Revealing the Wolf's Way: Book 1

Chapter 6 (Demetrio)- The Assassin's Target

April 14th, 2032
Palermo, Sicily

Demetrio Moretti was going to call it a night. Walking out of a building's basement well past midnight, he was surprised at how much time had flown by. He has gotten a tip a few days earlier to check out the "archives" in Palermo. He had done just that but had found little to nothing. Maybe he was just not looking in the right spot. As a freelance journalist and private investigator, besides doing the usual job descriptions, he was always called upon to make a report, check something out, or connect the dots about or between things or people. Sometimes he felt like a spy. This time he was called upon by an anonymous contractor who will be paying a hefty amount to Demetrio. The job is find a proper connection between the death of Pope John Paul I and the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, and to see if it relates to the possibility of there being a female Pope in the Vatican's past. In less then a week he has not really turned up anything. Even though this is usually expected, he was still worried. He never liked giving clients no information, even so early in an investigation. Fortunately, he was not paid, yet. Maybe he could hope that he is not on a deadline, or he could even just cancel the whole thing.

Standing there in the dark, he checked his phone, just in case. There was little to no service in the basement where he spent the majority of afternoon and night. Looking at his phone, he saw that he had messages from Seth Lykoudis, Michael Campbell, and Dr. Arastoo Safavi. He was shocked by what they all had to say. Talk about Arastoo's expedition, Families, secrets, knowledge, wolves, and going into hiding. Arastoo told him not to go after and not come find him in Iran, Michael told him to go into hiding, but Seth told him to do what he does best, thus implying that he should go and help Arastoo.

Arastoo had been Demetrio's primary contractor and client. Demetrio never asked questions but immediately grew a friendship with him. It was through Arastoo that Demetrio met Michael and Seth. If all three of them said there was danger, then the danger was real. He laughed in the face of danger. Even though he is 37 years old, he has done a lot of crazy things and uncovered some secrets himself. He started doing this 15 years ago and never regretted it. If Arastoo, and the rest, were in trouble, then he was going to do something about it. When it came to friends, he would risk his life for them.

Walking back to where he was staying, who could not help but think about wolves. How a secret so simple could also be so dangerous. What was there to keep secret? Why was it such an imperative to so many to keep it hidden? Demetrio could not quite wrap his whole head around but he always loved a good mystery. One that was worth checking out as well. Before he had the to think about his current case however, his phone rang. It was the anonymous contractor, who rarely called.

Demetrio answered. "Hello?"

"Mr. Moretti, sorry to call so late." The vice in the other end said, "But there is a change of... plans."

"What is the matter?" Worry was starting to creep into his voice, but he tried to hold it back.

"We heard about what happened to your friend, Dr. Arastoo Safavi. You are to stop your investigation into the Vatican for us, at the moment." A pause. "The client... Our client would like for you to do whatever you can to figure out what happened to Dr. Safavi's expedition, who was involved, who has died, exactly why all this happened, what has become of Arastoo, and where will he go next."

Demetrio did not know what to say or think. These people seemed to be keeping tabs on and monitoring him. Or they had really done a extensive background check on him. Regardless, they wanted to do exactly what he was going to do. He was not sure if that was a good thing, but he was not going to let such an opportunity go to waste. He would use any and all resources available.