Page 53

Two months after the death of Leandros Argyros

GREECE

I walk over the rough terrain, thinking this might be the last time that I tread here. Odin decided to donate the island to a cooperative run by Darius. Only the private part, where the mansion he built is located, will remain inaccessible to the locals. That area now belongs to his cousin, Milena.

I look at the place where the boathouse we've just torn down stood and think about how Leandros gloriously paid for all his sins that night we left him with the islanders.

I'm not easily impressed, but I would never have imagined that someone as calm-looking as Darius would be capable of leading an assassination. I don't think anyone knows for sure what a father or mother would do to avenge their child.

Anyway, the monster got what he deserved.

I'm about to get into the car when a tired-looking woman whom I don't think is even forty years old crosses my path. “She's not dead.”

I look at her for a moment, trying to solve the puzzle, and it doesn't take long for me to realize that I'm talking to Darius's wife. I've glimpsed her a few times.

“How do you know?”

“I feel it in my heart. Please find my daughter. I haven't slept well in three years. Here's a picture of her.”

My first instinct is to say, “I'm sorry, but I can’t get involved.” Except there's so much desperation on her face that I reconsider.

I take the photograph from her hand and put it in my pocket without looking at it. I take a card out of my pocket and hand it to her. “Call this number in a month. I'll see what I can do.”

As soon as I get into the car, I grab my disposable cell phone and call the only person who could find out the girl's whereabouts. My cousin, the head of the Russian mafia in the United States.

“What do you want?”

“I need a favor.”

“Another one?”

“Yes, I want you to find out if a woman—a girl actually—is still alive. Her name is Thalassa.”

“If she has disappeared, her name is the least important thing. I need a photograph.”

“I'll send it over.”

“No. Where are you?”

“In Greece.”

“Someone will find you when you get back to the States.”He hangs up without saying goodbye.

If there's any chance of the girl being brought back to her family, Yerik is the one who can do it.