THE CHAMELEON (13 page)

CHAPTER 25

(Stephanous Petros: twelve years old) “I want a raise.”

Gregory didn’t even flinch at the request. He had known this was coming. Stephan was becoming quite the businessman. He also knew that even though a friendship had formed between the two, this was business.

“Don’t push your luck, boy.”

“I want a raise,” Stephanous repeated.

Gregory looked from the boy to the dog that stood faithfully next to him. He couldn’t believe that the child was able to bring it back to life.

Nodding his head, Gregory agreed to the demand. He was not ready to lose his hardest worker.

Alicia and Stephan stared at the pieces of paper in front of them and the code scattered throughout the page, mixed in with what looked like jumbled words and symbols.

“So what you are telling me is that this is a printout of the actual file that was stolen.”

The tech grinned at Stephan and Alicia. “Exactly. Better yet, we upgraded our system just last month. By inserting code into every file in our system, even if a hacker was able to get their hands on our files, we would also have the opportunity to track where those files end up.”

“I am sorry. I am not quite understanding what you are telling me right now.”

Grabbing a piece of paper, the tech seemed actually giddy to discuss code, files, and computers. To Stephan, the guy was making his head hurt. “Let me break it down for you. Say this file is an expensive car. The dealership decides to put a GPS tracking device into vehicles that they loan but doesn’t tell the buyer he has done this. Let’s say that the leased vehicle is just sitting there and a thief decides to steal the vehicle without entering a code. The vehicle will start, and allow itself to be taken to its destination, where the code self-destructs, causing the vehicle to not restart—or in this case, you cannot open it or it will destroy itself.”

“Which is why the file is now unreadable. It somehow knew it was not where it was supposed to be and destroyed itself,” Alicia added in wonder at the technology.

The technician lowered his voice, as if giving away the biggest secret of all. “Yes! But even better, the little GPS is still emitting a signal, allowing us to actually track the address of where the vehicle is. In this case, we call it an IP address.”

“Shit.”

“Exactly! Pretty exciting stuff, especially when you have the money to develop it one step further. We added to the code. Once it reached its destination, it breaks away from the file, kind of like a virus, scattering it into a million little pieces. Even if they found out about the code, there would be no way for them to erase all of the little pieces. This tracker runs even when the computer is off. They could junk it in the largest landfill, and we would still be able to track it down to the exact location.”

“So are you able to tell me where this file is right now?”

“We will be able to tell you the exact location within twenty-four hours.”

Stephan rose to his feet; he could not wait to relay the news to Sakis. Gesturing to Alicia to follow, he shook hands with the technician. “Thank you. Might be time for a raise.”

The young man blushed. Stephan was gone before he could even respond.

Back in his office, Stephan dropped onto the leather couch, where Alicia joined him. Grabbing the bottle on the coffee table, he poured them both a drink.

“We have just averted what I believe could have been the largest underground civil war ever.”

“I agree, but will feel better when we know for sure who is behind all of these hacks.”

Stephan’s office phone beeped to let him know that the call to Greece had gone through and that Sakis was on the line. Quickly pushing the button on the speaker, Stephan filled Sakis in on the latest developments.

“Great work to everyone. Please extend my gratitude on their due diligence on protecting the company. Alicia, please ensure that the department members are compensated. Well deserved,” Sakis added.

“What do you want to happen now?” Alicia asked.

“This was a lesson that I will not let be lost on any of us. Alicia, please pull the hard copies of all of the files and make three copies. One goes into the safe in my office. The second goes into the safe in Chestnut Hill and the third in the safe deposit box. This needs to happen immediately. Alicia, I know you are leaving tomorrow night, but I am sorry I am going to ask that you handle this yourself.”

“I agree and no worries. There is no reason this can’t be finished way before the time I need to catch my flight, and Sakis, thank you for the vacation!”

“I will assist her if she needs it, Sakis.”

“Perfect. I knew you would, Stephanous, and Alicia, I am sorry that I didn’t get you out on holiday before now. You both will have a late night for sure. I will fax over the file that was given to me that we spoke about earlier. Let me know if anything else arises. I will say that Cassie has us going to the open market today, so if I do not respond right away…”

“No problem, Sakis. Grab me a scarf while you are there.”

Alicia and Stephan laughed when Sakis started to swear in Greek.

CHAPTER 26

Aisling’s day was not going as well as Stephan’s. Her guilt was slowly eating her alive. Shutting off the recorder, she leaned back in her chair. Not only was she eavesdropping through a bug she had placed when she was with Stephan, she had been contemplating hacking into the technology at Carras Enterprises. After hearing the conversation between Sakis, Alicia, and Stephan, she knew it would be next to impossible, unless she had the antidote to the virus. Once again, she was going to have to go about this old school to get her hands on the file.

