Target: Tinos

Chapter Sixteen

An organized faith must offer more than words in exchange for the lifetime commitment of one’s soul. Symbols, advocates, and inspiration are required. Andreas and Lila stood before a priest, under the dome of the church, in the presence of the revered icon of Panagia Tourliani prepared to do as centuries of Greek Orthodox brides and grooms had done before on that very spot according to the same traditions.

Andreas stood to Lila’s right, facing the altar and the priest. Andreas’ koumbarous was to his right, and to Lila’s left stood her koumbara, her bride’s maid. The church was filled with friends and family and more stood in the courtyard. For the next hour all eyes would be on the soon to be bride and groom; that is, all but those of Tassos, Kouros, and every cop under their command. They would catch the service on video. This was crunch time for preventing an attack.

Tassos studied the scene around Andreas and Lila. No unexpected faces, objects, or packages, and the silver tray on the small table by the priest held only the usual: a bible, almonds, wine cup and decanter, and two stefana bridal crowns of starched white leather, orange blossoms and ivy joined together by a single silver ribbon. Tassos had checked out the wine and almonds personally. No surprises there. Now to make sure there were none elsewhere. Tassos looked at the couple and smiled. “Good luck, kids,” he whispered to himself and left.

In the Greek Orthodox faith the priest read from the wedding service as he performed the expected traditional rites, such as touching the wedding bands, and later the stefana, three times to the forehead of the bride and of the groom. But everyone attending a Greek wedding had some traditional part to play.

The koumbarous and koumbara were charged with switching wedding bands three times from the couple’s left ring fingers-where worn when engaged-to their right where worn when married, and with holding the stefana above the couple’s heads waiting for the moment to switch them three times between bride and groom.

The bride had the most whimsical, and some said instructive, tradition. Near the end of the service the priest read, “The wife shall fear her husband.” At that point the bride brought to life the expression, “It’s time to put your foot down,” by stepping on her man’s foot to the cheers of onlookers.

The guests played their parts after the couple drank three times from the common cup and began their ceremonial first steps together as husband and wife. The bride, groom, koumbaroi, and priest circled the small table three times amid a barrage of rice and, in Mykonos tradition, powerful whacks to the groom’s back by his buddies.

Yes, those were all expected traditions at a Mykonian wedding. What was not were two men in Greek army uniforms bearing Heckler amp; Koch G3 assault rifles standing directly across from the archway.

Tassos had circled the perimeter on foot three times. He looked at his watch. The wedding should be ending soon. Then it would be twenty minutes of Lila and Andreas greeting their guests in the courtyard, and another ten of the koumbaroi gently shooing stragglers out of the courtyard so all could get on to the reception.

Tassos drew in a deep breath and let out a sigh. It was not one of relief. So far so good, he thought. But only for the moment, there still was a lot of time for all hell to break loose. He’d moved the gifts from the courtyard to his car. No reason to waste time moving them later. Now he was back by the archway, staring across at two armed soldiers standing on the steps leading up to the square.

The two had moved to that position from the far end of the square only a few minutes before. One of the soldiers had suggested that move to Tassos when Tassos made his first circle of the perimeter. The soldier said that the far end of the square was virtually deserted, and with all possible sniper positions shut down, and six other soldiers keeping an eye on the square, it made more sense for the two of them to be in position by the archway where they could react instantly if necessary.

Cops already were at the archway, but what the soldier said made sense, if only for the deterrent effect of their ready for armed combat appearance. Tassos thought about the suggestion on his second tour of the perimeter and asked their commander for his opinion on the move when he made his third round. The commander agreed, and that’s how two men with automatic weapons at the ready stood waiting for Andreas and his wife to appear in the archway.

Andreas knew this was his wedding. He just wasn’t sure that at all times he was actually present, and not hovering about somewhere watching from afar. His eyes fixed on the holy icon. How many stories she must have heard over the centuries from so many seeking guidance and intervention, how many souls she must have calmed. And how many more her sister icon on Tinos. He glanced at his mother. She was holding Tassaki up so that he could see. She caught his glance and cocked her head slightly up toward the dome. Andreas smiled. Yes, Mom, Dad’s with us. He fought back a tear. Some may have thought it a tear of pain, for at that moment Lila drove her foot onto his.

