The Last Red Death (A Matt Wells Thriller)

by Johnston, Paul

  ‘Everyone betrayed your group over the years,’ Jaeger said. ‘Even the ones you called Markos and Thyella. Milroy here got rid of them to make sure the press didn’t find out about them after you escaped. The other guy Dhimitrakos, Odhysseas as he was known, was scared shitless and he was useful to us.’

  ‘Is that why you drove him to jump from that rock?’ Iraklis demanded bitterly.

  ‘He was already finished, his heart was shot,’ Milroy said dispassionately.

  ‘Everyone betrayed your group, including your beloved controller,’ Jaeger continued, his tone ironic. ‘How else do you think she’s stayed out of jail and alive these last ten years?’

  ‘Is it true, Flora?’ Iraklis’s voice cracked.

  There was no reply.

  ‘Except you, of course,’ Jaeger called. ‘You were the only one who stayed true to the cause. The high-minded revolutionary who escaped to continue the struggle. Where did you go? Latin America?’ He gave a mocking laugh.

  ‘New York,’ came the reply.

  ‘Bullshit.’

  ‘It’s true enough,’ Iraklis said, his voice steady now. ‘I worked on a construction gang. But what I did before I left Greece was right. I killed Americans in the old days because they were interfering in my country. When I went to your country I thought I would carry on the fight. But I soon realised that the world had changed.’

  Mavros looked at Grace. Her lips were tight, her limbs tense like those of a tiger about to pounce. He put his hand on her arm.

  ‘And you, my Tiresia,’ the terrorist said, ‘you went along with this plan of the Americans, you sanctioned the murders of the Greek businessmen?’

  ‘They were bloodsuckers,’ Flora said. ‘No different from the ones you slaughtered in the past. And where do you think the equipment you received came from?’

  ‘The explosive pens, the details of this house, this automatic came from the CIA?’ Iraklis asked disbelievingly.

  ‘Sure they did,’ Jaeger said. ‘Though it would be fair to say that the decisions have been taken at a local level rather than in Langley. Don’t look at me like that, Ms Forster. Our masters will get behind us quickly enough when we dispose of the notorious Iraklis.’ He paused. ‘As long as Milroy here can keep a grip on himself. Christ, Lance, why did you have to rush things? How come Trent Helmer meant so much to you? How can you still have the hots for his wife after all these years?’

  Mavros glanced at Grace. Her expression was rigid, giving nothing away.

  ‘Be quiet, you bastards!’ Iraklis shouted. ‘Who killed Randos? Who killed the composer?’

  ‘Ah,’ Jaeger said. ‘That was Milroy again. He decided to take the old Communist out when he came into the frame. He’s been bugging us for decades. That asshole Mavros put us on his trail.’

  ‘Mavros?’ The terrorist sounded surprised. ‘What has Mavros got to do with this?’

  Jaeger grunted. ‘Nothing. He just gets in the way. That’s how he works. We hoped he and his client might pique your curiosity. We know about you and Laura Helmer, Irakli. The Filipina nanny talked after the murder, she saw how her mistress was. God, that woman must have been something special. Guys falling over each other to get a sniff of her.’

  Mavros squeezed Grace’s arm. She gave him a cold stare.

  ‘Do it, Irakli,’ Flora said. ‘Execute the politician. The others will have called the authorities by now.’

  ‘No, they won’t,’ came the voice of the butler. ‘The phone lines have been cut and I still have all their mobiles.’

  ‘You snake,’ Veta Palaiologou gasped. ‘You have been in my house for months. Have you been waiting for this night since you arrived?’

  ‘There are plenty of us with time on our hands since the end of the ColdWar,’ Loudhovikos said. He grunted. ‘Fuck the rich!’

  Silence fell again.

  ‘Kill her,’ Flora said desperately. ‘It will be the end of a glorious career. If you don’t, I will.’

  There was the sound of quick footsteps across the yard, then a moan.

  Mavros tensed and edged his head round the door jamb. The shot reverberated in his ears before he had a clear line of sight.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  ‘SHIT!’ Grace gasped. ‘This has gone far enough.’

  Before Mavros could stop her, she was past him and through the doorway on all fours. At first he thought she was heading for the gunman, but then she veered towards the woman who had been hit, a spatter of blood on the white wall above her slumped form. There was a patch of red at the centre of the white blouse. He watched as Grace leaned over Flora Dearfield, fingers feeling for a pulse on her neck. She glanced back at him and shook her head.