No longer was this about finding information for Stephan in the search for his parents. This was about life and death. Returning to her apartment, she picked up a yellow envelope that had been shoved under her door. Clear indication that someone out there not only knew who she was, but knew where she lived. Her mother never had her addresses when she was alive. In the envelope were pictures of her, in full-blown disguise with her black wig, as she bent over the body of Sister Katherine and took pictures with her cell phone. At one point, the photographer snapped a picture of her looking up at Sammy, her face obviously recognizable. A hand-scrawled note was paper clipped to the photos.

Someone will die today if you do not get him to back off.

The blackmailer didn’t have to spell out Stephan’s name. She knew exactly who they were talking about and she knew exactly what they planned to do with the pictures. Closing her eyes, briefly, she inhaled a deep breath to center herself. She had to get out and get out fast. Calmly, methodically, she walked around the apartment, starting in her bedroom. Removing the pre-packed bag from the ceiling, she started to count softly.
One.
Moving to the floor of the closet, she pulled out the money pouch that contained twenty thousand in cash.
Two
. She continued this way through the entire apartment, until she reached the tenth item. When she was done, she stepped out of the apartment and locked the door behind her. She had planned this from day one of starting her line of work. If she was ever found out, the ten items were the only things she would take. It had taken her less than fifteen minutes to shut out where she had called home for the past ten years. For Aisling, there was no melancholy or sadness. This apartment was temporary. Now, she would move to another temporary place but this time, she wouldn’t stay as long, she promised herself.

Without hesitation, she called the office of the Ritz-Carlton Towers, pretending to be a secretary of a wealthy financier. The real estate agent informed her that they did indeed have a furnished apartment for rent and as luck would have it, it had been vacant for a while. Aisling couldn’t believe her luck, immediately asking the agent if her employer could move in today. The agent stammered that he thought that would be fine with the seller but would need to call her back. Twenty minutes later, the agent called to say they could do it, but would have to wait until tomorrow so they had time to process the paperwork and ensure that housekeeping could do a thorough cleaning. Aisling agreed. Whatever was going to happen, she was going to make sure that she did whatever she could to protect Stephan until she found out who was out to get him. Being under him, literally and figuratively, was the best way she knew how to do this.

Checking in to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Aisling quickly set up her computers, uploading all of her software and this time only the files that she needed. Dusting the yellow envelope and pictures inside, she snapped pictures of the fingerprints before she transferred the files to a friend at the FBI. He would run the analysis for her. This was a good place as any to start.

As she stared at herself in the black wig, the butterflies began to grow in her stomach. She was going to have to tell Stephan who she was. He would never understand the photos if they happened to reach his hands. Hell, even she felt that she looked guilty. Her expression was her normal work mode expression: cold, calculating, her mind running one hundred miles per hour. There would be no way he would know that internally she had wanted to scream with rage at the waste of a life. She had been so close to getting some answers for him before a life was cut short. Well, she still had other means of getting what she wanted.

Aisling’s phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, she almost didn’t answer.

“Hey, Stephan!”

“Hi, beautiful! Are you busy?”

“Crazy so.” She softened her tone. “But I have a few minutes for you right now.”

“I am going to have to work late tonight, but I really wanted to see you.” Stephan’s voice was low and throaty; a ripple ran inside Aisling from her head all the way down to her toes. “Tell me you will make yourself available later for me.”

Yes,
she screamed in her head. But she couldn’t say the word out loud. She couldn’t give him that false hope. She made a promise to herself and that was to finish this job and prevent anyone else from getting killed, which meant she had to stay focused. Emotions would get her killed; she needed to be numb and cold. Nothing could have shocked her any more than when tears started to fill her eyes. Swallowing hard, she finally responded. “Tell you what, let’s see how it goes. Call me later?”

The silence was shock, she knew it—could feel it. He responded back, just as coolly. “Fine. I will do that. Have a good night.”

Disconnecting, she refused to hash the call over and over in her head, choosing instead to lay out her clothes in preparation for the evening. This was going to be a quick search and retrieve. She sorted her hair out first, deftly pinning it into a tight bun. The black wig was next. Once securely on her head, she slid on her black leggings and black muscle top, before she slid her arms through the gun holster. It fell along her side before she snapped another one on her upper thigh.

Eying the third gun, she opted to not wear it.
She was only going to Carras Enterprises, not a fucking war
, she thought.

The last and final layer for tonight was her outfit. This would be what would get her from the Ritz to Carras Enterprises as a normal person. Slipping on the black hoodie and breakaway warm-ups, she now felt complete.

CHAPTER 27

(Stephanous Petros: twelve years old) Stephan pulled away as Sister Katherine reached out with her hand to brush the curls away from his eye. “I feel as if I am losing you,” she whispered.

Cold eyes clashed with hers. “Something has to be yours before you can lose it,” he responded.

