Jeffrey Siger - Target - Tinos

The gray-haired man looked surprised. “Didn’t think you’d recognize me, Tassos.”

“It’s good plastic surgery, but you still have that habit of tugging hard on your right earlobe when you’re under stress. You ought to work on it.”

Aleksander smiled. “Thanks for the tip.” He looked at the bearded man. “Tell him what he wants to know.”

The bald man said, “But-”

Aleksander raised his hand, the bald man instantly shut up, and Aleksander nodded at the bearded man.

The bearded man cleared his throat. “We had nothing to do with the two on Tinos.”

Andreas nodded. “I’m sure. But what can you tell me about what happened there?”

“Nothing more than you already know.”

Andreas bit at his lower lip and counted to five. “I get it, you had us come all the way out here just so you could whisper those three lovely little words in my ear, ‘we know nothing?’ Don’t take me for an idiot. Two tsigani from a clan in your backyard are incinerated in an execution that made headline news across Greece and you expect me to believe that if you knew nothing about it before it happened you simply ignored it and went merrily along without the slightest concern over who might be next? No, my friend, I don’t believe that for a minute.”

The bearded man glared at Andreas.

Andreas glared back. “I’m still waiting for an answer.”

“Okay asshole.” It was the bald man. “Aleksander wants you to know the truth, so here’s the truth. We would have killed those two if we thought they were behind what’s going on.”

“What does that mean?” said Andreas.

The bald man looked at Aleksander, waited until he nodded, then turned to Andreas. “Someone is organizing something big. And whoever it is doesn’t want us in on it.”

Smart thinking, thought Andreas. Let these guys inside your tent and you’re history.

“ Ians and is from all over Athens are involved. But we can’t get a line on who’s putting it together. If we could-”

The bearded man cut the bald man off, “We wouldn’t allow such a potential threat against our country to go forward.”

Who’s this guy think he is, their lawyer? thought Andreas.

Tassos shook his head. “Guys, I just want to know who whacked those two tsigani. And, frankly, so far I haven’t heard anything to convince me it wasn’t you.”

Bald man said, “We live in Menidi among tsigani. We need each other, and besides, they’re only a small part of whatever’s going on. Singling out tsigani over this gets us into a war with everyone involved. We’re better off biding our time until we find out who’s behind it, then we’ll do what has to be done to put an end to it once and for all.”

He smiled. “And I can assure you that when that time comes the responsible ones will be wide awake and feel the end coming.”

How the hell did he know the two brothers were dead when they were incinerated? thought Andreas.

“I’m still not convinced,” said Tassos.

The bearded man nodded. “I can understand why you might think that. After all, that tsigani clan was going against our interests, so it’s only logical we would want to make an example of them.”

He paused.

“But the trouble with your thinking is that those two murdered tsigani were on our side. They have an older brother who sided with us against his clan, and a few days before his two brothers were killed one of them got word to us that they should have listened to their brother. They said they thought they were on to who was organizing everything and would let us know as soon as they knew for sure.”

“Why their sudden change of heart?” said Tassos.

“They said they didn’t want to go against the church,” said the bald man.

“The church?” said Andreas.

“Yes, a church on Tinos, and they wanted no part of it.”

“Which church?” said Andreas.

“Panagia Evangelistria.”

“What’s supposed to happen?” said Tassos.

“All we heard was it involved robbing Panagia Evangelistria. They died before getting us any more information.”

“They used those words?”

“Yes, ‘robbing Panagia Evangelistria.’”

“And that’s all you know?” said Andreas. “No idea of when it’s supposed to go down or what they’re after?”

“Yes, you got it. ‘No idea,’” said the bald man.

Andreas looked at the bearded man.

“Yes,” said the bearded man.

Andreas looked at the others in the room. “And you?”

Each man nodded yes.

Aleksander cleared his throat. “Tassos, gentlemen, have your questions been answered?”

Tassos looked at Andreas.

Andreas nodded. “Yes. For the moment.”

Aleksander said, “This is the only moment you will have. Ask now, because there will never be another chance. The slates are now wiped clean.” He looked at Tassos.

Tassos nodded yes.

“Good, thank you.” He motioned for Tassos to come over to him. When he did Aleksander pulled him down to whisper in his ear. Tassos laughed and Aleksander did the same.

Tassos turned and said goodbye to the bad guys and, still laughing, took Andreas and Kouros by their arms, swung them around, and headed toward the front door. He kicked the bar stool out of the way, stepped into the foyer, and said, “The second that door opens head left into the apartment building next door, down the stairs to the right, and out the back door. And move.”

Andreas and Kouros asked no questions. They were out one door and though the other in three seconds.

Tassos yelled as they ran toward the stairs, “Outside to the left there’s a grey Fiat with a Blue Star ferry sticker on the driver’s side rear window. Keys are under the floor mat. Yianni, you drive.”

They went through the downstairs door and out into the parking lot. “What the hell is going on?” said Andreas.

“Bomb in the van.”

“Maybe in the Fiat, too,” said Kouros.

“Sure as hell hope not,” said Tassos.

They’d just reached the Fiat when they heard the downstairs door crash open, followed by the unmistakable sound of a Kalashnikov.

Andreas pulled his gun and ducked behind the front end of a tiny pickup. “Yianni, get the car moving.”

It was the three men who’d been standing in the back throughout the meeting, one with an assault rifle and two with handguns. All were using the spray and pray method of marksmanship. Andreas was more focused, kept his eye on the front sight, and squeezed. He caught the one with the Kalashnikov in the throat. Not quite where he was aiming, but close enough. The abrupt silence startled the other two shooters, and before the one closest to the AK-47 could reach it, Andreas had put a round in his thigh. That’s where he was aiming, because he assumed they were also wearing vests. Shooter number three turned and ran back into the building. Andreas heard Kouros and Tassos yelling for him to get in the car.

Andreas jumped onto the back seat and Kouros spun the wheels on the gravel getting out of the parking lot. “What the hell were you doing back there? Couldn’t you hear us screaming for you to get in?” said Kouros.

Andreas leaned his head back against the seat. His heart was pounding. “As a matter of fact, no.” It was instinctive. His hearing had shut down at the sudden life or death confrontation. All his senses focused on eliminating the threat and nothing else. Andreas shut his eyes, drew in and let out a deep breath. “Anybody following us?”

“Not yet,” said Tassos.

“Yianni, call for backup,” said Andreas.

“I’m a little busy driving at the moment, Chief,” said Kouros.

Andreas opened is eyes, pulled out his cell phone, and hit the code for officer needs assistance. “Let them track us on GPS.”