you’d have already pulled the trigger. Is there something you want to say?”
The shooter’s focus did not stray from the riflescope. Nor finger from the trigger.
“I guess you’re the executioner part of Trelos’ secret society,” said Andreas.
“He would do honor to Greece in a way no one has in a very long time. He would make life better for many, and bring change not just to Tinos, but to places all over the world desperate to make immigrants a productive part of their societies.”
“And what part were you supposed to play in all this? A Manto Mavrogenous sort of heroine?”
“She was never appreciated during her life and deserved a far better end than she received.”
“Is that why you learned to shoot? To be like her, a warrior for your brother’s cause?”
Trelos spoke before his sister could answer. “Meerna mastered her Olympic skills long before any of this.”
“What do pole vaulting and hurdling have to do with shooting?” said Tassos. He and Kouros sat frozen in place about ten feet up the hill from Andreas.
“You’re thinking of the decathlon. Her event was the pentathlon.”
“So?” said Tassos.
“The pentathlon covers five sports, swimming, cross-country running, an equestrian event, fencing, and…” Trelos paused. “Pistol shooting.”
“The skills of war.” Andreas swallowed again. “Strange training for a woman, don’t you think?” He hoped the more they talked the better the chance of working something out before Meerna pulled the trigger.
“Our parents did not think that way,” said Trelos. “Our family’s ancestors were military heroes and there is history on Tinos tied back to Manto Mavrogenous. Meerna’s skills were a source of great pride to mother and father, but when our parents prevented her from marrying the man she loved she refused to compete again. She did that to hurt them, but I think her decision harmed her much more than it did our parents.”
“How did your sister feel about your parents’ death?” Andreas held his breath.
Meerna kept staring straight down the barrel at Andreas’ head. Her only movement was a slight flick of her trigger finger.
“It was an accident,” said Trelos still sitting on the ground.
Andreas looked up at the moon. “It’s a beautiful night to be outside. I know you love being out in the dark, Trelos. Bet it doesn’t even matter if there’s moonlight. You’ve come here so often I’m sure you could find your way blindfolded.
“Sort of makes me think of your father driving along a road he must have taken thousands of times, not having had a drop to drink, suddenly falling asleep at the wheel. And your poor mother. Hard to imagine she wouldn’t sense when her husband of more than forty years was getting sleepy, and wouldn’t do whatever it took to make sure he stayed awake for the rest of their brief trip home. Or make him pull over.
“Then again, maybe your mother fell asleep first? But she didn’t have anything to drink either, and somehow I think your parents had a lot to talk about on their trip back home. For instance, how concerned they must have been that their only daughter was so sick she couldn’t even lay down in the back seat for the short trip home. Can’t you just imagine what they must have been saying about her?”
Trelos leaned forward. “They wouldn’t have been talking about Meerna. They would have been talking about me. They considered themselves pillars of Tinos’ society, protectors of island traditions, and they insisted on us being nothing less than perfect children. But perfect to them did not include a daughter who disobeyed traditional practices or a son whose vision was broader than their own myopic ways.”
Trelos got to his feet. “They were going to send me back to that clinic in Switzerland. She was afraid for me. She cried for weeks after I came back from there the first time. She promised me she’d never let anyone hurt me again.”
“Are you saying your sister killed your parents to keep them from sending you away?” said Tassos. “What did she do, drug them?”
“I have no idea what happened. At their funeral she made me promise that each of us would always protect the other, because there was no one else in the world we could trust to keep us safe.”
Trelos looked at his sister. “But not like this, Meerna. Not like this.”
Trelos stepped between Andreas and Meerna. “Put down the gun or kill me.” He walked toward her and reached for the rifle.
The shot came from another direction.
Tassos’ left hand had been holding his gun by his side from the moment he heard Meerna’s voice. But he couldn’t attempt a shot at the tiny target she offered while her rifle was fixed on Andreas. When Trelos reached for her rifle Tassos brought up his gun and began firing one-handed up and down in line with Meerna’s head. She flinched at the spray of stone and splattering lead, and swung her rifle in Tassos’ direction, but by then Andreas had grabbed his gun and was firing at her too. She ducked down behind the wall.
“ No!” shouted Trelos and he flung himself over the wall onto his sister.
Andreas was right behind him and stepped on the rifle barrel, pinning it to the ground. Meerna struggled to pull it free but Andreas pointed his gun at her head. “Like your brother said, ‘ It’s over.’”
Trelos sat on the ground by his sister, holding his hands over his eyes, shaking his head, and repeating, “What have you done…”
“Handcuff her, Yianni,” said Andreas.
Kouros cuffed Meerna’s hands behind her back. She didn’t struggle.
Andreas reached down, took Trelos by the arm, and pulled him to his feet. “Turn around.” Andreas handcuffed him and led him back to the spot where a moment before Andreas had been his sister’s target. “Sit here, with your back to the boulder.” But before Trelos could sit Andreas whispered in his ear, “Thanks for what you did.”
Andreas looked at Kouros. “Put her over here, next to her brother.” He whispered no words to her.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Andreas hadn’t noticed the crickets before. Now they seemed to be everywhere. It was just a take-it-for- granted little thing, but not so at that moment. Andreas stood with his back to everyone, closed his eyes, and said a prayer.
He turned and looked at the prisoners. They were sitting handcuffed on the ground between Tassos and Kouros.
“Which of you is going to tell me about the Carausii brothers?” said Andreas.
“She’s bleeding.” Trelos nodded toward a red stain on Meerna’s left shoulder.
Andreas shrugged. “I don’t care.”
“She’s my sister.”
“Same answer.”
“But she could bleed to death.”
“Nah, she’s just in pain.” Tassos leaned over and pressed on Meerna’s shoulder.
She screamed.
“And there’s nobody out here but us to hear the screams,” said Tassos.
“Or gunshots,” said Kouros.
“If you want to help her, let’s start with why and how you incinerated the two Carausii brothers?” said Andreas.
“How many times do I have to tell you I don’t know anything about that?”
“What about you, Meerna?”
She said nothing and her eyes stayed focused on the ground in front of her.
“Or do you prefer that I make a murder case against you and your brother?”
Meerna shifted in her spot but kept looking down. The voice came again. “They were going to expose Trelos. He was doing such great things to make the world better and those two pieces of garbage were going to destroy
