When Dead in Greece (4 page)

After several minutes debating the issue, I decided to back off. At least for a while.

I pushed a chair closer to the window. The wind picked up. White caps approached in staggered lines from a hundred yards out. They pounded the rocky shore and it sounded like thunder. The spray rose into the air and rode on the wind and spattered my face. There was a coolness to the breeze that was lost inside the closed room.

So I left the apartment and went down the stairs en route to the terrace.

Isadora stopped when I stepped into the cafe. Her hair was pulled back. She held a broom at an angle, the bristles an inch off the floor. The chairs were perched upside down on the tables. Coffee percolated. The sign on the front door had been flipped and read open upside down.

“What’s going on?” I asked her.

“Decided to remain closed for the day,” she said.

“Worried those men are coming back?”

She smiled weakly. “No, I don’t think we’ll be seeing them for a few days at least.”

“Then why shut down?”

“In a small town like this, word gets around quick. No one is going to come in tonight.”

“Fear?”

“Shame.” She drew the broom handle across her body. “No one stepped up to help. At least, no one local.”

“They’re smart.”

“You’re right, they are. You should have listened to Alik, Jack. To me and my uncle too. You want no part of this. It isn’t even your battle. You owe my uncle nothing.”

“Sure I do. He’s put me up here despite possible ramifications. Besides, the men were getting rough with you. I had to intervene.”

“No one laid a hand on me.” She clutched the broom with both hands and shrugged forward. “And I can take care of myself.”

“They were close.”

“I can take care of myself,” she said again, a hint of force behind her words.

I threw my hands up in retreat. “Well, you don’t have to worry. I decided that next time I see something going on, I’m just gonna walk away.”

“I’m sorry.” She set the broom against a table and crossed the room to me. Despite the long day, she looked and smelled as good as she had that morning. She rose onto the tips of her toes and wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed into me. Her breasts meshed with my chest. Her hips touched mine. Her soft lips grazed against my cheek and then my ear. Her words were hot against my skin. “Thank you. Your actions, though misguided, are appreciated.”

She pulled away from me and retreated behind the counter.

I turned and stepped out onto the terrace. Her scent remained on me. Shades of red, orange and purple colored the horizon. I hadn’t realized it was so late. The wind whipped in from the sea. It enveloped me, cooling my skin, taking a bite out of the humidity.

The terrace door opened. I turned, saw Isadora standing there. I resisted the urge to go to her, wanting instead for her to come to me.

She cleared her throat and spoke over the waves and wind. “I’m almost done in here. Can you lock up the terrace before you go back upstairs?”

“Can I walk you home?”

Her gaze lifted. She sighed. “Always the good Samaritan?”

I crossed the terrace and stopped a few feet short of where I wanted. “I’d feel better after all that happened today.”

She turned toward the cafe’s dining room. I stepped in front of the shifting door and followed close behind.

“Fine,” she said. “But we had better go so you aren’t walking the mean streets of Palaiochora alone in the dark.”

Chapter 7

THE BUILDINGS ON EITHER SIDE of the street were two or three stories, sandstone and white. The odd alley ran between them, allowing slices of orange sunlight to knife across the road. When we walked through those spots, Isadora’s hair shone like golden thread. A few older people were out, sitting on benches, the hum of their chatter filling the street. The air was cool, yet humid, and smelled of searing meat.

Isadora said she lived with Esau, about two miles from the cafe. We didn’t speak the first few minutes. Then she told me a little about her upbringing. I offered her a little about mine. Halfway to her uncle’s house, she recounted the story of how she’d ended up in town.

“When my mother’s sister, Eleni, fell ill, my mother asked that I come to this town to help out with my aunt and uncle’s business. Now, this was a big deal. I only had two more semesters at the university when Eleni became too sick to work in the cafe.”

“And she ended up passing, right?”

“Yes.”

“But not before you came?”

“Right.”

“You gave it all up?”

She nodded. “That was four years ago.”

“He couldn’t get help in the time since?”

