📎A/N.  Hello my dear friends we meet yet again. :-)  

For those of you who don't know, I did a silly thing and signed up for the Wattpad 30 day Just Write It Challenge.  If you want to check it out the story, it is called 'Chameleon In New York' ... the story is firmly in the romance category, in case you are wondering ;-)

Thanks for your continued support.  And I hope you enjoy this chapter.  If you do, you know the deal .... press that little star :-)

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"So, did you find anything on him?" Kaitlyn asked as she trailed behind Murphy into the house.

They had both agreed that Murphy's place would be a better place to work out of. There was no possibility of being interrupted and being caught working a case they shouldn't.

Murphy put the box he had been carrying down and shook his head. "Nothing, he went straight home after work. About thirty minutes later, he walked down to the corner store for bread and milk. But apart from that, he was at home the entire night."

After their realisation that the Detective knew more than he was letting on, Murphy shadowed Tony from the moment he had left the 115th. He, Tim, and the others were now taking turns to keep tabs on their new lead.

"And did Tim manage to find anything on the grapevine?" Kaitlyn asked as she placed her box next to his.

"His record is spotless and he's generally a well-liked officer. Tim mentioned that there was a nagging suspicion a while back that he was leaking information to various crime syndicates, but nothing came of it," he said.

Kaitlyn headed back out the door, Murphy following shortly after. "Why did they think that?" she asked.

"Well, each time there was a big bust scheduled for some of the major players, they would turn up with a warrant, and the place had already been cleared or, they couldn't find what they were after. Garcia was involved with each of the operations," he replied.

"So our working assumption is that Tony is a dirty cop and on one of the gangs or syndicates payroll?" Kaitlyn mused, thinking out loud, "And through this connection, he knows who Elijah is."

The single nod from her partner indicated this was his assessment as well.

"The question is which one?" Kaitlyn said as she opened the trunk to her car.

"What's all that?" said Murphy, indicating the contents of the back of the car, his tone suddenly turning icy.

Kaitlyn looked down to where he was pointing. "It's extra linen and bedding."

"I agreed to you continuing to work with me," he growled, "not move in."

Kaitlyn threw him a withering glare. "God, you can be such an idiot sometimes," she declared in exasperation, "it's not for me."

Murphy looked at her blankly.

Kaitlyn let out a disgusted snort and rolled her eyes. "Joshua is due back any day, and you have two extras arriving tomorrow. I noticed that the spare room hasn't been set up for them yet."

Murphy froze, his gaze fixed on the laundry basket containing bathroom towels, bedding and other items he could not quite make out.

Not again, Kaitlyn groaned inwardly. Her memory honing in on the last time they had broached his parents visit.

Much to her surprise, Murphy reached into the trunk and yanked out the basket, his typical non-committal grunt his only response. Without a word, he stomped back into the house.

Doing her best to suppress the smile that threatened, Kaitlyn grabbed the last remaining box, closed the trunk and followed behind. Once in the house, she decided to get the matter of the spare room sorted before they turned their attention to tracking down Elijah. Making her way straight to the bedroom, Kaitlyn began to strip the bed and open the windows to let in some air.

Murphy, having left the basket on the blanket box at the foot of the bed, leaned against the doorframe and watched as Kaitlyn set about making the room more presentable. Her thoughts were scattered as she observed his very masculine stance, his piercing dark gaze making her a little unsettled.

"Are you picking them up from the airport, or are they picking up a rental?" Kaitlyn asked, deciding to push her luck on the subject of his parent's imminent arrival and to move her thoughts away from the traitorous place it was leading her.

"Yes."

She stopped, confused at his cryptic answer. "To which option?"

"Both," he said, clearly not pleased, "Mom wants to make sure they get here."

Murphy continued, seeing Kaitlyn was still none the wiser. "This house is owned by the Mountain Pack and has been used as a safe house, or for temporary accommodation over the years. My father was here once in the sixties and is adamant he can find it again."

Kaitlyn frowned, struggling to understand his logic. "That still doesn't answer why you going to the airport, has to do with your mom wanting to make sure they get here."

Murphy shrugged, pulled his hands out of his pockets and crossed them over his chest. "If he thinks he knows where he's going, my father refuses to consult a map."

Typical male. Kaitlyn thought to herself before pointing out the obvious. "But all rentals have a GPS. They can just key in your address and follow the instructions."

Murphy let out a short laugh. "My father was never a great one for technology. He has yet to send a text message. And, according to my mother, he's only just recently agreed to carry a mobile phone when he's taking tours out into the forest."

"Ah," she said, returning to her task, "I see the dilemma."

Kaitlyn glanced towards the door and noticed a fleeting uncertain expression flash across his face. Outwardly he wasn't thrilled with the idea of his parent's trip. However, Kaitlyn had the distinct impression he was also nervous about it. An emotion she would never have associated with the staunch Werewolf.

"Would you like me to come with you?" she asked softly. The words escaping before she could stop them.

His eyes snapped to hers. The familiar pull consuming her as she met his gaze. Indecision and something else she couldn't make out, flitted across his features before the wall was once again, shut and locked into place. Her chest tightened at the fleeting glimpse of his tortured thoughts.

The moment his expression turned back to granite, he cleared his throat and stood up straight. Murphy shrugged and turned to leave the room. "Suit yourself," he mumbled, "You're the reason I'm in this mess."

Kaitlyn was torn between throwing something at him – anything would do, or reaching out and reassuring him that she would help him through the stress of his father's visit. She physically restrained herself from doing either and resumed making up the bed.

