Mavros thought about that, then was interrupted by his phone.
‘We’ve got some of them,’ Yannis said. ‘But not your friend.’
‘Can you find out where she’s been taken?’
‘Already done that. Kornaria, I’m afraid. They were hired by someone from the village. I don’t think they know his name.’
‘Shit!’ Mavros said, glancing at Cara. For all her poise, she didn’t look like a movie star right now. ‘All right, meet me at the clinic.’ He led her to the Jeep by a roundabout route, in case there were any more headbangers lying in wait. ‘You know,’ he said, as they got into the vehicle, Cara on the driver’s side, ‘I’ve got a family place round the corner from here. You could hole up there.’
‘What, you think I don’t want to be in at the end of this?’ she countered.
‘Those fuckers have got Maria, remember?’
Who was probably also in Kornaria, Mavros thought — the very place he couldn’t go if he wanted to stay alive.
He directed the actress to the clinic, asking her what she thought Luke Jannet would do if they released him.
‘Go back to the set,’ she said bitterly. ‘He’s brazen enough to deny anything we say.’
‘But how can he expect you to finish the movie after the way he treated you in Roufos’s suite?’
She laughed. ‘He’s right about there being plenty of young actresses who would do anything — and I mean anything — to take over from me. Rosie being the producer makes that even easier.’
‘What about the cost?’
She glanced at him. ‘You get the idea they’re short of money? Besides, there’s insurance if performers have breakdowns, which is no doubt what they’ll say about me. Bye bye career.’
‘Screw that. I’m not letting a bunch of dope-dealers trample over everything that’s decent on this island. Plus, your career’s worth a lot.’
‘Why, thank you!’ Cara said, her teeth shining in the glow from the street lamps. ‘Don’t worry, I can look after myself.’
‘I noticed.’
She pulled up outside the clinic. They met Yannis and the Pig in the foyer, and then Mikis’s parents.
‘He’s awake!’ Eleni said, with a broad smile. ‘They don’t think he’s going to need an operation after all.’
‘That’s wonderful,’ Mavros said, shaking their hands.
‘We heard about your Niki,’ Haris said. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get her back.’
Mavros wasn’t clear about how that would be achieved but, before he could ask, Cara steered him away to a treatment room. Doctor Stavrakakis was in the corridor.
‘I don’t believe it,’ he said. ‘What is it with you, Mr Mavro? Maybe I should check you for head injuries, and I don’t just mean recent ones.’
‘No time, Doc,’ Mavros said. ‘This is a matter of life or death.’
‘All right, my friend. Get yourself cleaned up.’
A nurse duly did that, telling him to close his eye as she sprayed anaesthetic on his lower forehead. He felt all four stitches going in, but he didn’t shed tears in front of Cara — for some reason that was important to him.
‘Any idea where Rosie might be?’ he asked the actress, as the dressing on his neck was changed.
She looked at her watch. ‘Nearly dinner time. She could well be in the hotel. Or on her way to a restaurant in town’
Mavros took out his phone and asked Renzo Capaldi. The security chief called back shortly and said that Ms Yellenberg had been seen leaving with an unknown man half an hour earlier. They hadn’t used a Tsifakis vehicle. He told Cara.
‘You think she’s gone to Kornaria?’
‘I’d say it’s pretty likely,’ he replied. ‘Thanks,’ he said to the nurse, taking the painkillers she handed him. ‘I’m going to get addicted to these soon.’
‘If you live long enough,’ Cara said.
‘Very funny,’ he said, suddenly realizing the magnitude of what he was up against. Niki had been foolish to come to Crete, but he loved her and he wasn’t going to let her be abused or worse in the mountain village.
The Tsifakises were still in the reception area, in a huddle with Yannis and the Pig.
Eleni peered at his eye. ‘That looks painful.’
He held up painkillers, two of which he had dry-swallowed.
‘Where’s Luke Jannet?’ he asked.
‘They’re putting a cast on his forearm,’ Haris said. ‘Christos is keeping watch.’
‘Any thoughts about what we do next?’ Mavros asked the Cretan. ‘Preferably ones that don’t involve my or anyone else’s death or serious injury.’
Mikis’s father nodded solemnly. ‘We’ve been talking about that and we think we have a solution.’
‘All right,’ Mavros said, heading for a line of chairs. ‘I may be half blind, but I’m all ears.’
TWENTY-THREE
Mavros agreed with Haris Tsifakis that the main convoy of vehicles would aim to reach Kornaria at four a.m., when most people would still be asleep. Scout groups led by Yannis, Christos, and the Pig set off earlier, using little known tracks that would enable them to approach the village from the eastern side. The men would have to carry heavy loads over rough ground at the end, but when he saw the crowd in the Tsifakis depot, Mavros had no doubt they were up to the job. Luke Jannet had been locked in a windowless storeroom with a man on the door.
‘What about the sentries on the main road?’ he asked.
‘Don’t worry about them,’ Haris said, with a broad smile. ‘Need to know basis.’
Mavros didn’t argue the point. The only chance he had of getting Niki back was in the hands of the Cretan. Besides, he had other things on his mind. Hildegard Kersten had called him half an hour before.
‘Alex,’ she said, her voice wavering, ‘I want you to give up the case.’
‘What?’ He was instantly guilty about not having devoted more time to Rudolf Kersten’s murder. ‘I’ve been delayed, but don’t worry, I’m getting to the bottom of it.’
‘No,’ the widow said, her voice now firm. ‘I forbid you to investigate any further. And Alex, you must promise me one more thing. Whatever you do, don’t go to Kornaria. There’s. . there’s nothing for you in that accursed place but death. Do you hear me? Don’t go anywhere near it.’
‘What’s happened, Hildegard? You don’t sound well.’
‘Well?’ she said, with a tremulous laugh. ‘Soon I will be burying my husband, the hero who helped rebuild this part of Crete. Soon. . oh, never mind. Go to the good, Alex.’
Mavros had been puzzled by the call. Hildegard didn’t sound like the calm and controlled woman she had been even in recent days. What had the widow found out to change her mind so radically about her husband’s death? And why was she so adamant about Kornaria? As far as he knew, the couple’s only connection with the village was that their tormentor, David Waggoner, lived there.
Not long afterwards, he received a call from Niki’s mobile. Heart thundering, he answered it, speaking her name.
‘Your Niki is safe, Mavro,’ came a voice he recognized — it was that of Dhrakakis, the mayor. ‘For the time being. I propose a trade. Luke Jannet for her. But you, and only you, must come with him.’
‘How do I know you’ll keep the bargain?’ he asked hoarsely.
Dhrakakis laughed. ‘You have to trust me. We Cretans have a deep-rooted sense of honour.’ His tone hardened. ‘Be here by midday or you’ll hear the woman die on your phone.’ The connection was cut.
‘What is it, Alex?’ Cara asked, taking in his expression.
He told her what had been proposed.
‘You can’t do that!’ she exclaimed. ‘They’ll kill you and Niki as soon as you give them that shithead Luke.’
‘It’s possible,’ Mavros said, going to Haris and speaking to him in a low voice. Shortly afterwards, the Cretan slapped him on the shoulder and called over one of his associates.
Mavros spent the next fifteen minutes on the phone to Athens police commander Nikos Kriaras, the man who had recommended him to Luke Jannet. Kriaras was unimpressed at being called so late, but he was soon hooked. He agreed to give Mavros’s idea consideration and talk to his contacts in the Ministry of Public Order. The sting in the tail was that Mavros gave him six hours to come up with the goods, or word would be passed to the press that the authorities had refused to take action in a double kidnap by the most notorious villagers in Crete.