  ‘Jesus,’ came Jaeger’s voice. ‘He’s shot Tiresias.’

  ‘Be quiet, can’t you?’ Grace screamed.

  Mavros swallowed hard and got to his feet. This was his chance to get close to the terrorist, whose face was pale. Maybe he could do something to help the woman who was still being held captive. He raised his arms and walked out into the light in the enclosed space outside the kitchen. The assassin had taken cover behind a large plastic waste bin, his pistol held in one hand. The other arm was around Veta Palaiologou’s neck. Jaeger and his companions had retreated into the bushes inside the fence. The butler was nowhere to be seen.

  ‘Over here, Grace,’ Mavros called, from behind Iraklis.

  The assassin gave him a restrained look as she came across the yard in a crouch.

  ‘Suddenly I’ve become very popular,’ he said. ‘I can finish her before you can do anything, I hope you realise that after what happened with…with Comrade Flora.’ He shook his head. ‘I didn’t want to kill her. She tried to take the gun from me. She—’ He broke off, eyes fixed on the dead woman.

  ‘Let the politician go,’ Mavros said. Despite the chill air, her face was drenched in sweat. ‘I’ll take her place.’ The terrorist’s calm manner made him sure that he had an escape plan.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Iraklis replied. ‘I prefer female hostages. They make pursuers think twice before pulling the trigger.’

  ‘Take me,’ Grace said, before Mavros could stop her. ‘I can move a lot faster than your present victim.’

  The terrorist turned his eyes on her and thought about it. ‘All right. If you’re crazy enough to volunteer.’ He beckoned her forward. As soon as she was in his reach, he stretched out a hand and grabbed her, dragging her close and wrapping an arm round her neck. At the same time he pushed Veta away with his legs. Mavros bundled the politician past him to the rear of the waste bin. She was panting for breath.

  ‘Very well,’ Iraklis said to the politician, ‘your father and your father-in-law committed terrible crimes against my family, but I am setting you free. The old man Dearfield killed my father, but he was right to do it. He is suffering for his actions still. I have no right to exact revenge from you or from him. My controller and I are as guilty as anyone on the other side.’ Veta stared at him but didn’t speak. For a few moments he looked as if he was about to drop his weapon.

  ‘Let the Helmer woman go,’ came the American Lance Milroy’s voice, agitated now. ‘Let her go, you bastard.’

  The assassin tightened his grip and turned to Grace. ‘I admire your nerve,’ he said, ‘but I wouldn’t recommend trying to jump me. The same goes for you, Alex Mavros.’

  ‘Nothing could be further from my mind,’ Mavros replied, eyeing first the weapon and then Grace. She had gone limp, the veins on her forearms pulsing. Mavros’s heart was pounding in his chest. He knew that the crucial moment was near, but he wasn’t sure how he was going to react.

  ‘Give it up, Iraklis,’ came a loud shout. The voice was Jaeger’s. ‘You’ll get a fair trial. We’re not going to kill you in front of witnesses.’

  ‘Of course you aren’t,’ the terrorist said under his breath. ‘And Nikitas Palaiologos will give all his profits to the Party.’ Iraklis took a mobile phone from his pocket, squeezing Grace harder as he did so, then pr
essed buttons. ‘Loudhoviko? Are you where I hope you are? Good. Do it when you hear my shot.’ He slipped the phone back into his jacket and leaned his head against his prisoner’s. ‘If you want to live beyond the next few minutes, sit up slowly.’ He released the pressure from her and the two straightened up.

  ‘Come on!’ Jaeger yelled. ‘We can’t wait all night.’

  Iraklis turned to Mavros. ‘I’m taking her with me. Don’t try to follow.’

  ‘Take me as well,’ Mavros said. ‘You can trust me. I need you.’ He felt Grace’s eyes on him. ‘There are things that only you can tell me about my brother. I swear I won’t make any trouble.’

  Iraklis looked at him. ‘You really are obsessed, aren’t you? All right. If you keep up, you can stay with us. Two hostages are better than one.’ He tightened his grip on Grace’s wrist and raised the automatic.

