Evil Deeds (Bob Danforth 1) Read Online Free Page B

hall.
    “What do you want, Uncle?” Janos asked, after stepping into the dimly lit hall and closing the door to a crack behind him.
    “I need your help,” Stefan said. “Vanja and I have to get out of Athens.”
    “I left the family life, Uncle,” Janos said. He hated that his voice quavered. “You know that. I want nothing to do with you or your schemes.”
    Stefan’s smile was like a knife. “I wonder what your sweet little Greek wife would do if she found out you were Rom .”
    Janos’ shoulders drooped.
    “All you have to do is drive Vanja and me up north, just across from Petrich. I know your delivery route takes you to Thessaloniki and Kavalla in northern Greece. So you take a little detour, drop us off near the Bulgarian border. Then you can be on your way. And I will never tell a soul about being a Gypsy.” He clapped Janos on the arm so hard the young man fell back against the doorjamb.
    Janos looked at Stefan’s bushy eyebrows and full mustache. They made him appear almost diabolical. He remembered stories he’d heard while growing up about his uncle. Stefan was a legend and an outcast. Some called him a Gypsy hero; others thought him the most ruthless man in all of Romany.
    “I have to drive a shipment of televisions north this morning. My truck is already loaded.”
    “Then let’s leave now, nephew. No point in putting off the inevitable.” Stefan raised his hand as though to slap his nephew again, but Janos flinched and ducked away.
    Janos sighed. “Okay! Wait downstairs; I need to get dressed.”
    “Sure, whatever you say.”
    Stefan walked away down the hall, whistling softly, as though he didn’t have a thing to be concerned about.
    “ Ma la ka ,” Janos cursed.
    Stefan ordered his nephew to open the panel truck’s overhead door. When Janos did so, Vanja stepped out of an alcove in the adjoining building, carrying a child bundled in her arms.
    “What the hell is this?” Janos exclaimed. “You said it was just you and Vanja. Whose kid is that?”
    Ignoring Janos’ outburst, Stefan said to Vanja, “Take the boy into the back of the truck and lie down behind the boxes. Keep him quiet.” Vanja complied, and Stefan pulled down the overhead door and latched it in place. Then he turned toward Janos, grabbed him by the front of his jacket, and pulled him to his chest. “Listen to me, you gutless prick. You are not to ask any questions.”
    “Ye . . . yes, Uncle Stefan.”
    “Good. Now put your ass behind the wheel and get on the road.”
     

CHAPTER TEN
    By sunrise, Bob had, to no avail, helped search hundreds of vehicles.
    “We’ll have a riot on our hands if we don’t speed this up,” Zavitsanos was saying to his men. “Traffic is increasing. There must be five hundred vehicles backed up now.”
    “The cars are easy to search,” one of the policemen answered. “The trucks are the problem. What if we just inspect the cargo area of every third truck? That should move things along faster. Besides, who would be dumb enough to be on this road with a kidnapped child? The news of the roadblocks has been on radio and television for hours.”
    Zavitsanos glared at the man. He wasn’t in the mood to make any concessions that might let the kidnappers slip through. But common sense told him the man was right. They couldn’t slow down the country’s economy. He kicked at a stone lying just off the road shoulder, propelling it against the side of one of the police cruisers. He saw despair on Bob’s face but knew he had no choice. “All right, do it. Every third truck. But if you think a driver or passenger in any truck is acting suspiciously, I want the vehicle searched.”
    Zavitsanos stood off to the side, behind a police van, away from prying eyes, and feeling as though his whole body was dissolving. He watched Danforth scurry from vehicle to vehicle, a manic father wired with fear and adrenaline. Danforth was trying to look through the windows of every truck the Greek officers