Dig Two Graves: Revenge or Honor (38 page)

Tinos hauled the now nearly unconscious Verde down. As the limp man hit the floor, Tinos disentangled himself from his victim and grabbed for his gun. A well placed chop to the median nerve of Verde’s hand sent the gun clattering to the marble terrace. Tinos sprang to his feet and turned to help AJ only to see Karl reaching for his gun.

Karl, fighting through his pain, drew his weapon and took aim. The glass door behind him exploded and he slumped over, shot twice in the back. Gia appeared through the shattered door, her smoking Beretta still covering the Karl as she kicked his weapon away.

Ceres reached out for Verde’s gun but fell out of his wheelchair. Prone on the terrace, he picked up the gun and was ready to shoot, but AJ was in the line of fire.

Alac, oblivious to the brawl behind him, stooped for the notebook Anna had dropped. He grabbed the book and turned to find AJ, his .45 in his right hand barring his path.

“So you came prepared after all,” Alac said. “I suspect Mrs. Arons is more your friend than mine,” he sighed.

“Allegiances change with the situation,” AJ responded.

“Is that your grandfather’s?” Alac said his Walther dangling by his side.

AJ nodded, his .45 leveled at his adversaries chest.

“Your grandfather gave me this,” he said, slapping his stiff right leg with his gun, “and this,” touching the ugly scar along the right side of his head. “I carry one of his bullets next to my heart too.” Smiling he said, “He was a tough man, but not you. I don’t think you have what it takes.”

“We’ll have to see,” AJ replied, a wry smile spreading across his face.

Alac nodded. “Yes, we will,” he said. He slowly raised his Walther.

“Don’t do it,” AJ warned. “Don’t…”

AJ fired twice and watched as Nikko Solaris/Alac Savas, clutched his chest, stumbled, and fell. A grimace slowly faded from his face. Ceres, Verde’s smoking gun still in his hand, collapsed on the terrace. AJ looked at his .45 and realized he and Ceres had both found a measure of revenge and honor.

AJ stared numbly at the dead man at his feet. His power and wealth gone, AJ saw Solaris for what he was, a frail old man. He felt the Meltemi on his face and caught a whiff of thyme from the mountains. He watched the blank pages of the fake notebook turn and flutter one by one in the Aegean breeze, inches from Solaris’ cold, outstretched hand.

Revenge wasn’t so sweet after all
, AJ thought. It was bitter on the tongue, smelt of burnt gunpowder, and it looked like a dead man. AJ felt the greasy knot in the pit of his stomach relax. This time he knew it wasn’t fear he had been feeling. It was something different, something new. He looked up to see Gia help Ceres back into his wheelchair. As she eased him down into the chair, she looked up and their eyes met. She gave AJ a knowing nod and a tense smile.

Tinos cuffed the unconscious Verde. He pulled out his cell phone and called for an ambulance and back up. They didn’t have long to wait for help. Tinos’ body bug had broadcast the entire incident.

“Here, hold this tight,” AJ said to Anna, as he pressed a towel to Rafael’s wound. It looked bad.

“Look what has happened,” Anna said.

“It’s ok, mother,” Rafael said weakly. “I deserve this. I’m so sorry for getting you mixed up in this mess.”

“We’ve called for an ambulance. It’ll be here soon,” AJ said. “Hold on. I’m going to check on Ceres.”

AJ ran to Ceres. When he reached his friend, they hugged. “Look at you. You’re a mess. Are you all right?” AJ asked.

“He who suffers much will know much,” Ceres said, “but I need a vacation.” Lifting his head with some effort, a smile came to his battered face. “We got him.”

“Yeah, we did, didn’t we?” AJ said. “But your brother …”

“My brother died a long time ago,” Ceres said.

Anna called out to Ceres. “Are you all right, Ceres?” she said.

“He’ll be fine, now,” AJ responded.

“Mr. Pantheras, we had an arrangement,” Anna said.

“You more than kept you side of the bargain,” AJ replied. Captain Ganis and I will see that your family’s immunity deal is honored,” AJ said.

“Thank you for what you have done,” Anna said. “It took your bold plan to finally uncover who killed my Joseph,” Anna said. “Even if I am prosecuted it will be worth it to have avenged my dear husband.”

“Yeah, vengeance.” AJ said.

AJ, Gia, and Tinos gave testimony in the Court of First Instance in Athens. Anna’s statement was powerful, but Tinos’ body bug recording provided the most compelling evidence. The three-judge panel gave final approval to the Public Prosecutor’s immunity agreement for Anna and Rafael Arons. AJ was pleased with the legal outcome. He’d expected the Greek courts to be more difficult than the Italian ones but the recording of Alac Savas explaining his decades of deception and crime had captivated the judges.