  As soon as the sound of the shot echoed around the walls, all the lights went out. Mavros heard muffled cries from inside the house, then a shout from the Americans ahead. He tried to concentrate on Iraklis and Grace, listening for the sound of their feet on the flagstones. The moon had disappeared behind a layer of cloud and it was hard to make anything out. Then a thin torchbeam swept across the yard, missing them but illuminating the ground enough for Mavros to catch a glimpse of his client’s shoes. She and the terrorist were over to the left of the compound, crawling behind a thick line of oleanders. He followed, keeping his head down even though no more shots had been fired.

  ‘Still here?’ Iraklis whispered, from close to ground level. ‘All right, I’ve got excellent night vision. Anyone who cries out gets a bullet. Clear?’

  ‘Clear,’ Grace and Mavros responded in unison.

  ‘This way,’ came the low voice of the butler. ‘The side gate’s about thirty metres further on.’

  They started moving again, the leaves of the bushes whipping against Mavros’s face and the ground damp beneath his feet. Extending his right hand, he felt the close mesh of the security fence that had failed to protect the occupants of the Palaiologos house but was now hampering their assailants’ escape. Then he became aware of a thick metal post and, beyond it, an open space.

  ‘Through here,’ Loudhovikos whispered. ‘The Range Rover’s about fifty metres down the track.’

  There was asphalt under their shoes now and Mavros quickened his pace, hearing the steps of the others move ahead. The shape of a large vehicle loomed up in the murk.

  ‘In the back,’ Iraklis said to him. ‘You too, Loudhoviko. Grace Helmer, you’re in the front with me. Close the doors quietly if you want to stay alive.’

  They climbed in, following his instructions. Then there was a pause as he checked that the key was in place.

  ‘All right, keep your heads down.’ The terrorist’s voice was level. ‘I’m going to drive without lights.’

  ‘Jesus,’ Grace hissed.

  The engine fired immediately and they started moving down the slope from the house. Branches scraped along the sides, Iraklis straining to pick up the line of the road. Then the clouds parted and the moon shone through, giving enough silvery light for him to make out the asphalt surface. Immediately they heard shouts.

  ‘On the road!’ came a female voice.

  ‘Get to the car!’ Jaeger yelled.

  Loudhovikos was laughing quietly. ‘Unless they hid a spare vehicle in the orange groves, they’ve got no chance of catching us.’

  ‘You took out all the cars?’ the assassin asked.

  ‘Every one I could find. They’ll have trouble keeping up on flat tyres.’

  Iraklis hit the lights and accelerated after they crossed the junction at the bottom of the slope. The ancient citadel was ahead of them, the agricultural prison to the left and, not far beyond, the Nafplion–Argos highway.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Mavros asked.

  ‘Wait and see.’ Iraklis leaned forward. ‘Is that one of them?’ He stood on the brakes as the full beam of an approaching vehicle swerved, presenting its doors and side panels to them. The Range Rover stopped a few metres in front of it with a loud squeal, the driver’s door opening immediately. ‘Stay with them, Loudhoviko,’ Iraklis ordered.

  Mavros clenched as he felt a sharp point in his ribs.

  ‘I’ve got a knife on him,’ the butler said to Grace. ‘Sit still and I won’t push it in any further.’

  Grace turned to Mavros. The look on his face made her nod in acquiescence.

  Then a single shot made all three of them start.

  ‘Another one goes to hell,’ Loudhovikos said, running his tongue across his lips. He watched as Iraklis put his shoulder to the car and shoved it into the unfenced orange grove at the side of the road.

  The terrorist ran back to the Range Rover and slammed the door. ‘Madman. How did he get down so quickly?’

  ‘Who was it?’ the butler asked as the vehicle started to move again.

  Iraklis glanced at Mavros and Grace. ‘The guy I scared off down in the Mani, the one who did for my old driver.’

  ‘You put a bullet in his head?’ Loudhovikos said avidly.

  Iraklis stopped at the main junction, then pulled out to the right. ‘No, I didn’t. There’s been enough killing. I knocked him out and blew away the ignition unit. Satisfied?’

  Loudhovikos was shaking his head slowly. ‘No, this can’t be. The great Iraklis letting a CIA bastard off the hook? You must be losing your touch.’

  Mavros sat back as the knife was withdrawn, seeing the lights of the fortress above Argos in the distance past Grace’s head. If this was the terrorist losing his touch, he was glad he hadn’t met him when he was at the height of his powers—as his brother Andonis had.

