by Wendy Rosnau
"You stole my father's face. Surgery?"
"Yes, of course. Several, in fact." He smiled and turned so she could study his profile. "It is a nice face, don't you think?"
"Why?" Eva asked softly. "Why did you need to kill them? What in this world could be so important that it would be worth so such trouble? Why my father's face?"
"That is more than one question, but I'll do the best I can. When a man is betrayed, Evka, he is inclined to seek revenge. It is the only way to reclaim his honor. Paavo and Merrick betrayed me years ago, and Onyxx embraced them for it. They took everything from me, so I in turn took everything from them. I stole their lives, like they stole mine. I found out what they loved most and took it from them. For Merrick it was his wife, and for Paavo … it was his sweet young daughter. You, Evka, you were the love of your father's life."
* * *
Chapter 19
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Sly paced the deck, envisioning all sorts of scenarios, none of them good. Eva had ditched the tracking device. That meant she'd changed clothes. All they could do now was wait for a message from either the Chameleon or Bjorn.
Had he made a mistake by letting her go? He knew why she wanted to go back, knew what it was like to live with unanswered questions.
"I survived so one day I would understand. That's what this is all about, understanding why it all happened. I want to know why my mother had to die. Why my father became someone I didn't recognize after her death. He loved me before that night. It couldn't have all been a lie. I won't believe that. He did love me. I'm prepared to play whatever game I must to learn the truth."
"You think the truth will set you free, is that it?"
"It will."
"You're wrong. It won't."
"It will. It has to."
"McEwen, the waiting's over. You received a message from Parish. You've been invited inside one of the Chameleon's compounds. Simon says if you care enough about Eva to die for her, you should accept the Chameleon's offer. But if you want to live to fight another day, you should go home. I've also been invited to tag along. It seems that Eva either told them I'm here, or the past two days I haven't been as invisible as I thought."
Sly listened, but he had already made his decision last night when he had allowed Eva to leave the Hector. The game he was about to play, however, was the most unorthodox of any he had ever contrived. He would be walking into an armed camp without any weapons, under the guise of total surrender.
"Let's get moving," Merrick said. "Eva's been in their hands too long already."
"I thought you wanted revenge at any cost. You saying she's gotten to you, too?"
"I'll admit she's special. I'll even admit that I understand why you let your professional training take a back seat for one short pleasure ride. But you and I know in the end, if we're successful today, the best thing for Eva is if things go back to the way they were and she disappears. We're in agreement, right?"
"We're in agreement," Sly said. "I'd say she's earned her wings."
"Then let's go get this son of a bitch, so she can fly," Merrick said. "Let's send him to hell once and for all so we can all be set free."
Sly strode across the deck and into the wheelhouse to start the Hector's twin engines. "Where?" he asked, as Merrick joined him.
"Head south. Parish says we'll get an escort once we pass the red-and-black tower on Andiparos."
In a matter of minutes they were underway, heading south along the eastern coast of the island. As Simon had promised, two fishing boats joined them after they passed the tower. The crew, however, didn't look like they had fishing on their minds unless the plan was to shoot their prey out of the water with Uzis.
"Contact Bjorn," Sly said. "Tell him we're—"
"Already done."
Sly looked over his shoulder at Merrick. He still looked pale. "You feel all right?"
"I feel great. I've waited years to feel this good."
The comment had nothing to do with Merrick's immediate health and everything to do with his need to face the man who had stolen his life.
A few miles farther down the coast one of the fishing boats swung wide and started into a narrow channel. There was a strip of beach ahead and behind it a rugged outcropping of rocks that partially concealed a monastery.
The channel was shallow, preventing large boats from coming in too close. At anchor a trideck monster yacht rode the gentle tide, the name the Pearl on its stern.
"We're going to be walking into a trap," Merrick said. "At least that's what it's supposed to look like. We'll play it that way, and hope the Chameleon's luck—"
"Luck." Sly glanced at Merrick. "The Chameleon's got more on his side than luck."
