Mind (the) Game

by Kelly Shade

  Jane stayed with the phone on her ear for a few seconds before she walked back to Ryan.

  “Someone called and told me the location of Morse,” Jane said stiffly.

  “Morse is dead, Jane, the lab confirmed it.” Ryan reminded her.

  After the explosion in Blake’s house, they went to see if Morse was in the morgue and even though the pathologist confirmed that Morse died because of his injuries and his body was already cremated, Jane wasn’t convinced. Hunt took samples and gave them to Barbara Bradley to recheck if the ashes had Morse’s DNA, and after few tests, she also ensured Blake, that Michael Morse was dead. But somehow Jane knew he was alive, deep inside she was sure he didn’t die in the hospital but escaped and ran. It was a feeling she couldn’t push down, it was too strong. She knew she was right about it.

  “What if he is not? What if he is really hiding? Do you think I will let him get away with everything he did?” Jane felt the heat of rage rising in her body.

  “But he is not. I know it didn’t happen as you imagined it but… I know the bomb thing was weird, but he maybe gave the order to his people before he died.” Said Ryan and saw Jane’s crooked smile, which indicated she couldn’t believe that. “He is dead Jane, that’s it! Gone! Accept it and move on! Be happy the world got rid of another piece of shit, okay?” Gray spoke loudly, with irritation in his voice.

  Blake decided she didn’t want to argue anymore, it was better to let Ryan has his own opinion, she couldn’t change it anyway. But Gray’s arguments were also powerless against Jane’s strong believe, that Morse was still alive.

  “Will you at least help me find out who called?” Jane asked unwillingly.

  “Yeah, let’s go to my car, my laptop is there.” Ryan softened and a little smiled appeared in the corner of his mouth.

  Jane took some money from the safe, closed and locked it and they got out. After Blake secured every door to the bunker, she ran towards Gray who was already in his car with his computer opened on his knees. Blake handed her phone and Ryan started doing his magic. Blake leaned on the car, patiently waiting.

  A minute later he was ready to give her some answers about the mysterious man who called her.

  “He called from a payphone in Denver, Colorado, I got the address. Just give me a few more minutes to borrow the feed from some of the street cams, and we’ll know who he is.” Reported Ryan.

  “Borrow? Is this how kids say ‘hack’ these days?” Jane teased him.

  Gray didn’t even lift his head, but gave out a quiet chuckle.

  Jane lifted her gaze and the first thing, that she saw, was the broken front door of her house. But she was not really seeing it. Blake was thinking about Morse - the person responsible for her misery, the man who ruined so many lives, the one who was the first blood relative she found.

  “We have a problem, Jane.” Ryan reached over and patted her leg nervously. Blake bent over to see the laptop screen. Gray played a video from a street camera. A hooded man with wide black clothes was talking on the payphone, and when he hung up, he turned to the camera, with his face down, carefully hidden behind the hoody, stayed there for several seconds, then waved and walked away.

  “It’s like he knew I’ll check.” Ryan leaned back in his seat, slapped his forehead and took a deep breath.

  “Yep. It looks like he knew.” Said Jane firmly. “Thanks for the help. I have to go to my motel room.”

  “Yeah, okay.” Ryan looked at her with disappointment. He wanted to spend more time with her. It was one of the days off from work and his opportunity to be alone with Jane. “Do you want me to come with you? After all its two blocks away from my place,” he suggested.

  “No, I’ve got stuff to do,” Jane answered and walked to her car. For a moment she stood up next to the open car door and watching Gray, then she yelled “See ya!” and sat behind the wheel.

  Jane went to the small motel room, that was her home, or more like ‘base of operations’, for the last week. It was a lovely place with walls painted in yellow ochre, which made it look as if sunshine was always filling the room. As Jane went through the door, she put the car keys on the desk which was beside the door, under the window. Blake took off her jacket and threw it on the untidy bed, which was next to the desk. She then went to the small round table in front of the tiny kitchen box and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl in the middle. Going back to the desk, Jane took a piece of paper and a pen and wrote the clue the mysterious man had given her earlier. Still chewing her apple, she was murmuring under her breath “Lone Star… neighbors… corals…” When Jane finished with her dinner, she opened the laptop which was covered in dust, because it wasn’t used since Morse’s ‘death’. She typed Lone star, and undoubtedly the first result had something to do with Texas. Jane stared at it and realized she knew a country with a similar flag, where people spoke Spanish.

