A Touch of Greek
Page 21
At his words, he noticed Alice turn ashen. “Oh my God.” Then she hurried out of the room.
Sophie raised her head. Her voice was quiet when she spoke. “The accident that injured my eyes was also in this house.”
Shock coursed through Triton’s body. “Tell me what happened.”
“Is that really necessary?” Jonathan interrupted. “Sophia isn’t in the right frame of mind to retell her ordeal.”
Triton ignored him and took a seat next to her on the bed, taking Sophia’s hand into his.
“I fell down the stairs.”
“Just like that?”
She shook her head. “I woke up in the middle of the night and heard a noise. But it was only the cat from next door that accidentally got locked in a closet. I tried to let her out, but the light bulb was out, and I stumbled and fell down the stairs.”
Had somebody wanted her harmed even before Triton had entered her life? This would eliminate Orion as a suspect and Triton would be back to square one. Before he could voice his opinion, he heard a sound at the open door. Alice stood there and nudged her husband Greg to enter. She whispered to him through clenched teeth. Something was up.
“Greg, this isn’t the time to bother Sophia about the renovations,” he chastised the worker, not wanting Sophia to have to deal with anything else right now. She was in shock and wouldn’t be able to make any decisions.
Instead of shuffling out of the room, Greg took a tentative step inside. “It’s not about the renovations.”
“Not now.” Triton turned to Sophia whose body still trembled. Triton led the glass of brandy to Sophia’s lips. “Here you go, Sophia, take a sip.”
From the corner of his eye Triton saw that neither Alice nor Greg had left the room. “What else?” He was slowly but surely losing his patience.
“Tell them, Greg, they have a right to know,” Alice urged her husband.
Greg took another step into the room. “I’m sorry, but, I really didn’t know who that man was until I saw him here yesterday,” the worker rambled.
Triton looked up. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, that man. He followed me one day and wanted me to do something for him.”
Orion? Had Orion been at the house? Triton instantly went on alert. “Go on.”
“He said he’d pay me good money, and with Alice having lost her job, I sure was tempted. He wanted me to …” Greg shook his head as if shaking off a bad memory.
Triton felt Sophia stir next to him. “Greg, what are you talking about?” she asked.
He swallowed hard. “He asked me to set up a ceiling fan so it could be switched on with a remote control.”
“What?” Triton snapped. “You did this?”
Greg’s eyes widened. “No, of course not. I told him I wouldn’t do it. I refused. I thought it was a really odd request, and I was suspicious of him.”
“And you didn’t warn Sophia about it?” Triton was already standing, ready to beat Greg to a pulp.
“I wanted to. But that night I got so sick—I puked my guts out and couldn’t get out of bed the whole next day. I was near delirious and forgot all about it. I only remembered when I saw that man again. And I didn’t even know anything had happened with any of the fans here. Only when Alice told me just now about the ceiling fan crashing … That’s when I realized what he was trying to do and that he found somebody else to do it.”
Sophia jumped up and took a step toward Greg. “Who? Greg, who was it? Who was the man?”
“That man you argued with yesterday, your cousin.”
Only a gurgling sound came from Sophia’s throat. “Michael?”
***
Sophia barely felt how Triton put his arm around her waist and steadied her. Michael, her own flesh and blood, wanted her harmed. She’d suspected him but the confirmation hit her harder than she’d expected. The only family member she had left wanted to hurt her. Wasn’t it enough that she was all alone in the world, with debt mounting each day and permanent blindness looming on the near horizon?
“Are you sure?” Triton asked.
“Yes. And the way he looked at me when he saw me, he scared the shit out of me,” Greg answered. “I’m a coward. He gave me that look, you know, like if I said something, he’d hurt Alice or me. And I didn’t really know what he was planning anyway … it was just a remote control … that was all he wanted. I didn’t know.”
It was all so clear now. All the accidents she’d met with since she’d inherited the house, maybe even the one that had robbed her of her eyesight, Michael was behind each and every one of them. And the fact that Michael was so stupid to even temp one of her own workers to help him spoke volumes: not only was he evil, he was too stupid to realize that he’d be found out eventually. All for one thing. “The will,” she said, and sought the strength of Triton’s body. He pulled her closer.
“What will?” Triton asked instantly.
“Eleni’s will. There’s a contingency clause. If I die without leaving children, Michael inherits everything. He knows about it. He knows if I die now, he’ll get the house.”
Now that she’d spoken it out loud, she knew it was true. From the beginning, Michael had tried to get at the inheritance. At first, he’d tried to persuade her, trying to convince her that Eleni had obviously not meant to exclude him. Then he’d tried to bargain. And finally, he’d threatened her.
Triton pulled her into his chest. “I’m so sorry, agapi mou.” He pressed kisses into her hair, and for a moment she allowed herself to relax. For a moment, she felt secure in his arms. But this security was only temporary.
“He won’t hurt you anymore, I promise you.” Triton’s voice was firm and determined.
“We have to go to the police.” After getting the bad news at the doctor’s office, she’d not had the strength to visit the police station to file a restraining order against him. But it was something she had to take care of right now. Sophia pulled back to look at him and saw Triton shake his head.