"He doesn't have you spooked does he?"
"Spooked? No. But what keeps me humble is that he's been able to slip through the Agency's fingers too many times."
"Why the hell did you agree to this game plan if you don't think we can beat him?" Merrick asked.
"I didn't say we can't beat him."
"You could have stopped Eva from leaving last night if you had doubts."
"I wanted to," Sly admitted. "But we both agree that Eva deserves a future of her own choosing. That won't happen while the Chameleon is controlling her every move. A part of Eva wants her father back. The man who once loved her. He doesn't exist any longer. She needs to see that with her own eyes. The good news is, I haven't seen him piss on the run yet. If he can't, the odds might swing in our favor once the noise starts."
"Noise?"
"That's Bjorn's department, getting the noise started."
"And when will he know when it's time for the cavalry to start shooting?"
"He says I should trust him. Says he'll be able to read my mind when the time comes."
"He's been hanging around Jacy Madox too long. Bjorn called him a shaman once."
Sly shrugged. "All I know is Jacy should have died on the Rock. He was out of blood and out of time, and he still survived."
They took the submersible aqua gliders into shore, joined by an escort of four of the Chameleon's men driving similar water toys. On shore they were searched, then led up the path. At the iron gate they were greeted by Simon Parish.
The albino dismissed Merrick, and faced Sly. "So you have chosen to die for her. Or maybe, you think you are invincible, and can save her? I assure you that will not be the case today. You made a mistake when you touched her. You broke the rules. Players who break the rules are eliminated from the game. It's going to be a pleasure watching you die, McEwen."
"That's right, Evka, your father loved you. That's what you've wanted to hear all these years, isn't it? I could have killed you that night. Killed you along with your mother, but what would that have accomplished? Dying is easy, Evka. As my enemy, your father deserved better. In death, we suffer only once. But alive… Alive a man can be made to die countless times. Just ask the men in my prison. They beg me to let them die."
The Chameleon was as crazy as Simon, Eva thought. Like father, like son.
"I know what you're thinking, but I'm not mad. I'm a genius. Look at what I've accomplished in fourteen years by taking your father's face. My face… I lost it in an accident and was in need of a … facelift." He chuckled at his own joke. "It was fate. I've come to accept that. It took over a year to copy Paavo's likeness, but it was worth every painful surgery. And they were painful. At times I— Well … that isn't important now."
"Tell me about that night," Eva asked, needing to know how she and her mother had been fooled so completely.
"I arrived at the house while you were at school and your mother was out buying groceries. I drove into the garage, and even waved at the neighbor. He waved back. I closed the garage door, pulled Paavo from the trunk, and took him into the house and put him in a closet just off the kitchen. I wanted him close enough so he could hear his family welcome me home. When Muriel returned we hugged and I kissed her. She kissed me back. Paavo, or should I say I, had been away several
weeks and she was in need of her husband. She had no reservation when I…"
Eva closed her eyes, could only imagine the torment her father had suffered in the closet listening to her mother make love to another man.
"Afterward she made chicken for supper. You came home, and you ran to me and hugged me. Do you remember?"
"Yes, I remember."
"After supper you went downstairs to watch TV with Muriel. I went to the closet and cut Paavo loose and took him downstairs into his office. I told him I wanted him to watch me kill you both. He begged me to let you live. You, not your mother. We went into the room, but you weren't there. You should have seen the look on your mother's face when she saw the two of us. I let her look, and remember what had happened in the kitchen before supper. In that moment she knew she had betrayed her husband with a stranger. A stranger with the same face. She was more willful than I thought she would be, and she tried to fight me. That's how the fire started. She knocked over a candle before I killed her. I had planned to set fire to the house anyway, only not before my work was done. I dragged Paavo out into the hall and pulled down his gag to ask him where he thought you had gone. You started downstairs just then, and stopped halfway when you saw us."
