THE CHAMELEON (12 page)

CHAPTER 23

(Stephanous Petros: eleven years old) Stephan pulled his jacket tighter around him, shivering as he searched for the location of where the whining came from. Flipping over boxes, he finally saw what was making all of the noise. The dog looked horrible. Its skin, filled with gaping wounds, was being slowly eaten away by maggots. Making a face, he pulled out his gun. He couldn’t leave it here to suffer. Placing the gun close to its head, he looked into the animal’s eyes. The moment he did, the dog looked away, but its tail thumped weakly against the ground, as if to thank him for putting him out of his misery. Dropping the gun slowly, Stephan put it away.

It was his cell phone that woke him as it vibrated on the nightstand. Extricating himself from Aisling’s arms, he checked the caller ID. He pressed the button quickly, not wanting to lose the call.

“Hang on.”

Stepping out into the hallway, he said nothing until the bedroom door was firmly closed.

“Sorry. I wasn’t in a place to talk.”

“No worries, Stephanous. How are you, my friend? I got your message but didn’t have an opportunity to contact you.”

“I have had a hellish week, actually, which is why I wanted to touch base.” Stephan knew it was better to deal with the issue at hand as quickly as possible with Sakis. He hated games just as much as he did.

Switching into business mode, Sakis’s tone lost the lightness. “Talk to me.”

“As I shared with you, I have been working on searching for my biological parents—without much success, I might add—and recently started to work with the Chameleon. We have had several interesting developments, which you will not be happy to learn.” Stephan stopped speaking to give Sakis an opportunity to respond. When there was nothing, he continued. “The Chameleon sent me a message last week, telling me that with all of the research we are doing, we are ruffling a few feathers and I was told to back off.”

“Which you did not, I hope,” Sakis stated.

His fingers ran through his hair. Stephan stared at the coffee dripping in the pot, wishing it would finish up quickly.

“No. Of course not. You taught me better than that. It’s just…there was a breach in the Chameleon’s system, as well as ours. The Chameleon feels confident nothing was taken on his end, but the tech group at the company informed me yesterday that there is a possibility that some files may have been taken. All of which are not important—save one.”

“Fuck. Don’t tell me the client list.” Sakis sounded as if he was ready to explode.

Exhaling, Stephan stayed silent and waited for Sakis to continue.

“Do you have a hard copy of the file?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Great. If—and let’s remember it is still an if—the file is compromised, I will need to get my hands on the list. We may need to contact everyone but I want to wait. That would be a lot of information being held in someone’s hands. It would not benefit them in anyway by turning it over to the authorities. This would be a bargaining tool. The demands would come within one week of receiving the file.”

“You believe this?” Stephan had thought the same exact thing, but couldn’t understand why or what they would have that anyone would need to blackmail them, except of course money.

“I do.”

“I am sorry, Sakis.”

Sakis’s tone lightened. “You have nothing to apologize for, my friend.”

“If it wasn’t for me wanting—”

“Stephanous, here are my thoughts. You have just scraped the surface in the research, as has the Chameleon. It has been what, a week or two tops? My question is, who are your fucking parents? Because obviously someone out there, who is pretty powerful, seems to be going through a lot of trouble to get you to stop. You need to be careful.”

“I will. I have spoken to Derek about it.”

“And the Chameleon?”

Stephan’s voice tightened. “I haven’t heard anything from him for a couple of days. Unusual, but figured that he would if he had the opportunity to.”

Sakis was quiet; too quiet. “What are your thoughts, Sakis?”

“I wouldn’t give a second thought to the Chameleon. He runs on his own crazy time and will connect with you when he wants to but Stephanous, I need to share with you also. I went to the orphanage to try to gather some information and was going to relay it to you if anything was found.”

Stephan’s heart leapt in his chest. He couldn’t believe that Sakis took time out from his vacation to do something so personal. “Wow. Thanks, Sakis.”

“Don’t thank me yet until you hear what I have to say next. I met with Sister Katherine.”

