Assassins of Athens

'Like what?' asked Maggie.

'Like would you… sleep with me, because two minutes after he asked all we heard was…' he looked first at Maggie, then at Andreas, rolling his hand as if trying to mime the word.

'Fucking?' Maggie suggested with a smile.

Andreas ignored them. He saw this as the sort of banter cops needed to stay sane. 'So, Maggie, what do you have for us on Efisio?'

'It's a common first name. Interpol and the Italian police show six from that area wanted on big time kidnapping and murder charges, and not a current possible location for any of them.'

'Wonderful.' Andreas tapped his pencil on the desk. 'What's with this Demosthenes character? What's he up to?' He kept tapping. 'It's pretty clear it's tied in to what our old friend and colleague Tassos Stamatos told me this morning… which reminds me, neither of you is to speak to him about anything.'

He watched Maggie's face drop. 'Concerning this investigation.'

She smiled again.

He waved his finger at her. 'But you better be damn careful.'

'Am I missing something?' It was Kouros.

Andreas waved off the question. 'Okay, Maggie, see if you can find anything else on Efisio. Try going backward from anything we have on his ex-girlfriend, Anna.'

'Will do.'

Maggie left, and Andreas filled in Kouros on his conversations with Kostopoulos and Tassos.

'Seems pretty clear Demosthenes is the link.'

Andreas shrugged. 'If you believe everything Tassos says.'

'You really don't trust the guy.'

'You're one of the few who knows why.'

'Yeah, but he wasn't trying to set you up. You just don't like his ethics.'

Andreas pointed a finger at Kouros' heart. 'Once you make the first compromise, it's so much easier to make a second, and bigger one, and by the third…' he rolled his finger over into circles in the air. 'Bottom line, don't do that first deal with the devil for what you think is just a tiny bit of your soul unless you're prepared to lose the whole thing somewhere down the line.'

It was tough keeping cops straight. Most made less than a thousand a month. All Andreas could do was keep making his point and hope some, like Kouros, got it. He hoped he didn't sound hypocritical, considering the other night.

'Anyway, if Tassos is correct, we have an ultraconservative group looking to keep Athenian society pure involved somehow with revolutionaries hot to bring down the rich. From what we know, that makes Demosthenes our most likely candidate for making both sides happy.'

Kouros nodded. 'He feeds the leftists the rich meat they want.'

'And protects the wacko rich from the revolutionaries by letting the wackos pick who gets slaughtered.'

'How's the paid muscle fit in?'

Andreas shook his head. 'Not sure yet, but from what Kostopoulos told me about getting press clippings along with a message telling him this was what happened to families who didn't leave, my guess is most fled because of psychological strong-arming, not muscle.'

'Quite a monster.'

'Better believe it. Fascists for a head and revolutionaries with retractable, professional killer claws to capture and destroy the prey.'

'What part is Demosthenes?'

'Central nervous system, bringing it all together.'

'More like the asshole if you ask me.'

Andreas grinned. 'So, where do you suggest we go from here?'

'Why don't we bring him in?'

'For what? Being inside a gay bar the night the kid was murdered? He has a room full of alibis. And all we have on tape is Demosthenes asking for an address on Mykonos and the telephone number of some guy from Sardinia. Big deal. Bringing him in only sends the whole operation spinning out of control and underground. We're better off letting him run loose, on a tight leash. He's our only chance of finding whoever's at the head of whatever this is — and cutting the damn thing off.'

'We've got 24/7 coverage on him and the girl. It's up to Demosthenes to make the next move.'

Andreas leaned back and stretched. He yawned, too. He'd forgotten how tired he was. 'Just make sure to be there when he does.'

Kouros left and Andreas buzzed Maggie. 'No interruptions except for Kouros. I've got a lot of work to catch up on.'

'Nitey nite.'

Andreas looked at the phone, then walked over to the couch, pushed some papers onto the floor, and lay down. He kicked off his shoes, and fell asleep to a single thought: Is it just Andreas Kaldis, or is every man transparent to the women who know him?

19

It was tougher than usual finding a phone to use at the university, but Demon did.

'Hello, is this Efisio?' Demon spoke in Italian, using his most conciliatory, solicitous voice.

'Who's this?' In the tone of those two words Demon sensed what Anna feared.

'I have a proposition to discuss with you.'

'How did you get this number?' Menace was the tone.

'Through a mutual acquaintance.'

'Who's that?' Now anger.

'Can't say.'

'Conversation's over.'

Demon panicked. 'Anna, it was Anna.'

Dead silence. Demon thought he hung up. 'Are you there?'

'Where is she?' For an instant Demon wondered if it were the same person; the voice was so unexpectedly calm. As at the eye of a hurricane.

'In time, my friend, in time.' Demon spoke softly.

Efisio exploded. 'She's dead, do you hear me, dead. You, too, asshole, if you don't tell me where she is now!'

Demon felt back in control. He loved it when adversaries lost their tempers. 'That would be a terrible shame, and a loss of a lot of money for you.'

'Where is she, where is the miserable-'

'Now, Efisio, if you don't need forty million euros just tell me, and I'll take my business elsewhere.'

'She's dead.' He did not scream this time.

'Going once…'

'What did you say?' The voice was back to flat.

'Going twice…'

'About the money.' Efisio's voice showed just the touch of anxiety Demon was hoping for.

'Ah yes, the forty million euros. Are you interested?'

'Are you some sort of wacko?'

'If you're willing to meet, you can decide for yourself. You pick the time and place, as long as it's in Athens and by no later than tomorrow.'

'If you're fucking with me…' Efisio was back to threatening, but his tone wasn't.

'I know, don't bother telling me what you'll do to me, but if I'm not, I'm the person who is about to set you up for the rest of your life. That will make me your boss, and I'll expect to be called sir.'

Demon heard a muffled curse, no doubt from Efisio's attempt to cover the phone with his hand, followed by a calmly said 'How do I tell you when and where?'

Demon said a cell phone number and told Efisio to text the details there.

Efisio grunted, 'Okay,' and hung up.

Demon put down the phone and ran his hands through his hair. It was a long time since he'd dealt with someone as out of control as Efisio. The guy probably was a psycho. He must be careful. He knew that ultimately he'd have turn over Anna, and the kid, too, when Efisio found out about him, but not until after he finished the job. Demon shrugged, as if talking to himself. Too bad for them — but shit happens. 'Chief, it's Kouros.' The words came over the intercom. Maggie said them three times.

'Okay, be right with him.' Andreas twisted off the couch, stretched, and looked at his watch. He'd slept for all of forty-five minutes.

He reached across the desk for the phone. 'Yianni?'

'He's made contact.'

Andreas still was a bit fuzzy. 'Who are we talking about?'

'Demosthenes. He spoke to the Sardinian. He went to the university again this morning to make a call. We thought he might, so we set it up to shut down every line but the ones we'd covered.'

'Must have pissed off a lot of people trying to make calls.'