he’ll let me know.’
Andreas looked at Maggie. ‘Any idea of what his potential answer might be?’
‘Probably something obvious, like everyone came out of respect for the office of protos.’
‘Sort of like warring families getting together at a church social?’ Kouros was smiling.
Maggie shook her head. ‘You can’t help yourself.’
‘Would you prefer something more earthshaking? How about, “The devil made me do it”?’
Guessing at answers was a big part of every cop’s life. In Andreas’ experience some were better guessers than others, but even the best of them rarely were right on the mark, just close enough to point the way. Great, he thought, the devil made somebody show respect for the Protos.
Ever so quietly he crept into the room. Like a thief in the night. But a naked one, on tip-toe. Andreas had dropped his clothes on the floor outside the bedroom. Muscle memory brought him around the bed, extreme care lightly onto it. No covers tonight, he thought, the movement might wake her. Ahh, made it.
PLOP. An arm dropped across his bare chest. ‘Anything interesting happen today, my love?’
‘I can never sneak in on you, can I?’
‘Nope, and don’t you ever forget it.’ She patted his chest.
He rolled over and kissed her. ‘Missed you.’
‘I bet. After all that time alone with monks even Mother Theresa would look good.’
He laughed and touched her belly. ‘How are you guys doing?’
‘Great.’ She snuggled up to him. ‘Now that daddy’s home.’
He kissed her forehead. ‘Me, too.’
‘Tassos sent us the strangest gift today.’
‘What was it?’
‘It came from a florist, but I guess he was trying to tell me to learn to cook.’
‘Huh?’
‘It was wrapped with pink and blue ribbon — to cover all possibilities I assume — with a lovely note, but I can’t figure out why he sent what he did.’
‘What did the note say? I might have a better fix on his sense of humor.’
‘Something like, “May your home always be filled with joy and love, and may this protect your family from all that is not.”’
‘What did he send, a gun?’
‘No, wise guy,’ and she gently squeezed his nuts.
‘Careful, they’re not used to much action these days.’
Lila didn’t listen; instead held them in her right hand, lightly squeezing and gently rubbing. Andreas adjusted his position on the bed. She started feathering him with the tips of her fingers and, after a while, strayed on to something much firmer and erect to the touch. Back and forth she ran her fingers, from top to bottom and back again. She stopped when she felt him start to pulsate, then gripped him tightly, and slowly and deliberately began pulling up and down.
‘I’d love to take you in my mouth, but I just-’
‘Don’t worry, this is just fine. Oh, yes, just fine.’ Andreas put his arm under her body and pulled her against him. He was flat on his back and thrusting in synch with her hand.
She squeezed extra hard and pulled twice, very slowly.
Andreas moved his hand to where he could touch Lila’s bare ass and squeeze it in rhythm with her stroke. He began to moan, she kissed him and stroked faster. He moaned more, twisting beneath her hand, then paused for an instant before thrusting his hips forward and holding them there. ‘Don’t stop, please don’t stop.’
She didn’t.
‘Ohhhh, ohhhhh…’
Lila kept pulling, even after he’d finished. Andreas had to hold her hand to get her to stop. ‘Easy there, my love, we’ll need to use it again some day.’
She kissed his cheek. ‘You like?’
‘Yes… I like.’ He kissed her neck. They lay silently holding each other for a few moments, then Andreas left for the bathroom.
‘So don’t you want to know what he sent us?’
‘Who, my mind is completely blank at the moment. Just the way I like it.’
‘Glad I could clear your head.’
Andreas was laughing as he walked back into the bedroom. ‘Okay, what was it?’
‘The strangest thing. Garlic. A dozen heads, wrapped tightly together in a line, and in a gold mesh bag no less. Such a silly thing. But a lovely thought.’
His first thought was thank God the room was pitch black, so Lila couldn’t see his face.
Andreas swallowed. ‘Yes, a lovely thought.’ His mother used to do the same thing, hang garlic in their house. But it wasn’t for cooking: it was to keep the devil away.
Andreas remembered the day she gave up that superstition. They’d just returned from his father’s funeral. She was a young mother of two children whose husband had chosen to commit suicide rather than subject his family to any more of the shame brought on by the bastard minister who’d set him up to look corrupt.
It was a moment burned into his memory. His mother was tearing down the garlic and ripping it to shreds. ‘It doesn’t work. Nothing works if the devil wants to take you. Nothing.’
Andreas crossed himself in the dark and prayed his mother was wrong.
11
‘Hello, Your Holiness, it’s Andreas Kaldis. Sorry to bother you again.’
‘No need to keep apologizing, my son. We’re way past that. So, what fresh hell have you brought me today?’ There was a lightness to the Protos’ voice. It wasn’t what Andreas expected.
‘I’m glad to hear you’re sounding better.’
‘It is Easter Week, our holiest time, and all our trials must be measured against the ultimate sacrifice. Besides, I may never have the chance to use that Dorothy Parker “fresh hell” line again.’
‘I hope you’re not right about the “hell” part,’ whoever Dorothy Parker was. ‘I understand one of the monasteries is not part of the Holy Community.’
‘Yes, sadly that is true. Although we are hopeful they will return.’
‘But there are twenty abbots in the photograph taken at your ceremony. Did its abbot attend?’
‘Yes. In fact, that day was the first step toward a hoped-for reconciliation.’
‘What made your rogue monastery suddenly see the light?’
The Protos cleared his throat. ‘I would not call it a rogue monastery, just slightly overzealous in pursuing its alternative beliefs on church policy.’
Spoken like a true politician. Andreas waited, there had to be more coming. Teachers were like that.
‘We owe it all to Kalogeros Zacharias.’
‘Who’s he?’
‘A monk in that monastery, but a very special man. Although relatively young, he has great patience, humility, and skills. He gained the trust of his abbot and ultimately convinced him to attend the ceremony out of respect to the 1,100-year-old office of protos.’
Guess Maggie was right.
‘That was not an easy feat to achieve. That abbot was the reason his monastery withdrew in the first place, and he is a man of, shall we say, strong opinions. He never got along with any protos before me. Some say our few steps forward are my doing, but they are all thanks to Zacharias.’
‘What do you know about Zacharias?’
‘He’s very well educated, speaks a half-dozen languages, and came to Mount Athos in the mid-nineties.’
‘From where?’
‘I don’t know his origins, but his passport is Swiss. I know because he once asked me if he should obtain a
