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“I was so worried,” she breathed.
“I know, and I’m genuinely sorry. Things happened. I’ll tell you about it when I get there. I love you,” he said, and hung up.
Simon felt like a heel phoning Eirene like that and telling her almost nothing of what had happened since he left Halithos. But he was sitting in an interview room at a police station, waiting to confess what he’d done, and he knew she wouldn’t want to hear that. Angry as she’d been, Eirene wouldn’t have dealt well with the real world consequences of Simon’s actions. And his confession.
He was giving them Kosta. He hadn’t planned to. When he’d left Halithos that morning his plan was to go to the hotel where Athena and Kosta were staying, and get his sister to leave with him. He’d tell her the truth if he had to, but he was going to get her away from Kosta.
Only they weren’t there. They’d had a reservation, but a few hours after they’d checked into their suite, Mr. Petrakos had phoned down to the desk and asked for a rental car.
“What time was that?” Simon asked.
“Close to midnight, I believe,” the clerk had told him. “I didn’t take the call, I wasn’t on duty. But when I relieved the night clerk we laughed about how odd it was for newlyweds to check in and then go off in a rental car.”
“They both left?”
“I assumed so. I didn’t ask.”
Simon bribed the man to let him into their suite, hoping that perhaps Athena was still there, and sleeping. But there was no sign of her. Her bags were still in the suite though. One was lying open on the bed, clothing spilling out.
Worst of all there were several broken objects, a vase, a glass, and the phone had been torn free of its line and flung against the wall. When Simon saw the wreckage, it made him go cold inside. Kosta and Athena had had a fight. She threw things when she got mad. A fight, and then a midnight flight from the hotel. That was very, very bad, and it was what inspired Simon’s next stop. He went to the police.
He hadn’t wanted to confess his crimes, but now with Athena’s life at stake, he didn’t hesitate. He walked into the police station and announced his intentions. He’d thought it would be simple. He’d thought he’d tell them what he knew and they’d go out and find Kosta, and rescue Athena. But it was hours before anything much happened. His lawyer had told Simon not to say a word until he got there. The police didn’t seem to know who would be in charge of that sort of crime, and no one was doing anything about Kosta even though he could be murdering Athena for all anyone knew.
Finally Simon said, “He’s kidnapped my sister,” and had the satisfaction of watching the police force mobilize.
He knew Kosta had a place in Thessaloniki, and suggested that they look there. He’d rented a car, so he’d probably intended to drive some distance. Of course he could just as easily have driven south, intending to catch a boat that would take them across to Egypt, or headed west to catch passage to Turkey. Kosta had mentioned living in Istanbul and it was possible he still had ties there. He told all this to the police and begged them to get his sister back. “I’ll tell you everything,” he promised.
Finally, after hours of waiting, he was able to give a statement to the police. He fully expected to be locked up, but given his name and position, and the fact that nobody was quite certain what jurisdiction would be involved in prosecuting the crimes, the authorities let Simon’s lawyer talk them into letting him go.
“He couldn’t disappear if he wanted to. He’s too well known,” the man insisted.
They still wanted to do some paperwork, so they asked Simon to stay for a while longer and he’d agreed. When they left him alone in the interview room, he phoned Eirene, but didn’t have the heart to tell her the whole story. He knew she was angry with him, but he couldn’t pretend he’d had some kind of change of heart. He’d confessed because he saw no other way to ensure that Kosta would be brought to justice and separated from Athena.
He waited and waited, then pushed two chairs together, stretched out on them, and slept.
A little before six, they told him he could go. He thanked his lawyer who had stayed with him through the night and the on-again, off-again questioning, and was about to leave when one of the officers stopped him. “They’ve found her!” the young woman said.
“Is she all right?”
“She’s fine, apparently. They’re bringing her back now.”
He phoned Eirene again and explained that he had to stay until Athena arrived, only remembering after he told her that she didn’t know what had been happening. “I really will tell you everything when I get home,” he promised. “I’m sorry, I’m just very tired right now.”
Eirene arrived at the police station five minutes before Athena did. “I was tired of sitting at home waiting to hear what was happening,” she told Simon. “Worrying about you.” She reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair off his forehead. “Simon, I’m sorry I acted the way I did.”
“You were right,” he told her. The time he’d spent there had given him ample time to consider what he’d done. The sense of wrongdoing was still half-formed and he didn’t feel guilty, but he knew he’d made a mistake in willfully ignoring what Kosta was doing, in supporting it. He’d been wrong, he’d contributed to a crime, and he was willing to pay the price if it would make things right in his life, save his sister, and win back the love of his wife. “I shouldn’t have chosen that path. I didn’t need the money. I did it because it was easy to do.”
“Is that why you’re here?”
“Partly. Mostly it was to find Athena. I don’t know what happened to her, but they tell me she’s safe—”
Just then the door opened and Athena entered. She was dirty and bruised-looking but seemingly unharmed.
“Simon… Eirene… I’m sorry.”
Simon hugged her. “You’re safe. That’s all that matters.” He felt her stiffen, then relax in his embrace.
Eirene asked, “What happened?”
