Chapter 29: Officer, Tell Me I'm Pretty
On the outskirts of town, an off-road SUV was pulled over by the police. A young rookie officer approached the driver's side window just as it rolled down, revealing a stunning woman with a delicate bun, light makeup, and a pair of captivating brown eyes. His breath hitched.
'So beautiful', he thought—then quickly snapped out of it.
"Officer? Is there a problem?" the woman asked, her voice tinged with confusion, batting her puzzled eyes.
The rookie coughed awkwardly before replying, "Nothing serious, ma'am. You're not in trouble. We're just asking drivers if they've seen this boy." He held up a photo of Elias. "He was kidnapped from the mall about fifty minutes ago. We've narrowed down this road as one of the possible routes the suspect may have taken."
He continued, "I know it's hard to notice details while driving, but did you happen to see any vehicles with a teenage boy passenger? We don't have a solid description of the kidnapper, but we believe it's likely a male over six feet tall. Maybe you saw a car swerving or speeding? It's a long shot, but any lead helps."
The woman gasped. "Oh my, that's awful. That poor kid." She bit her lip, looking genuinely troubled. "I'm sorry, I haven't noticed anything. But I'll keep an eye out and call the police immediately if I do. I really hope Elias makes it home safe," she added, clenching her fist in a determined pose.
The officer subconsciously swallowed at the sight of her quirky expression and pose but quickly composed himself again.
"I figured it was a long shot. Thanks anyway, ma'am," he said with a sigh, adjusting his police cap.
As his eyes drifted to the backseat, they widened. "Whoa, that's a huge teddy bear!"
The woman laughed. "Yeah, I know I'm a grown woman, but I've always loved them. I won a bunch of games before I finally got that one," she said, laughing sheepishly.
"I see," the officer said with a polite smile. "Well, I'll send you on your way then. Thanks again." If it were any other day, he might've tried to chat up someone that pretty—but there was a missing kid to worry about.
"Okay, officer! Good luck finding the boy!" she called cheerfully, slowly driving off and disappearing down the road.
The rookie watched her go with a small sigh of regret.
But a moment later, a puzzled frown crept onto his face.
"…Did I ever tell her the kid's name?" he muttered, pupils shrinking. He whipped his head toward the direction she'd driven off. "No way… I must've mentioned it and just forgot. The suspect's supposed to be a guy. That was clearly a woman," he told himself, dismissing his initial doubt.
—
Several streets away, the same car cruised steadily down the road. The driver's once-sweet expression had turned cold and disinterested.
"Tsk. Amateur. He was ogling me so hard, he didn't even notice when I slipped Elias's name," the woman muttered, her eyes filled with derision as she gripped the steering wheel.
"I really hate wearing this kind of disguise. The way men stare is disgusting… but cops always let their guard down for a pretty face," a man's voice grumbled bitterly, clearly coming from the 'woman' behind the wheel.
None of the people currently searching for Elias would have guessed that the male culprit they were hunting was, at that moment, disguised as a woman.
Chameleon glanced at the giant, seatbelted teddy bear in the backseat. A smile bloomed across his face.
"Good thing it's fall…he might've died of heatstroke wearing that thing otherwise."
Yes. The giant teddy bear was, in fact, the currently unconscious Elias.
Once they were out of the city, the surrounding roads became heavily canopied with trees. After driving for a while, a few dirt paths appeared. Chameleon took one of them, steering down a bumpy road cluttered with plants and debris.
He navigated through the forest until he reached a wide, secluded clearing—one of their designated helicopter landing sites. Chameleon stopped the SUV and cut the engine. After stepping out and locking the doors behind him, he glanced at the backseat to check if the teddy bear had shifted. A faint snore escaped from within.
His eye twitched. "Kid, you're snoring in a situation like this?" he muttered, half-choking on a laugh.
He turned his attention to the clearing. The site had been mostly cleared of trees, rocks, and plants, but dense forest still bordered the perimeter. The sun was beginning to dip low, casting a golden hue across the area. Crickets had begun to chirp, and somewhere nearby, the gentle sound of running water could be heard.
He peeled off the irritating disguise and pulled out his phone, dialing a familiar number. It barely rang twice before someone picked up.
"This better be good news," came Sable's icy voice.
"Relax, boss. I've already got the kid and I'm at the extraction site. Just waiting on your arrival," Chameleon replied with a businesslike smile.
"Very good," Sable said, his tone a little less frigid. Still, even as he acknowledged Chameleon's success, a bitter knot twisted in his chest. This mission should have belonged to Jackal—Theodore. His son. But now Jackal lay buried in the cold earth, his glory stolen by death. Sable's free hand clenched unconsciously.
"No one followed you, right?" Sable asked.
