by S. C. Abbey
Katie didn’t seem to find the joke funny. “Show’s over, so what now?” She turned to look at a door by the side of the bar. “That probably leads to the back—too many bouncers, though. I doubt we can barge in.”
Spector was already finishing his second glass. “Hmm, we can go ’round the back, I’m sure there are bouncers too, but—”
His cell phone rang. He took it out his pocket and stared at the screen. “Now what?”
“Who is it?”
“Just someone unpleasant,” he said as he stood. “I have to take this. I’ll be outside. I’ll meet you guys around the back, keep a look-out, just in case our pole-dancing friend decides to escape.”
Chapter 45
SPECTOR NUDGED PASSED the incoming horde of middle-aged men, pushing his way out of the joint through the entrance. He winked at the bouncer standing guard at the entrance who gave him a nod, and then tapped on the screen of his cell phone.
“Spector,” the caller said in an echoic, low, thick voice. It sounded like the man was in an empty room, or all alone in a theater hall—the kind that noise traveled well across a distance.
Spector could hear the man breathing heavily before he spoke. “What is it you want, Hall?”
“Zee sends her regards,” Hall continued.
Spector snorted in his mind. What a petty thing she is, he thought. Had to get her brainless pet to get to me now? Pitiful.
“Cut the crap, Hall. I don’t enjoy conversing with you and I doubt you like talking to me as well, so spare us some precious seconds and get straight to the point.”
Hall chuckled. Well, Spector assumed he did, though it sounded more like something between a painful howl and a breathless snicker. Everything the man did really just got on his nerves. “Do you have the box yet?”
“Technically, I do. It’s with my companions.”
“What is the non-technical part of it?”
“It’s empty.”
“You misplaced its contents?” asked Hall.
“Of course not, I’m not that amateurish—it was empty when they acquired it,” rebutted Spector.
“Are you sure?” said Hall. “The mission was to retrieve the box and its contents. Regardless of who gets in your way, you get rid of them. Is that becoming a problem?”
Spector was starting to get really irritated with his fellow MI6 spy. “Oh shut up, Hall. Get off my back, this isn’t my first mission. Go torture or kill someone if you are bored.”
Hall laughed, which once again didn’t sound very pleasant. “Zee says make sure you get it done right. This isn’t Mexico City—no room for error.”
“Tell her she can shove her remarks where the sun doesn’t shine and piss off,” Spector snapped before he ended the call and slipped his cell phone into his blazer—he couldn’t be bothered to wait for Hall’s reply.
Why do I put up with them, he sighed and slid his hands into his pockets, counting his footsteps as he headed to the back of the club.
Chapter 46
HARVEY AND KATIE waited by the entrance of the back alley as Spector has told them to. He took a good look at Harvey before giving one more sigh and approached the pair.
“Trouble?” asked Harvey.
“In the form of a dimwit,” he found himself saying.
Harvey cocked his head to the side.
“Never mind. C’mon we’re running out of time.”
He walked past the pair and led the way toward the back of the dance club. As expected, a large man in a black T-shirt stood outside the back door.
“Hey,” Spector said, walking toward the man. “We’re friends of Delphina. She said we could come through here—she’s expecting us.”
The bouncer cast him a skeptical glance. “You’re not the first person to try getting through this door uninvited. Piss off, asshole, before I make you.”
“Oh my God!” Spector exclaimed and pointed to his left. “What the hell is that?”
The oldest trick in the book seemed to work as the large man turned—curiosity always kills the cat. Spector took a quick step forward and lifted his left hand. By the time the large man turned back, it was too late for him to react. Spector covered his mouth with the hand and placed his other on the large man’s shoulder where the neck began. He squeezed. The bouncer’s eyes widened, and then rolled upwards. Spector spun to support the man slowly down the ground.
“Phew, that’s one heavy dude.”
Harvey rushed toward his father. “Did you really have to kill him?”
“He’s not dead, just blacked out.”
“How did you do that?” said Katie with an intrigued expression. “You’ve got to show me.”
Spector chuckled. “It’s an acupuncture pressure point technique.” He did a gripping motion with his hand. “When accurately applied, it sends an electrical pulse through the nervous system to the brain, causing consciousness to shut off momentarily. Very useful when your opponent’s much bigger than you. It took me quite a while to master it, though. Here, let me show you—”
“Seriously, guys,” said Harvey. “Can we take a rain check on the martial arts lesson?” He gestured at the door. “This?”
“Oh yeah, sorry about that,” said Spector as he reached out to twist the door knob. The door sprang opened. They entered the back of the club. There was only one direction to follow, which they did until they reached a sharp corner and heard some noise. They stopped behind it. Spector peeked past the corner. He could see a bunch of skimpily dressed ladies entering a room.
“Found it.”
“Where?” asked Katie.
“In that room.”
“Are you sure? How do you know if—?”
“Oh for God’s sake, why don’t we just take a look,” said Katie as she bulldozed past the pair into the open, and stomped toward the room. She opened the door and stepped in.