Gooseflesh rose over Stephan’s skin. He had not heard or spoken that name in over fifteen years. “She was quite affable, Stephan. She took Phil and me into a private area of the orphanage, pulled a file out of her habit, and handed it over to me. She asked me to give it to you when I returned. I looked them over, and didn’t really see anything that I felt was worth anything. It was notes from the day you arrived at the orphanage, and the rest of your stay there. Maybe it is worth something to you—I have no idea. I won’t be back for a while, so I will have them faxed over to you.”

Sakis hesitated and Stephan knew that more was still unsaid but he had a strange sensation that he didn’t want to hear what was coming next.

“I was notified last night that they found her body lying in the garden of the orphanage shortly after we left.”

“God, Sakis!”

“I am sorry to have to tell you this. She seemed to light up at the mere mention of your name and even though you never spoke of her, she seemed to have some affection for you.”

“She was the only good in that orphanage and that says a lot.” Stephan could feel the tears prick the back of his eyes.

“Do they know who killed her?” Stephan asked.

“No. Right now, I am being detained and they are asking me to not leave the country until they can sort out this mess.”

“Sakis!” Stephan was shocked. This was getting worse by the moment.

“No. It is okay. Cassie said that it was probably the only way that she could keep me in the country for the full eight weeks since I have been talking about work lately.” Sakis chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. “The attorneys are diligent, Stephanous. I am not worried in the slightest. You shouldn’t be either. You have enough on your plate. Get me the file when you can and then we will talk more about the next step.”

“Perfect. I will do that. Be careful, Sakis!”

“And you, my friend.”

CHAPTER 24

“Stephan. Is everything okay?”

Stephan jumped. Staring blankly for a moment, his face flushed. He had forgotten she was in his apartment. She looked super cute in one of his tee shirts: it was too large for her, but that made her seem even sweeter. Striding over, he wrapped his arms around her in a strong hug.

“Yes. Everything is fine. Coffee?” he asked.

Sliding onto the stool, she nodded. “God, yes please.” Pushing her hair away from her face, she rested her arms on the counter as she watched him move around the kitchen. He had sweatpants on again, but no top, which was more than fine with her. “Thanks for letting me come over last night, or this morning, or whatever time I got here.”

“No problem. I am glad you did.”

Taking a sip, she wanted to ask him about the phone call, but she didn’t want him thinking that she had been eavesdropping, even though she had.

“How much did you hear and understand?”

She should have known that he already figured it out. Her face reddened. “Pretty much all of it, or at least what I could hear from your side. It sounds like you had an even worse work week than I did.”

“Are we discussing business now?” Stephan asked curiously. Aisling never wanted to discuss anything to do with work and quite frankly neither did he anymore. He liked the mini truce they had made. Their relationship was difficult enough as it was. But, that being said, he was the one who opened the can of worms at dinner by talking about the search for his parents.

Gripping her coffee cup tightly, Aisling stared into the amber liquid. She knew Sakis had mentioned Sister Katherine. She wanted to tell Stephan what she knew. That she was there. The thought that she wasn’t being open and honest with him caused her actual physical pain. Her entire life, she kept herself guarded against men. Used them to sate a physical need, but nothing more. Too busy building her business, learning martial arts, studying many languages. Her life, up until now, had been fulfilling. Or had it? Now she wasn’t so sure. Had she become a product of what her mother intended her to be based off her own mistakes?

“Talk to me, Aisling. You are so far away.”

She forced a bright smile on her face. Aisling did the only thing she knew she could do at the moment: lie. “Sometimes, work is hard. Sometimes you see things that you don’t want to see, do things you don’t want to do. This job is hitting me in a way that it never has done before. Quite frankly, I am thinking it is all your fault.”

A shocked look crossed Stephan’s face. “Mine?” Realizing that she was teasing him, he rounded the island and threw his arms around her, pressing his face against hers.

“No. To answer your question. We are not open to discuss business.” Gripping her hands to his forearms, she felt him stiffen. “I will say, though, I want to, Stephan. I want to share everything with you when the time is right so that there is nothing between us ever again. I just need to find the courage to do that.”

