Jeffrey Siger - Target - Tinos

“And not a sign anywhere that a shooter was ever there, except for the bullet through stiletto guy’s forehead,” said Andreas.

“Can’t wait to see how the papers play this one,” said Kouros. “‘Today in Syntagma a target under surveillance by the Greek police was the victim of a professional hit and, although the killer was immediately apprehended on the scene without a fight by police, in a matter of seconds after his capture he was taken out by an unknown sniper.’”

“So far, the only good news tonight was that we didn’t get whacked,” said Tassos.

Andreas rubbed his eyes. “Don’t forget the call I got from our distinguished minister screaming about doing something to stop ‘foreign criminal elements’ from ‘slaughtering’ each other in ‘the heart of our beloved Athens.’”

“Is that supposed to be more good news or bad?” said Kouros.

“I wasn’t quite sure if he was upset about the ‘slaughtering’ or the fact it was done in Syntagma instead of somewhere else,” said Tassos.

“That may be a bit harsh,” said Andreas. “I think that’s just Spiros’ way of spinning things to minimize heat from the press. Bad guys killing bad guys always seem to work. The good news was that he didn’t make the connection to the Tinos murders. And with any luck nor will the press.”

“Yeah, dead tsigani are all alike,” said Tassos.

Andreas starred at Tassos. “You’re incorrigible.”

“Thank you,” said Tassos. “As a matter of fact, a member of Parliament once told me that if you wanted to understand the Greeks, think one word. ‘Incorrigible.’”

Tassos stretched his arms out over his head and yawned. “Whoever arranged this had to know we were interested in Punka. It’s just too much of a coincidence. He was never in hiding, so if he were a threat to someone before we were on to him, he’d have been taken out long ago.”

“Where’s our leak?” said Andreas.

“Maybe it was Tassos’ tsigani contact, the one who hooked you up with Punka?” said Kouros.

“Stefan is capable of anything. But that would be a very risky play for him. He knows that if I even thought he double-crossed me…” Tassos waved a hand in the air.

“Maybe when the boys from our meeting tonight realized we were pressing the investigation into Punka’s murdered brothers they decided to take him out, too?” said Kouros.

“And us along with him,” said Tassos.

“Or it could be that Punka said something about the two of you busting his balls and it got back to someone who decided he was better off dead,” said Kouros.

Andreas leaned across the desk and stared at Kouros. “You just gave me another candidate. When I was playing hardball with Punka in that taverna, if someone overheard me telling him I was a cop who wanted to talk to him about his brothers’ murders it would have made headlines on the tsigani gossip network.” Andreas slammed his right hand on the desk. “ Damnit. ”

“That might mean whoever whacked Punka knows who you are,” said Tassos.

“I never said my name.”

“Punka might have told someone who you were after we dropped him at the taverna,” said Tassos.

“Or with the way your face keeps popping up in gossip columns about the wedding, someone might have recognized you,” said Kouros.

“I doubt if the tsigani in that taverna read Espresso,” said Andreas. “But I get your point. Send Christina and Angelo out there to see if they can locate anyone Punka might have talked to after we dropped him off. Tell them to get the names of everyone inside when I was there and, when they’re told no one remembers, to get the names of all the regulars.” Andreas paused. “And have them find out if that young girl working there yesterday is into gossip magazines.”

“Any ideas on who might be behind this?” said Tassos.

“The Albanians are high on my list,” said Kouros.

“They’re high on everyone’s list all the time,” said Tassos.

Andreas ran his fingers though his hair. “If what the Menidi crew said tonight about something major going down on Tinos ties in to what happened in Syntagma, and I can’t imagine it doesn’t, that church on Tinos is facing some very serious trouble.”

“Uhh, speaking of ‘serious trouble’ could we focus for a minute on a rather immediate, personal problem?” said Kouros.

“What are you talking about?” said Andreas.

“We just pissed off some of the meanest motherfuckers in Greece. They’re not going to just walk away from this. How do you suggest we deal with them?”

“Aleksander wasn’t happy about what happened tonight,” said Tassos. “Going after us disrespected him in a very public way. Worse yet, the ones who disrespected him failed. Don’t worry, Yianni, they’ll ‘work things out among themselves.’” Tassos emphasized his last words with finger quotes morphed into the universal thumb and forefinger sign for a gun.

“Let’s hope so,” said Kouros. “After all, I’d prefer attending a wedding to a funeral this weekend.”

Andreas tapped a pencil against his forehead. “Maybe it’s not such a bad idea to put the Menidi boys away. At least the ones from the meeting until after the wedding. Give them a chance to cool down. After all, we don’t want them getting so worked up over what we might have in mind for them that they decide to come after us first.”

Tassos nodded. “Yeah, I’d rather see you dodging rice than Molotov cocktails.”

Among the hardest things to find in Athens when you’re looking for one is a big time mobster to arrest. They seemed to sense when it was time to disappear. Or perhaps it was a service included with their monthly envelopes stuffed with euros to Athens’ not so finest: the “it’s time to get out of town” call.

But after the debacle in Menidi no one at that meeting had to be told to disappear. There’d be no way to find any of them unless you knew where to look. That’s why Tassos called Aleksander in the middle of the night with a simple proposition: “Tell me where your colleagues from the meeting are hiding, and I’ll put them away until things calm down.”

Tassos wasn’t surprised when Aleksander agreed. Tassos’ suggestion temporarily ridded Aleksander of his rivals, giving him breathing room and time to regroup. What surprised him was the list Aleksander rattled off. He named twice the number of bad guys at the meeting. Tassos didn’t bother to ask what Aleksander had in mind. It was the price of the deal. Besides, Tassos never cared what garbage did to garbage.

By noon every mobster on the list was in custody. Not a shot had been fired. It wasn’t worth it to them. They all had lawyers. The lawyers were lined up outside Andreas’ office in what looked to be a bakery line. He’d worked out an informal procedure with the prosecutor. The lawyers came in one by one and ranted for a while about “discrimination by the police against hard working immigrants” until finally getting around to asking about the charges.

That was Andreas’ favorite part. Watching the expressions on the faces of the lawyers while he listed the charges. Not one carried a risk of more than thirty days jail time at most.

“What the hell’s going on?” was the most common response, followed closely by “You must be kidding!” The sharp lawyers knew there was a reason, there had to be, and they patiently waited for the other shoe to drop. Only the inexperienced suggested Andreas did not know what he was doing and threatened what would happened to him if the client wasn’t released “at once.”

Those moments gave Andreas great joy.

“Counselor, you’re absolutely right. Your client does not deserve to be in jail on these charges. So let me make a proposal to you. I will withdraw them and bring these instead.” Andreas slid a document across the table charging the client with the attempted, pre-meditated murder of three police officers, and a plethora of related crimes.