"At first I thought I was seeing double," Eva remembered. "Then I wasn't sure about anything. You looked exactly like my father, only you were laughing. I saw mother lying so still and I started to cry."
"Paavo swung and hit me, then told you to run. I overlooked his determination to save you. You fled back up the stairs while I staggered back to my feet. I thought I'd have to chase you down, but then you stumbled and fell, rolling down the stairs. You hit your head. Paavo thought you were dead, and he started screaming and crying. He went to you and dropped to his knees. That's where he made his mistake—turning his back on me. A man who loves deeply often feels before he thinks. That's when I realized my revenge had just started. Stealing what Paavo loved best and keeping it was the perfect way to right the wrong. It was the same with Merrick. He also let his emotions rule his head. It's what lost him his wife. That's why he lives in the past. He hates himself, not me."
"And now what?" Eva asked. "What's going to happen to me? How can I be set free?"
"You will never be free. You will do whatever I say regardless of what you now know. Just as Melita will do what I wish in the days to come."
"Where are you sending her?"
"Melita's attempt to kill herself shows me that she is weak, and needs supervision as well as discipline. Children." He sighed. "I admit to earning every gray hair on my head enduring their flaws. Take Simon, for example. He's been a father's nightmare. You, however, have been a refreshing diversion. That is until lately. I admit the rat fighter, McEwen, is quite a specimen in male testosterone, but you should have used restraint, and trusted me to provide you with what you needed at the appropriate time."
"Where will Melita live?" Eva asked again. She couldn't help her friend if she didn't know where to look for her once she escaped. And she would escape. Sly would come after her and together they would kill the Chameleon.
"Melita knew the rules. She was instructed to save herself for a suitable husband, and when the time was right, she would marry a man of my choosing. Someone—"
"Is that what you had in mind for me when you sold me to Holic Reznik?"
"I didn't sell you. I made an arrangement. And it didn't include marriage, though I wouldn't have minded. But the truth is Holic already has a wife. No, you were to be his mistress. He has several, but he assured me that he would treat you well."
"He won't be treating anyone any way any longer," Eva stated. "I watched him die at Cupata. A balcony crushed him."
"That is distressful news. I hope you are wrong, but it's true I haven't heard from him since that evening."
"Melita loved Nemo," Eva said.
"Yes, so it seems."
"He was a wonderful man."
"He was a simple guard. A man of little importance."
A vision of Nemo dancing with Melita at Popeo's Taverna flashed in Eva's mind and tears stung her eyes.
"If it grieves you to think of his short life as a waste, don't. With Nemo Owin's death my children have learned a valuable lesson. Thus his life had value. Now then, let's discuss Sly McEwen. I thought I should meet him so I invited him and Merrick to pay us a visit. You do need to be punished for your disobedience, and like Melita, you must understand that I say who and when in all things."
Eva twisted her arms and tried to fight the rope that bound her. Knowing it was useless, she was too enraged to sit there any longer and do nothing. She felt the ropes cut into her wrists, and still she fought them.
When she heard the door open, she whirled her head, hoping it was Sly with an army of Onyxx agents. And she was right, it was him striding through the door. Only something was wrong with the picture.
He was being ushered into the room, along with Adolf Merrick, at gunpoint.
A needle was driven into the back of Sly's neck. He felt a stab of pain, then nothing. He woke up later to the sight of Merrick a few yards from him stretched out on a table, his legs and arms shackled. He was shirtless, his body covered in bruises, and blood dripping from the soles of his feet.
Sly wasn't sure of much at that point, but he knew Merrick wasn't dead. The Chameleon hadn't toyed with him for fourteen years to kill Merrick quickly.
He scanned the room and found Eva still seated in the center of the room. Her eyes were red from crying and they were fixed on him as if she'd been watching him for a long time. That made him wonder just how long he'd been out.
