The Angry Hills (16 page)

Konrad Heilser shuffled through the papers on his desk. Escapees were everywhere. The filthy British roamed the length and breadth of the land. Now there were reports of an Underground movement becoming more active daily.

But this was not the main problem. The main problem was the Greeks working inside the German Command who were pilfering information. Who were they?

Who knew where the American was now? Each day he remained free the threat increased. If the names fell into British hands there would be hell to pay. It would turn his job into a nightmare. There would be no stopping an Underground that knew what the German movements would be. What was the matter with these people? Why did they resist? Only yesterday he had signed an order to destroy two villages in the Aetolo-Acarnania district for harboring escapees and defying wheat taxation. Still they resisted.

Once the American was bagged—once the Stergiou list was known he could set the resistance back two years.

Heilser still felt that Morrison would contact someone in Athens. The German knew who the logical contacts were and he allowed them to operate in the open. It would have been a simple matter to round them up and throw them all into Averof, but he would not do so until he found the American.

A knock on the door. Zervos entered.

Heilser glared at him in disgust. He looked the part of an idiot. His tailor-made suit and vest were of some weird color, and he was fatter than ever. Diamond stick pin, diamond cufflinks, four diamond rings. Soon he’d fill his teeth with diamonds. Zervos walked up to Heilser’s desk without a trace of the old fear.

“We have an appointment to meet Lisa Kyriakides in an hour, Konrad.” Zervos gloried in the newly found equality which allowed him to call Heilser by his Christian name.

Heilser was repelled, and reminded himself to talk to the Greek swine soon about his come-uppance.

Zervos knew about the personal interest the German had in Lisa, and he goaded, “Well, Konrad”—with a mocking sigh—“I think it is about time we dispose of her.”

“I still run this department, Mr. Zervos. So long as there is a chance that one of these people will lead us to Morrison, we cannot dispose of them.”

“But in Lisa’s case,” Zervos continued, “she will not give information. You know that. It is foolish to allow her to run around free. The least we could do is put a watch on her.”

“You idiot! Put a watch on her and the Underground would know it in five minutes. No, Zervos, she will obey us as long as we hold her children.”

Zervos continued needling the angered German. “Why don’t we just have one of the children disappear? That would bring her to her senses. I’m
sure
she’d co-operate more fully if one of her children disappeared.”

Heilser knew that was a sensible thing to do. But it would also destroy any chance of her becoming his mistress. The thought of her was constant and tormenting.

Zervos smiled and offered him a cigarette. “You are being quite unreasonable, Konrad. I have already offered her fifty million drachmas to—uh—share my apartment. She is a very, very difficult woman.”

“Shut up!”

TWO

L
ISA
K
YRIAKIDES WALKED ACROSS
Constitution Square toward the row of shops facing it on Hermes Street. Men—Greek, German and Italian—all turned and watched her pass. She looked straight ahead, neither ignoring nor acknowledging the stares that followed her. For Lisa had been endowed with a striking beauty that could impress itself on a memory even if seen only as a face in a passing crowd.

The lines of her face were carved to perfection and set in a halo of golden hair—rare for a Greek. Her complexion was a shade lighter olive than most Greeks’. She moved along Hermes Street with the grace and carriage of a noblewoman.

Lisa was thin, a bit too thin. But this seemed to add to her haunting loveliness. Her eyes had an expression of deep sadness. Her hands, almost too sculptured to be real, seemed to express emotion even as she walked.

Lisa came to a halt before the window of Anton’s Dress Shop. Anton, the pseudo-Frenchman, who guaranteed his high-paying clientele the latest fashions from Paris.

A German officer approached her dubiously, hoping to introduce himself. Lisa cut him with an icy stare that sent him scurrying across the street.

She drew a deep breath, tightened her lips to hold off the tears, then opened the door to Anton’s and stepped into the deeply carpeted reception room.

Anton, dressed in stripes and cutaway, met her and bowed from the waist in recognition. She followed him past the ornate showroom where soft music accompanied a model parading before a customer. They turned into a long corridor past fitting and sewing rooms and into his office.

“Kindly be seated,” Anton said in his high-pitched voice. “They will be here shortly.” He bowed again and departed.

