Page 30 of Cowboy

“We need to ask you a few questions,” said Ethan. The man nodded, wiping his tears.

“Of course, but can I get you guys anything to eat or drink? On the house.”

“No, we’re fine,” said Cowboy.

“I could eat,” frowned Moose. Sephones laughed, nodding his head. He placed a room service order and then turned back toward the men.

“Autumn said you stopped in Fresno and that you had an argument with a man in a black SUV. Is that right?”

“Yea. That little prick Dimitri Stepanapolos had been harassing the boss about using his plane to transport girls back and forth between cities. Constantine refused. He knew the kids’ father and knew what kind of men they were. He didn’t want anything to do with it. So, I told him to back off, or I’d put a bullet in his brain.”

“Did you know that the plane was shot down?” asked Mo. He seemed genuinely surprised by that, shaking his head.

“No. I mean, I knew the plane was well cared for by Autumn, so I assumed someone screwed with the engines. It was dark when I pulled Constantine out of the plane, so I didn’t see anything.”

“Dimitri killed Autumn’s grandmother,” said Cowboy.

“Oh, shit,” he whispered, coving his mouth. “She was tight with her grandma. They were together all the time. It was one of the things Constantine really admired about her. She wanted to take care of her. I’m damn sorry to hear that.”

“He found the grandmother, brought her to a ravine near the crash site, and dropped her in front of Autumn. He said that she had his pack. Do you know what that is?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Shit, that had to have been devastating for the poor kid. We weren’t carrying anything for Dimitri. I can guarantee that. I had my suitcase and Constantine’s on board. Autumn never carried more than a purse, maybe a change of clothes, and some food. That’s all.”

“What do you know about Dimitri that maybe we don’t?” asked Ethan.

“Man, whatever is illegal, he has his hands in it. He’s tried to do illegal shit here in the casino and the sister property, but our security knows to watch for him now. It’s like he can’t be happy unless he’s doing something against the law. His big thing with us was transporting the girls and women he intended to traffic.

“Somewhere along the way, he’d discovered that the U.S. military would always find and stop his ships. Big commercial airliners can’t be used. It’s just too obvious. I mean, some of those poor girls are just thirteen or fourteen years old.”

“How do you know?” asked Moose with a suspicious stare.

“I know because we’ve stopped him on a number of occasions. He would bring the girls here to Vegas and put them to work. Constantine, he changed after the death of his own kid. All he wanted to do was help women and children. He would send me or one of the other boys out to find these girls, and we’d find a way to get them home.

“Some of them were so bad, they didn’t want to go home. They knew they would never be the same. So, Constantine and Annette built a group home outside of L.A. for them. They were cared for, went to school, and most are off to college now or married. They were good people.”

“Autumn said the same thing,” said Cowboy. “But why pressure Constantine to carry the girls? I mean, it would have been easier and cheaper to use random planes and pilots.”

“I’m not sure. All I know is that there was a beef between Constantine and Dimitri. I never pried, mostly because Constantine was very open about his business.” There was a knock on the door, and two waiters came in with trays of food. Moose smiled as they set down the mound of food. He dove into the burger and fries first while the others watched with fascination.

“He’s hungry. A lot,” said Mo.

“I see that,” smirked the other man. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t get back to Autumn fast enough, but I’m damn glad the kid is okay. Constantine and Annette loved her like a daughter. When she was gone, I went to her grandmother’s home and saw that it had burned down. I’ve been sick about it ever since.”

“Thank you for the explanation,” said Cowboy. “We’ll get out of your way now. Just out of curiosity, what will happen to the casinos?”

“They’re both going to be sold, and profits will benefit their charity and others. If you can believe it, they actually stipulated that this suite would be mine until death, should I want it.”

“That’s a generous gift,” said Ethan. “Will you stay?”

“I’m not sure,” said the man, shaking his head. “I still have family in Greece, but it’s such a mess there. Knowing Autumn is safe, I can relax a bit and think about what I want to do. Maybe I’ll go guard the property in L.A., make sure the women and kids are safe. I’m getting older, so that seems like something I could do.”

“You’d be great at it,” grinned Mo. He turned to see Moose biting into the second burger and shook his head. “Let’s go.”

“But I’m not done,” he said with a mouthful of burger.

“Dude, we need to get you checked for a tapeworm.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

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