“All of you, out!” Harvey and Spector could hear from the corner they were still standing at.
Spector threw Harvey a blank look. “Make sure you don’t irk this one.”
They headed toward the room as the girls scrambled out of it. They entered and closed the door behind them. Spector turned around. Delphina was sitting in a comfortable-looking chair in front of a well-lit mirror.
“It’s you, handsome,” she said, looking at Harvey through the mirror. She then turned to glance at Spector. “And you, too.” She smirked. She then turned to Katie, gave an impassive stare, and went back to focusing on her makeup. “What do you want?”
“The truth,” said Harvey.
“I already told you everything I know. There’s nothing more I can help you with.”
“Delphina, Louis was one of my closest friends. I won’t leave Athens until I find out what exactly happened to him—”
“Sweetie,” said Spector, “why don’t you just come clean and tell us. You see, whatever’s in the box isn’t what you think it is—”
“Shh!” said Delphina, as she suddenly spun around. She looked around suspiciously. “You never know who’s listening around here.” Delphina gave a good, hard look at Harvey. “Are you willing to go through all this, just for a friend?”
Harvey nodded, his gaze soft.
Delphina continued to stare for a few seconds. She then turned back to the dressing table and dug into her handbag in front of her. She came up with a piece of paper and took a pen off the table, scribbling something on the paper.
“I knock off in two hours,” she said, handing the paper to Harvey. “This is my home address. Wait for me outside the building, by the street.”
“How do we know you won’t run away?” said Katie.
“I can’t seem to be able to, at least from you all,” Delphina said. “You know where I work, where I live—what else do you want?”
“All right, I believe you,” interrupted Harvey. “Please don’t prove me wrong.”
“Excellent,” said Delphina, turning back to face the mirro
r. “You should leave right about now, though. I’m guessing quite a number of bouncers are coming through that door in the next five minutes or so. You better hurry if you want to get out on your feet.”
Chapter 47
THE ONLY THING he could see amidst the shadows was the faint glow of light from the far end of the tunnel. Agent Michel placed a boot on the rusted iron track that lay before him. He stomped on them lightly, causing a soft, dull, thumping sound that was low and deep. The air smelled musky and damp.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” asked Linard.
Michel stopped his stamping. “The coordinates point to here. Don’t worry, this tunnel is no longer in use—they abandoned it years ago.”
Linard kept quiet for a minute. Without the low thump from before, the eerie dripping of water coupled with the colder-than-outside air was somewhat bothering. “I should probably conceal myself or something. You know, just in case he goes back on his word and tries to kill us here.”
“Stop being a whining puss.”
“Shut up, I’m just trying to be careful. I don’t want to die a meaningless death in this shithole—no one will ever find our bodies.”
Michel didn’t reply. He was busy trying the catch the sound of footsteps that grew louder as they approached. He could hear the splashing steps of the man’s feet on the ground made wet by the dripping ceiling.
The man stopped when he was about ten feet away from them. The dim surroundings didn’t offer much to see, but Michel could still spot the faint signs of bruising on the man’s forearms. He wondered who could have inflicted those.
“Here we are again,” said Maksim Trzebuchowska.
Michel raised an eyebrow, but his body tense at the sound of the voice. It wasn’t too long ago that the owner had tried to kill them. Reflexes never forget.
“There is this man,” said Maksim. “I don’t think he’s Greek.”
“What?” Michel frowned.
“He’s good. If he weighed ten pounds more, I would have lost my life.”
“He’s not one of us.”
“I know, he’s way better.”
Michel clenched his teeth. “What did he look like?”
“Nice suit, neatly combed hair. British perhaps?”
It’s him. “He attacked one of our men, too,” said Michel, cracking his knuckles. “We didn’t come here to listen to your complaints. What is it you want?”
Maksim tossed Michel a black velvet pouch. Michel caught it in midair. He rolled the object in his hand—it felt like there were tiny chips of gravel in it.
“Don’t drop them, that’s worth a few million,” said Maksim. “A gift from us, for Damalitis Panayiotis’s blunder and the collateral damage.”
“Lives can’t be bought like that,” said Linard.
“You take what you get in life.”
Michel gave a questioning look. “Damalitis Panayiotis—that’s not OUBO’s responsibility.”
Maksim chuckled. “Is that what your boss told you?”
That sneaky old bastard. “What about our transaction? Is it still on?” interrupted Linard.
“I’ll deal with it. I’ll recover the vials and deliver them to you,” Maksim said as he started to turn back where he came from.
“What do you plan to do?”
“That’s none of your business. Just stay out of my way.”
Chapter 48
MAKSIM REACHED THE other end of the abandoned railway base tunnel. As he walked out into the open under the moonlight, he caught a glimpse of a silhouette by the side of the entrance. He pulled out his gun and turned, pointing it at the large man with the goofy grin on his face. He slowly lowered his firearm.
“Couldn’t wait for me to get back to you, Hall?” he said.
“I was wondering what’s taking so long.” Hall pushed himself off the brick arch. “You know I don’t have much patience to do things intricately.”