"Good, you're awake. See, Evka, he's not dead. Simon didn't overdose him. Mr. McEwen, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. I always enjoy a good game, and I can see that you do, too. Not too many men would have accepted my invitation to a death party."
"Let me kill him, Father. Let me do it," Simon insisted.
Sly frowned. Father? The Chameleon was Simon's father? Had he heard right?
"As you can see, my son is eager. I had a certain agenda he was required to follow for the past four years where Evka was concerned. She was to remain untouched, and he obeyed the rules. Only now he feels you stole what he was ordered to protect. His anger is justified, but it is my outrage you should be worried about. Only I don't believe you're worried at all. What kind of man are you, McEwen? What kind of man has no regard for his own life?"
The Chameleon opened the file Simon handed to him. "I'll tell you what kind of man. You are an expert in diving rescue and marine navigation. You're listed as the Agency's leading wreck diver, with a top secret recovery in Molonkini Crater, a rescue in the Galapagos Islands, another in Nova Scotia, and a two-week stint diving in Antarctica. It also says here you own the record for holding your breath underwater longer than any man alive." The Chameleon looked up and smiled. "I believe you have an opportunity today to break your last record, McEwen. Shall we see how well you do?"
While Sly listened to the Chameleon, he was busy assessing his surroundings. He'd been stripped down the same as Merrick, leaving him in his water pants and nothing else. He was tied in an iron chair that jutted out from a long metal arm. Suddenly the floor below him began to move—open up—and he understood the meaning behind the Chameleon's words. The torture machine he'd been strapped into was an elaborate version of a dunking machine.
It was clear what game they would be playing, but Sly refused to think about what was coming up. Or, a better word would be, going down. Bjorn should be starting to make some noise damn soon if they were all going to get out alive. Where the hell was he?
"I haven't survived all these years to believe that you would have come here without some kind of backup, McEwen. If you're wondering where Odell is, and if he's going to be able to save your ass, the answer is no."
The Chameleon gestured to a guard, and the man flipped the switch on the wall across the room. The wall parted—much like the floor had—and there, stretched spread-eagle, was Bjorn ma
nacled in iron. He looked like hell, tortured and bloody. But alive.
Of course. The Chameleon didn't believe in anyone dying too quickly.
Bjorn raised his head, and to Sly's surprise, managed to speak. "Reminds me of that time in Roatan, Sly. We were going to die, then, too. Remember?"
Sly felt the iron seat jerk as the arm swung him sideways and began to lower him into the water. He heard Eva cry out just as he was plunged into the depths. His arms and feet were strapped down, and he had no way of breaking free. He conserved his air, sure the Chameleon wouldn't drown him yet. He waited out the minutes, trying to decipher what Bjorn was trying to tell him by mentioning Roatan, the mission from hell. The vertical dive in the Caymans had him and Bjorn marked for death until they had escaped through a narrow cave that had led to the open sea.
Vertical dive … open sea…
Suddenly Sly knew what Bjorn meant. There must be a cave somewhere below the compound that led out to the sea. By the temperature of the water, he could tell that the dunking hole was fed by the sea, which meant that there was an escape route if he could get free of his ropes.
Sly came up gasping for air after a long five minutes. Eva was screaming now, begging the Chameleon not to kill him.
"See that the Pearl is ready to sail," the Chameleon said to one of the guards. "Simon, your job will be seeing to it that Merrick is transferred to the Pearl. The bastard will not die before his time. We sail within the hour."
"What about Eva?"
"She'll be coming with us, I'll bring her with me. I wouldn't want her to miss Sly McEwen taking his final breath."
Sly heard the iron arm grind as he was swung over the water again. This time he was nearly unconscious by the time he was hoisted from the water. He sucked air, isolating the pain in his burning lungs. He could see that Bjorn was still shackled to the wall, and that Eva was still restrained on the chair, but Merrick had been taken away.