  “Of course… The flag is the symbol, and the language is Spanish, our neighbors from Mexico speak mostly Spanish… It all makes sense.” Mumbled Jane to herself “well, he didn’t make the clue so complicated, either he is bad with riddles, or he really wants me to find the bastard.”

  Jane smiled and felt excited. If the information was real, she had the chance to get Morse.

  Blake typed ‘map of Chile’ in the browser. She clicked on the first result and started scrolling up and down until she saw a city named Corral. “Follow the corals, yeah!” Jane whispered. It was weird that guy told her so much. Was he playing with Jane? Was he luring her into a trap?

  Blake closed the computer and jumped in her bed. She laid down, staring out of the window, thinking. Was it a good idea to take the risk? Will it be worth it? Hours passed by, and the decision cleared out, it was simple, she just had to go to the town and snoop around, and if Morse was there, she would call the team. But first she needed a proof of his whereabouts and health condition. No one on the team believed her he may be alive, nobody doubted Bradley, and everyone thought Jane was obsessed.

  The next morning Jane packed her bags and drove to the airport without telling anyone about her plans. She was sure that if the clue was real, she would find Morse in several days. The flight was in an hour, and Jane used that time to grab a coffee, buy a map of Chile and take a more thorough look at it. Blake drew several routes around the city of Corral, which she thought were worth checking out.

  After an almost fourteen-hour flight, the plane finally landed in Santiago. Jane was exhausted and sleep deprived. She took the first bus to Corral and once there, she was able to ask around for a hotel she could stay. The fact she knew the language was beneficial, she didn’t need to search for English- speakers. Her Spanish was a little rusty but still good enough. She met a few friendly people who advised her to rent a room in a small family hotel in the suburbs.

  Jane went there, paid, got the keys and walked in the small room. It wasn’t the Hilton, but it was enough – there was bed and a TV. The bathroom was shared with the rest of the floor of the three-story guest house. Blake sat on the not so soft bed, took one more look at the map and decided she will have a walk and grab dinner, leaving the investigation for tomorrow.

  She went down the stairs and out on the street. After she walked for a while, maybe two blocks, Jane saw a little diner and went inside. A lovely lady offered the day’s special and Blake enjoyed it. Until she ate the dinner, it got dark outside, and she thought it is time to go back to her room.

  On the way to the guest house, Blake heard several voices in a heated argument nearby. She looked around, but since the street was deserted, she continued on her way. Blake made just a few steps before a scream broke the silence. She knew she couldn’t leave a person in trouble, so she got back and turned right into the narrow street, from which the sounds were coming from. As she was walking further down, she saw a boy. A teenager was cornered by two men against a high wall of, what looked like, a bar. Blake shouted at them in Spanish, and they turned immediately. Both of them plum, middle-aged men, one holding a knif
e, the other - a package. The taller one, caring the little bag, strolled towards her, shouting threats. The other grabbed the boy’s forearm tightly and waved the knife in Jane’s direction, also murmuring something. Blake reached for her gun, cocked it and pointed it at the man who was two feet away. He froze. The one holding the boy started asking him what they should do. There was a tense silence for some time, only the boy’s sobbing was interrupting it. Several moments have passed, when the man closer to Jane turned his back to her, ordered the other to leave the kid, and they both disappeared into the dark street. Blake lowered the gun when they were far enough, and she couldn’t see them anymore, then went to the boy.

  A dark-haired, skinny teenager with shabby clothes and torn shoes looked at Jane with his enormous brown, almost black, frightened eyes. Blake took his hand and told him in Spanish, that they need to run, but the boy answered in English without any accent. “You are not from here, are you?”

