When Dead in Greece by L.T. Ryan Read Free Book Online Page A

outside when they arrived. Heard them and got up and saw them getting rough with Isadora, so I rushed in and took a few on. Didn’t take long until I was overpowered, though. Esau came out, gun drawn. But they had her by then. Chris held a gun to her head, leaving us no choice. Maybe if I’d been armed, or in better shape, less beat up, it would’ve turned out different.”
    “I can’t believe this,” Esau muttered, eyes downcast, tears on his cheeks.
    We both turned to him.
    Alik said, “We need to call the police.”
    “No,” Esau said, turning the pistol toward the Russian. “No police. Not now. Not ever. These men, they will kill her if there is the slightest hint we got the authorities involved.”
    “But it is obvious you know these men,” Alik said. “You know their identities, correct?”
    Esau looked away and said nothing.
    “The authorities can use that information, locate them, and Isadora, and get her back home.”
    “Are you hard of hearing?” Esau said. “I said no police.”
    I stepped between the two men. “Esau, you’re gonna have to level with us, then. Who are these guys, and what do they want with you and Isadora?”
    He took a long moment to respond. “They went after her to get to me.”
    “We can see that,” I said.
    “They went after her,” he said again, “to get to me.”
    I looked at Alik. He shrugged. We weren’t the kind of guys used to gentle interrogations. But using force with the old man wasn’t likely to do any good.
    “I’m so ashamed.” Esau slumped into a chair. He set his pistol on the table, then cupped his hands over his face. “How did I let this happen?”
    “What did you let happen?” I said. “What are you ashamed about?”
    Esau muttered something in Greek. I glanced at Alik, but he shrugged it off.
    Alik said, “If you don’t come clean with us, we’ll have to call the authorities and get them involved.”
    Esau kept his hands over his face, shook his head.
    I grabbed Alik and pulled him to the front of the cafe. The street stretched in both directions. Deserted. If anyone had witnessed the incident, they had left the scene. Couldn’t blame them. Not in a town like this. Funny how it worked. In a big city, everyone would continue on as if nothing had happened, because they’d dulled themselves into ignoring everything around them. In this small town, there weren’t enough numbers to provide that kind of anonymity. Yet they still kept to themselves.
    “What do you think?” Alik said.
    “No cops,” I said.
    He shook his head. “This is a mistake.”
    “We can handle this.”
    “We?”
    “Yeah, you and I.”
    “You can’t even defend yourself. All that recovery work is undone now. How do you think we will take these guys down?”
    “I’ve handled more. Guys I knew were trained operatives.”
    “Aside from that,” Alik said. “We don’t even know where they are.”
    “True,” I said, glancing at his reflection. “But I’m pretty sure Esau does.”
    “And he’s a babbling fool right now.”
    “He knows what kind of men we are. I think if we offer our help to him, he’ll open up.”
    “And if he doesn’t?”
    I glanced over my shoulder. Esau hadn’t moved. “He’ll lose his niece if he doesn’t.”
    The old man lifted his chin off his chest and uncovered his face. “I know where they are.”

Chapter 11
    ESAU WAITED UNTIL EVENING. WE drove his car to his house and went in together. Thick green carpet covered the floors wall to wall. The place looked like it had been furnished and decorated in the seventies and never updated. I wondered if the house had come furnished when he moved in, or were the furniture and fixtures representative of his tastes. It smelled like stale, burned coffee. Except when I walked past what must’ve been Isadora’s room. I caught a whiff of her lavender fragrance.
    Esau led us to the kitchen, which had a couple cabinets and linoleum floors and countertops made to look like marble. He pulled