“Is everything all right, Stephan?” Alicia asked quietly. They had been working for hours: going through the paperwork, making copies of the files that they knew were the most important, slipping each set of copies in a leather case. Stephan had barely said two words to her the whole time. He was always a quiet man, but even for him, this was unusual.

“Woman problems. No big deal,” Stephan replied curtly as he wrapped the leather cord around the first case and then did the same with the other two. “Why don’t I put this in the safe in Sakis’s office? I will be right back.”

As she glanced around the room, Alicia felt great with the progress they made. Sakis had been right. This had been a long night and they still had several hours to go. With the threat looming over them, with the unknown, they decided that they would also shred documents. Stephan was going to run to Chestnut Hill, secure the second copy in the safe at the mansion, and then return and help her finish up. Hopefully, before the night was over, Sakis would send the document to Stephan.

“I am leaving now, Alicia. It shouldn’t take me long to get to Chestnut Hill from here. Thirty minutes there, thirty minutes back.” Glancing around the room, he frowned. He had felt off all evening and originally he had thought that it was the strange conversation with Aisling, but now he no longer believed it was just that. “I think I will have one of the guys come up here and sit outside the office.”

Alicia glanced sharply at Stephan. “Why in the world would you do that?”

“I am not sure. I just feel like I should.”

With a chuckle, Alicia pushed him toward the door. “Tell your Spidey senses to calm down. What I need you to do is leave because the sooner you do that, the sooner you come back and help me. After that, we both go home and I can start my vacation.”

Stephan kissed her on the cheek. “You are probably right.” With a wink at her, he grinned. “Getting pretty excited now, aren’t you? I expect to see tons of pictures being forwarded to my phone from the ship’s deck.”

Alicia laughed. “After the past couple of days, I am not sure if I am even going to come back here. Might have to scope out my retirement home.”

Laughing, Stephan grabbed the file and turned just before he left, intently staring her down with worried eyes. “Just to let you know, I am still sending Carlos up.”

