more like an enough-of-your-crap one. 'Andreas, you have a lot of serious "trust issues,"' she flashed quotation marks with her fingers, 'but that's not my problem. I'm not your shrink… or your girlfriend.' She paused. 'What upsets me is that you're judging my character based on your hang-ups. I'm trying to help, no more no less. You came to me. Remember? And I didn't want to help. Remember? Unless you think I'm a magnificent actress playing out a part in this conspiracy, you have absolutely no reason to lump me in among the "not to be trusted."' Lila flashed her fingers on each of her final four words, dropped her hands to her lap, and stared out to sea.
Andreas looked at the ceiling, then back at her. 'So, how did they find out?'
'How should I know? You're the cop.'
He drummed his fingers on the table.
She started talking. 'There are a dozen possible ways. A hundred. I found out by speaking to his hairdresser. Who knows what Christos might have said to someone after our phone call? He chit-chats with practically everyone who is anyone in Athens. But forget about him, what was Kostopoulos doing on Mykonos? Hiding in some cave?'
Andreas paused. 'No, not in a cave. You know he was in his home.'
'Brilliant. Last place anyone would think to look for him. At home. And I bet he's kept a low profile, nothing to attract attention from anyone happening to pass by his place.'
Andreas thought of the Hummers and the major. 'But it's not a place where people just happen by. You don't even see his house until you're on his property.'
'Even from the sea, by a fisherman?'
Andreas shrugged.
'What about gardeners, delivery men?'
Andreas shrugged again.
'And his household staff? I can't imagine him without at least a half-dozen. And all of them talk about their employers. It's part of their DNA. Finding good help these days is virtually impossible, finding help that won't talk is impossible. There's a pecking order among domestic help just as competitive and hierarchical as their employers' high-society networks. Maids and cooks trying to impress each other brag as much as Athens' most aggressive social climbers, but instead of exchanging boasts over wealth, it's all in the confidences they have to share about their bosses.
'All it took was for one maid from his house to mention to a domestic working elsewhere that her boss, the famous Zanni Kostopoulos, was on the island, and every domestic would know. And sooner or later they'd all find some way to pass the gossip on to their employers. Just to let their bosses know how plugged-in they are to what's going on in everyone else's home. And how much they should be appreciated for their discretion in safeguarding their own employers' secrets.
'Do I have to tell you how many old-line Greek families have homes and staff here on Mykonos? Any one of them could have been the source of the tip to your "bad guys."' More finger quotes.
'And another thing-'
Andreas put up his hand to stop her. 'No need to say more. You've convinced me. I'm sorry.'
She let out a breath. 'But I have so much more to say.'
'I bet.' He smiled.
She smiled.
They ordered a bottle of wine and watched the sunset in silence. Both looked to need the break.
17
Kouros and two cops from his GADA unit followed Demon to the Omonia metro station. They lost him in the crowd on the platform but found him at the far end, next to a pillar. Kouros didn't realize what Demon was doing until he saw an angry look on the face of the guy standing behind him. They'd been talking. Thirty seconds later Demon was standing alone by the pillar and the guy was heading toward a train about to leave the platform.
'Stay with Demosthenes,' Kouros told the two cops and scrambled for the train. Luckily the guy was in the next car and couldn't see Kouros struggling with the closing doors.
Two metro trains and about an hour later, Kouros and the guy were at Athens' Venizelos International Airport. The guy walked past the ticket counter to the boarding pass checkpoint line for domestic and EU departures. Kouros stayed back, watching. After the security guard let the guy through, Kouros hustled to the head of the line and showed his badge to the guard, but the guard wouldn't let him pass. Kouros got the attention of a supervisor when he threatened to use the guard's laminated ID badge to slice off his nuts. By the time the supervisor realized what was going on, and let Kouros through, the guy was gone.
Kouros was about to return to the checkpoint and begin performing the promised surgery when he saw the guy looking at cell phones in a shop across from a coffee bar kiosk. Kouros sat at the bar with his back to him. He kept an eye on the guy by watching his reflection in shop windows on the other side of the kiosk.