She shrugged. “Doesn’t necessarily work like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a family business.”

“But you were close to finishing school. Could’ve gone on to start your career.”

Isadora stared at the ground and clutched her hands together behind her back. “My sister took my place.”

“How do you mean?”

“My parents could only afford for one of us to be in school. Instead of her taking a year off to come here so I could go back and finish, my parents sent her to university.”

“Why didn’t she come help at the cafe?”

“I already knew how to run the place.”

“Come on,” I said. “It’s not rocket science.”

“No, it’s not. But dealing with my uncle is another story. And my sister is not me. She doesn’t have the same kind of, what would you say, work ethic. I think if she had come here, she would have ruined the business. Especially considering Uncle Esau’s state of mind since my aunt passed. Do not get me wrong. It has improved. But he always seems distracted, like he’s thinking of her non-stop. It really breaks my heart.”

“So that’s it? You give up your future, and you’re OK with it?”

“Who said I’m OK? I accept it. And I know that my little sister will be done with school soon, and I’ll be able to return. I’m not giving up on myself. Haven’t you ever cared for someone so much you gave up things that meant the world to you?”

I said nothing.

Her hands fell to her side, her right brushing my left. She glanced over. “You have a habit of interjecting your opinion on everything, don’t you?”

“Not everything,” I said. “I tend to avoid certain topics.”

“Yeah, like what?”

I shrugged. “Women’s water polo, for one.”

She smiled at the remark and nudged me with her elbow.

“I’m just asking questions,” I said. “I can stop.”

“I don’t mind, I guess.” She came to a halt. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“You remind me of someone back home.”

“A special someone?”

“At times.”

“What’s she like?”

“Strong willed and pig headed. A lot like you, actually.”

Isadora shoved me, her hands pressing into my ribs. I tried to mask the pain. Didn’t work.

“You’re not healed yet, are you?” Her hands remained, but they opened and gently pressed into my chest.

“Getting there. Didn’t help they managed to connect a few times where the ribs had been broken.”

She regarded me in the fading light. “So you’ve heard a little about me. Who are you, Jack?”

“I’m just a pawn.”

“For?”

“The highest bidder.”

“Sounds intriguing.”

“It is. You should read the book when it comes out.”

“Everyone’s got their secrets,” she said.

“Guess so,” I said. “What’s yours?”

“I told you mine. I still hold out hope for a better future even though the odds are stacked against me.”

“A woman like you, the odds will always be in your favor.”

She smiled as her hands trailed down my arms until her left hand latched onto my right. She turned and tugged me forward. We covered the last quarter mile in silence. By the time we reached the house, the sky was dark and the only illumination came from porch lights. The sound of the sea was faint. The wind rustled through trees and bushes. It whipped her hair and it brushed against my cheek a couple times.

“The lavender,” I said.

“What about it?” she said.

“It’s in your hair.”

She grabbed several strands and held them to her nose. “An oil I rub in.”

“All day long I thought it was your perfume.”

“All day, huh?” she smiled.

I said nothing.

“Maybe when you’re feeling better, I can get a day off and show you the island.”

“I don’t know. The more you’re with me, the more you might uncover some more secrets.”

“Don’t worry, I’m good at withholding information, Jack.” Her smile lingered as she jutted her chin toward a white house. Her eyes flicked in that direction, then back at me. “That’s my stop.”

I walked her to the door and waited while she unlocked and opened it.

“Should I invite you in?” she asked.

“Is that you, Isa?” Esau called from another room.

“Yes, Uncle,” she said over her shoulder.

“Who are you talking to?” Esau said.

“I swear he’s got sonic hearing,” she whispered.

I took a few steps back. “You should get inside.”

“It’s OK if you want to come in.”

Esau had been good to Alik and me. He’d housed and fed us, and it didn’t matter why we needed the help. I appreciated that he stuck out his neck for us, two men he had never met. After what had happened today, it felt like imposing if I remained any longer.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, turning away.