By the time she had the guest room sorted and returned to the family room where they would work from, Murphy had pulled all the files they had managed to obtain from the FBI without their knowledge. They quickly sorted everything into piles and began to sift through them.

Both Murphy and Kaitlyn had decided that their first priority should be reviewing everything they had with a fresh set of eyes.

"That's odd," said Kaitlyn after they had been deep in their own thoughts for a while.

Murphy stopped pinning photos and clippings on a makeshift board that he had leaned against one of the walls. "What?"

Kaitlyn was peering intently at her laptop. "I'm just going through that list of people that were bitten, to work out if there is any way of narrowing the list down for Tim and the others. I've just noticed the same name four times in this list," she remarked

Murphy shrugged and resumed his task. "That's hardly surprising, considering there are two and a half thousand names on that list."

"If the name was Smith, Rossi or Martinez I'd agree," she said dryly, "but Jervoise?"

"Could have been a family was attacked together?" Murphy said without looking around.

Kaitlyn glanced down at the monitor and shook her head, "No, different towns. They might have been family, but they don't live together."

The room went quiet as Murphy considered Kaitlyn's discovery.

She was startled when Murphy suddenly growled. "Shit!" he proclaimed, as ran his fingers through his short hair, "He wasn't indiscriminately biting people. He knew exactly who to target."

"How?"

"If we trace Brian's, Mark's and the others' ancestry, I bet we'll find they all have a common link. Elijah has managed to trace all descendants of a Werewolf, who has had a child with a human. That's how he has managed to turn that many without raising too much suspicion.

"That makes our search a lot easier," she confirmed, "We have five names, we work our way back, and from there forward again. We can then cross check this with our list and we will know what we are dealing with."

Kaitlyn went quiet for a moment, Murphy threw her a questioning look. "Let's just say for arguments sake that we only have found half of who he's bitten. Where are the rest?" she asked with hesitation.

"More to the point," Murphy threw back, "how have they managed to stay under the radar?"

The question hung heavy in the air. The implications of this, neither of them wanted to admit out loud. Kaitlyn resumed scanning through the list of names.

"What are you doing?" Murphy asked as Kaitlyn swung back to her laptop and began to type frantically.

"I'm sending the list to Parker, she can do her magic and find out where their family trees intersect. She can then give us the full list of descendants from there," she disclosed. Pleased that they seem to be getting some traction and a way forward. Kaitlyn then began to question Murphy on his gut feeling as to whom Elijah might be involved with.

She could see Murphy considering the best way to respond to the question. She didn't need to wait long before he answered. "Elijah is attracted to power, the more depraved, the better. In fact, he has an innate ability to weave his way into the fold. His association with Elise wasn't the only time he's gotten involved with corrupt and malevolent individuals."

Kaitlyn's mind was buzzing after Murphy had given her a rundown of Elijah's history.

"So we can pretty much guarantee that he has gotten caught up in organised crime. The problem is, in this day and age, there are too many to choose from," she said after quelling the ill feeling that had consumed her. Kaitlyn's stomach had churned at some of the information on Elijah's movements across the decades and centuries

Murphy pointed to a photo of Tony that he had pinned to the board. A large question mark under it. "I have a feeling that Tony is going to be our link. The only way he would know the Boston Wolf Killer is not dead is if he's involved with whatever Elijah is involved with or he's close to someone who does."

The familiar sound of an email arriving halted the conversation as Kaitlyn glanced at the message, "It's from Parker," she said, quickly scanning it, "she's getting her team on it immediately."

"Did she say how long?"

Kaitlyn let out a small giggle as she read through the remainder of the message. A mirthful glint in her eye as she turned to Murphy, "She said if you asked that question, I was to ask you how longs a piece of string."

Kaitlyn continued chortling away as Murphy grunted and returned to his previous task.

The rest of the day rolled by in a blur as they both set about coming up to speed with all the gangs, cartels and syndicates that operated out of the eastern seaboard. By the end of the day, they had a list of names that they would be visiting the next day. The hope was that Murphy would detect Elijah's scent on one of them, or at least a clue to where he was currently hold up.

Kaitlyn was packing up, readying to head home when Murphy's phone beeped. "Alan wants to swap," he said, referring to their surveillance of Tony, "he's requesting the first shift."

"Well if you need anything, just let me know," said Kaitlyn as she grabbed her keys and laptop, and headed out the door, "let me know if you find anything," she warned.

Murphy silently trailed behind her as she headed to her car. She had turned the key and was ready to close the door when Murphy's large frame came into view, one arm resting on the door, his body between the door and the car.

"Thanks," he mumbled, his tone almost hesitant.

Kaitlyn's head snapped upward to face him, "For what?"

"For not taking no for an answer," he admitted, "I've worked alone for so long, I'd forgotten how pleasant the simple act of talking things through was."

Floored at his confession, Kaitlyn's ability to form words was temporarily erased. Before she knew what had happened, Murphy leaned down, his lips coming in contact with hers. The unexpected movement had her frozen. Just as quickly heat surged through to her core. As if on autopilot, she brought a hand to his face. Her lips now melting with his, as the kiss deepened with a promise of unbridled passion hiding in the background, ready to erupt should it be given free reign.

Just as quickly, the moment was over as Murphy pulled away and gently closed the door. He turned and disappeared into the house.

Kaitlyn arrived home an hour later, not really sure how she got there. Nor how she managed the entire drive in one piece. Her mind the entire time reliving his sensual lips upon hers.

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A/N.... looks like our Murphy is not looking forward to his folks arriving ..

... and with Joshua about to return it's going to be a full house ;-)

... so what did you think of Murphy's way of saying thank you??

Don't forget to vote.

See you next time.  Take care and be safe.

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