world for him to come to nurse his wounds. A lot can happen if the wrong people learn where he is.'
'What are you saying?'
'People could get killed. I think I'll fly over and pay him a visit. Surprise him. Nothing to lose.'
'Good, when do we leave?'
His heart skipped a beat. 'What do you mean 'we'?'
'Andreas, I'm the reason you know where he is, and if he does agree to see you and starts talking about Athens society, you won't know who he's talking about. But I will. Consider me your interpreter.'
That wasn't a very good argument. But… he looked at one of her photographs. 'How's tomorrow? We can fly over in the morning and be back by late afternoon.'
'Perfect, just let me know when and where to meet you.'
'Will do. And Lila… thanks. You did some great work.'
The schoolgirl excitement was back. 'I'm so happy you feel that way!'
'But do me a favor. Please don't try chasing down any other families until after we speak to Kostopoulos.' He didn't want her curiosity getting back to the bad guys.
'Okay. This time I'll listen to you. Bye. Can't wait until tomorrow.'
He couldn't either. The old man sat at his desk toying with an elaborate silver letter opener. Every so often his gold and lapis cufflinks clicked against the desktop. Kostopoulos was soft, a poseur who'd lost his stomach for real blood and fought now only through lawyers and publicists. At least that's what the old man had thought, what they'd all relied upon. Where did he find this Spartan heart?
No matter, the killing was necessary. Kostopoulos had brought it on himself. He chose to ignore the judgment of banishment and continued to wage war upon a family that had turned to the old man for help. Such arrogance left no choice; it was a harsh lesson, but one the old man had been certain must be taught. To Kostopoulos and any others who might think to question their authority.
Yet he persists. He must be taught a new lesson, a more meaningful one. Let us hope that this time Thanassis Mavrakis' grandson is a better teacher. Demon was back in his favorite apartment. Only he knew it was his favorite. He had three. It was part of his no-routine routine. He'd slept a bit on Anna's couch, left just after sun-up, and passed a few more hours sleeping here. He never set an alarm. Didn't have to, he had an internal clock that did it for him. That's what made the chimes by his ear so unexpected. It was a cell phone, one of a half-dozen he kept around. But this one he only answered, never dialed, and rarely did it ring.
'Hello?' He was lying on his side.
'Do you know who this is?'
'Yes.' Demon's voice was flat, as usual.
'We have a problem.'
Demon sat up. 'What is it?'
'The message wasn't delivered.'
'I don't understand.'
'The message wasn't delivered.'
Now he understood. 'Is there a new address?'
'Mykonos.'
'Where on Mykonos?'
'I'm sure you'll find it.' The phone went dead.
Son of a bitch. The bastard didn't listen. He's still here. Something must be done, and quickly. The attitude of the caller didn't bother him. He had a right to be pissed. There was a lot at stake. For everyone.
'The bastard didn't listen.' This time he said it aloud. He stood up and walked over to the window. The view wasn't great, just one apartment building window after another, but he liked the way the sunlight hit his room in the morning.
He knew the Kostopoulos house on Mykonos — he knew everything about him. At least he thought he did. Now, to make that bastard regret the day he was born. Kouros knocked on the door to Andreas' office a millisecond before opening it. 'Chief, we found Demosthenes!'
Andreas could tell no response was required to keep him talking.
'I got an address for him off his ID. It was a long shot, but we got into an apartment across the street and did a laser-microphone set-up to pick up sounds off his windows.'
'No phone tap?'
'We never found any phone records for him. He must use prepaid phone cards, and there was no time to get into the apartment to set something up. Besides, going in might tip him off, and you said don't take the chance.'
Andreas nodded.
'We didn't get set up until seven. Someone matching Demosthenes' description paid a three a.m. visit on Anna last night, but there was no way of telling if he'd left. Too many back doors to her building for our guys to cover. So, we weren't sure if he was in his place or not. There was dead silence for about a half-hour, then a phone rang and our boys picked it up. We've got photos of him standing at the window.'
'Anything good?'
'Not sure, but he was upset. He left the apartment five minutes after the call, and we followed him as far as the university. Couldn't go in.' Andreas expected Kouros to start in on the law that forbid police from entering the campus, but he didn't. 'On the way over he tore apart a cell phone, dropping pieces of it into garbage cans and sewer grates.'
Kouros placed a plastic bag full of phone parts on Andreas' desk. 'Maybe we can nail him for littering?'
Andreas smiled.
'Even found the SIM card. At the bottom of a sewer.'
'Get all of it to the lab. We might get lucky. Any idea what the call was about?'
'Only heard his side of it.' Kouros pulled a mini-recorder out of his pocket. 'Here's what we picked up.' He pressed the play button and the sound of chimes was followed by a series of phrases, separated by pauses, spoken in the same voice:
'Hello?'
'Yes.'
'What is it?'
'I don't understand.'
'Is there a new address?'
'Where on Mykonos?'
Long pause.
'The bastard didn't listen.'
Andreas shut his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He took two deep breaths, and opened his eyes. 'Yianni, we have a very big problem. He's talking about Kostopoulos.'
'Zanni Kostopoulos? On Mykonos?'
Andreas nodded and leaned forward. 'I only learned where he was a little after six this morning and this guy hears about it an hour and a half later.' He ran his hands through his hair.
'Do you think they found out from the same source?'
Andreas shut his eyes and opened them again. 'I sure as hell hope not. But I can't say for sure.' He patted, then smacked, the top of his desk. 'I'm off to Mykonos.'
'When?'
'The next flight out.'
'I'll go with you.'
'No, stay here and keep an eye on Demosthenes. My guess is he's gearing up to go after Kostopoulos again, and it's going to happen soon. Do whatever it takes, but find out what he's up to-' Andreas pointed his index finger directly between Kouros' eyes, 'but tell no one what's going on. Understand?'
'Maggie?'
'Trust no one!' Andreas drew in and let out another breath. 'Except for Maggie. And tell her to have our phones swept for bugs, just in case.'
Kouros left the office and Andreas looked at his watch. There was less than an hour until the next plane to
