THE CHAMELEON (20 page)

CHAPTER 41

(Stephanous Petros: seventeen years old) Gregory stared at the young man cleaning the gun in his lap. No longer the scrawny boy who walked in nine years ago, but a strong, lean, powerful muscled man. Gregory had grown to love Stephan as if he were his own son. Gregory knew he didn’t have much time left to live and he didn’t want Stephan to get swallowed up in this world. “It is time to leave, Stephanous. You should have enough money by now to make your journey to America.”

Stephan stared at the old man with brooding eyes. He was not stupid. He noticed the weight loss, the sinking of the eyes, the yellow tinge to the man’s skin. Taking the envelope handed to him, he rose to his feet. “Thank you, Gregory.” Ignoring the tears that filled the old man’s eyes, Stephan held out his hand. “I will never forget you!”

“Same here, kid,” Gregory said to an empty room after Stephan walked out and closed the door softly behind him.

The sun felt as if it were going to burn a hole in her back, but Aisling ignored the discomfort as if it were nothing more than a pesky fly. She stared through the lenses of her binoculars from the roof of the adjoining building and watched the activity below her. Her last conversation with Sakis was as she expected, learning that Stephan and Sophia had not made it to their destination at Nadir’s compound. But Aisling already knew this, picking up his signal even before the plane landed. She knew the Greek was pissed and worried at the same time but he was also smart, having lived in this world for a long time. It was never good to let your emotions run your decisions.

Once Odalis told Nadir what was going on, they realized that this had to be an inside job. Even though Nadir refused to believe his wife was involved, he did agree to play along with the ruse until it could be sorted out and his wife could be cleared. Pulling only the most trusted guards into their secret, they waited for confirmation from Aisling as to the location. Only then would they dispatch help. Aisling relayed the coordinates several minutes ago to Sakis with instructions to keep everyone back until she could clear the area. With the live feed, they would know her every move at all times.

Aisling watched the first vehicle as it approached the building and parked next to the other vehicles. She was not interested in the driver, focusing the lenses on the rear passenger door as it opened. A large man stepped out in full camo. Her breathing never changed; her eyes were the only thing that reflected her hate. “Fuck you, Sammy!” she whispered, recognizing her old friend immediately before he disappeared inside of the building. She should have guessed.

Waiting patiently, she did not move a muscle until she saw the white sedan make its approach, and then paused as the driver waited for the large door to open. Texting Sakis, she gave the signal for him to contact Nadir so that he could call his wife. For Aisling, obedience to her orders was paramount in this rescue being a success. She worked on never second-guessing whether or not her orders would be followed through. She could only trust her team. She trusted Sakis, but knew nothing of the Boulos family. Without waiting for a reply, she rose to her feet and grabbed her backpack, ensuring she stayed crouched low. The battle was just beginning. This was the time she was going to have to make her move and quickly.

Scurrying down from the top of the building, she made little noise. One guard had been right below her the entire time. He would be the first she would take out. She grimaced; she did not relish this part of her job, especially considering she was going to have to use her knife to keep it clean and simple and her height difference could make it cumbersome. When she reached the bottom, she ran at him, kicking his knee in from behind, dropping him. She had her hand on his forehead, his head tipped back and the slice made before he could grunt in surprise. Without waiting for him to completely expire, she was already dragging him around the corner and out of sight.

Aisling easily took out three more guards the same way. Obviously, these had been the worst of the bunch, which was probably why Yasmin was able to recruit them to her side. From what she could tell, she only had two more left outside. But these two seemed to hang with each other, and would be a bit more difficult to take down without the other one knowing. Debating on her next move, she stared at them as if she were staring at a chessboard. Nodding to no one, she knew she had to keep one alive to find out how many people were inside the building.

As she contemplated her options, she saw one move away from the other. Luck of the Irish was on her side as he headed toward her, more than likely on a bathroom break. She quickly screwed the silencer on her gun; he dropped at her feet before he could even shout a warning. Again, she quickly dragged the body. The other guard must have heard something as Aisling heard his heavy footsteps headed in her direction. Timing the sounds, she stepped around the corner and held the gun steady at his chest. With a finger to her lips, she motioned for him to follow her. Tentatively, he stepped around the corner; his eyes widened at his friend on the ground, eyes open and staring blankly at the sky with a bullet lodged in his brain.

“Throw aside your gun!” she whispered with authority in Greek. Aisling waited for him to obey. “How many guards on the inside?” Her eyes flashed irritation when he gritted his teeth and did not answer. Approaching him, she lowered the gun barrel at his crotch, and repeated her question patiently. “Everyone on the outside is dead already. It means nothing to me to include you on the list. How many on the inside?”

