Ник Картер - Assassin - Code Name Vulture

“This is a great shock, Nikkor,” Kriezotou said. “I wish Anna were here. She is visiting her cousin in Piraeus.”

“It is perhaps better this way, Vassilis,” Minourkos said.

“Dhen katalave no,” Kriezotou remarked. “Is everything all right with you? You appear pale.”

“I am fine,” Minourkos answered. “Thanks to these people.”

The general glanced at us. “Nikkor, all this has been so strange. Your refusing to see me when you started your — may I speak freely?”

“Yes, freely,” Minourkos said.

“Well, I did not understand your asking help in such an important mission without a personal meeting. Frankly, I have been quite upset about all this. I am not convinced of the advisability of a—”

“Coup?” Minourkos completed the sentence.

Kriezotou glanced at us again. “Well, yes.” He kneaded his big knuckles. “I have given instructions to the men at the special camps at Delphi and Mykonos, and I have persuaded Adelria and others that your new cause is just, but—”

“But you don’t believe it yourself?”

Minourkos asked hopefully.

Kriezotou lowered his head. “Me sinhori te, Nikkor,” he said. “I am sorry, but I do not think Greece needs another coup. I have done what you asked, but I have wanted to speak with you about all this, person to person, from the beginning those many weeks ago.”

“Do not worry, Vassilis,” Minourkos said in a soothing voice. “I do not wish a coup.”

Kriezotou’s face registered shock for the second time in a brief period. “No?” he said. “You have changed your mind?”

“Vassilis, I have to explain something to you, and I want you to listen carefully,” Minourkos said.

Kriezotou sat back in a big chair and listened as Minourkos told him the whole story. Kriezotou did not interrupt once, although incredulity passed across his big face a few times. When Minourkos was finished, Kriezotou just sat there and shook his head slowly. He reached into a pocket and produced a string of worry beads and began thumbing them through his fingers.

“Incredible!” he finally said.

“But true,” Minourkos said.

“General, we’re here to stop this man for good, and we need your help. Only you can give us last minute inside information on Stavros,” I said.

Kriezotou finally got hold of himself. “Of course,” he agreed. “I will do everything I can. I am so relieved that Nikkor is not behind this!

“A smear campaign is in progress through one newspaper, and most of it is directed against Colonel Anatole Kotsikas. It has even been suggested that Kotsikas is a traitor and owes his allegiance to Moscow. This is not true. Kotsikas is liberal, but he is not a Communist He is the moving force behind the recent political reforms and the sponsor of the forthcoming general elections.”

“Anybody else?” I asked.

Kriezotou sighed. “Yes. The attacks have also been directed against the men who generally vote with Kotsikas — Colonels Plotarchou and Glavani. In fact, the man who poses as your secretary, Nikkor, came to me recently with the information that all three of these men are to be — murdered.”

Erika and I exchanged looks. Stavros was getting down to his business. His kind of business.

“Do you know anything specific?” I asked Kriezotou.

“Well, a little. I was asked to arrange for a meeting of these three men with yourself, Nikkor. But then the man I thought was your secretary called. He said that they were arranging the meeting for the penthouse. I believe it is at this meeting that an attempt will be made on the lives of the three colonels.”

“We have to find out exactly what Stavros has planned and when,” I said.

“Yes,” Kriezotou agreed. “I have been absolutely frantic about this. I could not believe that you wanted this.”

“It will all be well,” Minourkos assured him.

I wished I could agree with him. It appeared Stavros was on the verge of a bloody takeover, and we had to stop him before it happened. “Call the junta leader Kotsikas and try to find out whether the Stavros people have contacted him,” I said to Kriezotou. “Don’t mention the possibility of assassination yet.”

“Very well,” Kriezotou replied. “Kotsikas may talk to me. I will certainly try.”

“And you, Mr. Minourkos,” I said, “are going to be able to help, too. You can get in touch with the leaders of the two bases where Stavros’ military groups are being kept. I suspect that if the Athenians were to give Stavros any trouble when this multiple assassination is supposed to occur, Stavros would try to move these special troops to Athens very quickly to quell any reaction. I would like you to tell the leaders at these camps to stay there and not to move their troops unless they hear from you personally.”

“Very well, Mr. Carter,” Minourkos agreed.

“It’s pretty clear that Stavros cannot just kill these men without some subterfuge.” I looked over at Kriezotou. “Do you think he might try to make the whole thing appear an accident or the work of some radical political group?”

Kriezotou arched his graying brows. “Either that, Mr. Carter, or he will try to throw some dirt on them in the way of propaganda just before he kills them so that they will have lost the sympathy of the people.”

The three of us returned to the hotel. Minourkos had wanted to stay with Kriezotou, but I had been afraid that would be too dangerous. If for any reason Stavros distrusted Kriezotou, he might storm into the general’s residence without warning. I didn’t want him to find Minourkos there if he did.

We had a meal sent to Minourkos’ room and afterwards Erika and I went to her room. We soon got around to discussing Stavros.

“I just can’t sit here and wait to see what Stavros has in mind for the junta leaders,” I said as we sat on a small sofa sipping brandy that Erika had ordered.

Erika moved against me. She kissed me gently on my cheek. “You can’t just storm into the penthouse, as you yourself said,” she commented. Her long hair glinted in the dim light.

“No,” I said, moving a hand onto her thigh. I turned to her, and we kissed lightly. “But I can go to the penthouse and try to get inside. I might be able to get a look at their defensive set-up.”

She kissed my cheek and neck, and a small chill, a pleasant one, inched along my flesh.

“How would we manage that?” she asked in that throaty voice while her hand started unbuttoning my shirt.

“We wouldn’t,” I corrected her. The hand was becoming very distracting. “I would go up there alone on some ruse.”

A long, white thigh slid over my lap, and her dress hiked up exposing the beginning of a rich curve of buttocks. Her hips moved against me. “But I would like — to go with you.”

The warm lips touched mine again. Her tongue moved delicately to my mouth, probing and seeking. Her right hand had moved much lower and found what it was after, and I couldn’t think of Adrian Stavros anymore.

“I’m going alone,” I whispered. “Tomorrow.”

I reached into her dress and caressed her breasts. The sweeping curves were soft yet firm, pressing eagerly against my touch.

“All right, darling,” Erika breathed into my ear.

“Good,” I said softly. “No more arguments.”

“Would I argue with you,” she said, pressing her mouth to mine.

The kiss was a long one, and Erika was ready. When it was over, she began undressing me. I took over, and she got up and walked to the big double bed across the room. She pulled the dress off, then the bra and pink bikini panties. She was vibrant and beautiful. Every curve of her body was perfect. She flung herself onto the soft bed and lay there waiting for me. I didn’t delay. In another moment I was beside her on the bed, reaching and grasping and touching her body, feeling it melt against mine as the passion built in both of us.