Andreas’ first thought was to thank God Lila had used her sole and not the heel. Otherwise, she would have anchored them both to the marble. His second thought was more long term-whether this was how she planned on bringing his wandering thoughts back to the here and now.

As the two of them followed the priest in their walk three times around the small table, Andreas kept catching back slaps from guys built like bulls. “I should have worn a ballistic vest,” he said to Lila.

She smiled. “And steel-toe shoes.”

The bride and groom were standing in the courtyard greeting the last of the tsunami of well-wishers that had engulfed them in hugs, kisses, and handshakes. Andreas squeezed Lila’s hand. “Well, Missus Kaldis, are you ready to step out and meet your public?”

“Public?”

“ Paparazzi. They’re waiting outside.” He pointed toward the archway. “We told them to behave until after the ceremony, then we’d give them photo ops. Only way to control them.”

Lila shrugged. “Where’s Tassaki?”

“Your parents took him back to the house. It’s just you, big Tassos, and me. We’re taking Tassos’ car.”

“Why?”

“So you get to play with the siren and lights on our wedding day,” said Andreas.

Lila shook her head. “What’s the real reason?”

“Trying to avoid a lot of unnecessary attention. There’s a crowd of curious people waiting for us on the other side of this wall. They’re expecting us to go to the right, to where your car is waiting. Tassos’ car is off to the left. Ready?”

Lila didn’t answer, just moved toward the archway and up onto the steps leading out of the courtyard. She waited at the top for Andreas to catch up, and together they stepped through the archway.

There was an immediate roar of “ kalo riziko,” “ na zesete,” “vion anthosparton ” wishing their marriage “good roots,” “long life,” and “full of flowers.” Louder still was a rush of photographers yelling, “This way, please.” No one seemed to notice the two soldiers slowly raising their rifles, shielded from the couple by the crowd of photographers.

The first rifle shot was almost lost in the shouts, but Andreas had no trouble making out the second, the third, or the fourth. Photographers scrambled for cover, Tassos drew his gun as he dropped to a crouch. Andreas swept Lila into his arms, shielding her from the direction of the sound of the shots, and leaped through the archway. Inside, he pushed Lila toward cover, pulled out the semi-automatic hidden in his pants, and was back in the archway aiming to return fire.

The soldiers were still firing, one after another in sequence, but not a single cop was firing back. The cops stood by the wall, guns drawn, watching the two soldiers empty their magazines into the sky as they shouted, “ na zesete, na zesete, na zesete. ”

“What the hell’s going on?” said Andreas.

Tassos shook his head. “Care to bet those assholes are from Crete. That’s what they do at a wedding on Crete, and on virtually every other occasion, fire guns into the air.”

“Yeah, but not on Mykonos. They scared the hell out of me,” said Andreas.

Tassos ran his hand over his face. “Me, too. And the paparazzi are still running. Wouldn’t want to be doing their laundry tomorrow.”

“Are you malakas done yet?” screamed Kouros.

One soldier gave him the open palm middle finger equivalent. The other yelled, “ kalo riziko, ” and saluted Andreas.

Andreas shook his head. “This is too goddamned weird to believe.”

“If their commander knew they were going to do this I’ll have his balls,” said Tassos.

Andreas put away his gun. “Let’s just get out of here.” He turned to go back into the monastery for Lila. She was standing in the archway.

“Sirens, lights, and gunfire? Any more surprises in store?” Lila said

“Not that I know of,” said Andreas forcing a smile.

“And don’t tell me this is all Spiros’ doing out of concern for his fellow ministers. I want you to tell me what’s going on.”

Andreas swallowed. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll tell you everything.”

“No, I want you to tell me now. I’m not a fool, there’s enough security here for a visit from the President of the United States.”

“Not really, but I get your point. I promise I’ll tell you everything tomorrow, but it will take too long to explain now and this was all precautionary. There is nothing more to worry about. Honest.” Between a white lie and ruining her wedding, the decision was easy. He’d face the consequences tomorrow.

Lila stared at him for what seemed an eternity before saying, “Okay, first thing tomorrow morning.”

As Greek weddings go, that should be about the time the last guest left for home.

