Devil of Delphi: A Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis Mystery (25 page)

“Interesting thinking.”

“With professionals, the time to worry is if you’re the one who gave an order they didn’t want to carry out and it got somebody killed.”

“You mean like Tank’s father?”

Kharon shrugged. “If he made the brothers do something that got two of them killed, I’d say he damn well better worry.”

Teacher nodded. “Thanks, I’ll try keeping that advice in mind.”

“What advice?”

“Only tell you what to do, not how to do it.”

Make a pledge and mischief is nigh
came to mind, straight off the carvings on the Temple of Apollo, but Kharon smiled. “Works for me.”

The helicopter swung around Mount Parnassos, headed south toward the Phaedriades cliffs above sacred Delphi, the Pleistos River Valley, and the Gulf of Corinth beyond. Teacher pointed ahead. “You’re almost home.”

Kharon nodded.

Teacher smiled. “Just one more thing.”

“What’s that?”

“A loose end.”

“Loose end?”

“Yes, your friend, Jacobi.”

Kharon’s heart jumped. “What about him?”

“He knows too much about us.”

“He’s like my only family. He would never say a word.”

Teacher shrugged. “We can’t take the risk. Our future together has too much at stake. You know that even without my telling you.”

Kharon stared out the window at the olive groves below.

“But I want to make this easy on him,” she said.

Kharon did not look at her.

“So, you should do it.”

He whipped his head around to face her. “Me?”

She nodded. “Yes, if you do it, you’ll be merciful. If I have to send someone else, they may not be as kind. You owe him at least that.”

Kharon picked up his backpack and clutched it tightly to his chest.

“You do it, or someone else does. It is his fate.”

Kharon squeezed the backpack harder and turned away from Teacher to face out the window.

“But you don’t have to decide now. I’ll give you until noon tomorrow to choose.”

A minute later the helicopter touched down, Kharon was out the door, and the chopper was back in the air.

He’d nodded a hasty good-bye and she’d nodded back.

He’ll come around
, she thought.
He only has two choices. It will be instructive to see which one he picks.

She looked across to where Kharon had been sitting and said to herself, “Don’t worry, you now have me as your family.” That’s when she noticed he’d left his backpack on the floor.

She wondered what might be in it. Secrets perhaps? She loved secrets. Especially another’s deepest, darkest ones.

She leaned across the seat and lifted the backpack onto her lap. She studied it for a moment before opening it. As she lifted the flap she heard a pop, looked inside, drew a quick breath, and smiled.
So, you found a third way
.

Teacher shut her eyes and thought of her children.

***

Kharon stood among the olives—now his olives—and watched the helicopter head north across the valley. No doubt she was right about Jacobi, but this wasn’t about Jacobi. She wanted Jacobi to die to prove a point: that Kharon was like her, no longer caring who he slaughtered. It was a test he could not pass. If he killed Jacobi, a man as close as a brother, she’d see Kharon to be just as capable of betraying her. If he refused, she’d see him as disloyal. Either way, one day she’d likely see him dead.

Despite what Teacher had said about Jacobi’s fate, she no more believed in trusting to the Fates than did the Delphic Oracle. Each demanded absolute obedience to their pronouncements.

Kharon believed in leaving decisions on who should live and who should die to the Fates. Perhaps that’s why he saw another choice. A risky one, for if Teacher lived she’d know it was Kharon who’d acted, and he’d be dead by sundown.

He’d clutched his backpack to his chest as he’d turned away from her in the helicopter, reached inside, removed the safety pin from one of the frag grenades he’d brought with him to his battle at Hosios Loukas, and wedged the safety lever into a loop on the inside of the backflap. If someone lifted the flap, the lever would pop off, and—the Fates willing—seconds later it would be over.

But if she never noticed the bag on the floor in front of his seat, or wasn’t curious enough to open it, or….

He saw the flash in the sky above Delphi before he heard the explosion.

Chapter Thirty

“So, any news?” said Tassos dropping onto Andreas’ couch. He nodded a greeting at Kouros, who sat on one of Andreas’ office chairs.

