Jeffrey Siger - Assassins of Athens

He pulled over to the curb and told Demon to get out. 'Forty-eight hours to get Kostopoulos talking again.' He drove away without voicing another threat. He didn't have to. He'd let Demon off in front of one of the few funeral parlors in Athens.

'It's Yianni.'

'What happened?'

'I followed the guy from the airport. A taxi picked him up and drove him to Kato Patissia. The driver got out at a coffee shop and the guy took his cab. He drove to the metro and picked up Demosthenes. They rode around for five minutes, Demosthenes got out, and the guy went back to the coffee shop. The guy and the driver are having breakfast together. Probably cousins.'

'Any idea what Demosthenes and he talked about?'

'No way of telling. Didn't seem to be arguing. When Demosthenes got out, he just looked around and walked back to the metro. Angelo's with him.'

'Damn it. If they didn't put some real heat on him, nothing's going to happen. No pressure from Demosthenes on the Old Man to meet Kostopoulos, no meeting with Kostopoulos-'

'No recording of the Old Man's confession.'

'Shit.' Andreas tried sounding calm.

'Should we bust the guy?'

'For what, borrowing his cousin's cab? Wish we could, but it's too risky. If he gets busted so soon after meeting Demosthenes, his buddies might get nervous, think things are getting out of control, and decide to blow Demosthenes away. What the hell, odds are guys like that don't live very long, anyway. Occupational hazard.'

'I still don't like letting him get away.'

Andreas smiled. 'Glad to hear that. Me, neither.'

'Hold on, Chief. It's Angelo.'

Andreas tapped a pencil on his desk. Keep your fingers crossed, he thought.

'Demosthenes came out of the metro at Evangelismos.'

Andreas' heart skipped two beats, then started racing. 'My god. That's the stop for the hospital. He's going after Lila!'

Kouros spoke quickly. 'No, no, Chief, he's headed in the other direction.'

Andreas didn't say anything for a few seconds. He let his breathing return to normal. 'I guess I'm more anxious than I thought.'

'Who wouldn't be? If it makes you feel better, I think Demosthenes' taxi ride may have done the trick.'

'Why?'

'Because… sorry, it's Angelo again.' Ten seconds went by. 'Uhh… yeah, because that metro stop is also the one for Kolonaki. And guess where our little Demosthenes is now.'

'Heading for the Kolonaki Club.'

'No, actually he's inside, as of thirty seconds ago.'

'Yes!' and two double fist pumps. 'I'm sorry, if you're not on the list you cannot come in, sir.'

'But I know he wants to see me, please call him.'

'I'm sorry, sir, but the rules do not allow us to do that.'

'Do what?'

'Disturb a member when someone appears unannounced claiming to be invited.'

Demon wanted to kill the pretentious bastard. Didn't he realize he was from the servant class? But Demon needed the idiot. 'I understand. Is there a phone I may use?'

'Certainly.' He pointed to the one on his desk. 'Dial nine first.'

Demon dialed without saying thank you.

An operator answered. 'Kolonaki Club, how may I help you?'

Demon asked for the Old Man and waited.

'Yes.'

'It's me, I'm downstairs. Your doorman won't let me in. Speak to him, please.' Demon handed him the phone without waiting to hear the Old Man's reply.

'Yes, sir. Right away, sir.' The man didn't look happy at Demon making him look stupid. Sorts like him believed people who looked like Demon should know their place — somewhere far beneath his. 'Third floor, second door to the right off the elevator.'

Demon nodded and walked to the elevator. He would take great pleasure in watching that guy kiss his ass someday.

'By the way, I'm not a doorman. I'm the club's concierge.'

Demon didn't bother looking back. 'Don't worry. Soon you will be.'

In the elevator Demon closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. This was the most important performance of his life. He must remain calm. He must stay focused. The doors opened, he walked to the second door to the right and knocked.

'Come in.'

Another quick breath and Demon pushed open the door.

'Welcome, Demosthenes.'

Demon gave a quick look around. He couldn't care less about how the room looked; they all looked the same to him here, anyway. He wanted to make sure they were alone.

'I assumed you wanted privacy. We have it.' The Old Man pointed to the chair beside his. 'So, what has you so bothered, my boy?'

Don't let his patronizing get to you. Stay focused. 'We have a very serious problem.'

'Every day brings serious problems.' The Old Man smiled. 'They are what make life interesting.'

Demon nodded. 'Well put. That's why I came to you for advice.'

He patted Demon's knee. 'So, what's bothering you?'

'The operation in Sardinia did not go as planned. The family got away and all of the kidnappers were killed or caught.'

The Old Man just stared.

'Kostopoulos knows we were behind it. The Albanians and their new Greek mob buddies know we tried to go around them. I just received a very unpleasant personal message giving us forty-eight hours to straighten things out with Kostopoulos or we're all dead.'

The Old Man shook his head. 'Terrible predicament. I wish this had been handled better. I had such high hopes for you.'

Keep your cool. 'I know, and I wish I hadn't dragged you into this. I'll never be able to forgive myself for having brought all this misery into your home.'

The Old Man pointed to his chest. 'My home? What does this have to do with me? You certainly don't think any of them would dare come after me, or my family?' He leaned forward and showed his teeth. 'And if you think you can scare me by saying you'll talk, forget it. No one will believe you.' He leaned back.

'I know, you're absolutely right. Who in Greece would take my word against yours? But then again, I'm not trying to convince Greeks. Well, at least not Greeks according to your definition. I just have to convince some mobsters that you cost them hundreds of millions of euros and one very hard-assed Greek you don't think belongs here.'

The Old Man shrugged. 'I'll take my chances. As far as Kostopoulos knows, this is something between you and hired killers in it for the money. The others, well,' he waved his hands, 'they wouldn't dare come after me on your word.'

Demon leaned back and stretched. 'You are so right.' Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out a metal object, pointed it at the Old Man, and pressed.

The Old Man sat straight up in his chair. 'What are you do-'

'Hello, Demosthenes, do you know my old friend Sarantis Linardos?' It was a tape recorder, and those were the Old Man's words. The tape continued. 'Sarantis, Demosthenes says he is in need of a considerable sum of money in order to resolve a rather messy and unexpected situation involving a family I know you're familiar with.'

The Old Man put up his hand to Demon. 'Stop.'

Demon didn't, and the Old Man's voice continued on the tape. 'Kostopoulos doesn't know about us.'

Demon pressed stop. 'But he will, and this is what he'll hear.'

'We need order and must do whatever is required to achieve it. The Kostopoulos boy's death was necessary. You know that.'

Demon smiled. 'But not just him. Copies of the tape of our entire meeting are in envelopes addressed to every political party, newspaper and television station in Greece, plus of course, CNN, BBC, and whatever international antit errorist organizations I could think of. And, if anything happens to me… yes… you guessed it, voila, they get them. Frankly, once this comes out, I don't think Kostopoulos will want to kill you. He'll be getting too much pleasure watching you and your family being destroyed.'