  Veta Palaiologou made her way through the kitchen in the darkness, feeling the surfaces with her hands. The moonlight wasn’t penetrating the low windows. She could hear sobbing and hushed voices from the saloni.

  ‘Nikita?’ she called. ‘It’s me. I’m all right.’ She listened for a few moments. ‘I think they’ve gone.’

  There was a rush of feet and a mounting clamour ahead of her. Then a torch came on and she had to raise her hand to shield her eyes.

  ‘Mama,’ Klio moaned, burying her head in her mother’s abdomen.

  ‘My love,’ Veta said, admitting Prokopis to her embrace as well and screwing up her eyes. ‘Lower that torch, for God’s sake, Nikita. I think the worm Loudhovikos did something to the fuse box. Go and see if you can fix it. Then you’d better let those idiot guards out. Make sure they’re very careful with the explosive device.’

  Nikitas came up and handed her the torch, switching on another that he had found in the hall. ‘What happened?’ he asked. ‘Where are the others?’

  ‘Flora,’ she whispered. ‘The terrorist shot Flora.’ She paused as she saw Anna appear in the doorway beyond. ‘He took Alex Mavros and Grace Helmer with him.’

  ‘Christ and the Holy Mother!’ her husband gasped. ‘We’d better call the police. Nikos Kriaras in Athens will know what to do.’

  ‘Call them with what?’ Veta asked. ‘They have all our mobiles and I think the landline is down. The butler again.’

  Nikitas had picked up the receiver on the hall table. He shook his head. ‘What about Flora? Shouldn’t we get an ambulance? We could send Prokopis down to the main road.’

  ‘She’s beyond help,’ his wife said, glaring at him. ‘And I’m not sending our son anywhere tonight.’ Her voice softened. ‘We must be careful, Nikita. There are political considerations here. Go now.’

  She watched him move off, then pushed her children away gently. ‘Let me talk to Geoff and Dorothy,’ she said to them. She smiled briefly at Anna as she made her way into the sitting room. She knew where the candles were and soon the place was well illuminated. When she saw the fearful faces of her guests she almost wished she’d left the room in darkness.

  She went over to Geoffrey Dearfield. He was sitting on the sofa as he had been earlier, his chin lolling on his chest. She sat down bes
ide him. ‘Geoff, I’m so sorry. Flora…Flora has been shot. She—’

  ‘I can’t believe she hid so much from me,’ the old man said. ‘She betrayed everything I worked for, she lied, she directed assassinations. I… Oh, God…’ His head went down again and he started mumbling to himself, his lips slack and wet.

  Veta touched the parchment of his hands briefly, then got up again. There was nothing more she could say to him. Flora’s revelations had shocked her to the core, but not as much as Geoff’s memoir. Even the sight of the woman she’d regarded as a friend being shot in the struggle with Iraklis had shaken her less than the confirmation that her father and her father-in-law had been rapists and murderers. She could hardly bear to look Dorothy Cochrane-Mavrou in the eye, but she forced herself to go over to her.

  ‘Alex is all right?’ the old woman asked, when the politician approached her. Anna was kneeling before her, Nondas and the kids around the armchair.

  Veta shrugged. ‘I think… I hope so. The American woman, Grace, she volunteered to take my place. And Alex…he went with her. I don’t know where the terrorist’s taking them.’

  Dorothy was nodding. ‘Alex knows what he is doing,’ she said with a bright smile that surprised the politician. ‘And so does that young woman.’

  Anna grimaced. ‘How can you say that, Mother? We’ve just been within an inch of our lives, your grandchildren as well as the rest of us, and you sit there giving Alex and his peculiar client a vote of confidence.’ She got to her feet, ignoring Nondas’s hand. ‘Honestly.’

  ‘That Iraklis,’ Dorothy said. ‘He’s finished. I saw it in his eyes.’

  ‘I don’t suppose Flora would agree,’ Anna said.

  Dorothy looked up at her. ‘On the contrary,’ she replied, ‘Flora knew Iraklis had reached his limit. That was why she kept exhorting him to do what he came here for.’ She glanced at Veta. ‘He may be a terrorist and a murderer, but he knows his career has run its course. Shooting the woman who manipulated him will only have made that clearer.’