“About what?” asked Andreas, looking at his watch.

“Anything. I’m just looking for someone to talk to until my girlfriend’s boss lets her take off early from work. We’ve tickets for the Spanoudakis concert tonight at the Herodeon.”

“It doesn’t start until nine and besides, we both know you’re going to use your badge to get good seats.”

“What’s the matter, you don’t want me to feed her first?”

Andreas shot him an open hand.

Tassos dismissed it with a wave. “So, like I said, any news?”

“Tank’s disappeared. No one’s seen or heard from him since the abbot booted him out of Hosios Loukas.”

“Sounds like it could be terminal.”

Andreas shrugged. “Only time will tell. We thought he might have been in a helicopter that exploded over Delphi. It sounded like something Teacher would have planned for him, and the timing was right. Plus, Delphi is her boy Kharon’s backyard. But our foreign ministry said it was a hush-hush diplomatic mission out of the Ukraine and no one but Ukrainian diplomats were allowed to see the wreckage. All they told us were that no Greeks were among the dead.”

“And the old man?”

“Not a peep from him either. Word is he’s holed up in his place in Chalkidiki.”

“Is he still gunning for Spiros?”

“Doesn’t look to be. Seems more like he’s hiding out.”

“What about the business?”

Kouros answered, “If you mean Tank’s counterfeit booze business, all kinds of
bomba
crap is streaming in through places like Bulgaria, Albania, Turkey, and Cyprus trying to jump in on our tourist season action.”

“You know what they say about nature abhorring a vacuum,” said Tassos.

“Especially when it comes to champagne in the summertime,” said Kouros.

Andreas looked at his watch.

Tassos nodded. “Amazing how many jerk-offs with more money than taste or brains get their kicks out of spraying the most expensive champagne they can afford on the bustiest women they can find.”

“For sure,” said Kouros. “Just slap a high-priced phony label on anything that will fizz and you can sell two euros’ worth of packaging and bubbles for a hundred to a thousand times its cost.”

Tassos shrugged. “I guess that works so long as they don’t taste the stuff, just spray it.”

Andreas waved a hand in the air. “How about we look at the bright side, guys? We’ve closed down a hell of a lot of illegal manufacturing and distribution operations in Greece. Sure, the customers are still out there, but we’re talking about cheap booze. There will always be a market for that. For what it’s worth, I’ve passed on to Europol what we learned about Teacher’s operations, along with a request that they do something about shutting down alcohol smugglers coming into Greece through EU member states.”

“And the chances of that happening?” said Kouros.

Andreas shrugged. “From past experience, I’d say it depends on whether big-time legitimate wine and liquor companies who want to shut them down have more juice with enforcement authorities than the bad guys.”

“Good luck to them,” said Tassos. “Hasn’t worked very well for the designer watch, hand bag, and sunglasses crowd.”

Andreas looked at his watch.

“That’s the third time you’ve looked at your watch since I came in here,” said Tassos. “What has you so antsy? It can’t be any of this bullshit. Let the victims and the folks who make money off the real stuff fight it out.”

Andreas pointed his right forefinger at Tassos. “Aha, the typical government response to just about any time-consuming problem confronting our country today, ignore it, pass it on, anything but address it. With Tank out of business, if not dead, his father muzzled, and no one willing to point a finger at Kharon for so much as a speeding ticket, Teacher seems to have faded away, and our government is perfectly content to leave it at that.”

Andreas slammed the palm of his right hand on top of his desk. “I’d like to think we could do better.”

Now Tassos pointed his finger at Andreas. “I don’t give a damn about our government’s mess over
bomba
or how those fools in the ministry underestimate Teacher. I’m talking about you. Just tell me what has your balls in a sling?”

Andreas drew in and let out a deep breath. “Lila’s at the doctor.”

“Is everything okay?”

“It’s just a regular checkup.”

“Then why are you so anxious?” said Tassos.

“I’m not anxious, just…concerned.”

“Someday you’ll explain the difference to me.”