“I told you I’ll get you a vial,” Maksim said. “So stay out of my way until I do.”
“What were you doing with those men back there?”
“I’m still a member of OUBO, I do as I’m instructed.”
“You could have just taken the diamonds and ran, you know.”
“Run? Where to? Nobody steals and runs from OUBO.”
“Aren’t you about to steal from them?” Hall flashed an ugly, lopsided smirk.
Maksim didn’t answer. He knew he had to do it, though the thought of getting caught scared the shit out of him—Luther Blake would skin him alive. But at least he had a shot at playing both sides. Taking the diamonds and running was a death wish.
“Spector is not an easy person to deal with,” added Hall.
“Is that the man in the pretty suit?”
Hall nodded his large head.
“I’ll tear him apart if I have to.”
“Don’t underestimate him. Besides, it’s not him I’m concerned about. If it were just him, he’d get us the vials. It’s the complications that come along with him. His actions have been somewhat—difficult to predict as of late. Try not to kill him, though. My superior won’t be too pleased if he dies.”
“That’s not my concern. If he gets in my way, I can’t guarantee he’ll live. What about your side of the bargain?”
“Get me what I want first.”
Maksim advanced toward the MI6 spy till he stood so close, he could hear the man breathe. “You promised. You said you would take my little girl out of that damned country. You said you’d provide her with the best doctors your country has to offer. We had a deal! You make sure you honor it!”
“I will. Get me one vial, and I’ll uphold my promise.” Hall took out a piece of paper and passed it to him. “This should be of some use.”
Maksim snatched the paper of his hands and took a quick look. “You sure?”
“Would you like me to do your job for you?”
Maksim stared at the man for a minute before he crumpled the paper. He turned back and walked toward his bike. “Don’t worry, you’ll get your stupid vial if it’s the last thing I do.”
Chapter 49
HARVEY PACED THE cobbled sidewalk impatiently. Katie and Spector stood unmoving by the entrance of a building. Both their arms were folded, and they were speaking in hushed tones. The neighborhood was a rather rundown one—cheap to rent even by Greek standards. The streets were as equally unlit and filled with garbage on the sidewalks as the neighborhood Louis had lived in. The building Delphina had given them the address for was a low-floor, architecturally old-looking building like most in midtown Athens. One could tell that the exterior had probably been repainted though, with its interiors refurbished as well, for its second life as a residential building. God knew what it was before. Harvey approached Katie and Spector, getting tired of trotting up and down.
“I told you she would run away,” Katie commented casually. She seemed unusually moody and tired of the day’s events. “Can’t trust a woman’s word.”
“There she is,” Spector interrupted.
Delphina strolled toward them from the opposite side of the road. She approached Harvey and smiled, but didn’t stop. She nudged past Spector and Katie to unlock the side door to the stairway.
“C’mon, let’s talk inside,” Delphina said as she held the door open and ushered her visitors in. She then let go of the door when the last person passed through and approached the stairs. “Fourth floor.”
They climbed the stairs in silence—even the usually talkative Spector was quietly deep in thought. The only sound that could be heard was their footsteps on the broken wood planks that made up the steps. They soon reached the designated floor. Delphina walked toward her apartment and inserted a key into her door, opening it. The frame could barely hold onto the door. They trailed her into her home as she gently shut the door and switched on the lights.
“Take a seat.” Delphina pointed at the L-shaped, navy-blue couch that lay in the cor
ner. The one-room apartment was rather bare as if its occupant had just moved in not long ago. There was no other furniture besides the three-legged coffee table that stood in front of the couch. No television or electronics. The walls were a freshly painted harsh white.
They did as they were told, settling comfortably into the soft, low cushion. Delphina placed her handbag on the kitchen counter and took an empty tin can with her as she approached. She settled beside Harvey, by the corner of the couch that lay in front of the span of the window stretching across the wall. She placed the tin on the floor and produced a packet of Virginia Slims, which she extracted a cigarette from and lit. “So, where shall we start?” She exhaled.
“This is getting way out of hand,” said Katie. “We’ve spent the whole day running across the entire city looking for what killed Louis Tanner—we need to know where the contents of the box are, now.”
“I don’t know where they are,” replied Delphina nonchalantly as she continued smoking.
“You’ve seen the vials, haven’t you?” asked Harvey.
Delphina froze like a mannequin. Her face clearly paled.
“You don’t have to deny that, we’re not the bad guys here,” added Harvey.
“All right, I did. So what?” she said. “I still don’t know where they are.”
“Honey, do you know what’s in those vials?” Spector said. “Do you have any idea how dangerous they are? How important it is that we get to them before anyone else does? We’re talking about ‘stopping a war’ kind of important here—”
“No,” Delphina interrupted. “Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.” She took a long drag on her cigarette. “I don’t want to end up like Louis.”
“It’s too late,” said Katie. “You can either help us and we can try to keep you safe, or whoever’s coming after us will get to you too, sooner or later.”