Mind (the) Game

by Kelly Shade

  While Maloney was talking Nick crept behind him and quickly put him on the ground, Victoria right behind Lee. Nick put his foot on Maloney’s back to keep him down until he was able to handcuff him.

  Jane and Ryan ran next to them.

  “Did you really thought you can get away with it?” Jane asked, while trying to catch her breath. The run exhausted her.

  “I’ll be out in no time, Blake. My contract includes jail protection!” The Pi answered.

  Jane’s phone rang and everyone looked at her. She turned her back and made a few steps but before she could answer she heard a shot. Blake quickly turned around and saw that the PI was shot in the back and Victoria was holding her gun with shaking hands.

  “What the…?” Jane shouted.

  “He was about to take out a gun.” Victoria said with trembling voice “I had to…”

  Nick hugged Evans and stroke her back to calm her saying “It’s okay!”

  Jane kneeled to check Maloney’s pulse. He was gone. Blake looked down and saw that Maloney’s hand was indeed reaching for a gun holster attached to his ankle but he couldn’t even open it. Evan’s reaction seemed right on time.

  Jane got up and turned to Ryan “I’ll call Hunt and go to the Station with Evans. You and Nick will take care of the rest, right?”

  “Yeah.” Said Ryan still stunned of what just happened.

  Jane went to Victoria, took her hand and walked her to the car. Silently they drove off. Through the ride Evan’s was still shaking and trying to hide her tears.

  “Was it a first one?” Jane asked calmly.

  “Yes. I’ve never killed before… They don’t teach you how you’re going to feel after you pull the trigger.” Said Victoria with her hands on her eyes.

  “It comes with the job. Get over it.” Said Jane firmly “It may be the first but I assure you it won’t be the last. If you can’t handle it this is not the job for you.”

  “Wow, you are really as cold hearted as they say.” Evan said and somehow her normal facial expression came back.

  Jane made a half smile without saying a word.

  They arrived back at the Station and Jane hurried to Hunt’s office to inform him what was going on.

  When she walked in, there was a pleasant surprise waiting for her. Nancy was sitting in one of the armchairs and on her sides Curtis Barrett and Tyler Smith, Jane’s old FBI friends. Blake smiled widely and ran to Nancy who stood up and reached for a hug. It was emotional moment for the old lady, she was crying and smiling at the same time, squeezing Jane tightly and repeating “Thank you, thank you!”. Blake was so pleased to see, that they finally dropped the charges against Nancy and she was back home. After several minutes of hugging Nancy finally left Jane to breathe and to turn to Barrett and Smith.

  “Glad to see you!” Blake welcomed them.

  “We are glad to see you too.” Barrett started with a smile “Your friend here told us everything, she was with us for a couple of days.”

  “Really?” Jane was surprised.

  “Yes, we had to do all the needed documentation,” Tyler said and reached inside his suitcase “and we needed to restore the data from this.”

  “Is that my phone?” Jane immediately recognized the phone she used to take pictures of Morse.

  “Yes, and because of it we were able to make the CIA cooperate again. Together we went to Morse’s new hiding place but I believe he was tipped off and disappeared leaving enough evidence for us to know for sure he faked his death.” Explained Tyler in one breath.

  “Now we are making an investigation on who helped Michael Morse and how did he manage to escape the country that fast. All thanks to you Blake!” said Barrett and shook Jane’s hand in appreciation.

  “On that note,” Blake turned to Hunt “we caught the real killer of Nelson but Evan’s had to shoot him. Long story short, he was reaching for a gun and she reacted fast.” Jane took a deep breath and with an arrogant smile she added “I guess now you can free Vidal.”

  “Okay then, Blake, you were right again.” Hunt said that with a great effort. It looked like he hoped Jane was wrong.

  Blake was so satisfied with her work and the fact that Nancy was there with her, she couldn’t take off the smile.

  “I’ll leave you now,” Blake said and turned to Nancy “and we will see each other soon to have a decent cup of coffee, okay?”

  “Yes, dear, when you have the time!” Nancy said with her kind voice and smile.

  Blake walked out and when she tried to close the door she realized Tyler was behind her holding the handle. They walked together few feet away from Hunt’s office and Smith started talking with disappointment.

  “You could have told me, I would have helped you, Jane! I thought we were friends.”

  “I’m sorry Tai, I wasn’t sure at the time.” Jane apologized “We are friends and as friends you will keep me posted on the investigation, right?”

  “Yeah, I will, but from now on, please, call!” Tyler said firmly and turned his back on Jane without waiting for her to speak.

