An Aegean Prophecy - Jeffrey Siger [40]
‘Will do. Bye-bye.’
‘Bye. So, what do we do now?’ asked Kouros.
‘Only thing I can think of is to ask the Protos if he sees anything in all this. After all, he’s in one of the photos and Vassilis was taking everything to him.’
‘Or so he says,’ said Kouros.
Andreas nodded. ‘Good point. But I don’t see any other play, do you?’
‘No.’
Andreas paused. ‘But first.’ He picked up the phone and dialed.
‘Tassos, can you talk?’
He pointed to the extension and gestured for Kouros to pick up.
‘Sure. My office line is secure,’ said Tassos.
‘Good, Yianni and I have something to run by you. It’s about that guy who belongs to the phone number you got for us.’ Andreas briefly told him of his meeting with the Protos and that they’d found what he believed Vassilis was passing on to the Protos.
‘How do you know he’s the Protos?’
‘You mean Maggie didn’t tell you?’
Tassos’ tone turned serious. ‘Maggie and I have a wonderful relationship. She refuses to tell me anything about the other men in her life, and I don’t ask.’ He laughed.
Andreas chuckled. ‘Fair enough. She recognized his voice when transcribing the tape. He’s the Protos, for sure. Do you know him?’
‘Yes, but he’s in his seventies, and I knew him when he was a lot younger. I’d just started out on the force and he wasn’t protos then, just a priest visiting my guests.’
Andreas knew Tassos was referring to his time guarding political prisoners. He wondered if the Protos had followed Tassos’ strategy of making friends with the inmates, so that if they returned to power he’d still have friends in government.
‘He was pretty respected, though, even back then,’ said Tassos.
‘By whom?’
‘Everyone, as far as I could tell. After all, the junta let him visit prisoners. And they were paranoid about visitors serving as messengers, especially clerics.’
‘So they trusted him?’
‘As far as I could tell. Why, is that what you’re worried about, trusting him?’
‘You’re as bad as Lila, always reading my mind.’
‘Hopefully you’re thinking different thoughts around her.’
Kouros laughed.
‘Glad one of you likes my humor. And to answer your question, I never heard anyone suggest, “Don’t trust him.” But that could mean one of two things: either he can be trusted, or is so devious no one could tell that he can’t be.’
‘So which is it?’
‘Damned if I know. And the fact he’s as important as he is in the church doesn’t prove anything one way or the other.’
‘Tell me about it,’ said Kouros.
Andreas rolled his eyes at Kouros. ‘Spare me, please.’ He cleared his throat and said to Tassos, ‘What’s your instinct?’
Tassos let out a deep breath. ‘Can’t say, haven’t spoken with him in years, and rarely does he appear in public anymore. Don’t even know whom to ask without it getting back to him for sure. I think you’ll have to go with your gut. If you’re so worried about trusting him, I assume it’s critical.’
‘It’s the whole game. If he’s on the wrong side … I don’t want to think about it.’
‘Good luck.’
‘Yeah, thanks.’
‘Love to Lila.’
Andreas hung up and stared out the window. He spoke as if thinking aloud. ‘Why would the Protos have pushed so hard for an investigation if he was involved as a bad guy? Then again, if he was worried someone might make the connection - like by finding what’s on that flash drive - that kind of move gave him a former prime minister to vouch for him as the champion of the impartial investigation. What a super-smart move. And ballsy.’
Andreas let out a breath, turned to Kouros, and shrugged. ‘Maggie, get in here. Please.’
The door swung open. ‘If you want to know about the photos—’
‘Is everyone reading my mind today? How the hell did you know I wanted to ask you about the Protos?’
Maggie walked over to his desk, leaned over, and exaggeratingly enunciated, ‘I said “photos,” not protos. The guru said he didn’t have to look at the photos again. The photo with the Protos was the original. Everything else was added on.’
‘Why didn’t he tell us that in the first place?’ said Andreas.
‘My guess is, he didn’t like being “dragged” by his