When Dead in Greece (3 page)

Behind the counter, Isadora shouted. “Leave them alone. They’ve got nothing to do with this.”

The guy in front of me said, “Then they should have kept their dumb American noses out of this.”

I laughed. Hurt like hell to do so.

“What’s so funny?” the guy said.

“He’s Russian, you dumbass.”

Michael drew his hand up high across his chest like he was going to backhand me.

Esau emerged from the stairwell, past his office. “What is going on here? Leave these men alone.”

All five men looked at the old guy. They released Alik. Michael took a couple steps back, nodded at the two men holding me. They released my arms. I helped Alik to his feet. Isadora went to her uncle. Alik and I positioned ourselves between them and the five men.

One of the men left the cafe. The bells jingled as the door opened and fell shut. Ragged breathing filled the room. Angry stares flitted between us.

Why had the guys halted their attack? They had us dead to rights. Could have taken us outside and thrown us over the railing onto the rocky shore. Could’ve dragged us out of the cafe, thrown us in the trunk of their car, taken us out of town and executed us. But they stopped when Esau showed up. He was important. We were a distraction.

The door opened again. The guy who’d left stepped in. A sixth man followed him. He looked different from the others. Less Greek. He dressed better, too, clad in a dark suit and expensive shoes. Where they looked like men who lived to fight and shake down their boss’s customers, this guy was cool and calculated. He didn’t need to be in a group to handle himself, yet he used the power of the men to do his will. But he wasn’t the boss. The boss wouldn’t show his face in such a public place during an event like this. I figured this guy only stepped in when necessary.

And we had made it so.

He walked past his men and stopped in front of me. He stood an inch taller, but wasn’t as wide in the shoulders. His light-brown beard was trimmed to maybe a quarter of an inch. He stood there for a moment, staring me down. Then he stepped to the side and continued on. I looked back. Saw him thump Esau in the chest.

“Let’s go.” He looked back at his men and gave them a circling gesture with his finger. They retreated to the front door, effectively barricading it from ingress and egress, as Esau and the guy disappeared into the office.

Isadora retreated behind the counter for a second, then came over to me. She offered me a wet towel. I wiped my face with it. Wasn’t sure if the blood it removed belonged to me.

Tension filled the cafe. It smelled of coffee, pastry, and sweat. The rumbling waves and persistent wind howled through the room. Three of the men lifted their shirts and placed their hands on hidden weapons. Why hadn’t they used them? Not even for a threat? Someone had told them not to, no matter the situation. I doubted they had expected the kind of resistance they encountered.

Isadora returned to the busy side of the counter. She paced on a five-foot tract, her gaze never wavering from the wall that separated her from her uncle.

I strained to listen in on the conversation in the office. Heard nothing. Wouldn’t have mattered if I did since they likely spoke in Greek.

Fifteen minutes passed. The men at the door took turns stepping out. Each time the door opened, I caught the scent of seared tobacco.

When the guy finally left the office, he took a path that led right through me. His hard soles slapped the tile, slowly and deliberately. He slipped his hands inside his pockets. Stopped three feet from me. His gaze worked from my feet to my eyes.

There was no sign of fear in the guy. He could handle himself, and he knew it. Worse, he knew that I knew it. He had a background that paralleled mine in some way. He was more than a common criminal. He had military and government training and experience.

He stared at me as though he considered how to handle me. If he stepped to the side, I won. That was unacceptable.

Same went for me. I wasn’t about to give the guy ground. But adrenaline had worn off. My ribs hurt like hell. Knuckles felt swollen. I ached in spots where I’d been punched and kicked.

Esau stepped out of his office. He held a bloodstained cloth to his nose. He wiped his face, then tucked the cloth in his pocket. He walked like a man with a vertebra out of place. Back arched, shoulders held back, feet shuffling along the floor. He pushed past the guy in front of me.

 
“Enough, Chris,” he said to the guy. “Get out. You and all your bastards.”

Chris turned his head toward the old man, but kept looking at me. “Twelve hours, Esau. That’s all he’s giving you.”

