“Yes.” Napoleon Chotas put the car in gear and started to drive. “What are you going to do now, Costa?”
Demiris said carefully, “Oh, I’ll manage to get by somehow.” With a hundred million dollars I can build up my empire again. Demiris chuckled. “Spyros is going to be pretty upset when he finds out how you tricked him.”
“There’s nothing he can do about it,” Chotas assured him. “The contract he signed gives him a company that’s worthless.”
They were headed toward the mountains. Demiris watched as Chotas moved the levers that controlled the gas pedal and the brake. “You handle this very well.”
“You learn to do what you have to,” Chotas said. They were climbing up a narrow mountain road.
“Where are we going?”
“I have a little house at the top here. We’ll have a glass of champagne and I’ll have a taxi take you back to town. You know, Costa, I’ve been thinking. Everything that’s happened…Noelle’s death and Larry Douglas’s death. And poor Stavros. None of it was about money, was it?” He turned to glance at Demiris. “It was all about hate. Hate and love. You loved Noelle.”
“Yes,” Demiris said. “I loved Noelle.”
“I loved her too,” Chotas said. “You didn’t know that, did you?”
Demiris looked at him in surprise. “No.”
“And yet I helped you murder her. I’ve never forgiven myself for that. Have you forgiven yourself, Costa?”
“She deserved what she got.”
“I think in the end we all deserve what we get. There’s something I haven’t told you, Costa. That fire—ever since the night of that fire, I’ve been in excruciating pain. The doctors tried to put me back together again, but it didn’t really work. I’m too badly crippled.” He pushed a lever that speeded up the car. They were starting to move fast along hairpin curves, climbing higher and higher. The Aegean Sea appeared far below them.
“As a matter of fact,” Chotas said hoarsely, “I’m in so much pain that my life really isn’t worth living anymore.” He pushed the lever again, and the car began to move faster.
“Slow down,” Demiris said. “You’re going too…”
“I’ve stayed alive this long for you. I’ve decided that you and I are going to end it together.”
Demiris turned to stare at him, horrified. “What are you talking about? Slow down, man. You’ll kill us both.”
“That’s right,” Chotas said. He moved the lever again. The car leaped forward.
“You’re crazy!” Demiris said. “You’re rich. You don’t want to die.”
Chotas’s scarred lips turned into a horrific imitation of a smile. “No, I’m not rich. You know who’s rich? Your friend, Sister Theresa. I’ve given all your money to the convent at Ioannina.”
They were racing toward a blind curve on the steep mountain road.
“Stop the car!” Demiris screamed. He tried to wrest the wheel from Chotas but it was impossible.
“I’ll give you anything you want,” Demiris yelled. “Stop!”
Chotas said, “I have what I want.”
The next moment they were flying over the cliff, down the steep mountainside, the car tumbling end over end in a grotesque pirouette of death, until finally at the bottom it crashed into the sea. There was a tremendous explosion, and then the deep silence of eternity.
About the Author
Novelist and screenwriter SIDNEY SHELDON remains one of the world’s top bestselling authors. His books have sold more than 300 million copies and have been published in dozens of languages—Guinness World Records heralds him as one of the most translated authors in the world. He is also the only writer to have won an Oscar, a Tony, and an Edgar award.
Books by Sidney Sheldon
MEMORIES OF MIDNIGHT
THE SANDS OF TIME
WINDMILLS OF THE GODS
IF TOMORROW COMES
MASTER OF THE GAME
RAGE OF ANGELS
BLOODLINE
A STRANGER IN THE MIRROR
THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT
THE NAKED FACE