“When I feel this way, it’s concerned. If anyone else does, it’s anxious.”

Kouros laughed.

“Thank you for clearing that up,” said Tassos.

“Any time,” nodded Andreas.

Andreas’ phone rang on his direct line. He snatched it up immediately. “Hi, honey, is everything all right?”

“Honey?”

“Whoops, sorry, Spiros, I thought it was Lila.” Andreas tried to ignore the silent hoots and hollers of Tassos and Kouros.

“That’s a relief,” said his boss.

“Anything new on Tank?”

“Nothing. That’s not why I’m calling. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“It’s a conversation to have with you face-to-face.”

Andreas cleared his throat. “Okay, when’s good for you?”

“How about in an hour, in my office?”

“Fine, see you then.”

“Bye, honey.”

Andreas stared at the phone.

“What’s wrong?” asked Kouros.

“Nothing…I think Spiros just made a joke.”

“Miracle of miracles.”

“It also sounds like he wants to talk to me about his health.”

“I hope it’s not bad news,” said Tassos.

Andreas rubbed at his forehead with his left hand. “Me, too.” He looked at his watch.

***

Andreas had just pulled into the Public Order Ministry’s parking area off Kanellopoulou Street when his phone rang.

“Hi, my love, what did the doctor have to say?”

“Everything’s fine. We’re on the road to having a very healthy baby something-or-other. Still too soon to tell more than that.”

Andreas crossed himself as he muttered, “Puh, puh, puh.”

“I thought you weren’t superstitious?”

“I figured it couldn’t hurt to be careful.”

Lila laughed. “Since I’m out and about, what do you think of catching an early dinner somewhere?”

“Like when?”

“Like now.”

“I wish I could, but I’m just about to go inside the ministry to meet with Spiros. He called an hour ago to say he wanted to talk to me face-to-face about something that sounds serious.”

“Ouch, like his health?”

“My thought exactly.”

“Just be supportive and listen. Take all the time you need. Don’t worry about dinner.”

“I really don’t want to be doing this.”

“But he does, and that’s what matters. Besides, it’s the right thing.”

Andreas blew through his lips. “I don’t know anything about this sort of grief counseling.”

“Of course you do. Just go with your instincts and you’ll do fine. You can achieve anything you set your mind to.”

“You’re a pretty good cheering section.”

“Of course I am. I’m your biggest fan.”

Andreas smiled. “Love you.
Filakia
.”

“Kisses to you, too, my hero.”

Andreas’ smile stayed with him until he stepped inside the ministry building. He’d been to the ministry hundreds of times before, but he never felt as he did at that moment. Melancholy might have been the word. His thoughts drifted from his day-to-day hassles and battles with its bureaucracy. The influence peddlers, the hustlers, the corrupters, the incessant politics.

The adage, “a fish rots from the head,” came to mind. It was up to the minister to set an example, and though Spiros wasn’t corrupt, nor had he ever been diligent or confident enough to take on the interests that were. He’d never been a cop, only a bureaucrat, bouncing around between ministries until he’d ended up here.

No matter, all that’s in the past.
Poor bastard
.

The moment Andreas walked into the minister’s anteroom, the secretary waved him straight though into his office.

“The minister is waiting for you.”

Spiros stood in front of his desk between two chairs. He gestured at one of the chairs and sat in the other.

Of all the times Andreas had been in this office, this was the very first time Spiros hadn’t taken a seat behind his desk.

Spiros nibbled at his bottom lip, and his skin looked as if he’d not seen the sun in a lifetime, but what Andreas noted most was that his once carefully dyed, jet black hair showed a full quarter-inch of gray roots. He looked like a man who no longer cared.

Andreas shifted in his chair and clasped his hands together on his lap.

Spiros sat staring at his portrait hanging behind his desk. “My wife had that done. Then insisted I hang it here rather than in the house. I think so she wouldn’t be reminded of me.”

Andreas looked down at his hands.

“We never had children. There are no photographs of us together, or even alone. Just ones of her with her family or friends.”

Andreas kept looking down.