Chapter 5

THE GUYS AT THE DOOR filed out, one at a time. They looked left and turned right and slipped out of view. Chris was the last to leave. He stopped in the open doorway and looked back. His gaze traveled slowly across the room until it met mine. No words were exchanged, but his intent was clear. Intimidation. He stared me down as though he were saying
I’ll be back to deal with you later
.

He said something in Greek, and followed it up with a hand gesture, then let the door fall shut.

Esau charged forward. He threw his weight into the door to expedite its closing. The lock engaged with a thud.

“What’d he say?” I said to Alik.

Alik shrugged. “It didn’t make sense to me. Maybe some kind of code that only Esau would understand?”

Isadora went to her uncle and wrapped her arms around his neck. She choked back sobs. He patted her back and soothed her in muffled tones.

“I’m sorry,” he said to us. “Sorry that you two got mixed up in that. It is not what it looked like.”

Isadora stared at the floor.

“Then what is it?” I said.

Esau sighed as he pulled away from his niece. He gestured for her to sit down. She twisted a seat until it faced the window and collapsed into it.

“It is something that goes back a long ways,” he said. “And it doesn’t concern you. From now on, if you see those men, you get up and you leave. They are not to be messed with. Understand?”

“Understand?” I said. “I’m not your damn kid, Esau. You can’t brush me off like that.”

“How about I kick you two out, then? Huh?” Esau’s cheeks burned red. “What if I notify someone in the government that you two are hiding out here? What happens then?”

“You threatening us?” Alik said.

Isadora rose and placed herself between us and her uncle. “No, he’s not. He’s just angry. Frustrated. He’s taking it out on you two when he should be thinking about other things. Isn’t that right, Uncle?”

Esau assumed the posture of a defeated man. “Yes, I’m just trying to do the right thing here. Please, avoid those men.” He walked up to Isadora and touched his hand to her elbow. He led her past us without either of them making eye contact. Esau ushered his niece into his office and shut the door.

The air inside the cafe went still. The sound of the waves diminished. The front, back, office, and stairwell doors were closed. The fan switched off. Isadora’s perfume lingered, mixing with sweat and stale coffee and pastries.

“Let’s go upstairs,” Alik said.

As we made our way to the stairs, Esau emerged from his office. He stopped, looked at us, then continued to the terrace door. He flipped the lock and headed back.

“We’ll reopen around five. Please leave us alone until then.”

Chapter 6

I WASHED UP, CHANGED INTO clean shorts and a white t-shirt. Made my way into the living room and collapsed into a chair, facing the sea. Warm salt-laden air washed over me. I placed a bag of ice against my ribs and held it in place with my arm. The contrast between where the bag pressed into my flesh and the rest of my body was like black and white.

Alik was standing in the kitchen, holding a glass tumbler filled with clear liquid. He looked over, nodded, grabbed another glass. He picked up a bottle that had a red, white and blue label and filled the tumbler with ouzo.

“A little early, don’t you think?” I said.

“It’ll help dull the pain,” he said. “Besides, we don’t have to finish off the whole bottle.”

“Might keep us out of trouble if we did.”

Alik laughed, lowering himself onto the couch, a green fabric thing that looked like it belonged in the seventies.

He said, “Knowing you, we’d end up deported.”

I said, “Then my life can go back to normal.”

“I thought this was normal for you? Getting caught up in other people’s problems. Getting your ass kicked.”

“Whatever.” I took a sip of the ouzo, wincing as the liquor slid down my parched throat. It continued on. The warmth in my stomach radiated outward. “If I wasn’t in such bad shape none of those guys would’ve stood a chance.”

“Is that so?” Alik leaned back with both arms spread over the back of the couch. “What about that sixth man?”

“You spotted that too, huh?”

He nodded.

“I don’t know what to think of him,” I said. “Different from the others, for sure. You see how they all tightened up when he came in?”

Alik nodded, remained quiet.

“And he didn’t show any fear,” I said. “Obviously he’s from somewhere else. The way he acted tells me his background is more aligned with ours.”

“Could have been because he had five men with him. Three of whom were armed.”

“How early did you catch that?”

“Before you did.” He lifted his glass and tipped it toward me. “Before I jumped in to help you out.”

“Thanks for that.”