  Blake didn’t care about Tyler being offended at the moment. She was thinking about the phone call she missed when Evans pulled the trigger and killed Maloney. It was, again, with a hidden caller ID and Jane had the feeling it was something important.

  Blake went to the kitchen area to make herself a coffee and while she was waiting for it to be done she stared at her phone as if making it ring. Surprisingly, it worked, the phone rang.

  “Hello?” answered Jane immediately.

  “Hi, Blake!” said an arrogant and somehow familiar voice on the other side.

  “I need you to help me with something.”

  “Why should I do that?” Jane said trying to hide her surprise.

  “Because if you do, I’ll tell you who your parents are.” Answered the voice calmly.

  “Who are you?” Jane insisted.

  “Will you help me?” the man asked.

  “Why should I trust you?” Jane continued.

  “Morse is after you and he will tear your team apart from the inside out.” The man spoke slowly as if he was enjoying the tension “I know a lot, Blake, I know everything and I will share my knowledge with you, if you do a little job with me.”

  “Okay. Where and when?” Jane decided to risk it.

  “I’ll send you the details later.” The caller was happy with her answer. “I can’t wait to work with you, Caroline Thompson!”

  “How did you…?” Jane started but he hung up and left her puzzled.

  This man really knew a lot about her and Jane was concerned if that was good or it would lead to a disaster.

  The sound that indicated that the coffee was ready interrupted Jane’s thoughts. She took her coffee mug and headed to the office but on the way she saw, that Vidal was also going in that direction.

  He stopped and waited for her with a wide smile. Blake hurried towards him.

  “Thank you, Blake!” he said kindly and opened the door for her.

  “You’re welcome.” Answered Jane and went in.

  “I’m supposed to wait here until the documents are ready. You don’t mind, right?” said Vidal and pointed at the chair next to hers.

  Jane nodded in agreement and he sat down next to her.

  “Why did you believe me?” Silvio asked.

  “I know when someone is lying and you were being honest when you said you didn’t kill the lawyer.” Explained Jane with a smile.

  “I owe you.” He looked in her eyes to show how serious he meant what he said “Whatever you need, you can count on me!”

  “Thank you!” Jane acted surprised and continued quietly “I will definitely use that opportunity, but not now.”

  Vidal laughed a little and when Jane leaned back into her sleeping position and closed her eyes he got the hint and moved back not to bother her.

  Chapter 8

  Never trust a thief

  The next couple of days Jane waited for the mysterious man to se
nd her the details about the job they were supposed to do together. And the message arrived when Jane was about to enter the LAPD building in the morning. It said that Blake had to go meet him an hour later. She returned to her car and before she drove off she called Nick to let him know, that she was going to take the day off and even though he wasn’t happy about it he had no choice but to agree.

  Jane went to a drive-through to buy herself a cup of coffee and headed to the address the man had sent her. She had no idea where was the place and only the GPS saved her to go in the right direction. It took her a little bit more than forty minutes to arrive at a two story house in Santa Monica. Jane parked her car on the street and looked around. She loved that place, palm trees on both sides of the road, green lawns in front of every house, it looked peaceful. The house that she supposed to go in was with a short brown fence and flowers on both sides of the path. It looked like an ordinary family house with ornamented heavy front door and freshly painted walls in light yellow.

  Blake headed to the entrance hoping she was on the right place. She was about to knock but somebody opened the door before she could.

  “Hello, Blake!” said the same hoarse and thick voice from the phone conversation.

  Jane looked at him from head to toe, he looked good. A tall black haired man in mid-thirties with sporty physique, superstar’s smile, grey-blue eyes and white skin, wearing track suit, and pulling it off, was looking at her with narrowed eyes, waiting her to say something.

  Blake didn’t expect that and she needed several seconds to shake off the shock and to speak.

  “Hello! And you are?”

  “Come in, please.” He said and welcomed her with a hand gesture.

  Blake walked in and saw that the house was under construction. All the furniture was covered with white sheets and all kinds of building materials were spread on the floor, all the windows covered with newspapers.

  She fallowed the man on the stairs to the second floor and she saw that there it was the same situation except the room he let her in. Apparently, only the kids’ bedroom was ready with the paint and the flooring, but there was no furniture there. Only two rollaway beds, an old wooden table with a small coffee machine and several cups on it were in the middle of the big pink bedroom, obviously as a rest place for the workers.

  The man invited Jane to sit on one of the beds and since she had a coffee in her hand, he made only one for himself and sat on the opposite bed.

