Chapter 5
Stephanie dropped off her serving tray and arched her back, stretching her arms overhead to relieve the tension that had gathered in her neck and shoulders after working a six-hour shift.
“Tired?” Terri asked, dropping her tray on the bar and leaning her elbows on the polished surface.
“Yes. We were pretty busy tonight,” Stephanie told her, dropping her arms and reaching around behind herself to untie her apron. Her shift was over, the bar was now closed, and the only task left was to take out the trash and then head home where she planned to sleep for the next twelve hours.
“It’s tourist season,” Terri told her. “Want me to take the trash out tonight?”
Stephanie shook her head, “No, I’ll get it. You worked longer than I did.”
“Okay. Have a good night.”
“You too,” Stephanie watched Terri toss her apron into the dirty laundry basket beneath the bar and then she headed for the door. “Bye, Tomas.”
“Hey, wait up. I’m ready to go and I’ll walk you out, that is, if Stephanie’s okay locking the back door?” Tomas asked, hope in his eyes that maybe Terri would finally give him the time of day.
Stephanie hid her smile and nodded, “Sure. I’ll drop the trash and lock the door behind me. Get out of here, you two.”
She waited until they left and then walked over and made sure the front door was locked up tight.
She headed for the kitchen area, turning lights off as she went.
She retrieved her purse and then picked up the two bags of trash sitting by the back door.
She made sure the lock was engaged and then turned the lights off as she pushed through the door, stepping out into the night air.
It was late at night and as she walked toward the large dumpster at the corner of the back lot, she couldn’t help but notice how quiet it was. The bar closed at two o’clock in the morning, and after cleaning up, Stephanie guessed it was probably closer to three in the morning.
She tossed the trash bags into the dumpster and then turned toward home. She reached the street and then froze as movement on her right had her stepping back to conceal herself. It was an instinctive reaction but proved to be the correct one.
Across the street and just around the corner, two men were talking, almost standing in the middle of the street. Given how quiet it was, their words carried to her ears as if she were standing right next to them.
She peeked around the corner of the building, covering her mouth with her hand when she recognized the younger criminal from the other night. The man who’d sold the stolen vase was standing not thirty feet from her.
One part of Stephanie wanted to call the police and make sure that justice was served, but she kept her phone in her pocket. The police had been completely unwilling to help and she had no confidence that it would be any different tonight.
The two men nodded at one another and then took off, going in different directions.
Stephanie watched the criminal head down the street and before she knew it, she was following him, from a discreet distance.
She wanted to find out where he was going and maybe then she’d have something to tell the police that would make them take action.
Someone needed to pay for their crimes and Stephanie didn’t mind helping that happen.
He wandered down several streets, walking almost five blocks away from the bar before he turned into a small fenced warehouse space.
He walked up to the door and knocked twice.
The door opened and after a brief conversation which she couldn’t hear, another man joined the first and they walked away from the building, approaching her hiding place and giving her an opportunity to listen in on their conversation.
Normally, she would have been concerned that she wouldn’t understand anything, but to her surprise, they began speaking English. She looked at the second man a bit closer and was shocked to realize that he didn’t look Greek in the least. She had a very bad feeling in her stomach.
“Did you get it?” the Greek criminal asked.
“Yes, did you bring my proof?” the English man asked.
“You’ll get your proof.”
“I need Ries Kafatos dead, the sooner the better.”
“Care to tell me why?” The Greek man asked.
“Does it truly matter?”
“Not really. You pay me well enough that I don’t need to,” the Greek man told him with a smirk.
“Just get it done.”
“Don’t worry. The target is going to make my job easy. He has no sense of self-preservation and frankly, I’m surprised he hasn’t killed himself with how reckless he acts. It will be easy to make it look like an accident. Something he did to himself.”
“I don’t care about any of that; I just need him out of the way. Time frame?”
“Within the week. The other two are going to be much more difficult,” the Greek man warns the other.
“I’m sure you’ll handle them as well.”
“Of course. Difficult just makes it more fun for me. Getting to them might require a bit more finesse…”
“Meaning what? You want more money?” the English man asked.
“That would be very perceptive on your part.”
“As long as you eliminate the Kafatos brothers, I’ll pay you whatever you want. Just get it done, beginning with Ries. Getting rid of him will be a wake-up call to his brothers and I can’t wait to see their faces when they get the news. Be sure to alert the press, will you?” the English man asked.
“I’ll let you know when the task is complete and you can do whatever you like,” the Greek man told him.
Stephanie watched as the two men shook hands. Then a thrill of terror ran through her as she realized that in her desire to hear what they were talking about; she had put herself in harm’s way. If the man discovered her, and suspected she had overheard...
Stephanie didn’t stick around to see what else happened, she turned on her heel and hurried down the street, ducking into the first alley and continuing to run back toward the bar. She was out of breath and had a stitch in her side by the time she finally reached the bar and got her bearings.
She leaned over, trying to catch her breath, adrenaline rushing through her veins as she stood up and headed for the hotel where she’d taken Ries the night before.
Someone was trying to kill him. And it sounded like they were after his brothers as well.
She rushed into the hotel, slowing her pace when she drew the concerned look of the night watchman.
After the way the police had acted yesterday, she didn’t know who could be trusted.
She walked toward the elevator, relieved when the doors immediately opened and began to carry her up to the top floor.
Ries was using one of the four penthouse suites and she approached his door, knocking lightly and hoping he was still there.
When he didn’t answer she knocked again, a bit louder this time.
Moments later, a very sleepy looking Ries opened the door and she almost broke into tears. “Ries…”
“Stephanie?” Ries took a step forward and looked both ways down the small hallway. “What are you doing here?”
“I need to tell you something.” Stephanie was almost shaking with anxiety as the criminal’s words came back to her. “Now. Please…”
“Sure, come in here. Do you know what time it is?” Ries asked, stepping back and letting her inside his room.
“I don’t care.” She quickly told him about seeing one of the criminals and following him.
“You did what? Don’t you realize how dangerous that was?” Ries asked her, pacing in front of her now where she sat on a small couch.
“I just wanted to see where he was going so that I would have something else to tell the police. I was hoping…,” she paused and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter now. You need to leave town.”
Ries reared back and laughed at her, “What? No! I don’t need to do anything.”
Stephanie stood up and came to stand directly in front of him, “But you do. The criminal I followed is going to kill you.”
Ries looked at her in surprise and quite a bit of doubt on his face. “Listen to me, I heard him and another man – one who was speaking English, so I didn’t get the words confused, I understood everyone. The Greek guy is going to kill you and then he’s going after your brothers.”
She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him toward the door, “You need to get out of here.”
“Wait! Stephanie, slow down and start from the top.” Ries pulled her back to the couch and then pulled her down to sit beside him.
“Ries, you…,” she stopped as the tears she’d been holding back started running down her cheeks.
“Hey, shush,” Ries pulled her to his chest and held her until she had control of her emotions once more. His arms were warm and strong, and she felt her breathing slow. It felt like, for just that moment – while she was in Ries’ arms, nothing bad could happen to either of them.
Once she was calm again, she pushed away and wiped the tears away before facing him again. “Sorry. Look, this guy…he’s big and he talks like he has killed people before. You need to take this seriously and get out of town. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”