Shaking her head, she continued to chuckle. “Great. He can help me move the shredder in here.”

~~~

True to her word, the moment that the security detail showed up outside Stephan’s office, she took him to the utility room and told him to bring the shredder back to the office. She held back the sharp retort that was ready to slide off her tongue when she saw him make a face. Stephan would never have done that when he was first hired. Nothing was ever below him. He was always eager to please and did everything requested as if it was the most important job in the world. Her heart warmed as she thought of him. She so wanted him to find his parents and put that chapter behind him, and maybe then he could find someone to love and cherish and that person would love him back even more. That would make her the happiest person in the world.

As she turned down the hallway, she stopped, turning instead to Sakis’s office. She wanted to check his personal facsimile. They had been waiting all night for the documents to come through on Stephan’s, but wouldn’t that be just like Sakis to send it to his own. Sliding the key in the lock, she didn’t even have the chance to turn it before a voice came behind her.

“Not to frighten you, but I do have a gun, pointed directly at the center of your back. Mr. Carras’s office, I presume? Let’s see if a fax has come through.”

“Who are you?” Alicia asked, shocked she could keep her voice from shaking.

“I am the person who has been warning people to back off. My client does not like anyone getting too close.”

“Stephan will be coming back soon,” she replied bravely.

The voice laughed. “Well, I certainly hope so. I cannot deliver my message face-to-face if he doesn’t return, can I?” Poking her in the back with the gun, he pushed her forward. “But first, I want those documents.”

“Sakis will just send it again.”

“Yes, but by then, I am sure that I will be able to convince Stephanous Petros that it is in his best interest to drop his search.”

Shaking her head, Alicia couldn’t understand what was so important in the file. Stephan had already told her that Sakis didn’t see anything of use. When she walked over to the fax machine, she saw that there was indeed something.

The man quickly snagged them from her hand. “Tut-tut. Those are not for anyone’s eyes right now. Why don’t you be a love and have a seat in the chair over there.”

Alicia stiffly moved where he asked her. Her back straight, she sat on the edge of the seat; her hands were neatly folded in her lap as she stared as the intruder moved around Sakis’s office.

“So this is what having a lot of money gives you. Quite a view, don’t you think?” Glancing at his watch, he smiled. “Should be anytime. Then we can really get this party started.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what? Doing my job? Because I need to get paid, just like everyone else.” As he waved his gun in front of her face, she didn’t flinch. Alicia refused to let him see that she was afraid. “This, dear sweet Alicia, is business. Nothing more. But you know about this side of the business, because you have been living it the past twelve years.” Watching her expression, he chuckled. “That’s right. I know all about you, my dear. You are probably the most important thing to Sakis Carras and Stephanous Petros—even more than anyone else in their lives. It is such a shame you have to die for me to get my point across.”

Her captor seemed irritated that she didn’t respond before he walked around the room again.

“Do you know who Stephanous’s parents are? Are they the ones who hired you?”

Glancing at her sideways, a strange smile came over his face. “Yes and kind of. Yes, I know who Stephanous’s parents are and yes,
one
of them hired me. Some secrets cannot be exposed, because the consequence of a little lie made years and years ago will destroy everything that had been built up for that person. Funny—make a deal with the devil, when the contract is up, the devil wants his payment.”

To Alicia, the man seemed to be rambling.

A beeping sounded; it took her a moment to realize that it came from something hanging from his belt. Lowering his voice to a dramatic whisper, he pressed a finger against his lips. “Shhhh. He is here. You mustn’t say a word—we want this to be a surprise, don’t we?”

Slipping a ski mask over his face, he stood behind Alicia and placed his hands on her shoulders while she sat still in the chair. The gun, held loosely in his hand, was draped over her chest. He was a big guy and his hands were large. She tried not to wince as he gripped her tightly and leaned to whisper in her ear.

“Now, he is walking to his office. Oh, what does he see? Oh my God, it couldn’t be the young man who was supposed to watch over you. I can imagine the panic rising inside him as he wonders where you are.”

“You’re insane.”

The captor didn’t have a chance to reply as Stephan stepped into Sakis’s office slowly, gun drawn.

“Welcome—let the party begin.”

“Who are you and what do you want?”

He waved Stephan to a chair. “Slowly drop that gun, kick it to me and then, please be seated and I will be more than happy to explain.”

“I would much rather put a bullet between your eyes.” The last thing that Stephan wanted to do was sit. If Alicia wasn’t in the room, he would have challenged the man more but he couldn’t terrify her any more than she already was.

The moment he did as he was told and sat, the captor walked over, quickly tying Stephan’s hands behind his back with zip ties.

“Much better. Now we can talk in peace, without you trying to be a hero.

“So, what do I have here you ask? Just a little example of why you should trust no one in your life, especially a woman.” He laid a photograph on Stephan’s knees to give him ample time to check out the picture.

Stephan’s eyes were riveted to the photograph. There was no mistake; it was Aisling. The black wig looked unnatural—he so favored the red hair. He felt sick to his stomach, recognizing Sister Katherine immediately, her eyes staring blankly up to the sky. There had to be another explanation than the one that this man was trying to get him to believe. There would be no way that Aisling would be a traitor. He closed his eyes for a moment.
Or would she?
Every self-doubt he ever had coursed through him and he tried to steel his emotions because he knew he was being watched.

“Hard to look at, isn’t it?” Without waiting for a reply, the man placed another photograph down on top of the first. This time, Aisling was taking pictures of the dead body. “When you let your guard down, the blocks you build start tumbling around you. How does it feel, Stephanous, to know that the one you have opened up yourself to is the worst type of traitor. Her deception cuts you deep, doesn’t it?”

Stephan glared at the man in front of him. “What do you want?”

The man walked back to Alicia. Stephan watched in horror as the muzzle of the gun was pressed to the side of her head. Her eyes, widened in fear, filled with tears as she stared at him. Stephan’s heart constricted tightly in his chest.

“I have already told you what I want. I want you to back off. Simple, really, and quite frankly, not too much to ask. Seriously, Stephanous, you have gone all of these years without knowing who your parents are and now, all of a sudden, you have this great interest in finding out who they are.”

“Let Alicia go and I promise to back off.”

Tsking, the large man shook his head and strode back to Stephan, bending over just enough to whisper in his ear. “No can do right now, Stephanous. You were warned already, and didn’t seem to take me seriously, so tonight is about you understanding that this is not a joke. I am going to enjoy kicking your ass and then I am going to take sweet Alicia with me. Maybe then—”

Hate consumed Stephan as he slammed his head hard against the intruder. The loud crack of the two skulls connecting reverberated in the room. A string of oaths flew from the man’s mouth; he shoved the barrel of his gun hard against Stephan’s head. Stephan’s blood ran cold, expecting any moment to have a bullet ricochet through his brains.

The man shook himself, as if trying to bring himself under control, and the gun was slowly pulled away from Stephan’s temple. With a laugh, he took a step back. “Good try, but I don’t want you dead. You are part of a bigger plan to me and will make me a wealthy man.”

Alicia stared in horror as the man raised his arm and knocked Stephan out with the butt of the gun. The chair rocked before the deadweight of her friend tipped it over completely. The attacker stared down coldly before he proceeded to kick Stephan mercilessly. Every time his foot made contact, Alicia flinched; unable to hold it in anymore, she turned her head and vomited the contents of her last meal.

It was several more minutes before their attacker seemed satisfied that he had inflicted enough on Stephanous. He turned to face her. Shrinking back in her chair, Alicia was filled with dread. There was no emotion on the man’s face as he slowly walked toward her.