Lisa sank into the leather couch and buried her face in her hands. Tears fell down her proud cheeks. In a moment she braced herself and walked to the liquor cabinet for a brandy.

She stared blankly at the painted wall.

What was there left to live for?

It started the day after the German entrance into Athens. Manolis Kyriakides, her husband and the father of her two children, had showed his true colors.

Lisa’s father, a small factory owner, had defiantly refused to do business with the Germans. He had destroyed many patents the enemy sought.

This was what Manolis had been waiting for. Waiting since the day he had married Lisa. Within a week, Manolis gained control of the factory as the prize for collaboration with the Germans. It was Manolis’ information that sent Lisa’s father to Averof Prison. The old man lived only a few weeks, refusing to divulge the patents up to the moment of his death.

A week after her father’s passing, Lisa learned the true story from a friend. At first, Manolis tried to deny his part. But Lisa knew the truth. Long ago she had learned his pattern of greed and ambition.

She took the children and left him and went into hiding in an apartment in Athens. Then she became one of the first to join the new Underground movement.

Inside a week, she was picked up by the Gestapo.

Manolis, now deep in the Germans’ favor, regained the children. And, so great was the influence of Manolis Kyriakides, the collaborator, that Lisa’s life was spared. He took the case up to Herr Heilser himself. Yes, Manolis was a fine man. Not many husbands would do that for a wife who deserted.

But there had been a motive behind Manolis’ plea for his wife, just as there had been a motive for every move he had ever made in his life. He knew what would happen when Heilser saw her. It was his calculation that Heilser would become infatuated, as did all men. He knew he would continue in Heilser’s favor once Heilser saw his wife.

But Lisa threw a wet blanket on Heilser’s idea of acquiring her as a mistress. Yet the German allowed her to live. She would change her mind, sooner or later, and Konrad Heilser was a man of patience and persistence. Lisa would be worth waiting for.

Her capture had been so swift that the Underground was unaware of it. They were unaware she was being forced to report to Zervos and Heilser. Zervos was the one who had concocted the charming scheme of holding her children as hostages.

It all buzzed around Lisa’s head like a hideous nightmare. At first she thought of suicide. But suicide would have endangered the lives of her children. Manolis was bound to outsmart himself sooner or later and he was too weak to raise a finger to save them. She could not sentence her own sons to death!

But she could not go on playing both sides. Avoiding Heilser’s and Zervos’ questions. Lying to them. Up to now she had not been followed, but how long would that continue? How long before Konrad Heilser took the life of her children?

And what if her own people learned of her dual role and she died at their hands as a traitor?

There was a way out.... Manolis’ way out. Become the kept woman of Konrad Heilser. Lisa cringed as she thought of the lustful face of the German.

The black staff Mercedes-Benz stopped in front of Anton’s Dress Shop. Heilser and Zervos stepped out flanked by their bodyguards.

Anton bowed low. Zervos reacted favorably to the treatment. After all, Anton did not have many such customers as he.

“Has she arrived?” Heilser asked.

“Yes, sir—yes, sir...”

They brushed past the bowing and scraping proprietor and walked down the corridor into the office.

Lisa stood before them like a frozen statue. Heilser’s heart missed a beat at the sight of her.

“Well!” he snorted sharply.

“There is nothing to report. I have not been contacted.”

“Come now, Lisa,” Zervos interjected, “this is the same story you gave us last visit.”

“Now, let’s stop this lying, Lisa,” Heilser said.

“I have told you before, I am contacted each time by a person who uses a false name. I can never tell where or when I will be reached or for what purpose. I have not been contacted since you released me,” she lied. “Perhaps they know I had been taken into custody.”

“Stop lying!”

“Do you wish us to bring the head of one of your sons on a plate the next visit?” Zervos barked.

This did not receive the reaction Zervos hoped for. The woman showed no trace of fear. She spoke in an unwavering voice. “I intend to keep my bargain as long as you keep yours.”

The pair were stopped cold in the face of Lisa’s courage and calm.

“Wait outside,” Heilser ordered Zervos.