When they reached Tassos’ car the gifts were on the back seat. Tassos moved them to the front and motioned for Andreas and Lila to get in the back. “What do you want me to do with these?” he said nodding toward the gifts.

Lila said, “If you wouldn’t mind, could you please give them to Marietta and tell her to put them in our bedroom?” She looked at Andreas. “I’ve no doubt they’ll be a welcome distraction from what I expect you’ll be telling me ‘first thing tomorrow morning.’”

Andreas swallowed, gunfire tonight, an explosion tomorrow, and fireworks at the party in between. Quite a welcome to married life.

It’s hard to imagine how many cars Greeks can park along a road barely wide enough to be called two lanes. And when it’s a crumbling mountain lane, with a hill on one side and a cliff on the other, the feat can seem downright miraculous But there they were, squeezed off to the very edges of the road, Hummers, BMW X-5s, Porsche Cayennes, Mercedes G-550s, Jeep Rubicons, and a host of more practical island vehicles such as Suzuki Jimnys, Fiat Pandas, and Smarts, leaving barely enough room in the center of the road for Tassos’ car to squeeze by.

“What the hell’s going to happen if someone’s coming the other way?” said Tassos.

“It’s why God invented reverse,” said Andreas.

“But it’s too late for you to back out,” Lila squeezed his hand.

Andreas laughed and kissed her. “Isn’t it a bit early for us to show up at the reception? I thought we weren’t supposed to be there until dinner was ready to be served?”

“That’s to give the bride time to stop at her new home and change clothes. But the reception is at our home and I’m not changing.”

They were nearing the house and Lila looked out the side window. “Then again, perhaps you’d like to spend that time explaining precisely why those trigger-happy military types from the monastery are up there, too.” She pointed to soldiers deployed along the hillside overlooking the house. “And police everywhere else.” She made an arc with her finger spanning the car. “Let me guess, it’s ‘all precautionary.’”

Andreas cleared his throat. “You’re absolutely right, we should go straight to the party.”

Lila nodded. “I thought you liked what I’m wearing.”

No one was allowed onto the grounds of the house without an invitation checked against the wedding list and confirmed by an ID. The only exceptions were uninvited guests brought along and vouched for by invited family members and close friends, but that was expected at a Greek wedding because there always was more than enough food, drink, and room for one more. Presents brought by guests were discreetly moved to an armored bank truck capable of withstanding an explosion.

From the time Andreas and Lila stepped inside the house, it took thirty minutes of posing for photographs, snuggling Tassaki, and accepting apologetic good wishes from guests unable to attend the church ceremony before the couple made it to the rear of the house. They stood in the doorway holding hands. Long tables set up family style sat on three of the four broad terraces stepping down toward the sea. A temporary dance floor was erected on the fourth terrace and music was playing, but no one was dancing. As soon as the band realized the newlyweds were at the doorway, the music changed to a tune that let everyone know the couple had arrived. A roar of applause and shouts erupted drowning out the music as the couple made their way from terrace to terrace, hugging and kissing their guests until reaching the dance floor.

With a nod from Lila the band started playing the ballos, the traditional six-step dance of the Cycladic islands, one of the most beautiful to watch, and the first done at any true Mykonian wedding. The party was officially underway once the bride and her husband began to dance, and they were joined in sequence by their parents, koumbaroi, immediate family, and guests until a full line of partiers were dancing in the syrto style that symbolized the essence of Greek life to much of the world. Later came the kalamatiano, arguably Greece’s most popular dance and one played at every Greek wedding.

Tonight was a time to let loose and worry about nothing more than passing out before the last guest departed. True to tradition, when it came time for the cake cutting and fireworks display, neither Andreas nor any of his buddies was sober. Even Maggie had a hard time walking a straight line as she dragged Tassos away a little after dawn. No one had any idea where Kouros ended up. In other words, the party was a tremendous success.

Andreas and Lila made it to their bedroom just before nine in the morning. Assuming Andreas could even remember his promise to tell Lila everything “tomorrow,” he was in no condition to talk and she was in no condition to listen. They barely had the strength to throw off their clothes, push the presents Marietta had piled on their bed to the floor, and crawl into bed. Besides, to Greeks “tomorrow” was a relative term.