The Arons were now in the clear in both counties. Their testimony and the information from Dobos’ flash drive had exposed Solaris’ criminal empire. The Greek and Italian governments were ecstatic as they busily seized billions of Solaris’ assets and dismantled his companies.

As they left the Athens courtroom, Anna took AJ by the arm. “Thank you for what you’ve done for my family,” Anna said. “We have our lives back. Your family has quite of history of helping mine. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, but that’s what a good lawyer does,” AJ said. “I’m very sorry about your husband, though.”

Anna sighed and said, “There’s a price to be paid when you work with the devil. He was in over his head and didn’t realize it until the last. Rafael knew,” she turned to look at her son, “but couldn’t get away. With your help, we are going to be all right. Good-bye Mr. Pantheras. Thank you.”

Anna turned and walked away with her son.

Tinos smiled as he guided AJ to the main entrance, Gia on his arm. As they left the courthouse Tinos said, “This was a good thing you did, helping this woman.”

“It was the right thing to do, Tinos. I appreciate your help,” AJ responded.

“Your friends at the Boston Police Department are pleased too, by the way. I spoke to them again this morning. They have closed their case. They send their best regards.”

“Another chapter closed. Good. Thanks for taking care of that,” he replied.

“AJ, will you stay in Greece now this is all cleared up?”

“I don’t know Tinos. My boss has been arrested for conspiracy and my law firm is a disaster. Ceres is still in the hospital …” AJ said with a sigh. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“But you can put things right, can’t you?” Tinos said.

AJ shrugged then smiled at Gia as he walked down the courthouse steps.

On a bleak windblown mountainside in northern Greece, a small crowd huddled together on a steep barren clearing below a stunted carob grove. Behind the people, down a steep, dusty path stood the remains of the destroyed and long abandoned village of Parthos. Why was it abandoned? Some said it was because of the war. Others said the people left when their spring dried up. The villagers didn’t know nor did they know what to expect from the city people who had invaded their isolated world. The village elders predicted no good would come of it. It never had.

Tinos and Gia stood next to AJ as they watched the first of two massive excavators, trucked in from Thessaloniki, rumble toward the hillside. Alessandro Moretti and Georgios Skouris were behind them talking with the excavation foreman and the representative from the Greek Ministry of Culture.

“Mr. Poulos, there is no hint of antiquities here,” Georgios said. “No terra cotta, no pottery, no coins, no Holy Grail, or Tomb of Alexander.”

Poulos was a slight, melancholy man with a thin face that matched his build and a mustache that drooped forlornly over either corner of his mouth. His words flew out in guttural snatches as though hoping to get in the last word.

“You mock me, but an important find could be anything,” Poulos said. “A simple stone, even a tiny little one, can be an object of interest because it is too round, too square, or too sharp to not have been shaped by humans.”

“Mr. Pantheras presented his evidence directly to the Minister of Culture, and I was present. The permit is here,” Georgios said waving an official document in the little man’s face. “He was most convincing, that is why the permit was issued. Your presence is required by the permit. You’re here, but please, just get the hell out of the way.”

The little man in his stained linen suit looked like an antiquity himself, old and dirt encrusted. Poulos mopped his brow with a dirty handkerchief and dropped his head in defeat.

“All right,” Poulos said, “but if I see any evidence of relics, any at all, I will stop the work.”

“I know you have a job to do, but we’re sure we know what is in there,” Georgios said. “If we find what we expect, all Greece will benefit.”

“All right, they may dig,” Poulos, said.

The man walked toward the heavy equipment to watch, and Georgios smiled at the foreman and said, “You heard the man. Get started.”

The foreman waved to the two excavator operators, and they moved to either side of a deep V formed by the side of the hill.

“He’s an annoying little man but I guess that’s why he has this job,” Georgios said to Alessandro, who replied with a shrug.

A grizzled man with a crooked staff pushed his way through the villagers. He stood and watched as the heavy equipment moved rocks and dirt depositing them to the side. He shook his head and muttered to himself as he made his way to where the city people were standing.

“What are you looking for?” the old man asked.

Georgios ignored him. The locals were resentful of the strangers in their midst. The man was persistent though, stepping closer. “Are you looking for the American soldier?” the old man asked Georgios.

“What? What did you say, old one?” Georgios asked, looking up at the man.

“I spoke plainly enough, and I’m not near as old as you think. I asked if you were looking for the American soldier.”

This time AJ heard the man and turned to see who was talking. “What did you say? Do you know something about an American here? Was it during the war?” AJ asked. “Do you know something about an American soldier here?”

“I might. Who wants to know?” the man said, lifting his chin in defiance as he leaned on his staff.

“If you know something we would appreciate your help. You see, we think a man disappeared here during the war. That missing man was my grandfather.”

