three stopped. Tassos got out. The family and driver proceeded to the farmhouse. All four would check into a room and wait for word. If word didn't come by a certain time, a helicopter would lift the family out to safety, or try to. And that was the easy part of the plan. Efisio was getting edgy. It was way past sunset and still no Hummers. Aside from some old, fat farmer in a beat-up pickup truck, nothing had come from the direction of the farmhouse in hours. It was almost ten, and there was only a sliver of moonlight to see by.
He set up at a spot where the road climbed and narrowed to barely wide enough for a Hummer to pass. His men were deployed behind boulders running down from him on his side of the road. On the other side of the road, the right side coming up from the inn, was a steep drop and certain death to anyone in a tumbling vehicle.
It was perfect. Like shooting fish in a barrel, which was precisely why Efisio was here and had the only RPG launcher. This was neither a fish hunt nor target practice. He planned on taking out the front of the first Hummer. That would block the rest. His men and their AK-47's would shoot out the tires of the other two. A Jeep was in position to block any attempt to retreat down the hill. Every man was instructed not to shoot to kill until the family was located. He wasn't about to screw up a forty-million-euro payday by killing a target.
Once they had the kids, everyone else was dead. There was no reason to keep them alive, except, of course, for the very pretty wife. He took another look at her on that camera that caught them getting into the Hummer. Maybe he could have a little fun with her before sending her back to plead with her husband to save their children. Why not?
'Efisio, do you hear that?' It was a muffled shout from the man furthest down the hill followed by the unmistakable roar of a big engine.
'This is it, get ready. And no one shoots at anyone until we know where the family is. Understand!' There were mumbled responses but Efisio knew they'd heard him.
Flashes of bouncing light intensified and came more frequently. The Hummers would be here any minute. Efisio positioned himself behind a granite boulder in such a way that he could nail the first one at point-blank range and still have cover from the explosion. It was forty yards from where he was to where the first Hummer would appear. He'd fire when it was ten yards away. No way he could miss.
The first one came roaring around the turn, headed straight for him with blinding roof lights angled front and left covering every inch of ground it approached. Efisio took careful aim and prepared to fire the instant those first lights appeared in his sights.
But that never happened. Every light went off, every sound stopped — except for a single slamming door. That's when Efisio realized there was only one Hummer and — 'Shoot, shoot to kill! It's A TRAP!' he screamed.
But they'd lost their night vision to the Hummer's blinding lights and fired wildly into the dark in the direction of the slamming door, giving away their positions to five men flanking them from above with unimpeded sight and night vision goggles. The kidnappers' spray-and-pray approach to marksmanship did not serve them well in this fight. Three died instantly from precisely placed sniper rounds. Six others were badly crippled from less accurate but more than adequate bullet placement. The tenth, and only uninjured kidnapper, dropped a grenade launcher and fled up the road away from the Hummer the moment the firing started.
Efisio could hear his men's screams. He was frantic. These were no amateurs. He had to get away. He ran on fear and adrenaline without stopping. He had no idea where he was, but when he heard no sounds and saw no lights behind him he felt calmer. He had to get his wits back. He had to get out of here.
There was a farm gate up ahead. He remembered seeing it coming in. Something to do with food for the inn's restaurant, one of his men had said. Parked next to it was the pickup that passed by earlier. It looked like the driver was asleep inside. He crept closer and heard snoring. What a break. He flipped open his stiletto and moved up along the driver's side. One quick jab to the throat through the window and that fat farmer was gone.
Shit, the driver's window was closed almost to the top. No problem; he'd just pull open the door and stick the blade in his neck before he knew what hit him. Efisio grabbed the door handle and yanked.
'Surprise.'
That was the last word Efisio heard before the shotgun went off in his face. Within an hour every trace of what just happened was gone. The major was right about those guys. The dead kidnappers disappeared, the crippled found their way to the welcoming arms of Italian police, and no one said a word about the unscheduled celebratory fireworks festival in the park.
Tassos was particularly happy that none of his men was hurt, though the one who drove the Hummer and pulled off the distracting door slam did catch a ricochet in his ballistic vest. Tassos was sorry he missed the actual battle, but he knew he was too old for that sort of thing. He was far better suited these days to supporting roles, like scout, backup — and old, fat farmer in a pickup truck.
24
Andreas fell asleep in a chair next to Lila's hospital bed, where he'd been holding her hand and talking to her. He'd read somewhere that might comfort her, help to bring her back. He didn't talk about anything in particular; just whatever came into his head. Andreas missed her.
He sensed light in the room and slight pressure on his shoulder. He opened his eyes. It was Lila's mother.
'Morning, Chief Kaldis.'
He stumbled to get up. 'Morning, ma'am.'
'Thank you.'
'For what?'
'For being here for our daughter.'
Andreas nodded. He wanted to say all of this was his fault, but didn't. He had a tough enough time as it was dealing with the guilt, and he couldn't bear the thought of turning her parents against him, too. He promised himself to tell them some other time.
'The nurse said there is a message for you at her desk. The caller said to give it to you when you woke up.'
'Thank you.' He put out his hand. 'Goodbye.'
She took it and looked in his eyes. 'This is not your fault,' and kissed him on both cheeks.
Andreas left quickly. He didn't want her to see his tears. Like daughter, like mother.
On the way out he picked up the message. It was from Kouros.
'Hi, Yianni.'
'How's Lila?'
'No change. Thanks for asking. What's up?'
'Tassos called this morning. He's been trying to reach you all night. I told him what happened and he said he'd pray for you both.' Yianni paused.
'That's nice of him.'
'Good news. Efisio and his boys are no more.'
'That's terrific. What happened?'
'Tassos made me promise I'd let him tell you himself. He sounded like a rookie talking about his first collar. Really excited.'
Andreas felt a slight grin, his first since… 'Can't wait.'
'But you better hurry, before it starts sounding like a winning version of three hundred Spartans fighting a million Persians at Thermopylae. And since Tassos says he was the only Greek in the fight, we know who's getting the King Leonidas part.'
Andreas laughed. 'And there's no one to challenge his story.' He paused. 'Thanks, Yianni.'
'For what?'
'For making me laugh. I'll call him right away. And, if he says it's a go with the plan, we hit the Angel Club. With luck, this afternoon.'
'Sounds good.'
'What about Demosthenes?' Every time Andreas said that name, his thoughts cursed the man to hell.