Spiros turned his head to face Andreas.

Andreas looked up.

“Do you know who’s going to miss me when I’m gone? Who’s going to know I even existed?”

Andreas prayed that was a rhetorical question.

“Not a soul. At least not a soul outside of this building.”

Andreas didn’t move.

“And I want the people in this building who do remember me to say I was someone who did his job in a way that mattered.”

Andreas nodded as emphatically as he could.

“You saved my reputation. I don’t want to know how you did it, but you got the media, Tank, and his father off my back.”

“You’re the one who gave us the time we needed by your political maneuvering with the prime minister,” said Andreas.

“Only because you told me how to handle him. Listen, Andreas, this is not meant to be a mutual backslapping session.” He smiled. “Or a love-in,
honey
.”

He’s really playing that one-liner for all it’s worth.

“So there’s no reason for us to speak other than honestly. I’ve been virtually AWOL here, leaving you to bring the ball up the field all on your own.”

Andreas didn’t move.

“I’d like to tell you I’m giving you a raise, but I can’t. Perhaps you’ll find your reward in my successor.”

“Successor? You’re resigning?”

Spiros nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it for weeks. I can’t take the stress anymore. Physically or mentally. And things will only get worse. It makes no sense to go on kidding myself that I can do this job while I’m battling for my life.”

“Of course it does,” said Andreas.

Spiros gestured no. “It doesn’t. Besides, perhaps it will give me time to find another way to live.” He looked Andreas straight in the eye. “We’re all going to die sooner or later.” Spiros looked up at his portrait. “I’ve decided to move to a place I have near Tripoli, in my father’s village.” He looked back at Andreas. “I still have family there and thought it might be nice to spend time getting to know them better.”

Andreas drew in and let out a breath. “As much as I hate to say it, I think you’re right.”

“Why do you ‘hate to say it’?”

“Because you’re the devil I know, and now I’ll have to break in an entirely new
malaka
boss.”

Spiros smiled. “That’s about the nicest way you’ve ever described me.”

Andreas grinned. “You caught me in a weak moment.”

Spiros patted Andreas on the thigh. “I’ve already spoken to the prime minister. I told him that whoever he chooses must be someone who’ll work well with you.”

Andreas did a double take. “Wow, that’s quite flattering. Thank you.”

“He’s agreed, and so I’m here to tell you who he’s chosen to replace me.”

By law it has to be a member of Parliament.
A long list of potential assholes raced through Andreas mind.

“You.”

“Yu? A non-Greek? Who the hell’s Yu?”

Spiros laughed. “No,
YOU
,” and he pointed at Andreas’ chest.

“Now you’re playing games with me. I’m not a member of Parliament, so I can’t be a minister.”

Spiros gestured no and smiled. “It’s taken years, but I’ve finally proven you wrong. As a result of the financial crisis the law’s been changed to allow professionals, not just politicians, to be appointed to run ministries. Granted it doesn’t happen often, but it’s the new law. Besides, your appointment is only until the upcoming elections, and with the leftists likely to win, who knows who will be in that seat then.” He nodded toward his desk chair.

Andreas slid down in his chair and shook his head. “I can’t do that. I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

“Of course you do. There’s a laundry list of problems out there, and you know them at least as well as I do. Problems I ignored.” He looked at his hands. “Because I didn’t have the balls.” Spiros looked up. “But I want to be remembered as the minister who had the mega-balls to bring you on as my successor.”

“I think the word for how you’ll be remembered in this ministry if you brought me on as your successor is despised.”

“Then so be it.”

“I’ve got to think about this.”

“Sure. Take all the time you need. Just let me know by tomorrow at noon. The prime minister wants to make the announcement in time for the evening news.”

Andreas rubbed his eyes with his fingertips and dropped his hands back into his lap. “I’ve got to speak to Lila.”

Spiros shrugged. “If that’s the only bridge to cross, then let me be the first to say, Minister Kaldis, welcome to your new digs.”

“How can you possibly say that?”

“It’s simple, Andreas. Lila is your biggest fan.”