An Aegean Prophecy - Jeffrey Siger [99]
Andreas nodded. Guess that answers who Dimitri worked for.
The Protos’ tone turned serious. ‘And that the abbot needed to be reminded that trusting the wrong sort, even innocently, has its consequences.’
I like this guy’s style, Andreas thought.
‘Now, if you would please excuse me, I have a few things to explain to the Archbishop of Greece, who so kindly loaned me his driver and car for the day. And I think you have a few to explain as well.’ He was smiling again.
On second thought …
Lila said, ‘What is he talking about?’
‘I’ll tell you when I get back. I have to walk him out.’
He looked at the Protos. ‘Thanks for that,’ then mouthed to him with a sarcastic look Lila could not see, ‘and I don’t mean for the cross.’
The Protos laughed. Probably for what must have been the first time in a very long time.
24
‘The operation was aborted.’
‘What do you mean, “aborted”?’ Vladimir’s temper flared.
‘Things changed.’
Vladimir yelled into the phone. ‘Anatoly, I told you the cop must be eliminated. It was not a situation subject to change. How dare you make such a decision without consulting me?’
There was a long pause. ‘My old friend, I will permit you to speak to me that way this once, because I understand the pressure you are under. But do not forget what you asked me to do.’
Vladimir swallowed. He’d asked him to kill a man. Something Anatoly had arranged many times before - and could do again, should Vladimir push him too far. ‘Yes, I am under pressure.’ It was as much of an apology as Vladimir was capable of giving.
‘Good. Now let me tell you why the operation was terminated. Our man met Zacharias at Ouranoupolis.’
Anatoly is calling him ‘our’ man, thought Vladimir. Once KGB, always KGB.
‘At first our man thought him not worthy of further attention and planned to let him walk away. He seemed to have lost his old edge, even allowed our man to bully him into paying a ridiculous bribe. Then, just as our man was about to turn over the package, the true Butcher showed himself. He threatened to wipe our man’s seed off the earth and pulled a gun. But our man was prepared for the worst. The canister carrying the dioxin was equipped to flood a sixteen-square-foot area with an instantly debilitating gas at the press of a button. It took down both Zacharias and our man.’
Vladimir wasn’t interested in any of this. He wanted to know why the cop was still alive. But he dared not interrupt. He sensed Anatoly was dragging this out just to let him know that now he was in charge.
‘Thankfully, comrades were hidden and watching from a nearby building. They carried both men to a waiting boat, administered the antidote to our man, and made rendezvous with a helicopter at sea. Zacharias awoke in Moscow.’
‘Did he say anything?’
‘Not at first.’
Vladimir didn’t have to ask what that meant.
‘Ultimately, he told us everything.’
Vladimir couldn’t control himself. ‘Anatoly, stop with this. What did he say? Is there a problem?’
‘Not for you, my friend.’
‘Anatoly.’ Vladimir’s frustration was patent.
‘I just learned what happened myself. It took days to break him down. But, as I said, he broke.’
Vladimir realized that the more anxiety he showed the more likely Anatoly was to drag this out. It was a torture technique. Old ways never changed. He decided to say nothing and let Vladimir ramble on until his point was made. He’d make it, no doubt he would. It was a trait common to all apparatchiks, an irresistible urge to reinforce their personal illusions of power by revealing information they alone possessed.
‘He has made you a hero, my friend.’
Vladimir held his tongue. ‘The Butcher had followed the traditional route of many
fleeing the world’s attention. He found a perfect place to hide until memories faded enough for him to acquire a different, less isolated exile elsewhere. But the Butcher could not resist his basic nature. He came to believe that God had chosen him to change the world. Whether his thinking was the product of mad, messianic delusions