Target: Tinos (26 page)

***

Andreas swallowed. His gun was on his lap, but he didn’t dare go for it. “I guess if you wanted to kill me 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 him.”

“How did you know what the Carausii brothers planned to do?” said Andreas.

“Like always. I listened. The two Polish tramps were talking to each other about how their boyfriends were going to make a lot of money because they’d found the ‘
cioban
.’ They didn’t know I knew
cioban
meant shepherd.”

“And on the basis of that you murdered those two boys?” said Kouros.

“No, of course not. I knew of two Ukrainian women who were also prostitutes. I contacted them and made arrangements.”

“What sort of arrangements?” said Andreas.

“That they would deliver the two
tsigani
to me unconscious.”

“And did they?”

“No, but others did. It was not as I desired, I wanted no Greeks involved in whatever bad had to be done to protect Trelos’ good works. But I had no choice.”

“Where did they deliver the brothers?”

“At the house I’d rented for the prostitutes.”

“How did you get them from there to where their bodies were found?”

“I’d stolen a van from where drivers liked to park their trucks by the port overnight and left keys in ashtrays or under floor mats in case the trucks blocked another and had to be moved. I drove it to where I could watch the house for the prostitutes to leave on the brothers’ motorbikes. When they left it meant the brothers were unconscious. I went inside the house, dragged the brothers and the nitrous oxide cylinder into the van, chained the brothers together, and drove to where I knew we would be alone. I waited until one started to regain consciousness and got him to tell me what he knew. In his condition it was easy. That’s when I learned they’d discovered my brother was the Shepherd and that he was taking from the church.”

“How could they possibly know that?” said Trelos.

“Because you were careless in your dealings with their
tsigani
leader. You met with him even though I said you should not. You thought he would not recognize you.”

“It was necessary. He was the first
tsigani
leader willing to commit his people to our brotherhood. He’d taken the money I’d offered him to move his clan to Tinos, but he was refusing to cooperate further unless I met with him.”

“I understand, brother, but he was not dealing honestly with you. He had the Carausii boys follow you. They saw you going in and out of places you should not have been and later disappearing into the
Vriokastro
. Their instincts told them there was money to be made on what they knew, but their greed kept them from telling their leader. Instead, they were going to the Albanians. If I had not stopped them the Albanians would have killed you.”

What with the voice, the story, and the setting, Andreas was beginning to wonder whether there might not actually be an alien space ship inside the mound. “Why the Greek flag and the words ‘Revenge or Death’?”

“I wanted there to be no doubt in the mind of the
tsigani
clan leader that my brother was to be feared. He knew my brother patterned his brotherhood on
Filiki Eteria
. He would not miss the message in my note and the flag.”

“And after you had your answers?” said Tassos.

“I put inhalation masks back on them. At the old age home where I once worked, a woman tried to kill herself with nitrous oxide from a dentist’s office. I overheard a doctor say that had she used pure nitrous oxide she would have succeeded, but the gas she used was mixed with oxygen. I did not make that mistake. I waited until they were no longer breathing, wrapped them in a flag that would not burn, chained a cylinder containing my note to the steering wheel, and sent my message in flames to any who might think to harm my brother.”

“How did you get away?” said Tassos.

“On the bike I’d brought with me in the van.”

“A motorbike?”

“No, a collapsible bicycle. It was small enough for me to carry on my motorbike so I used it to get me to where I’d left the motorbike.”

“And what about the third brother?” said Andreas.

“His death came because the fates were with us.”

“What are you talking about?” said Kouros.

“The Carausiis’ clan leader sometimes came into Petros’ place to try to sell him chairs and tables. He had no idea we were related to Trelos. One day he came in a bit drunk. He said he was celebrating because he’d just learned that the police were about to catch the killers of his ‘two boys.’ He said someone had called him from a taverna outside of Athens to say that you—” she nodded at Andreas, “had just been talking with the dead boys’ brother.”

“And that’s what justified your killing him?” said Tassos.

“I couldn’t take the chance. Could I?”

“You’re who killed the brother’s assassin,” said Andreas.