  “No.” Jane answered and looked at him with surprise “You speak English?”

  “My mom was an American, so are you, right?” said the boy.

  “Yeah,” Jane spoke quietly and worryingly looked around. “Let’s go, they may come back.”

  The boy and Blake ran fast all the way to the guest house. Once in the locked room, Jane calmed down and spoke.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Erik Marcelo.” Said the boy and sat on the bed next to Jane.

  “Okay, Erik, what’s the deal with these men?” Blake wanted to sound less like she was interrogating him.

  “I owe them money. I lost something of theirs.” Erik looked down, apparently ashamed of himself.

  “How old are you?” Jane continued.

  “Almost eighteen.” Now Marcelo was playing with his hands, eyes down at them.

  “And, why, the hell, are you dealing drugs?” Blake asked with a stern expression.

  “How did you know?” Erik looked up and immediately found her green unblinking eyes. “I had to… I have nobody, my parents died, I’m on my own for years.”

  “And this was the brightest idea you could think of?” Jane said sarcastically.

  “Look, lady, I’m really glad you were there and saved my ass, but I think I’ll go now.” Erik changed his friendly tone with a more firm one. “I owe you though!” he finished softly.

  “You’re not going anywhere.” Jane threw back her long black hair and leaned forward. “You’ll repay me now.”

  “How?” asked Erik with surprise and note of fear.

  “You’ll tell me what you know about Michael Morse and where is he!” Jane looked straight into his eyes, narrowing her own.

  “I don’t know who that is… But I think I’ve heard my boss talking about someone called Morse,” said Erik thoughtfully and continued determined to show he can be trusted, “I will repay you, I promise, and I’m the kind that keeps his word. I’ll sneak in my boss’ house, and I’ll eavesdrop until he speaks of this Morse again.”

  “No. We will go together.” Jane couldn’t let a boy do her job alone, he was already in trouble, Blake didn’t want him get killed because of her.

  “Will you tell me your name, at least?” fearfully said Erik.

  “Jane Blake.” Said she, looked around, took one of the two pillows and the blanket from the bed, tossed them in his lap and added “Get some sleep, we have plenty of work tomorrow,” and pointed to the carpet in front of the bed.

  “Here?” Erik asked with a high pitched voice.

  “Why? Do you think I’ll give you the bed?” Jane laughed.

  “No, no, I meant, to sleep in your room. Shouldn’t I go?” explained Erik a little ashamed.

  “Go, where, kid? As far as I understood you don’t have a home, parents or relatives who care about you. Probably, you live with the low life dealers in some kind of a trailer park.” Jane said with irritation in her voice. “I’ve found you and saved you, I won’t let you go back to the life you were living till now. You will change, am I clear?” she finished her speech and added, “I hope you’re not addicted.”

  “No, I have never used, I was just selling for them. And do you think if I had a chance I’ll be doing that? NO! I wanted out for a long time, but they didn’t let me. If I only had a chance to get away, I would!” Erik had a temper, as a kid growing up alone he was used to defending himself all the time.

  “I’ll give you that chance.” Said Jane. She liked the strong character and smiled at him approvingly. “You said your mum was American? Are you?” she added.

  “I have double citizenship. I was born in Florida, I was eleven when we moved here. Four years later gang bangers went to our house and shot my parents, I was at school at that time. Apparently, my father was one of them, and he did something wrong, I still don’t know what. My mum was collateral.” Erik said all that with a casual voice, and now Jane knew this boy was in deep pain but learned how to control his emotions, this boy was reminding her of herself. She wanted to help him.

  “Thank you for telling me this.” Blake smiled. “Now go to sleep, okay?”

  Erik nodded and spread the blanket over the carpet, laid down on the edge of it, put the pillow under his head and covered himself with the rest of the blanket as if he was in a sleeping bag. Jane laid down too with her eyes fixed on the boy. She was afraid he might wait for her to fall asleep and run, he looked like a stubborn teenager who thinks he knows everything, just as she was at his age. But a few minutes passed, and Blake could hear his breathing slowed down, and quiet snoring appeared. She could sleep now.

