An Aegean Prophecy (9 page)

‘What the hell, if every phone line in this country’s tapped, we’re wasting our time trying to save it anyway. Shoot.’

‘It was a lot easier than I thought. The person who called the minister of public order to get you assigned to the case didn’t try to hide who he was. Everyone in the office knew.’

‘Why don’t I think I’m going to like what’s coming.’

‘Oh, it’s not as bad as you think.’ Then Tassos told him the name.

‘Great, a former prime minister. How’s that
not
bad news? Who’s possibly going to make him talk? He’s untouchable, another dead end.’

‘Are you finished?’

Andreas slammed his hand on the desk.

‘As I was saying, it was easier than I thought. You see, the person who got him to make the call also must have figured that a former prime minister was untouchable, that no one possibly could force him into revealing a confidence, and so he didn’t bother to use an intermediary when asking for the favor. What he didn’t know was that the prime minister owed a few favors of his own.’

‘I could kiss you.’

‘Don’t pucker up quite yet. The prime minister has, as
he admits, “a weakness for contraband antiquities,” and that’s had me bailing him out of more than one politically sensitive nightmare. But he’s of the kind that doesn’t like being reminded of favors owed. When I told him what I wanted, he raged on about ‘How dare I ask him to betray his word,’ ‘Who did I think I was asking him to violate a confidence,’ etcetera, and he threatened to hang up.’ Tassos paused. ‘But he didn’t.’

Andreas could almost see a grin through the phone.

‘We reached a compromise. He said he couldn’t give me the name because there’d be no way for him to deny he was the source. Instead, he gave me a phone number. Said it’s for the man who wanted you assigned to the case. Our distinguished former prime minister’s exact words were, “Take this number and lose mine.”’

‘The next sound you hear will be a kiss—’

‘Hate to wreck your style, but I’ve a boat to catch. I checked out the number, it’s in Thessaloniki.’ Thessaloniki was Greece’s second largest city, located in northeast Greece. Tassos quickly read off the number, then repeated it. ‘Bye-bye.’

‘Thanks, kiss, kiss.’ Andreas stared at the number, then pressed the intercom. ‘Maggie, come in here, please.’

She was in before he hung up.

‘I need you to find out what you can about this number.’ Andreas held out a piece of paper.

She didn’t take it. ‘It’s a Thessaloniki number, no further information.’

He stared at her. ‘You ran it for him, didn’t you?’

Maggie shrugged. ‘He was on a boat in the middle of
the Aegean, and we knew you’d want to know. What’s the problem?’

Andreas put the paper down. ‘No problem. Just wondering why I’m always the last to know what’s going on in my own office.’

‘You’re too busy handling the big things.’ She smiled. ‘Besides, we want to try to get you home in time for dinner, don’t we?’ She turned and left.

Andreas stared at the door. Now the women in his life were teaming up on him. He stood no chance.

He shut his eyes and sat quietly for several minutes, then picked up the phone and dialed. It rang six times and he was about to—

‘Hello.’ It was a formal, resonant, male voice.

Andreas swallowed. ‘It is I.’

‘And whom would that be?’

‘The chosen one.’

‘I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, or how you got this number.’

‘You should.’

‘Why?’

‘You chose me.’

There was a pause. ‘I heard you were good. Chief Inspector Kaldis, I presume.’

Andreas thought to reach out for the man’s name, but decided it better to act as if he already knew his identity. ‘So, where do you want to meet?’

‘Why should I meet you?’

‘Oh, you’re definitely going to meet me. I’m just giving you the choice of having me show up on your doorstep
with a brass band, or doing it less conspicuously at a location of your choosing.’ Andreas held his breath. If the man hung up, he was nowhere.

‘Give me a minute.’

It seemed like an hour.

‘How’s seven tonight at the Sofitel?’

‘At Venizelos Airport?’

‘Yes, call this number when you get there.’

‘See you then.’

‘Looking forward to it. Goodbye.’ The line went dead.

Andreas didn’t hang up. He dialed Lila’s number. So much for making it home this afternoon. He still might make it for dinner, if it wasn’t an early one.

Andreas and Kouros were at the hotel by four. A team sat in a van directly across from the hotel entrance with instructions to photograph everyone going in and out, as well as anyone in its outdoor cafe adjacent to the entrance. The hotel’s front door was fifty yards from the main terminal and the place had a virtual monopoly on anyone needing a room at Athens’ international airport. It also was convenient for travelers looking for a place to meet with locals. Many simply sat at the cafe, did their business, and left without ever going inside the hotel. Andreas guessed this guy would want privacy and get a room for their meeting. A male-female team was instructed to hang out in the lobby, photographing everyone getting off the elevators, just in case he’d already checked in.

At precisely seven Andreas strode into the lobby and dialed the number.

‘Hello.’

‘I’m here.’

‘You need a room key to get the elevator to stop at my floor. I’ll send someone down to meet you.’

‘What does the “someone” look like?’

The man laughed. ‘I’m sure you’ll figure it out.’

Andreas wondered if he should reconsider his decision to meet without backup. He thought to say something to his team in the lobby but decided against it; someone might be watching him now that he’d made that call. He walked to the elevators. The only thing waiting for him was a massive reproduction of a classic, white marble Cycladic statue of a female form, arms crossed below the chest. It stood against the far wall at the end of the elevator bank. He was staring at it when an elevator door next to him opened.

A couple in jeans, tee-shirts, sneakers, and matching baseball caps stepped out, speaking English and clutching a map. Nope, not them. Another elevator door opened. This one was at the far end, next to the statue.

A man stepped out and turned to face Andreas. The statue vanished. The sun would have disappeared behind this guy. He was a giant, but not just any giant, a graying blond one in full Eastern Orthodox cleric dress: hat, cross, and all. Backup no longer seemed relevant. They’d need a howitzer to stop this guy. Andreas stepped inside the open door and the cleric followed. He put a room key into the slot by the floor buttons and pressed six.