"Don't worry, sir. No one followed me. They don't even know what I look like. The disguise I used should've thrown them off completely," Chameleon affirmed, glancing at the facial prosthetics, wig, and outfit he'd discarded earlier.
"Good. Is the charm I gave you working properly?" Sable continued, flipping through a stack of documents spread across his desk—each one detailing Elias's life.
Chameleon pulled out a necklace bearing a wooden talisman. It radiated an ominous energy, its edges already scorched and flaking from overuse. Ashes clung to his fingertips. This was a luck protection charm, one far more sinister and expensive than standard ones. The main branch had created it through forced extraction of a person's luck after death. It had taken many lives to craft.
Only organizations like the Crimson Pact would dare to create such monstrous and evil items. The skill required to make them was difficult to learn, and even skilled talisman makers struggled with the process. Currently, only two people in the entire organization were capable of crafting them, and they could produce only a few each year.
Chameleon hated the way it felt even as a person who had taken multiple lives himself, it felt dirty as if he wore the very blood of all the people used to create it. But wearing it was necessary. Elias's luck didn't just protect him, it often rebounded misfortune onto others. Chameleon couldn't afford to become another casualty like Jackal. And yet, what disturbed him more than the charm's origin was how quickly it was degrading. These talismans were built to last a year, sometimes more. But this one was already burning away at the edges after little more than an hour.
Just how terrifying was this kid's luck?
"It's holding for now," Chameleon said grimly. "But at this rate, I don't think it'll last three more days."
"If that's true," Sable muttered, "then the five million I spent to obtain it was worth it. I'm not taking any more chances."
He reached for a locket on his desk, fingering it briefly before shifting focus.
"Anything else to report about the boy? Observations, behaviors, anything unusual?" Sable asked, pulling out another file filled with notes.
Chameleon glanced at the teddy bear in the backseat—at the unconscious Elias inside it. He hesitated, images of Elias's hand reaching for a handshake towards him flashed in his mind. He embedded his nails into his palm to force himself to think of something else before answering.
"Boss… I don't know what item you think he's hiding, but I think he might've already used it. Based on what I've seen, his abilities go beyond just freakish luck."
"You're sure?" Sable questioned, eyes narrowing.
"About 60% sure there's something strange about him. His abilities have improved drastically over the last month. Of course, there's always a chance he might've just been hiding his abilities, but I think that chance is very small," Chameleon explained, twisting his hair around his fingers as he forced the words out.
Sable didn't respond right away. Then, flatly, he said, "If that's truly the case, then I'll simply kill him and extract it from his corpse."
Chameleon clenched the phone tightly, a flicker of discomfort rising in his chest—but he shoved the feeling down as quickly as it surfaced.
"I'll pick you up tomorrow or the day after. That clingy admirer of yours—Boar—has been watching me too closely. I need to lose him and his men first. Until then, stay put. I won't take more than two days. Camp out, and don't let the kid escape. If that child gets away again…" Sable's voice dropped. "You know what I'll do. Understood?"
"Of course, big boss! You can always count on my professionalism," Chameleon chirped.
But even as he spoke, a wave of rage surged through him so intensely it made him nauseous. He forced the smile to stay in his voice, even as his body shook. The urge to vomit clawed at his throat. It took everything he had to hold it down.
"Stay hidden until I arrive," Sable ordered before hanging up.
Chameleon stood frozen for a moment, the phone still pressed to his ear. Then, with a sudden jerk, he hurled it to the ground. It bounced several times across the dirt creating a small dust cloud.
He exhaled shakily, trying to regulate his breathing. Then, coldly, he muttered, "I'm so sick of being threatened with the same thing over and over again. How dare you all treat me like I'm some cheap prostitute to pass around!" Chameleon growled, his breath ragged. "Once this job is done, I'm gone. They won't be able to use me anymore. Never again."
His breathing slowed as he ran a hand through his long hair, then looked out over the clearing. 'What are you unsatisfied about? Isn't this what you're used to?' he thought to himself, pinching the space between his brows. 'This is how my world works. How I've always been treated. Nothing new. No need to get angry or flustered over such a small matter.'
Words suddenly echoed in his head: "This is me treating you like an equal. Like a friend."
A loud roar of sardonic laughter escaped his lips and reverberated through the landing site, drowning out all other sounds. Birds and small animals nearby scattered in fright from the sudden noise. He scoffed at himself, covering his face with one hand.
"Did I really take the naïve words of a child so seriously?" he scorned. His hand slipped down his face, revealing a pair of cynical brown eyes.
He turned his gaze to the giant teddy bear. Opening the car door, he unzipped the costume and pulled off the head, revealing Elias's sleeping face. If not for the context, he would've looked like he was simply napping. Chameleon stared at him for a few seconds, then quietly closed the door again.
"It's just a job. Nothing more," Chameleon said coldly as he headed off to set up camp before the sun fully set.