The trickle of sweat that ran down his face was the only indication that his nerves were kicking in.

“Five guards. No more,” he spat out.

“Five, not counting the driver and the woman. Correct?”

The moment she saw his head nod, she shot him between the eyes. Stepping over him without looking back, she ran to the back. She was quickly losing time. As she climbed the ladder that led to the roof, she prayed she wasn’t too late.

~~~

Yasmin returned to stand in front of Stephanous. Her cold eyes cut through him. “You should have listened and backed off. The death of the the woman is on you, as is the nun.”

Stephan glared at the woman who gave birth to him. “I can readily accept my death but I would like to know why. Why all of this? For what?”

Smiling, she clasped her hands in front of her. “It was a simple business decision. You know how that works and because the timing of a child was not right.” The confused look on Stephan’s face caused her to laugh. “I chose Nadir. I knew with his family that they would be able to support my needs. Convincing Odalis, on the other hand, was not as easy. He disliked me from day one but I knew it was not personal. Here was his only son. He wanted to choose the woman who would become the wife of the head of the family. But Nadir loved me, and I used that to my advantage, conceiving a child without him knowing.”

Her face darkened as she recalled that time in her life. “What I hadn’t counted on was Odalis taking Nadir to America before I could tell him that I was carrying his child. I debated for a time on whether or not to abort you but I was so far along in the pregnancy that I knew the risks to my health and decided to carry you to term. I hid for months so that no one who knew me would know. Funny thing, Odalis tracked me down. It seems my love couldn’t live without me and he was willing to fly me to America to make his son happy. But there were conditions to the agreement. Not one of those conditions listed a baby before wedlock.”

“Did he know?” Stephan asked.

“Of course not! The day of your birth, I was alone in my apartment. I delivered you, cut the cord and carried you to the church.”

“I could have died!” Stephan gritted his teeth as the hate almost overwhelmed him.

With a shrug, Yasmin stared at her fingernails. “I didn’t care. I was going to finally get what I wanted.” Placing a hand under his chin, she lifted his head up and stared deep into his eyes.

Stephan saw a movement in the shadows above them. His heart leapt in his chest, knowing there could only be one person who could have gotten in. He wondered how much she had heard of the conversation. With a new hope rising inside him, he had to stall Yasmin, to give Aisling time to formulate a plan.

“Nadir is a great man but he is soft. If he found out that you were his son, he would embrace that fact. When he found out that I had left you for dead?” Yasmin shuddered. “It would not have bode well for me when he learned the truth. Deception is a sticky web for sure.”

“I need nothing from Nadir. So, all of this for money?” Stephan felt sick.

“If that is how you want to look at it. I like to call it life security for me and my sons.” Shooting a look at Sammy, she stood tall in her heels, stepping away from Stephan as she did so. “I must leave you all. My family is expecting me back and I am already behind schedule.” All eyes watched as she slid in the vehicle; the driver closed the door with a finality that seemed to affect Sophia the most as she whimpered next to Stephan. With everyone’s attention riveted to Yasmin’s departure, Stephan took the time to scan the maze of catwalks above his head, unable to see anyone. His frown deepened as he wondered where she went.

A blast of hot air streamed into the room as the door opened slowly. Sammy waited until the door was closed before he turned and strode to Stephan and Sophia. He froze in place as he stared behind him. Turning to follow his glance, Stephan noticed the same thing that Sammy had. The door in the back of the room was slightly ajar and the guard who was supposed to be guarding the post was no longer there.

Showtime
, Stephan thought.

Sammy barked orders to the other guards, dispatching two to find out where the guard went. Sammy was no fool. His body reflected calm, but there was a shift in him; his eyes scanned the room, including the catwalk, but like Stephan, he saw nothing.

CHAPTER 42

Using the distraction of Yasmin making her departure, she opened the back door quietly; catching the man off guard, she pressed her gun to his head and forced him to follow her. She wasn’t sure it would work. But she took the chance that these losers’ allegiance to Yasmin was on a long leash. Assuming that he would have no intention of dying for her, she was able to get him out without him alerting the others.

Aisling coldly dropped him quickly when they were far enough away. Propping him up on the wall, she stood behind the door. The moment the first guard stepped out, she kicked high with her leg with such force she heard the crack of his skull, stunning him as her steel toe slammed into the side of his head. The other guard let out a shout as he charged toward Aisling, knocking her to the ground hard. All the air left her body with the fall, but she had trained for this type of impact. Reaching her leg, she withdrew the knife, drove it between the guard’s ribs, and twisted it as she pulled it out. She grimaced as the blood flowed from his body, saturating her. Stunned, the man rose up, a snarl on his face, but he didn’t have the opportunity to fight back as she drove it deep in his chest and pushed him away at the same time. The moment she pulled it out, she watched as the light faded from his eyes as his blood tried to pump through a heart that was now shredded.