The old man’s head dropped as decades of sorrow flashed through his mind and tears welled up in his eyes. His white stubble-covered jaw slackened and began to quiver. He sniffed once wiping his nose with the back of his hand and said, “I am forever in your debt then, young man.” He reached out and took AJ’s hand in both of his. “It was during the war. I found an American who had come to the grotto one morning. I had brought my sheep to water there. My damn lamb ran into the cave, and I ran after it. The American, a big man, a tall man named John grabbed me and tossed me like a doll out of there as the cave collapsed. He saved my life.”

“Who are you?” AJ asked. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“My name is Demas, and yes, I saw this,” he said. “I was here when…” His words trailed off in a sad silence. “I tried to tell people, to get help, but they didn’t believe me.”

“I can’t believe we happened to find you,” AJ said.

“You didn’t happen to find me. It was God’s will. It was His will I should live to tell you where John of the United States Army rests. I should have died myself many times, but I prayed to God to save me so I could repay Lieutenant John for saving my life. Now I will. You are digging in the wrong place. The cave was over there.”

The old man pointed to an indentation in the rock face down the hill from where the excavators were working. Armed with the information from Demas, the foreman redirected the excavators approximately forty meters further down the hillside. The huge machines began clawing and digging in a way the mountain villagers had never seen. Minutes later, the equipment operators broke into an open cavity in the mountain.

Poulos sprinted forward with uncharacteristic speed, as the heavy equipment backed away. He had scrambled up the rock-strewn pile as fast as the treacherous footing would permit and darted into the opening before anyone could stop him. He emerged a few minutes later and shouted, “Come quickly. Bring the camera! It is just as you said.”

AJ rushed up to the cave entrance ducking the occasional falling debris. He scrambled over the loose rocks to peer into the dark hole. It was wet inside. A musty odor permeated the air and the sound of dripping water reverberated through the immense cavern.

“Don’t touch anything,” Poulos called out. “Wait until I photograph the site.”

AJ peered down into the tomb. Tinos, Gia, and Poulos, now armed with a camera joined him. He looked at Poulos, then his friends, took a deep breath and scrambled over a debris pile, into the cave. He splashed into cold knee deep water and shined his flashlight around the cavern as the others quickly followed him inside. Crumbling wooden crates, with faded writing stenciled on their sides lined the back wall just above the waterline. AJ’s light caught the unmistakable gleam of gold spilling out of the rotting crates. Looking more closely he saw dozens of gold bars in the water. To the left were more boxes and on a high spot, above the water line, was a faint shadowed outline. AJ went over to the dark spot and immediately recognized it for what it was.

“Poulos, over here,” he called. AJ wanted photographic evidence of what they’d found. Poulos joined him and took a series of pictures then lowered his camera and backed away.

“Mr. Pantheras, would you care to examine the remains?” Poulos said. His gesture was not lost on AJ.

AJ went down on one knee and immediately noticed something shining in the beam of the flashlight on the wet rock near a skull. He picked up a small, notched metal plate on a long ball chain crusted with thick mud. He swirled it in a pool at his feet and smudged off the dirt with his thumb. It read, PANTHERAS, John A. 39462452 2
nd
LT. AJ had found his grandfather. He was bringing him home at last.

A bitter early December wind rustled through the cypress and juniper trees dotting Athens’ Hellenic Army Park. The evergreens swayed gracefully as though bowing in reverence. The memorial to Greece’s fighting men on the outskirts of the city was a somber place but full of light and life even in winter. The small crowd shrugged against the biting wind and quietly stamped their feet as the speeches droned on.

“Mr. Pantheras, it gives the Hellenic Republic of Greece great pleasure to honor your grandfather, Lieutenant John A. Pantheras,” Defense Minister Leodes said. “Today, we add his to the names of other Greek-American heroes of the war against Fascism. He fought and died so others may live. We honor him and give him our prayers and thanks.”

The ceremony was mercifully brief. AJ got up from his place on the dais and shook hands with the dignitaries then exchanged a few words with the scattering of army officers. Reporters besieged AJ with questions about the vast fortune uncovered at Parthos, but he politely deferred their questions to the Ministries of Culture and Treasury, saying only that he hoped the find would be used to help ease Greece’s financial crisis.

When the crowd began to drift away, Gia joined AJ in front of a bronze statue of an American soldier, rifle in one hand, moving determinedly forward. Donors from America and Greece had erected the statue and had it placed in the Hellenic Army Park in Athens. The statue honored the U.S. Army’s Greek-American Special Operations Groups (Greek/USOG). Now, AJ’s grandfather, Lieutenant John Pantheras’ name, cleared of all suspicion, was added to those already inscribed on the statue’s marble base.