“I did not plan to. I went to kill the brother in case the assassin did not appear. I told Trelos and Petros I wasn’t feeling well and had to see a doctor in Athens.” She turned her head toward Trelos. “He was so concerned about me.”

She went back to staring at the ground. “I killed that man only because your people captured him. You gave me no choice. I had to protect Trelos.”

“How did you arrange for the third brother’s assassin?” said Andreas.

“A lot of very bad people come into the bar. And they talk about what they’ve done and who they know who does bad things. They sometimes even mention a name or a phone number. I remember that sort of thing. It was only a matter of making the call and delivering the money.”

“How did you know where to find the brother?” said Tassos.

“I asked a
tsigani
woman I knew if she could find out where I could have a religious gift delivered to the brother of the two murdered boys. ‘To help ease his loss,’ I said. She had the answer for me within an hour.”

Tassos shook his head. “You’ve got quite a sister here, Trelos. If you wanted to change the world I think you should have started at home.”

Andreas stretched his back until he felt the pain at his rib. “Why did you kill the Pakistani?”

She stared at Andreas. “You had put me to a great deal of trouble planning how to eliminate the possibility of the third brother leading you to Trelos. Planning is very important. When things go according to plan good things happen. Planning was how I won my races.” She looked away. “Two nights after I arranged for those two men to die in Syntagma so that you would never find Trelos, you walked into Petros’ bar. I had not planned on that. I was frightened. I do not like being frightened. And when I overheard the Polish girls talking about the Romanians saying that the Pakistani had talked to you about the
cioban
, I knew what I had to do.”

Andreas cleared his throat. “How did you find the Pakistani?”

“I listened at the other tables until I heard someone say where he was. He’d gone to another bar. Probably because he was afraid you might come looking for him in Petros’ bar. I left early and took Petros’ car, as if looking for Trelos. I often go looking for him. It’s not unusual. I must protect him. I have a duty to—”

Andreas interrupted. “When you left your brother’s bar where did you go?”

“I went to the bar where the Pakistani was supposed to be.”

“What was your ‘plan’ for him?” Andreas struggled to keep his voice professional.

“A few weeks before, a drunken customer in Petros’ bar was bragging about having pills that, if you dropped one in a drink, made resistance impossible. When he showed them off to his friends one pill fell on the floor. He didn’t notice, so I picked it up and kept it. I took it with me to that bar.

“I knew the Pakistani drank too much and what he liked to drink. When I saw he’d almost finished his drink, I bought another at the bar, dropped in the pill, walked it over to his table, and exchanged it for his old one. He never even noticed. Probably because he was used to me bringing him drinks and was so out of it by then that he didn’t know what bar he was in.

“I went outside and waited for him. When he came out he could hardly walk, and someone was helping him to his motorbike. The stranger left him there. For a moment I thought God would arrange for him to die in an accident. But, instead he fell asleep on the ground next to the bike. I waited until I was sure no one was watching and pulled him into my car. I drove to the dump out past Livada. It was as far away and as deserted a place as I could think of. But one where the body would definitely be found the next morning.”

“And your reason for writing ‘Revenge or Death’ on my card and sticking it in his mouth was to send me a message?”

“I wanted you to know how quickly and horribly people died who presented a risk to my brother. I wanted to scare you away.”

Meerna seemed to sigh, but Andreas couldn’t be sure.

“But I knew I’d misjudged you when my brother told me of your colleague’s threat to the
tsigani
clan leader to banish all of my brother’s followers from the island if he did not meet with you.” She nodded toward Kouros. “That was when I decided you would only abandon your efforts to destroy my brother’s destiny if you realized to continue meant your son’s life.”

“That was you in the jewelry store on Mykonos with the doll and Andreas’ card,” said Tassos.

“Yes. I found the card on the Polish girls’ table. It was as if the fates had again intervened knowing I would later need it to deliver my final warning.”

“I’d say they used it to curse you,” said Kouros. “If you hadn’t put the card on the doll we’d never have come back to your brother’s bar to find out how it got there.”

Andreas reached up and rubbed his eyes with his hands. He felt something come off on his face. He looked at his hands. They were still covered in Kouros’ blood. He stared at the mad woman in front of him.

Andreas knelt down in front of her as if to pray. He whispered, “May you rot in hell.”