It was pitch black out. The sun was gone. The moon hadn’t risen. I could barely see the ground. If not for the random house light, I might not have found my way back to the town and the cafe.

The day’s events played over in my head. I watched them like a movie, without interjecting thought or opinion into scenes. I thought about the corners of the cafe, the street just beyond the window. Looked for other faces I didn’t recognize. If there were any, I’d blocked them out.
 
I winced at every blow. Didn’t help that I felt the pain in my side with every step I took. I considered myself fortunate that my lung hadn’t collapsed again. All the more reason to be careful. I had to accept that I wasn’t myself. I couldn’t dish out punishment like normal. I didn’t recover from my injuries the same way. It was harder to work through them.

“God, am I getting old?” I muttered.

The wind mocked me with a gust that sounded like a long drawn out
yes
. I chose not to listen.

The first streetlight loomed in the distance, an orange halo in the darkness. The light wash grew as I drew nearer, illuminating the street, grass, bushes. A few minutes later the shadows were confined to the alleyways. Every sound echoed down the corridor of two- and three-story buildings, all orange in the electric haze. Even my own footsteps ratcheted into a sound akin to downrange automatic gunfire.

Three blocks from the cafe the sound was interrupted. Someone clearing their throat. Could have been my mind transmuting the sound of the waves. But when it was followed by a foot slapping the ground, my gut and chest tightened.

I shifted my eyes. Saw nothing. Moved my head. Still saw nothing. I stopped and leaned against the wall, pretending to search my pockets for a phone or a cigarette. I casually looked back in the direction I’d come from. Shadows played across the empty street.

I considered that my mind was playing tricks on me. The action I’d seen today was the first I’d encountered in over six weeks. I wasn’t used to the rush of adrenaline and the drive to fight. My system needed the counteraction. It wanted me to take flight. So my brain created this scenario, taking a simple noise and exaggerating it into a threat.

With the cafe close, I quickened my pace. I heard nothing other than the sounds of my steps and my heart whooshing in my ears.

I approached the final alley too quickly. Felt it as I stepped into the darkness. They were all around me. Had to be the guys from earlier. They’d seen me leave the cafe with Isadora and had lain in wait for an hour for this very moment.

I stopped in the middle, spun in place, threw my hands into a defensive position.

“Come on you bastards,” I said to the darkness. “Come get me.”

No one did.

My eyes adjusted to the shadows. I saw the dumpster and grease trap. A couple trash cans. A cat perched on top of one.

No assailants.

But that’s because they hit me from behind.

Chapter 8

THE GUY DID IT RIGHT. He got an arm around my neck, choking off my air supply. He pulled one arm behind my back, twisted and torqued, forcing me to turn sideways to relieve the pain. I swung my free arm, but the awkward angle meant even the blows that connected were too weak to inflict anything other than an itch. And with every passing second, my lungs screamed louder and my vision closed tighter and my brain grew lighter.

Then he let go, shoved with his hands, stuck a foot out in front of me. My face hit the ground before I managed to break my fall. The concrete grated against my right cheek. The ground stunk like old grease and trash. The wind blew cigarette butts toward me.

Why had he released me? He couldn’t control what I did now. There would be a fight.

I rolled over, expecting to see three to five armed men staring back at me. To my surprise, one guy stood there. And he was unarmed.

“Alik? The hell you doing?”

“What am I doing? I should be asking you the same. What were you thinking going out after what happened today?”

“I took a walk. What’s the big deal?”

“A walk? You think I’m stupid. I followed you and her all the way to Esau’s house.”

“You were there the whole time?”

Alik stepped forward and offered his hand. I took it, and he pulled me up.

“When are you going to accept that you are not up for this, Jack? You are not ready. You are not the guy you were two months ago.”

Alik’s words echoed my own thoughts at that moment. How had I missed him? Four miles he tailed me, and I didn’t come close to realizing someone was there until the end. And even then my instincts were wrong. I relied on guesswork and nearly paid the price. I had no idea which way he had come from. My stinging cheek could’ve been a bullet to my head.