If this guy’s taking me to room 666 I’m not going in. His private Book of Revelation joke had Andreas smiling to himself, but then the man opened the door to room 616.
The man waved him inside without saying a word or entering the room, then closed the door behind Andreas. Another man was inside, alone in the room, sitting on a chair by the window. The sunlight passing through the window made it difficult to make him out.

‘Welcome, my son.’ The man did not stand, just extended his right hand.

He was wearing a finely tailored, dark blue suit, like the Italian one Lila had bought Andreas for his birthday. He wasn’t sure if he should shake or kiss the man’s hand. Perhaps this was a test to see if Andreas actually knew who he was. Andreas moved slightly to the left as he approached him, just enough to shield the sun a bit and get a better look. The man was old but looked fit. His silver hair was pulled into a tight bun behind his head, in the fashion of Italian movie stars. And Greek clerics. Andreas bent over and kissed the man’s hand.

‘Thank you for seeing me, Your Holiness.’

‘So you do know who I am.’

Andreas nodded, even though he didn’t. ‘Hard to miss, considering your entourage.’ He pointed back over his shoulder toward the door.

‘Ah yes, Sergey. A very loyal follower of the faith.’

Andreas had heard rumors of such loyal followers of the faith making it into receptive monasteries directly out of Balkan military forces. Whether they entered seeking true salvation or sanctuary from a past they and the world would rather forget, he did not know.

‘Frankly, I don’t like traveling, as you say, with an ‘entourage,’ but after what happened to poor Vassilis,’ he
crossed himself, ‘do I have a choice? Or to dress as I am to journey to meetings such as this?’ He pointed at his suit.

Andreas took that as an opening for avoiding preliminary chit-chat. ‘What are you afraid of?’

‘I wish I knew.’

‘Please, just tell me what you do know.’

‘How much history do you want?’

‘All of it.’ Andreas sat down on the edge of the bed across from him and listened. An hour later, he wondered if he’d said the right thing to an old man who’d just lost a very dear friend. Nothing he’d told Andreas seemed relevant to the case. The ancient intrigues of the church were of interest only to scholars, reminiscences of his days shared with Vassilis in the seminary were almost fifty years old, and their shared views on modern theological problems of the church raised not even a hint of a motive for murder.

Thank God I’m wearing a wire, Andreas thought. If I’d been taking notes I’d have lost patience long ago. He sneaked a peek at his watch. At this pace, a late dinner with Lila was out of the question; breakfast might even be iffy. He had to find some way to move this along onto something relevant.

‘Excuse me, Your Holiness, would you like some water?’

The man seemed surprised at hearing another’s voice. ‘Uh, why yes, thank you, my son.’ He paused. ‘I hope what I’m telling you is helpful.’

Andreas went to the minibar and took out two bottles of water. ‘Yes, very.’ He walked back to the man and held out the bottles. ‘Gas or no gas?’

The man took the flat water. ‘Thank you.’

‘Why did you ask that I be assigned to this case?’

The man took a sip of water. ‘I was just about to tell you.’

Andreas hoped that meant within the next hour. He sat back down on the edge of the bed and opened the other bottle of water.

‘Vassilis was a scholar and patient observer. He saw things others missed. A debate with him was an exploration of thought.’ He shook his head. ‘He never should have left his theoretical world. I told him to stay out of it.’

Andreas leaned forward. ‘Out of what?’

‘This Russian thing.’

A chill ran down Andreas’ back. ‘Go on, please.’

‘I’m certain that by now you are well aware of Russian interest in relocating the Ecumenical Patriarch.’

Andreas nodded.

‘And of Vassilis’ obsession with how the scandal at Mount Athos might affect that issue.’

Andreas nodded again.

‘If the Russians could be shown to have played any part in creating that scandal, it would destroy the credibility of their attacks on Mount Athos’ fitness to serve as the new home for the next leader of the church. In fact, if Russians were involved, the moral value of our claim is strengthened. It would make us the innocent victim of vicious intrigues by a former superpower.’

From his use of ‘our’ and ‘us’ in describing Mount Athos, Andreas presumed that was where he called home. It also fit with Andreas’ guess about sanctuary for Sergey, because
anyone accepted into monastic life on Mount Athos acquired Greek citizenship without further formalities.

‘I told him to let it be, that there was nothing he could do, but he would not relent in his quest for proof.’ The man paused. ‘I assume you know all that, too.’

Andreas nodded as if he did.

‘There’s one thing I’m certain you do not know.’ He paused and took a sip of water. ‘Vassilis was coming to meet me when he was murdered.’

The man took another sip, then crossed his legs and sat quietly watching Andreas, as if waiting to measure his reaction.

‘I didn’t know that.’

The man nodded. ‘He called me on the morning of the day before he was killed. He said he had proof things were not as they seemed.’

The same state of mind Dimitri had used to describe Vassilis, Andreas thought.

‘He was excited, but also frightened.’

Probably something like the feeling Andreas now had.

‘He said I “must” see what he’d found “immediately.” I tried calming him down, but he wouldn’t listen. He invoked Revelation, saying I must see it now, “for the time is at hand.” He was quoting from the opening lines of Revelation, the part some say first warns of the coming Apocalypse.’ The man drew in and let out a breath. ‘I told him to e-mail me whatever it was. He said he knew my assistant screened my e-mails and he couldn’t risk anyone other than us knowing what he’d found. “Too dangerous,” he said. I never dreamed it might cost him his life.’ He shook his head.

‘Did you tell your assistant about your conversation with Vassilis?’

‘No, I told no one. You’re the first person to whom I’ve mentioned any of this.’