A Deadly Twist by Jeffrey Siger (free novel reading sites .txt) 📕

spook the kidnapper for sure.”

“Maybe not. I plan on having a talk with Pappas first thing in the morning.” Andreas smiled. “Which to this cop means dawn.”

* * *

“Hello.” The sleepy voice came through the phone with a mix of confusion, anxiety, and budding rage.

“Good morning, Giorgos. Wakey, wakey, today’s a big day.”

“Kaldis? Have you gone mad? Do you know what time it is?”

“Of course I do. It’s time for you to get your ass out of bed and convince your publisher to extend his noon deadline until midnight.”

“You are mad. How the hell do you expect me to do that?”

“I know what I’d have told him if he’d bothered to return any of the many messages I left for him.”

“And what would that be?”

“Simple. If he sticks to his noon deadline and tells the world Nikoletta has disappeared, I’ll call a press conference to announce that your distinguished publisher is in possession of documents that could help the police locate his missing reporter but refuses to turn them over.”

“With his power and connections, you wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me.”

“Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?”

“The question is, does he?”

“You’ll be making an enemy for life.”

“Tell him to get in line.” Andreas paused. “Are you done yet with this who-has-a-bigger-one ping-pong match?”

Pappas cleared his throat. “What is it you really want?”

“Like I said, I want him to hold off until midnight. Of course, if he’s dead set on going ahead at noon, he could outmaneuver me by simply turning over the sixth notebook, but I don’t think either of us believes he’ll do that. Do we?”

“I’ve no idea what he’ll do.” Pappas paused. “Just so you know, I told him about our last conversation and urged him to cooperate, but he said his commitment to preserving his reporter’s sources is sacrosanct.”

“As is my commitment to preserving his reporter’s life. Have a nice day.”

Andreas hung up and looked at Tassos. “How did I do?”

“Like someone who went out of his way to turn his and his family’s past, present, and future into the most-favored targets of the most powerful publishing family in Greece.”

Andreas smiled. “Good, then he got the message.”

“When are we leaving for Siphones?”

“Let’s give Yianni another hour of sleep. He needs the rest, and we need him with us to make the introductions.”

“Great, then there’s time for breakfast.”

“Is that all you care about?”

“No. Since Maggie put me on this strict diet, I think of other things.”

“Like what?”

“Lunch.”

Andreas smacked his forehead and sighed. “Why do I keep feeding you these straight lines?”

“Hey, it’s a skill.”

Ring, ring.

“Who the hell would be calling me at this hour?”

“Now you sound like Pappas. Maybe it is Pappas?”

Andreas looked at the screen, gestured no, and put the call on speakerphone. “Hi, Dimitri, what’s up?”

“Obviously, you are. I was prepared to leave you a message.”

“The early bird gets the worm and all that.”

“Well, it seems likely there’s something much larger than a worm we’re looking for.”

“That sounds ominous.”

“Because it is. The preliminary autopsy’s in on Honeyman. He died before hitting the bottom.”

“Mercifully, I hope.”

“A bullet to the head.”

“It beats flying wide-awake off the top of a cliff wearing a rope necktie anchored to a slab of marble,” said Tassos.

“Why do I sense you’re just getting to the ominous part?” said Andreas.

“Last night we began rounding up the usual suspects, as you called them. A couple of hours ago, we found two ripe ones in a stolen car down behind the airport. Each with a bullet through his head.”

“Don’t tell me. The bullets match the one pulled out of Honeyman,” said Andreas.

“Too soon to tell, but since it looks as if they’ve been dead for about as long as Honeyman, I wouldn’t be surprised if they match.”

“I’d be surprised if they don’t,” said Tassos. “Sounds like whoever got rid of Honeyman also took out the other two.”

“One of the victims was at the top of our list of likely drivers in the attack on Popi and Yianni.”

Andreas bit at his lower lip. “So, what do we have here? A sophisticated killer who kills Honeyman and then hunts down the other two? Or an amateur who somehow knew the two well enough to lure them to a convenient place for eliminating them as potential witnesses?”

“Or some combination thereof,” said Tassos. “My guess is it’s closer to your amateur scenario, because with the police hunting for them, it’s hard to imagine how their killer would have been able to find them if they didn’t want him to.”

“But couldn’t Nikoletta’s computer guy have found them?” said Dimitri.

“Unless he’s wired into the local bad-guy network, somehow used his skills to get a GPS reading on them, or has superhuman powers, I don’t see how he could,” said Andreas. “Besides, none of this bears the mark of a master at work.”

“Perhaps he’s just trying to confuse us by appearing sloppy,” said Dimitri.

“I don’t see it that way,” said Andreas. “I’m into believing there’s a new player involved. But I’m not sure what team he’s playing for.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Tassos.

“Are these killings because of what else Nikoletta might write about her hacker? Or did her activist research trip a different alarm among some very bad people?”

“Or are they dead because of something completely unrelated to anything we know or imagine?” said Tassos.

“That too,” said Andreas, drawing in and letting out a deep breath. “But since we’ll never know if it’s something unknown until we’ve eliminated the known, I say we go with what’s tied to the highest body count. Namely, Honeyman. More specifically, his involvement in antiquities smuggling and development-project buyouts.”

“In other words, it’s off to Siphones,” said Tassos.

“Yes.”

“Right after breakfast?”

Andreas nodded. “But be sure to make it a big one. It’s shaping up to be a long day.”

Chapter Sixteen

By the time Toni, Lila, and Maggie sat down to breakfast, the men had left.

Lila picked up her coffee cup. “Well, we’ve got a car and the day all to ourselves. What would you like to do?”

“I’d like to see