Jeffrey Siger - Assassins of Athens

The two Cayennes were a hundred yards ahead. The driver floored it. He'd be up to them in seconds. The two other Cayennes were right behind him.

'To answer your question, let me put it in American movie vernacular, "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."' The Old Man smiled.

Demon leaned forward to pick up a water bottle on the floor by his feet. He didn't think that was the right way to negotiate with Kostopoulos, but he didn't have the opportunity to suggest a different approach. All negotiations were peremptorily cancelled by the yellow excavator's refrigerator-size steel bucket.

At top speed, the Liebherr 942 excavator cab spins completely around — with claw-tooth bucket extended — in eight seconds. But it only took two seconds for this perfect, some might say golf-like, swing of the bucket down over the wall, into the Mercedes' windshield, through its insides and out the rear glass. The Cayennes plowed into the mess from behind at fifty miles an hour.

But the tall man who jumped out of the excavator, raced thirty yards to the sea, and leaped into a waiting Zodiac was not a golfer. He'd prefer calling it a perfect assassination.

Kouros walked off the Hi Speed before the vehicles were moving and hustled on foot toward the main road. Christina was waiting for him there because 'traffic was terrible in the port.' He was three hundred yards from the stop sign when the first Cayenne crept past him. Every window in the convoy had dark glass, but he could make out Demon sitting behind the driver through the less darkly tinted rear window.

About fifty yards from the stop sign, a motorcycle shot out from behind a dumpster ten feet in front of Kouros and headed toward the main road. The cyclist was riding in the dirt on the side of the road, but when the first Cayenne turned right he accelerated so that he arrived at the intersection just as the second one turned and cut in front of the limo. It was a damn lucky thing he didn't get hit — or a very professional move.

Kouros watched the limo and Cayennes tear after the two in front. The surreal part played out in seconds: the swinging bucket across the roadway, the explosion of glass, the wrenching of steel, the aftershocks delivered by the Cayennes; the tall man running toward the sea and disappearing with a leap into a boat.

That was how Kouros described what he saw to Andreas. The official investigation didn't yield much more.

Headlines screamed, 'New Terrorist Assault on the Fabric of Our Country,' and everyone ran stories venerating the Old Man and his accomplishments. His funeral was delayed by a day, because the Old Man had left instructions insisting there be a public viewing of his body — and that required spare parts from a theatrical supply house in London. It was attended by virtually everyone in Greece who mattered, or thought they did.

Buried in the stories were the fates of the others in the limo. The driver died instantly. The young passenger miraculously survived the bucket. Evidently he was bent forward when the bucket swept through, shearing off everything above him, but was tragically crippled by the impacting vehicles from behind. He was not expected to survive.

Andreas stopped reading the stories. He long ago gave up on 'the truth will out' or 'justice prevails.' He just did his job. And prayed for Lila to survive. It was a little more than a week later when Andreas received a call from Tassos.

'Hi, I hear Lila is out of her coma.'

'Yes, thank God. About four days ago. Doctors said she's getting stronger every day.' Andreas heard a sniffling sound on Tassos' end of the line.

'That's great. I'm in Athens-'

Andreas interrupted. 'I figured you were from the increased number of smiles on Maggie's face.'

'I'll never tell.' Tassos laughed. 'Do you think it would be okay if I visited Lila?'

'She'd like that.' Andreas paused. 'I'd like that, too. Meet you there in an hour.' He hung up.

He knew how Tassos felt about him. Tassos lost his own son and his wife during childbirth. Yes, Tassos wasn't a cop like his father. But then, Andreas thought, am I? Sure, Tassos had something to do with what happened at the port. Andreas was certain of that. Big fucking deal. In today's world, who knew which of them was doing things the right way? He really should do something about the distance he'd put between them. He knew what Lila would say: it's time to start trusting again.

Andreas arrived at the hospital fifteen minutes later than he said. That would give Tassos all the time he needed to enchant Lila.

'Hi, honey.' Andreas kissed her.

'Ah, the other cop in my life has arrived. You've just lost number-one position to Tassos. I never knew before how much everything you've achieved in life was because of him.'

Tassos smiled. 'Well, almost everything. He did get to you before I did.'

'And a lucky thing for him.'

'Maybe I should leave and give you guys more time alone.' Andreas was smiling ear to ear.

'As a matter of fact, I'm the one who must leave. I have to catch a boat back to Syros.' Tassos leaned over and kissed Lila on both cheeks. 'See you soon. And keep him in line, please.'

Andreas walked Tassos to the elevator. 'So, any more news on our port pancakes?'

Tassos turned grim. 'Don't start with me, please.'

Andreas put up his hand. 'No, no, I'm not going that way with this. Whatever went on there is out of my jurisdiction. Mykonos is your jurisdiction. You're in charge, and I have no interest in what happened other than curiosity. Trust me on that.'

Tassos smiled. 'There's hope for you yet, Kaldis.'

Andreas rolled his eyes. 'Thanks. So, what happened?'

'Bottom line, Kostopoulos did not have as much confidence in the recording equipment as I did. My guess, and it's only a guess, is he was willing to cooperate with your plan and remained cool on the phone with the Old Man because he had his own plans. You should have seen his face when I told him they were coming by boat. He went white as a ghost. The major and his men had been at the airport all day doing God knows what. Kostopoulos took off to find them and that was the last I saw of Zanni until he showed up at the hospital asking to see the Old Man's corpse.'

'Whew.'

'Yeah, he wanted to see all the parts they'd been able to find.' Tassos shook his head. 'As for the scene at the port, that bus blocking the road miraculously started and dis appeared right after the… what did you call it?'

'Pancake party.'

'So, I leave to your imagination whether the bus was a setup to block the only other way out of the port to the Cultural Center. And the construction site wasn't supposed to be working at that hour, so the guy running the excavator wasn't union. From Kouros' description, I think we both know who he was, but Kostopoulos insists the major was with him at the time.'

'Neat, very neat.'

Tassos nodded. 'Want to bet whether the ones who actually killed Zanni's son are still alive?' Tassos waved a finger. 'Don't take it. Bad odds on the negotiator, too.'

'What are Linardos' chances?'

'Pretty good, unless Kostopoulos is suicidal.'

'What are you saying?'

'I don't think the Old Man's cronies in this banishment bullshit missed Kostopoulos' message — delivered on a steel bucket inscribed with the head of their leader — that their potsherd days were over. But that created a problem for Zanni. He doesn't know who the others are, but they know who he is. They're probably deciding right now whether to walk away or put a bounty on his head.'

Andreas smiled. 'How much would it take to get the major's attention?'

Tassos laughed. 'That's why I think Linardos is safe. If Kostopoulos goes after him, that guarantees the others will pay whatever it costs to take him out rather than wait around and wonder if he's coming after them too.'