The Angry Hills - Leon Uris [50]
But Heilser knew that Zervos had grabbed too much power. He also knew the fat man was too valuable to be disposed of. He had his finger on everything. And there would be ten million drachmas a month coming in. Heilser decided that Zervos would stay, but he’d keep him under control—he’d damned well do that.
Konrad Heilser shuffled through the papers on his desk. Escapees were everywhere. The filthy British roamed the length and breadth of the land. Now there were reports of an Underground movement becoming more active daily.
But this was not the main problem. The main problem was the Greeks working inside the German Command who were pilfering information. Who were they?
Who knew where the American was now? Each day he remained free the threat increased. If the names fell into British hands there would be hell to pay. It would turn his job into a nightmare. There would be no stopping an Underground that knew what the German movements would be. What was the matter with these people? Why did they resist? Only yesterday he had signed an order to destroy two villages in the Aetolo-Acarnania district for harboring escapees and defying wheat taxation. Still they resisted.
Once the American was bagged—once the Stergiou list was known he could set the resistance back two years.
Heilser still felt that Morrison would contact someone in Athens. The German knew who the logical contacts were and he allowed them to operate in the open. It would have been a simple matter to round them up and throw them all into Averof, but he would not do so until he found the American.
A knock on the door. Zervos entered.
Heilser glared at him in disgust. He looked the part of an idiot. His tailor-made suit and vest were of some weird color, and he was fatter than ever. Diamond stick pin, diamond cufflinks, four diamond rings. Soon he’d fill his teeth with diamonds. Zervos walked up to Heilser’s desk without a trace of the old fear.
“We have an appointment to meet Lisa Kyriakides in an hour, Konrad.” Zervos gloried in the newly found equality which allowed him to call Heilser by his Christian name.
Heilser was repelled, and reminded himself to talk to the Greek swine soon about his come-uppance.
Zervos knew about the personal interest the German had in Lisa, and he goaded, “Well, Konrad”—with a mocking sigh—“I think it is about time we dispose of her.”
“I still run this department, Mr. Zervos. So long as there is a chance that one of these people will lead us to Morrison, we cannot dispose of them.”
“But in Lisa’s case,” Zervos continued, “she will not give information. You know that. It is foolish to allow her to run around free. The least we could do is put a watch on her.”
“You idiot! Put a watch on her and the Underground would know it in five minutes. No, Zervos, she will obey us as long as we hold her children.”
Zervos continued needling the angered German. “Why don’t we just have one of the children disappear? That would bring her to her senses. I’m sure she’d co-operate more fully if one of her children disappeared.”
Heilser knew that was a sensible thing to do. But it would also destroy any chance of her becoming his mistress. The thought of her was constant and tormenting.
Zervos smiled and offered him a cigarette. “You are being quite unreasonable, Konrad. I have already offered her fifty million drachmas to—uh—share my apartment. She is a very, very difficult woman.”
“Shut up!”
TWO
LISA KYRIAKIDES WALKED ACROSS Constitution Square toward the row of shops facing it on Hermes Street. Men—Greek, German and Italian—all turned and watched her pass. She looked straight ahead, neither ignoring nor acknowledging the stares that followed her. For Lisa had been endowed with a striking beauty that could impress itself on a memory even if seen only as a face in a passing crowd.
The lines of her face were carved to perfection and set in a halo of golden hair—rare for a Greek. Her complexion was a shade