Paul Johnston - The Silver Stain

‘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.’

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.

‘Why are you looking so pleased?’ Cara asked.

‘Never mind. You realize there’s no way you can come with us?’

The actress gave him a foxy smile. ‘I’ve already talked to Haris about that. He said his wife was coming and I could hang with her.’

Mavros swore under his breath. It wasn’t only Cretan men who were one step away from violence. He wouldn’t fancy taking Eleni on in a fight. And the same went for the deceptively dangerous, non-Cretan Cara Parks.

‘It’s your neck,’ he said, shaking his head.

Then his phone rang again. He didn’t recognize the number.

‘This is David Waggoner.’ The former SOE man sounded faint. ‘Listen carefully. I know your woman is in the village, but you must not come up here. They will eventually let her go, believe me. Perhaps your friend Tsifakis can broker a deal. If you appear, you’ll be committing suicide.’

Mavros tried to keep his voice steady. ‘Why the sudden interest in my safety? You and Roufos set those neo-Nazi attack dogs on me.’

‘I had nothing to do with that. My only connection with that repugnant man was over Kersten’s coin collection. I have cut all ties with him.’