THE CHAMELEON (17 page)

CHAPTER 35

(Stephanous Petros: fourteen years old) “Someone is here to see you,” Gregory informed Stephan.

Stephan recognized one of the young boys from the orphanage. The boy’s face was stained with tears as he clutched at Stephan’s sleeve. “You have to hurry. She is beating Thomas to death.”

It wasn’t until one a.m. that Aisling woke for the second time. Stephan was no longer in the bed with her. She sat up quickly. She could hear voices coming from the living room. After a quick shower, she threw on her clothes, trying not to be too disappointed that he was no longer in the bed with her. They had a lot to do still to find his parents, who they both believed were the same ones who ordered the hit on Alicia. At least, that was what Aisling believed.

As she padded quietly into the living room, Derek saw her first. “Hey, Aisling. Sorry for the late visit but I wanted to see how you two were doing. Glad you didn’t kill each other.”

Stephan’s look was more serious when his eyes connected to Aisling’s, but the slight wink reassured her that they were good before he turned back to his best friend.

“Derek, there is a lot going on right now and it is probably going to get crazier. You took a big risk calling in Alicia.”

With Derek’s affirmative nod, Stephan didn’t wait for a reply before he continued. “I need to ask you to back away from us.”

Both Aisling and Derek looked shocked at Stephan’s words, for two different reasons. Stephan used the word “us” and she prayed that was her in the tiny word. Derek’s face darkened. “You can’t ask me to do that, Stephan.”

“You are a fucking lieutenant with the ATF. I cannot have anything compromising your work. Because of who I am, I compromise you—I compromise our friendship.” Stephan leaned forward as if to accentuate his point. “Derek, I can’t lose you too.”

“You are not going to lose me, Stephan. Why are you saying this?” Silence filled the room, heavy and foreboding. “Oh my God! What are you doing that you haven’t told me?”

“Derek.” Aisling heard the warning in Stephan’s voice, and she knew that Derek did also. “I am not discussing this anymore.”

Derek knew that when Stephan got into this mood, there was nothing that could be done but walking away. Rising abruptly, he said nothing as he grabbed his hat.

Aisling flinched as he slammed the door on the way out. “Stephan?”

“Not a word, Aisling. It is the right thing to do. Now let’s get to work.”

Nodding, she sat at the table, where Stephan joined her. “I spoke with Sakis. He is obviously as furious and heartbroken as I am. He considers this a personal attack on our family. From this moment forward, we are in complete blackout. Which means there will be only three people who will be privy to every aspect of Carras Enterprises: Sakis, the Chameleon, and myself. You are to move in here with me. From the outside, it will look as if Carras Enterprises has cut all ties with the Chameleon, and you will help us to achieve this by getting the word out that there has been a falling out. You will not need to go into detail, as the person behind the attack will know what the falling out was. No matter what, that person must be led to believe that I no longer require the Chameleon’s services. This will put the focus back on just me.”

Slowly sitting back, Aisling absorbed what she was being told. This was unprecedented and an excellent strategy on Stephan’s part. That being said, it was going to be a lot harder to look into Stephan’s family background and covering her tracks was not going to be easy. “Stephan, does Sakis—”

“He knows everything. This is not something that either one of us takes lightly. I know I don’t have to tell you what would happen if we even remotely suspected that there was a traitor among us.”

Aisling swallowed hard as he continued. She understood the underlying meaning in his statement. He was extending a level of trust despite her lying to him because of her history as the Chameleon, but he was also letting her know that that trust could be severed at any time.

“Sakis wants to return to the States, but is being detained due to the investigation into Sister Katherine’s death and cannot leave the country. Cassie knows nothing and it will remain that way for as long as possible. Security has been stepped up at the compound and the family is on complete lockdown until this is resolved. The investigators know that there was another woman and man seen at the orphanage after Sakis’s arrival but have been unable to locate them. As we all know, now, those people are you and your guide. I need a report on who he is and where he is now.”

“I trust him, Stephan.”

His hand slammed on the table. Stephan’s tone chilled her. “I trust no one outside of my circle right now. If this is going to be a problem, just let me know, Aisling.”