“Wasn’t for your benefit, Jack. Something happens to you, I’m marked for death on three continents instead of just one.”

We finished our drinks in silence. The wind died down. Sunlight poured through the windows. The heat of its rays warmed me, lulling me into a false sense of security. Eventually forcing me to doze off. I looked at my watch and determined I’d been out for half an hour when Alik woke me.

“What do you think he did?” Alik said.

I looked over at the man. His hair was wet and he’d changed clothes. His glass was filled to the rim again.

“Who?” I said.

“Esau,” he said. “Who else?”

“I dunno. The president? Ivanov? Could be anyone, I guess.”

“Smart ass,” he said. “Anyway, I can’t help but wonder what he did to bring this on himself.”

“We really don’t know the guy. Did your contact tell you anything about him?”

Alik shook his head. “All I got was a name and an address, along with a promise that the man would be on our side, so don’t worry.”

“Did you?”

“What?”

“Worry?”

“Of course I worried.” Alik rose and walked to the window, blocking my view of the sea. “I had broken you out of Black Dolphin. I still don’t know how I managed to get across the border and out of Russia with you. I thought we were both dead men at the crossing.”

“I was too weak to move when they pried the lid off the pine casket. Damn eyelids didn’t even clamp when the sun hit my face.”

Alik laughed. “Morbid son of a bitch.”

“Whatever.”

“So what do you think he did?”

“Esau?”

Alik sighed and brought his glass to his forehead. “Yes, Esau.”

“You heard them say money earlier, so I’m guessing he either owes a debt or a tax.”

“Well, that’s kind of what we figured earlier, right? I guess my question is over what?”

“Hard to tell when the guy won’t tell us anything.”

“He’s a proud man.”

“That’s obvious.”

He walked back to the couch, saying, “And I think we need to respect his wishes and stay out of this.”

“Are you scared?”

Alik leaned forward, arms crossed over his knees, his drink supported by both hands. He stared down at the clear ouzo. Without looking up, he said, “Yes, Jack, I am. We don’t know these men. We don’t know what Esau did to get involved with them. We don’t know their connections. Think for a moment. Follow the strands of the web as they work outward from the center here. What are some real possibilities here?”

“You complicate things too much,” I said. “All I know is there’s an old man down there who’s getting bullied. We have the ability to stop it.”

“You suffer from a curse, my friend.” He jabbed a finger at me from six feet away. “And you would be better off doing what you are told instead of following your gut all the time.”

“I spent years doing what I was told. Earned me a price on my head put there by the guy whose orders I followed.”

Alik rose and shuffled to the kitchen. I stared out the window and watched a tanker pass in the distance. When Alik returned, he stood in front of me empty-handed, missing the third drink I expected him to be holding.

He said, “I’m leaving for a bit.”

I said, “Where to?”

“Going to scrounge us up a few days’ worth of food. I think it’s best we stay up here in the apartment instead of venturing down to the cafe.” He waved off my argument before I had the chance to state it. “At least until we know this mess has blown over. I can’t help but think we — and by
we,
I mean
you
— made things worse for Esau and Isadora today.”

He slid out of view. The door opened with a creak and shut with a soft thud. The lock made a clicking sound as he engaged it with his key. Alone in the apartment, I kept watch over the sea and mulled over his words. All along, Alik, Isadora, and Esau had all told me to stay out of it. What did I do? Jumped in headfirst. Was it due to a lack of action? Feeling like I needed to be involved in something to continue on? Or could I chalk this up to my stubborn nature? Sometimes it seemed that I’d rather use my head as a battering ram than for logical thinking.

I wanted to avoid the questions, not face them. The situation with Ivanov and in Black Dolphin had left me feeling susceptible for the first time since I was a kid. I felt as though I’d lost a bit of my edge. I didn’t have the ability to back it up.

The scene in the cafe only helped to solidify those thoughts.

So perhaps Alik had a point. Whatever this was about, Esau had brought it upon himself. He didn’t run or hide from the men. He didn’t call the cops. He didn’t accept my offer of help. And neither did Isadora. As young and beautiful and kind as she had been, she had a choice here too. And she chose to go it alone.