Inhaling deeply, Aisling allowed the oxygen to calm her breathing before she strode through the door, with a confidence that bore from years of not giving a fuck. She watched the many emotions that crossed Sammy’s face: from shock, to disdain, and if she was right, a hint of fear. Aisling smiled across the room at him as she strode nonchalantly across the concrete floor, her gun pointed between his eyes. Sammy felt the little red dot boring a hole in his skin. As Aisling came closer, she reached up, pulling the wig and mesh from her head, and ran her fingers through the strands carefully to ensure the camera stayed in place but allowing her hair to tumble around her face.

Stephan thought that he had never seen anything hotter than her strutting toward them with her flaming red hair.

“Hey, Sammy! How’s it going? I believe that you have my boyfriend. I want him back.” Aisling’s voice was confident and strong, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Stephan’s laughter reached out to her but she never took her eyes off Sammy. “Hey, Stephan. Missed you.”

“Hey, missed you too,” Stephan replied.

The last guard standing moved silently along the wall, believing that he had been forgotten. Aisling was done, and wanted to go home. Reaching under her arm, she slid her other gun out smoothly, never allowing her other hand to falter. The dot was unwavering as she shot the guard in the chest.

Sophia screamed as the man slid down the wall. Blood stained the metal behind him.

“Move one step closer, I will blow a hole through him!” Sammy shouted.

“Was it worth it?” she asked quietly, ignoring his command. She kept a steady pace to her walk, stopping only when she stood directly behind Stephan.

Sammy looked confused at her question and didn’t respond.

“The money. Was it worth losing our friendship and your life?”

“As you have always said Aisling, this is business.”

Even though she knew he was going to try it, she wasn’t as prepared as she had hoped as he fired his gun straight at her. A multitude of shots sounded from behind her within a millisecond of Sammy’s going off.

Stephan dove toward Sophia and shoved his body against hers so that she was knocked hard to the ground. He kept his body on top of hers, afraid a stray bullet would strike her. He watched as Sammy’s body dropped in what seemed like slow motion to the ground. He was dead before he hit the floor.

The moment he fell, shouts could be heard surrounding him and Sophia. Stephan twisted his body, trying to catch a glimpse of Aisling, but could only see her red hair as several men knelt on the floor next to her. She wasn’t moving.

His voice thick with emotion, he called out to one of the men to cut his ties. Seconds later, he knelt and brushed her hair back away from her face. She was covered in so much blood. Her body started to shake.

“Are you seriously laughing right now?”

“Wow, that was fun. Now that this is over, can we start working on us now?” Without waiting for a reply, Aisling reached up and pulled his face down so that she could kiss him hard on the mouth. The other men, embarrassed, quickly left the two alone on the floor as they indulged in each other.

Finally, temporarily sated, he helped her to sit but immediately noticed that she wasn’t moving her left arm. “You DID get shot.”

Looking at her arm, she shrugged. “It is minor—went clean through.”

A hand reached down to them, holding a white handkerchief. “Bind her wound with this, my son.”

Stephan’s eyes shot up, nodding as he stared into his father’s eyes. He said nothing as he wrapped the fabric around her arm tightly before he rose and pulled Aisling along with him.

Nadir held out his hand toward Aisling. “Very impressive, young lady. When this is all over, I would love to have your business number.”

Aisling laughed. “You got it.”

Her eyes became somber as Nadir nodded. “She is dead. We did as you said and stayed back until the car exited this building. She shot the driver and then herself before we could reach her. She really had no other option.” He paused as the emotion took over. He would never have believed his wife could have organized this level of deception if it hadn’t been for the live feed. He had loved her with every part of his being, and this would take a long time to get over.

“Sir. Please. I understand.”

Gratefully, he clasped her hands in his before he turned to Stephan. “It seems that I owe you a thousand apologies, but have nowhere to begin.”

“You owe me nothing, Nadir,” Stephan responded gruffly and he meant it.

“Please, I will ask that we spend some time talking. If you are willing.” Glancing around the room, he cut his eyes to Aisling. “After we get a body count of how many she has taken down and cleaned up this mess. The car is available whenever you are ready to head to my house.”

Stephan stared into eyes that resembled his own. “I would like that.” With his arm wrapped around Aisling’s shoulder, he steered her toward Sophia, who seemed to be trying to take it all in that they were still alive. “But first, I need to introduce Aisling to someone who has been incredibly brave.”