“No. My friends and I will deal with him my way. If you leave it up to the police, he’ll remain free. What if there’s not enough evidence? You know yourself that the electrician couldn’t find anything wrong with the fan. We have nothing apart from Greg’s statement. No offense, Greg, I believe you, but I’m not the police.”
No, he wasn’t the police—neither was he family. Everything came flooding back to her: the betrayal, the deception. He was a man who’d lied to her. “Who are you, Triton?” She still didn’t know what he wanted or why he’d come back.
With his hand, he nudged her chin up. “I’ll explain everything to you as soon as I’ve dealt with Michael. I have to ask you to trust me until then. I won’t harm you. Do you believe that?”
She hesitated. He’d saved her life. He’d never physically hurt her. But to trust him? She couldn’t answer his question. “What are you going to do to Michael?” Even now, the thought that Triton would hurt her cousin made her uncomfortable. Despite what he’d done to her, she didn’t have the heart to hurt him.
“Don’t worry, Sophia, no physical harm will come to him, but when I’m done with him, he’ll fear me so much, he’ll never try to harm a single hair on your head again.”
Sophia had never heard him speak like this, with such authority and determination. She nodded—she didn’t want to hear any details of how he intended to scare the living daylights out of Michael.
Thirty-Two
Triton held onto Hermes’ shoulders as they sailed through the air, propelled by Hermes’ winged sandals. The clouds had darkened the sky, and the sun had set. They flew amidst the storm that had made landfall at dusk. Rain soaked them within seconds. The miserable weather made it unlikely for them to be detected by any mortals. Nobody would be out in this storm.
Triton couldn’t help but envy his fellow god: his winged sandals were a cool gadget—if only Hermes were to fly a little faster.
“Do these sandals have a speed limit?” Triton asked.
“Because you drive like an old lady.” Even Sophia’s little red sports car went faster than Hermes did.
A moment later, Triton almost lost his grip on Hermes as the god kicked the sandals into a higher gear and made the world below them whiz by.
“Still think I’m driving like an old lady, or is this fast enough for you?” Hermes laughed and did a loop, making them temporarily fly upside down before bringing them back level.
“Now you’re talking. Let’s get a move on. I don’t want that little prick to slip through our fingers.”
“What are you planning to do with him?”
“Unfortunately, I had to promise Sophia not to hurt him—physically, that is. But there are other ways.”
Hermes turned his head and grinned at him. “Lots of ways.”
The lights of the city were underneath them, sparkling in the dark. In the distance was the water, the surf driven high by the winds. When he looked at it, Triton didn’t feel the same pull for it as he normally did. Something had changed. Any body of water generally drew him like a magnet. Not tonight. Tonight what drew him was the thought to be back with Sophia, to take her into his arms and confess the truth. And it scared him shitless, the thought that confessing the truth could separate him from her. What if she rejected him? What if she thought he was crazy? And why wouldn’t she?
Mortals knew nothing about the gods. Thousands of years ago, they’d lost their beliefs; only myth remained. And Zeus had found it better for the gods to work in the shadows, away from the doubting eyes of mortals. It suited him fine that most mortals only believed in one deity—and Zeus, of course, took this rank himself. Other gods had disappeared from the world of humans, and when humans prayed to God, they prayed to Zeus. Thus Zeus had cemented his power on Earth, while forbidding all other gods to show themselves to mortals.
So some gods had taken to appearing on Earth in their worldly forms without revealing their status as gods. Dionysus and Eros did it often enough, Hermes to a lesser extent.
“Down there, see that run-down apartment building?” Hermes shouted over the wind and pointed at a two story building that had seen better days. “That’s where he’s holed up.”
“Finally.” Triton exhaled as they landed on a balcony. He was ready to hand out punishment, and he already had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do with the little jerk.
The light was dim when Triton stepped into the apartment, Hermes on his heels. The scent of smoke hit him. He detected a sweet herbal smell with it, which he recognized instantly as marihuana.
Hermes inhaled. “Well, well. You might have a hard time having a serious word with him.”
“Can you dry me?” Triton asked, hating the way his wet clothes clung to him.
Hermes made a movement with his hand and a moment later, Triton’s clothes were as dry as they’d been before their flight.
“Thanks.” Triton scanned the room. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he realized that the room was empty. Had they missed him? “You said you sensed him here.”
“He’s here, don’t worry,” Hermes replied with confidence. “My tracking skills have never failed me. Let’s check out the rest of this pigsty.”
Triton didn’t mind leaving the messy living area behind. The furniture was old and worn, and tidiness was clearly not one of Michael’s strengths. How he could be related to Sophia, who was extraordinarily tidy and organized was a mystery.
A dark corridor led to three doors. One was the entrance door to the apartment. The door to his right was open. Hermes popped his head into the bathroom. “Empty,” came his assessment a second later.
Triton tilted his head toward the other door and put his hand on the door knob. With one big swoop he yanked the door open and hit resistance.
“Ouch!” came a male voice. Then a curse.
Triton pushed into the kitchen and found Michael holding his nose. The moment he set his eyes on Triton, Michael shrieked even louder. “What the fuck!”