“Not a problem. I will get you everything on Sammy this morning.”

“Good. This week, there will be a shipment that is arriving and is already en route to its destination. I am representing Sakis during this transaction and will need to head to Palm Springs to meet with the client who is receiving the shipment to settle business. There is a lot I need to do from a security level still.” Writing down a name and a number, he handed the information to Aisling. “Sophia Moore is Alicia’s replacement. I have known and have been watching her since she started with the company. She can be trusted and will be traveling with me. She will contact you with my travel information and itinerary. Give her whatever she needs, using your best judgment on how much she needs to know. Water down anything you feel she does not.”

“What about Alicia?” Aisling asked.

Throwing a folder on the table, Stephan looked at her intently. “This is what Sister Katherine gave to Sakis. It arrived early this morning by a private courier. Go through it, dissect the information. I have read it several times already. There has to be something in here that she wanted me to see, otherwise she would not have given it to Sakis, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what that is. We find out who my parents are, we find out who killed Alicia.”

Aisling’s fingers itched to get her fingers on the file and start working but she had to ask the question that seemed to loom over their heads. “And us?” she whispered softly.

His fingertips stroked her cheek. Stephan’s face softened as he stared deep into her eyes. He looked sad. “Another time, another place, we would be working on us. Right now, we need to finish this.”

Dropping her eyes, Aisling nodded. She didn’t want him to see the tears. He was right, of course. Squaring her shoulders, she slid the file closer to her. “I need to get work done.”

Nodding, Stephan rose to his feet. He had nothing left to say. He felt numb inside and he could tell that Aisling was disappointed with his response to their relationship. As he returned to his bedroom, he thought of his conversation with Sakis. He hated having to be the one to tell him of Alicia’s death and Stephan couldn’t shake the guilt that enveloped him. It was because of him that she was executed. He wanted Sakis to yell at him. Ask him how he could have let this happen. But Sakis never did. Stephan could hear the pain in his voice as they discussed how to proceed.

Aisling was the only sticking point in their plan. Stephan wanted her gone but Sakis insisted that she stay. As the Chameleon, they needed her expertise and if there were any questions as to her loyalty, she would be easy to dispose of if kept close. Stephan still had a hard time accepting the fact that she was the Chameleon and many times his brain would refer to the masculine. He had revisited every job request. Not once had she failed. Impressive, considering she was a female. It also showed a side to her that she had not presented when face-to-face. Aisling had to be cold and calculating to be able to complete her work.

He knew of the internal switch. He had perfected it since he was a young child. Turning it on and off as needed. That is what made him very dangerous. Both he and Sakis knew that made Aisling just as dangerous, maybe even more so because she had been able to navigate in a man’s world undetected for so long.

Throwing the last of his clothing in the suitcase, he stared at his closed bedroom door. This was going to be an interesting week, for sure.

CHAPTER 36

After spending the early morning hours rerouting her computer through Carras Enterprises’ information technology department so that it would look as if they were the ones that were now looking into Stephan’s parents, Aisling finally felt as if she was ready to get down to work. She had given him a pared down list of pregnancies that were recorded, but no history on the child from the date of the birth. It was a short list and a long shot. A woman in Greece did not always go to the hospital to give birth.

She also had given him several other lists to go over and was to let her know if any names rang a bell. Another long shot, but she had worked on less and succeeded. The last thing she had given him was her file on Sammy. Not that it felt right to do it, but she knew that she somehow had to prove to him that she was all in. After he had received all of the paperwork from her, he had kissed her as if it were going to be their last. It felt as if he wanted to leave his mark on her, branding her so that she wouldn’t stop thinking about him while he was gone. Stephan had nothing to worry about in her mind. He never left her thoughts.

Pulling the file that Sister Katherine had given Sakis, she opened it up, curious as to the contents. For whatever reason, this one file seemed to spur some of the violence and the attacker seemed to really need to get his hands on it.