The German paced back and forth, then seated himself at Anton’s desk and gave her his most charming smile. Lisa remained frozen.

“My dear,” Heilser cooed, “you are making things extremely difficult for yourself and without reason. I would like to believe your story, Lisa, sincerely, I would. I have not put guards on you—I said I wouldn’t, didn’t I?”

She did not answer.

“Lisa—dear. You know I’m trying to help you—protect you.”

“I ask nothing. We made a bargain. I shall report to you as long as I’m allowed to see my children.”

Heilser sighed and feigned sympathy. “I hope they stay healthy.”

Then he got up abruptly. His emotions began to boil at the thought of having her in bed with him. He walked around the desk and stood facing her. Her flesh crawled as he reached out and ran his hands over her shoulders and in her hair and over her cheeks. His jaw trembled as he tried to speak. “Lisa—I’ll—I’ll do anything...” He seized her and buried his lips in her neck.

She remained absolutely frigid.

He drew back and looked into her eyes, pleading. Her answer was a look filled with hatred and disgust.

Heilser raised his hand and slapped her cheek. She did not flinch. He spun about and walked from the room, slamming the door behind him.

Lisa closed her eyes and held the edge of the desk for support. Half in a trance she walked to the window and looked out at the black car rolling away. She knew that time was running out quickly and she had to make her decision.

Then a thought hit her—an avenue of escape. Her mission—the man she was to bring to Athens. He was certainly bound to be of importance to the Germans. Perhaps, without the Underground knowing it, she could allow a slipup. Perhaps she could barter for him with the Germans. If he was important enough, she could make a deal for the return of her children. She would move to another part of Greece. The Underground need never know....

THREE

E
LEFTHERIA BURIED HER FACE
in her hands and wept. “I will never see you again,” she cried.

Mike knelt by her chair. “Eleftheria,” he said softly. “You nursed me when I was sick—you risked your life for me—what can I say? What can I tell you?”

She flung her arms around his neck and drew his head against her bosom. “Take me with you! Take me with you!”

Mike pulled her arms loose. He stood up and turned his back. “Please don’t make it any more difficult than it is—please.”

“You don’t love me,” she said.

“It wouldn’t make any difference whether I did or not. It wouldn’t make any difference.”

“You don’t love me.”

He turned slowly and faced her and shook his head, no.

It was quiet for a long time.

The girl walked to the large open fireplace. Her back stiffened and she held her head high. “I shall return to Dernica. There is a boy there who wants to marry me. He has wanted to marry me since we were...” Her voice faltered and tears streamed down her cheeks.

Mike walked up behind her. His hands squeezed her shoulders. He turned and walked quickly from the room.

Barba-Leonidas grumbled as he placed a quarter of a large cheese in the package he was preparing for Mike. He grumbled that he didn’t trust women in general and city women in particular.

Old Despo began wailing at her weaving machine.

“Get out of the cottage and cry, old woman!” her husband shouted.

“Two blonds on a trainload of Greeks,” he sputtered, tying up the ends of the bundle. “Even the Macaronades aren’t that stupid.”

Lisa sat quietly as the scene unfolded. The barefooted peasant girl who watched from the doorway was obviously in love. Most likely they had had an affair,

Lisa thought. Eleftheria’s eyes, filled with jealousy, glared at Lisa.

“We must be started if we are to reach Dadi by sundown.”

Mike nodded.

He took one of his pistols and shoved it into Barba-Leonidas’ hamlike hand as a gift. It was the same pistol that had been earmarked for his death by Mosley outside of Kalámai. Once again Mike tried to offer money, but the giant proudly refused.

The two men stood facing each other awkwardly and tears welled in the corners of Leonidas’ eyes. He seized Mike in a bear hug. “God be with you,” he whispered. He turned and walked from the cottage.

Mike lifted the sack to his back and nodded to Lisa. They walked from the cottage and climbed aboard a donkey cart. In a moment it nudged down a path away from Kaloghriani.

Mike turned around and looked back to the hills. He saw the colossal form of Barba-Leonidas outlined against the sky, and Eleftheria stood at his side. He smiled sadly. “Forgive the hearts and flowers, but they are my friends.”