Blue Blue Eyes: Crime Novel by Helena Anderson Read Free Book Online Page B

year’s memories came back like a whiplash. Mafia. Threat. Crushed nose. Fear. Dread.
    ”Damn it!” He threw the pen holder at the wall. Pens as well as rulers and compasses flew all over the neatly arranged room. ”You bastards!” He was about to lose control. His body was shaking and he felt how the anguish was spreading to every little cell. Powerless he shouted, wondering how the family would be able to pay the enormous amount of money the Mafia was demanding. The big knot in his stomach got larger and he worried about how his wife Pauline would react. With hesitation he raised his eyes to the framed painting on the wall and felt something break within him. With determined steps he went straight to the wall and looked at his life’s accomplishment, the Golden Coast. The painting had been given to him by the most prominent painter in Cyprus in connection with the inauguration. Bang! The deafening sound when the glass was crushed against the stone floor somehow came as a relief. Thousands of glass splinters were spread all over the floor and he felt something warm pouring down his wrist. Blood.
    ”What’s happening?” Elena came into the room and was terrified to see the destruction. Her face went all white as she saw Theo stamping on the painting and she was just going to open her mouth when he shouted:
    ”Out!”
    Theo Aristou was 46 years old, happily married to Pauline and together they had two children, eight and ten years respectively. He was slim and youthfully built, normally wore a suit and gave the impression he was relaxed and in control. He was one of many developers in Cyprus, running his own company with 30 employees and had been severely affected by the financial crisis in Cyprus. He had barely survived last year and was grateful that the gorillas had left him alone for the past six months. The Russian Mafia, headed by Oleg, was not a joke.
    Theo lifted his gaze from the screen, took his hands away from his face and shouted: ”What do you want from me, you bastards?” He was breathing heavily and tried re-gaining control of himself. Three deep breaths later he copied the latest threat mail and nervously took out the iPhone from the inside pocket of his jacket. When he heard Pauline’s soft voice he calmed down a bit.
    ”Hi, it’s me.” Theo tried sounding normal but he felt how stressed and out of breath he sounded. Quickly he drank what was in the glass and nervously paced around the office with long strides.
    ”Honey, is there something wrong?” Pauline asked while she looked at the children playing Nintendo Wii.
    ”I don’t know…I mean…I think so.” Theo almost whispered the words. ”I’ve got another mail…from Vladimir.” He nervously pushed his sweaty hand through his grey, thick hair, waiting for Pauline’s reaction which came as a shot.
    ”Vladimir! You promised me that all that shit would be over.” All worked up she went into the kitchen so the children wouldn’t hear her but most of all for them not to see how shaken she was. ”What does he want now? How much? How much money does he want?” Pauline started crying softly, banging her head against the shiny fridge door. She soon had black streaks running down her pale face as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
    ”One million”, Theo whispered and felt how the shirt was sticking to his back. ”One million euros the pigs want.” He had big sweaty spots under his arms and the whole room was tense with anguish. If there was an alternative to rewind the tape or flee, he wouldn’t have hesitated even a second. At the same time he knew there was no point. The Russian Mafia had a strict control and their network was all over the world.
    ”One million.” Pauline slid down the fridge door and sat sobbing on the floor. Her white blouse was spotted black with tears & makeup. She wiped away the snot from her nose with the back of her hand and removed some hair that was stuck on her lip. ”How the hell are we going to get