Methodically, she perused page after page. This detail of his time at the orphanage was meticulously recounted by Sister Katherine and read like a journal, chronologically listing his time from infancy to a young man. The glaring difference from the file to her online research was where he had been placed. Online, it stated that he was left on the doorsteps of the orphanage and that the nuns found him in the early hours of the morning, but according to Sister Katherine, that was a lie. She didn’t go in depth as to why that fact was changed. Stephan had actually been left at an abandoned church and a homeless man, hearing the baby’s weak cries, followed the sound and immediately took the infant to the nuns. They guessed that he had been in the elements for a day, maybe more, with the umbilical cord still attached. He was weak and dehydrated but according to Sister Katherine “exhibited a strong spirit.”

Aisling wondered what kind of mother could have left her newborn child, knowing there would be a chance that he wouldn’t be found. She suspected that the woman, whoever she was, didn’t want him to be. Sister Katherine’s writing took up much of the thick folder and Aisling made sure that she didn’t skip one page, reading each line carefully for any hidden code or meaning. Yet, she found nothing.

The medical report came next. Not as detailed as the sister’s notes, each page gave the facts of the infant’s exam. The reports were clinical and again Aisling found nothing of interest to help her in her search. Rubbing her eyes, she glanced at the clock, shocked at how much time had passed. She needed a break, but there was little left to the file. Opting to finish, she turned the next page.

Someone had scanned pictures of a baby Stephan and her eyes filled with tears. He looked so precious, angelic and fragile. His eyes stared right at the camera. Aisling guessed Sister Katherine had filled the folder with photographs. One by one, Aisling stared at each picture of the baby Stephan, young boy and teenager. Not one was he smiling, his eyes always serious and brooding. It couldn’t have been an easy life, for sure. As she turned the next photograph, she stopped; her heart missed a beat. This was it. She was sure of it. This picture was what the nun had wanted Stephan to find.

It was a close-up of a birthmark. She had taken not one, but numerous ones as he grew older. Stephan would never have picked up on it. He probably thought that it would be used for identity verification if anything happened to him. Aisling, on the other hand, had another use for that birthmark. It was the perfect identification mark. Sometimes, birthmarks were passed down from generation to generation. If she ran this one through her massive library, she might actually get a hit.

The underworld took care of their families and burial was just as important as a birth. If someone was abducted and ended up getting killed, sometimes the only way to identify a body would be any noticeable marks or tattoos on their body. Sometimes it was these important markers that determined whether they could be claimed or not. This was important to all of the families. If there was a matching mark, she would get all of the answers she needed to Stephan’s questions.

With shaking fingers, she scanned the picture onto her laptop, running several programs at once. She had a hard time containing her excitement. Aisling wanted to call him, but remembering her promise to stay silent, she had to keep it to herself. For now.

~~~

Stephan was not having as much good luck as Aisling. He scowled as the private plane bounced all over the skies. It had been this way off and on the moment they left Logan Airport and they still had a good two hours to go. Glancing quickly at Sophia, his concern increased. She had gone deathly pale and a sheen of sweat coated her upper lip. Sophia, he was sure, was going to lose the contents of her stomach at any moment. With relief, he noticed that the male steward seemed to have the same thoughts as he made his way quickly down the aisle with a vomit bag. Bending over, he spoke quietly and reassuringly to the young assistant. Whatever he said seemed to do the trick, because the wide-eyed panicked stare vanished, replaced with a smile. Reassured that she was well cared for, he looked down at the papers in front of him that Aisling had given him before he left. His fingers ran down the list on each page. Nothing stood out to him. No name that he could recall from his past.

“Sir, can I get you anything? A drink perhaps?”

The question was unexpected and at first Stephan could only stare when it dawned on him the steward waited for an answer.

“No. I am good. You don’t need to keep checking up on me. If you take care of Miss Moore, then that is enough for me.” Something about the man seemed familiar, but Stephan never forgot a face.

“Excuse me. Have we ever met?”

The steward shook his head and chuckled, as if he found the comment funny. “No. I would remember someone like you. You sure you don’t need anything?”

“No. Thank you.”

“Very good.” The steward smiled as he walked back to check on Sophia once more before he returned to his seat up front.

The hairs stood up on the back of Stephan’s neck. Something wasn’t right. Looking around the cabin, he shook his head. He must be overly sensitive—either that or overly tired—and he couldn’t wait to land and get the exchange over with.