“I am with you one hundred percent, Aisling. We can work on it together. Both of us have our own baggage and layers to get through.” He cupped her face gently, forcing her to look at him. He wanted her to see the sincerity in his eyes. “We are worth it, you know.”

“Do you really think so?” Aisling asked tentatively. “What is this between us, anyway?”

He pulled away from her and shook his head. “I have no idea. Every morning, I wake up and have to remind myself that this is new to me. I don’t do relationships. Not that I don’t want to, just that I have never had time before.”

“So you want a relationship?” Aisling wasn’t sure why her heart rate picked up at his statement. “But, I don’t do relationships,” she asserted.

“Until me.”

Stephan knew he was falling quickly and very hard for Aisling. He wished he could take it slower, but certain things were so out of his control. “Come.” Grabbing her coffee cup, he led her to the outdoor patio, where the view of the Boston Common was the best. As he sat on one of the chairs, he waited until she sat in the other. “Sakis went to the orphanage where I grew up. His intent was to try to help with the search for my parents. I didn’t ask him to do this, nor would I have ever. It is unfathomable to me, still, that he did. There was a nun there who remembered me.”

Smiling wistfully, Aisling hated the look of sadness that crept into his face. She felt sick to her stomach, hearing the story. Sammy had implied that Sakis had been the one to kill the nun, but not once had Aisling believed it. Here, she was having to hear the story, and once again pretend that she knew nothing.

“Sister Katherine was the kindest person I had ever known. The environment may have been harsh for all of us living in that part of town, but many times, she would somehow bring a ray of sunshine into a small boy’s life that kept hope alive, when truly, none should have remained.” Stephan hesitated. It was harder than he thought, sharing his past with her. But he knew it was so important. Important for her to see that he was willing to trust her, and the more she saw him trusting, he hoped that she would, in fact, do the same.

“I can imagine it was easy for him to get in to the facility. They never really had any type of security. He was led to Sister Katherine, who, somehow, believed his story about me trying to find my parents and in that belief, entrusted him with a document.”

“What was it?”

Stephan shrugged and looked out over the city. It was his turn to be dishonest with her, and he didn’t like it. “I have no idea. He said that he will be faxing it to me later.”

She touched his forearm. He loved the gesture of support. “That’s exciting, right, Stephan? It could bring you closer to the truth.”

“Someone killed her.”

Even though Aisling already knew, the way he said it, as if his heart was being ripped out of his chest, shocked her.

“What?” she whispered.

“He received a phone call, telling him that Sister Katherine was found dead. He is now under investigation.”

With her hand pressed to her mouth, Aisling swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. Her breath shook as she inhaled.

“Oh God. I am so sorry.”

“Thank you.” Turning his head, his eyes glistened in the morning light. “Fifteen years, I have said that I would go back. Do something to help the children and Sister Katherine at that horrific place. With all the money I have, I have done nothing. Now, I have to live with that.”

Before Aisling could respond, Stephan’s phone pinged with a message coming through. “Excuse me. I need to check that.”

Staring blankly, she knew what the message was. It was from her, the Chameleon her. She had sent the message to come at a specific time, so that she could keep up her ridiculous charade.

Stephanous

Went to Greece — was too late to retrieve information. Sister Katherine is dead. Following up on another lead.

Chameleon

Stephan was smart. She couldn’t chance him finding out yet who she was, not until she was ready. Now, as the hole of her deception grew deeper, she wondered whether she would ever be able to tell him. Aisling had not counted on Sakis directly telling him of the nun’s death. Her message would mean nothing to Stephan right now. Aisling knew the key was in the document that Sakis was going to fax, to the office she presumed. She needed a copy of that document. Frowning, she turned in her seat. He hadn’t returned yet to the patio. When she padded softly back into the apartment, she found him texting. He had already started to work. She really needed to do the same thing.

Wrapping her arms around his waist, she pressed her head to his back. “Hey, look, I know you are busy, and I need to finish up some stuff today, so I am going to head out.”

Aisling swallowed her disappointment when he kissed her absently on the top of her head. The opening up of Stephan seemed to have been turned off for now.

“I will call you later.”