But at the same time, Hermes pressed into the small room, effectively blocking the only exit route. If Michael had wanted to run, that plan wouldn’t work. Triton quickly assessed the space. There was a window, albeit a small one, and even Michael wouldn’t be stupid enough to jump from the second floor.
“Hello, Michael,” Triton greeted him. He felt satisfaction spread in his chest when he noticed that a thin trickle of blood came from Michael’s nose. Sure, he’d promised Sophia not to hurt her cousin, but this had practically been an accident. It hardly counted.
“How did you get in here? Get out of my place or I’ll call the police.” His eyes darted to a cell phone lying on the kitchen counter. Triton snatched it before Michael could make a move.
“Hermes, dispose of it,” he ordered his friend as he handed him the phone.
A second later, he heard a crushing sound. Triton followed Michael’s stare resting on Hermes’ palm now holding the crushed up metal pieces of Michael’s phone. “Oops.” Hermes grinned. “Sorry, you know you shouldn’t give me things like that. You know how clumsy I am.”
Michael swallowed hard.
“Now that we’ve established that we don’t need the police present for our little chat, let’s get back to the beginning. I said, hello, Michael,” Triton prompted. He’d establish right now who was in charge here.
“What do you want from me?” Michael croaked.
Triton turned to Hermes. “Do you get the feeling that he doesn’t really understand that we mean business?”
His friend nodded. “Yep.”
“Maybe we should show him first that he shouldn’t even think about messing with us, what do you think?” Triton continued his conversation with Hermes as if Michael wasn’t even there.
“I think that’s an excellent idea. I might just know the right place to drive the message home. Ever heard of the River Styx?” Hermes addressed their victim.
A clueless expression crossed Michael’s face.
“It appears geography isn’t his strength,” Triton remarked. He was enjoying himself now. Once they were done with him, Michael would never dare come near Sophia again.
“Then he’s in luck, ‘cause I know how to get there.” Hermes smirked. “Now we’ll only have to get to the closest entrance to Hades.”
“Hades?” Michael’s eyes grew wider by the second. “What is Hades?”
“You mortals call it Hell.”
“Hell? You guys are nuts! Just get the fuck out of my place and leave me alone,” he yelled. “Play your stupid jokes on somebody else.”
Triton grabbed Michael’s shoulder, then turned him and twisted his arms behind his back. “Hermes, are we flying or teleporting?”
“It’s not too far, so I think I can handle teleporting the three of us. It’ll be bumpy though.”
“Let’s go,” Triton ordered.
***
Michael felt a jolt go through his body. A moment later, everything went dark, but he knew he hadn’t passed out, because Sophia’s gigolo was still twisting his arms back. He felt the strain on his shoulders, since the guy had obviously decided to inflict a little pain.
How the fuck had those two goons gotten into his apartment, and for that matter, how had they even found him? Not even Sophia knew where he lived at present, and he liked it that way. The two guys sure weren’t police—mafia was more like it, considering their methods.
He had to hand it to Sophia, she’d found herself some bad-ass protector. Maybe he’d underestimated her. Had Sophia made up with the jerk after she’d thrown him out?
Triton and his friend Hermes, yes, what a ridiculous name that was, those two must have slipped him something—why else could he not see anything and feel his body pulled in a hundred different directions, almost as if he was tumbling in a dryer? But he hadn’t felt any injection or seen any spray they could have dr
ugged him with.
Or was the pot he’d smoked earlier kicking in? Shit, that stuff had never had that kind of effect on him. Had his dealer laced the pot with something else? Just when he needed to keep all his wits about him to try to get these assholes out of his place before they hurt him.
A moment later, another jolt went through his body, and Michael felt solid ground under his feet. He hadn’t even noticed that he’d felt like floating until it was over. What a trip! This would be the last time he bought marijuana from somebody he barely knew.
Lights danced in front of his eyes, and voices drifted to his ears.
“Looks like he’s coming around,” he heard Triton’s voice in the distance.
Michael heard the rain and felt the wetness creep into his clothes. His eyes adjusted. They stood under a canopy on a pier, and in front of them was the glittery sign of a casino boat. How the hell had they gotten here? It was clear to Michael now that he must have passed out. Ah, shit, what else would those two do to him? Did they have to bring him to his greatest place of temptation, his own personal hell? A casino, of all places?
“Here’s the deal, Michael. We’ll walk in there without causing any disturbance, or my friend here will have to do to you what he did to your phone. Do we understand each other?”
Michael nodded automatically in response to Triton’s threat. What else could he do? If he’d passed out on the way here, how would he have the strength to fight those two bastards? Besides, there were two of them, and big guys at that.
Triton and Hermes didn’t restrain him as they walked through the entrance with him, one on each side, close enough to grab him and slap him around if he tried to run. No, he had to try to trick them somehow.
When they marched into the gambling hall, the sound of bells and whistles assaulted his senses. Bright lights flashed on the rows of slot machines. A constant bing, ping, and ding sounded in the large room. The machines virtually hummed, luring him to sit down and caress the buttons, tempting him with their bright colors and flashing lights.