Page 27 of Cowboy

“If it were me,” said Kegger, “I’d be looking into whether or not Liconitis was into any sort of trouble with Stepanapolos. Maybe he owed him money or even a favor.”

“Nice of you to speak up, Kegger,” grinned Benji.

“I speak when I need to,” he grinned. “Look, it’s been a lot of years. Pork and Otto might remember more details than I do. But we went after Arturro about twenty years ago. He was transporting women from Eastern Europe to Central and South America, then bringing some into the States. The problem was that he was good friends with the president of Greece. They didn’t want him touched. The U.S. felt otherwise.”

“I remember that,” said Otto. “We were in a submersible just a mile from his ship. I had him in my sights on deck with three young girls. He’d made them strip and was inspecting them.”

“I was begging someone to let me shoot,” said Pork. “Then suddenly, we get the word to stand down. Turn the submersible back, get on board the carrier, and get the fuck out of there.” Luke and the others looked toward Bodwick. It was long before his time as President, but he would have been in Congress at that time.

“I don’t remember anything about that,” he said, shaking his head. “If a decision was made, I was completely unaware of anything. It’s not surprising, but still, Arturro was a big deal back then.”

“Hey, I don’t want to interrupt, but I’ve received a message from the sheriff in California,” said Pigsty. “We left our number as the contact number if they needed anything from Autumn.”

“What do they need?” asked Cowboy.

“Nothing from her. Some lawyer for Liconitis brought a box that was left to her. I asked him to ship it to our P.O. Box at the General Store. I’ll have someone pick it up to see what’s in there. I’m going to guess that he left her something in the will.”

“I’m sure she’ll be grateful for whatever he sent,” said Cowboy. “She spoke highly of him. What do we do now? Marovski is dead, but we know that he worked for Arturro. Do we pay him a visit?”

“Not yet,” said Eric. “Let’s see what we can find out from our friends in Washington. If they’re working on something, we want to cooperate with them. If not, we’ll be cooperating on our own.”

“Just a little something that might be helpful,” said Gaspar from the back row. “Forty years ago, Nine, Ghost, and me were on a joint mission with some of the others in Cyprus. We were sent to kill Zeus Stepanapolos, the grandfather of Dimitri.”

“Did you succeed?” asked Cowboy. Nine stared at him like he had three heads. “Right. You succeeded.”

“We did,” said Ghost. “I was a young SEAL back then, so serving on a team with these guys was like being chosen for the dream team in the Olympics. Zeus, cocky bastard, by the way, was hosting a party at his seaside home. When we came up on the beach, we noticed that everyone seemed to be panicked. We were certain it wasn’t about us, but it did help us.” Gaspar nodded.

“Our team was able to get close to the pool area, and what we saw was beyond disturbing. Zeus had beaten his wife to death in front of their guests. She’d chosen the wrong wine for the meal, and he wanted them to know what happens to people who disappoint him. It wasn’t hard to pull that trigger,” said Gaspar.

“Was the son there?” asked Cowboy.

“I never saw him,” said Nine, “but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t there. He would have been in his late twenties at the time, so he could have been off partying with his own age group.”

“Did they know it was you?” asked Cowboy.

“They knew it was Americans,” said Ghost.

“Damn.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Hello there,” said Cowboy, kissing Autumn. She smiled up at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Can I just stay like this forever?” she whispered.

“I think that’s the plan, honey. Did you have a good day with the girls?”

“The best. They’re all so amazing, Benjamin. I mean, your own mother isn’t just the average FBI agent. She was specialized in chemical weapons. She even consults with the people out at G.R.I.P., which was the bomb, by the way! I’ve never seen so much technology and innovation in one place. And so much brainpower!”

“Yea,” he laughed, “we’ve got quite a crew here. Listen, the sheriff called and said one of Liconitis’s lawyers brought a box that he left you. We’re having it shipped to our P.O. Box, but I wanted to let you know that we would open it first. Just in case.”

“Of course,” she nodded. “I have nothing to hide. I’m sure it’s something that Annette wanted me to have. When I would drop Constantine off, if she were with him, we would go shopping together. She was in a wheelchair most of the time, but her nurse always came with us. Annette would insist on buying me a new sweater or pair of earrings. She was very generous. They both were.”

“It sounds like they were good people who definitely changed their ways,” said Cowboy.

“I met Lucy and Sniff’s daughter today. She was headed out to work at a zoo in Turkey. I guess the earthquake there has them scrambling to take care of the animals and get them temporarily placed elsewhere. She was beautiful.”

“Yea, Caroline is definitely the best of both her folks. I always thought she and Tobias would get together, but I don’t think that ever happened.”

---