“You gotta understand something here. Gus did time—a lot of time. Twelve fucking years in that Attica prison shithole, when he could’ve been out in two. All he had to do was give up a name. But he didn’t. And the guy couldn’t have touched him. There wasn’t gonna be no retribution. So it wasn’t fear. You know what it was?”

Gurney had heard stories like this before, and he knew the punch line. “Principles?”

“You bet your fucking ass, principles! Steel balls!”

Gurney nodded. “Which leaves me wondering—why on earth did Panikos do what he did? None of this hangs together.”

“I told you, it don’t make no sense. Gus was like Switzerland. Quiet. Didn’t talk to nobody about nobody. This was a known and respected fact. Secret of his success. Principles.”

“Okay. Gus was a rock. What about Panikos? What’s he all about?”

“Peter? Peter is … special. Only takes jobs that look impossible. Lot of determination. High success rate.”

“And yet …?”

“Yet what?”

“I’m hearing a reservation in your voice.”

“A reservation?” Angelidis paused before going on with evident care. “Peter … is used only in … in very difficult situations.”

“Why?”

“Because along with his skills … there’s some risks.”

“Like what?”

Angelidis made a face as if he were regurgitating yesterday’s ouzo. “The KGB used to assassinate people by putting radioactive poison in their food. Tremendously effective. But you got to be very, very, careful using that shit. That’s like Peter.”

“Panikos is that scary?”

“Get on his wrong side, could maybe be a problem.”

Gurney thought about that. The notion that getting on the wrong side of a determined, crazy killer could be a problem made him want to laugh out loud. “Did you ever hear that he liked to set fires?”

“I might’ve heard that. Part of the package you’re dealing with. Which I don’t think you really understand.”

“I’ve faced some difficult people over the years.”

“Difficult? That’s pretty funny. Let me tell you a story about Peter—so you know about difficult.” Angelidis leaned forward, extending his palms on the tabletop. “There were these two towns, not far apart. A strong man in each town. This created problems—mainly, who had rights to various things between the two towns. As the towns got bigger, closer together, the problems got bigger. Lot of shit happened. Escalation.” He articulated the word carefully. “Escalation, back and forth. Finally, there is no possibility of peace. No possibility of agreement. So one of these men decides that the other one has to go. He decides to hire little Peter to take care of it. Peter at that time is just getting into the business.”

“The hit business?” asked Gurney blandly.