Jeffrey Siger - Assassins of Athens

'Probably for the same reason they worked for the left. Money. They're not ideologues, just muscle working for a payday. Not uncommon. But something, or someone, has brought them together. And I think the link is from the left.' He paused and let out a breath. 'Like I said, "who would have thought?"

The plane was taxiing toward the arrivals area.

Andreas thought whoever could bring right and left Greek extremists together in common cause must be one hell of a statesman. Greek leftists were demonstrating against the government with ever-increasing ferocity, and the right was clamoring for the government to crack down much harder on those responsible for the violence. The country was polarizing at the extremes. If there were someone who could bring those two groups together, that guy would get Andreas' vote for sure, unless he was some general roaring in on a tank. Or responsible for the murder of Sotiris Kostopoulos.

The plane stopped, and people started pulling things out of the overhead bins.

'So, what do we have?'

Andreas shrugged. 'Don't know. You tell me. You're the only one who seems to know the players.'

'Am I?' Tassos studied Andreas' face, then stood and stepped out to block the aisle. He gestured for Andreas to step in front of him.

'Aren't you getting off?' Andreas asked.

'No, the plane is going back to Mykonos.'

'Rather not be seen with me?' Andreas grinned and stepped in front of him.

Tassos smiled. 'Stay in touch.'

The door opened and Andreas headed for it.

'And say hello to Maggie for me.'

She hadn't slept. She no longer slept at night. She barely slept at all. The beautiful, always coiffed and bejeweled Ginny Kostopoulos no longer cared. She hadn't showered in a day, or touched a brush to her hair in two. She just sat with her children while they played, while they ate, while they slept. Never letting them out of her sight. She sat through each night watching them dream, checking their breathing, and whispering memories of her childhood, her first loves, and the birth of her son. She stopped at that point and rewound the loop. Not a word about her husband or her horrid present. She wanted her daughters to hear only happy thoughts.

Ginny looked at the porthole on the other side of their beds. It was sunrise. The children would be up soon. She must speak to the captain about the course. She trusted only herself to set it.

She stared, looking for the horizon. Her husband had promised to protect them; to keep them safe from harm. She believed him, trusted him with her children's lives.

She looked at her sleeping babies. She'd never trust another with their lives. Never. Maggie rarely got to work on time, and Andreas usually didn't care. Today he looked at his watch for the fifth time in ten minutes.

A quick knock and immediately opening door meant Maggie was here.

'Hi, Chief, understand you're looking for me.'

'You're late.'

'Hmm, something must be bothering you.'

He stared at her. 'I have regards for you.'

'From whom?'

'Tassos Stamatos.'

Her face lit up like a three hundred watt bulb. 'Really! What did he say? Tell me everything.'

Andreas was flustered, she seemed to be missing the point. 'Maggie, I have to know if you're talking to him.'

'I wish. It's been years.' She seemed to be swooning. 'Ahh, Tassos. He was the last man I-'

Andreas thrust up a hand. 'Stop, I don't want to know any more.' He was certain Tassos was laughing himself silly imagining this moment. He mumbled, 'Son of a bitch set me up.'

'What?'

'Nothing. Tell Yianni to join us.'

Maggie opened the door and shouted down the hall, 'Kouros, get in here.'

Andreas put his right hand against the side of his face, rubbed it a few times and shook his head. 'What am I going to do with you?'

'Did he say anything else? Please, tell me.'

'Honest, not a word more.' Andreas paused. 'But it was the very last thing he said to me. I'm sure you were on his mind from the beginning.' Andreas said it sincerely; no reason not to make her happy.

'Morning, Chief.'

Andreas nodded hello. 'So, Maggie, did you find anything on the Sardinian connection?'

'The town he mentioned is in central Sardinia among some of the wildest mountains on the island. Its tourist website says 2,700 people live there and that it's known for wines and cheeses. The place goes back to ancient times and has lots of history to it. It's also the source of one of Sardinia's symbols, the mask of Mamuthones. Damn scary looking thing if you ask me. But I think Demosthenes was interested in something a lot scarier about Mamoiada. It's in the area that was home to a ruthless kidnapping industry. Italy had to change its banking laws to limit cash withdrawals and send in the army to stop it. That was in the mid-1990s.'

'Guess that sent a lot of locals back to minding cows,' said Kouros.

Andreas shook his head. 'Not all of them, I'm afraid. Has Demosthenes contacted the Sardinian boyfriend… what's his name?'

'Efisio. Not sure,' said Kouros. 'Don't think so, but he may have a telephone number for him. He went to Anna's apartment about three this morning and asked if she had anything for him. She said "yes," but yes could have meant something else.'

'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.'