  ◆◆◆

  Jane woke up before Erik and went to the downstairs café to get coffee and breakfast. When she got back to the room, she was pleasantly surprised that the boy had cleaned the room, fixed his blanket and her bed, and waited for her fully awake.

  They had breakfast and discussed the plan. It turned out Erik had good thinking and helped a lot.

  Jane had brought with her some listening devices and Erik had to plant them in his ex-boss’ house. He seemed he knew the place well and he was excited to be involved.

  An hour later Jane was waiting impatiently for Erik to return from the fancy two-story house where he was supposed to insert the microphones. Blake was tapping her leg nervously while hiding behind the wall of the nearby building. At this point, when Erik was inside for more than fifteen minutes, Jane regretted her decision to let him do the job instead of her. Did he got himself caught? Or worse? How could she trust a teenager? Jane was blaming herself, biting her lip and looking behind the corner, she was furious. She was about to go to the house herself, when Erik got out from one of the windows, jumped and landed graciously on the ground and looked at her, shaking head in disapproval.

  “You thought I couldn’t make it, huh?” he said with disappointment.

  “No, I was… well, yeah.” Jane was relieved when she saw him. “Did you set up everything?” she asked when they turned around the corner, and the house was no longer visible.

  “Yeah, microphones in every room, and I found his phone, there was the name Morse in dialed calls, so I called, and after one ring, I hung up. I think he will call back soon enough.” Explained the boy, almost running after Jane.

  They got back in the guest house and set up the laptop as a receiver instead of the earbud in Jane’s ear, sat on the floor and waited in silence for something to happen.

  ◆◆◆

  The third day since Jane flew from LA to Chile, was also the third day Ryan hasn’t called. Tomorrow was the first work day for the Homicide team and Jane after the fiasco in Morse’s mansion. Hunt would be the new chief, Nick or Ian would be the next head of the team, the whole station would be different when the old corrupted chief, Abigail Wilson, was no longer there to sabotage their investigations. Blake felt homesick, and as much as she wanted to be there, she preferred catching Morse instead. But the thoughts about Ryan and the rest were popping up in her head so often that she felt a little irritated.

  Jane’s phon
e rang, and Ryan’s name was on the screen. With pain in her heart, Blake just turned off the phone, took out the battery and put it in her backpack. She searched in the bag for a while and found her burner phone.

  “Why are you here, Jane?” asked Erik after witnessing all the phone drama.

  “Long story short, I’m working with the LAPD and Morse is a big time criminal who faked his death after we caught him. Everyone thinks he is dead but not me. I’m here to prove them wrong.” said Jane casually, her eyes fixed on the laptop screen.

  “What … why?” Erik felt even more confused.

  “Because he is my biological grandfather and because he thinks he is smarter than me. And I hate when people think they are smarter than me.” Jane smiled, and Erik dropped the matter, even though at this point his head was full of questions.

  Few hours of listening to the dealers’ conversations, family scandals and a lot of bad things said about Erik and his escape, finally, the big boss’ phone rang. Morse was on the other side, obviously, he didn’t learn Spanish, and the dealer spoke in English with the worst accent Jane had ever heard.

  “I tell you not call me, comprendes?” he yelled “That my turf! MY! Stay in bosque where you belong! Blanco basura!” and hung up the phone.

  Jane and Erik looked at each other.

  “What is ‘bosque’?” asked Blake.

  “Forest, and ‘blanco basura’ is…” answered Erik.

  “White trash, I know.” Jane finished his sentence, looked at the map, and continued “Kid, can you guess where he may be?”

  “He may be anywhere in this region.” he drew a huge circle on the map with his finger. “And can you stop calling me kid!”

  “Good. So we have a chance to find him. I think we should walk this part tomorrow.” Jane pointed at the nearest part of the forest, and added with a smile “I’ll call you Rick then, okay?”