  “I’m Johnathan but you can call me J.” the man introduced himself.

  “Okay, J, why I’m here?” Jane asked, but without waiting for an answer she said “I’m guessing you want me to steal something for you. You can’t do it on your own but you are good… This house is not yours for sure, so what is the con to get it?”

  “Perceptive! I like it!” smiled the man “The owners think I’m the interior designer. Wasn’t hard to make them believe they needed me.”

  “Nice,” Jane made a silent clap “so what do you want to steal and why do you need me?”

  “It’s a file. From a highly secured building in LA.” Answered J and took a sip.

  “What’s on the file?” asked Jane.

  “That doesn’t matter. We need to get it, that’s all you need to know.” J said firmly.

  “Tell me again why?” Jane lifted her left eyebrow.

  “Because if you help me, I will tell you the truth about your parents.” The man was studying Jane reactions the same way she studied his.

  “How can I be sure you even know anything?” Jane said.

  “You can’t.” he narrowed his eyes and stared at her “Will you take the risk?”

  Blake and Johnathan stared at each other for several minutes. Jane wasn’t sure if this was a trap or not. She wanted to figure him out, she was carefully examining his body language from the moment she saw him but he was as good as her. He was either highly trained or a natural liar.

  “Ok, what’s the plan?” Jane decided to go for it. There was something interesting about him, something mysterious and the fact that Jane couldn’t ‘read’ his mind as she did with every other person she’d met, that really fascinated her.

  “I have the plans of the building, the business hours, the position, names and faces of each employee.” Started J, grabbed a bag from behind the bed he was sitting on and took out a stack of documents, including the blue prints of the building on a roll. “Also, I researched how their security works, it is flawless. The best I can do is to rebound the alarm as if it comes from another office.” J explained and lifted up two pictures of a man and a woman in front of Jane’s eyes and continued “We are going to be Juliet Tucker and Willie Gibbs.”

  “Okay, I can pull that off.” Jane took the photograph of a short red-headed woman around her age. “I’ll need a wig. I’m not cutting my hair!” Blake joked.

  “Nobody would want that beautiful thing gone, Blake, no worries!” laughed J.

  “I need to study the plans.” Announced Jane and reached for the paper roll but Johnathan didn’t let her have it.

  “We will do the job in two days. I need to get to know you first, just to make sure you are not going to set me up or worse – screw up the job.” Said J with a serious tone, but Jane noticed he hid his smile.

  “What should we do until then?” Blake also faked a serious expression.

  “We will be roommates. Two days with you would be enough to get to know you.” Answered J.

  “A lifetime wouldn’t be enough to get to know me, J!” Jane laughed.

  Johnathan lifted his eyebrows showing he didn’t believe what she said, but didn’t comment anymore.

  “And we need to form a plan together. I can do it myself but I prefer the team work, it is more productive.” Said he, stood up with the roll in his hand, made few steps to the table, and spread it over it.

  Jane joined him but before even looking at the plan she needed to ask a question, that bothered her from the moment she picked up the phone and he was on the other side.

  “Why your voice is so familiar to me? Have we met before?”

  “I think you would remember me if we had met, Blake!” he glanced at her with a funny glow in his eyes “But you definitely know my voice. Think!”

  Jane bit her lips, trying to remember but nothing popped up. She walked to the window and stared at the heading of the newspaper which was covering it. It took her a while to put the events chronologically in her head and she thought of the only one phone call she wasn’t able to connect with the caller.

  “You told me the riddle about Morse’s location.” She spoke slowly and thoughtfully.

  “Exactly.” He said happily “Would you join me?”

  Jane walked back to see the plans but the thoughts about that call made her ask more questions. “Why? How did you know he was there?”

  “Look, Blake, I’m a thief, I know a lot. I heard about your beef with him and decided to help. I knew someday I may need the help of the legendary Jane Blake so I wanted to do something for you while I can, in order to earn your trust. That’s it!” he said calmly.

  Jane hated the fact that she couldn’t read him. If it was someone else she would know if he was lying or not. But this man had great self-control, it looked like everything he did was measured, every gesture, every look, every body movement. Blake couldn’t lie to herself, she liked her male version. But she was also worried what would happen after that job, Jane knew that Johnathan was capable of setting her up or worse.

  They looked over the building and security schematics for hours discussing the best ways to go in and out without being spotted. Blake’s phone didn’t stop ringing, Ryan was really determined to get in touch with her, so she had to turn off her cell and remove the battery, so the GPS couldn’t be turned on remotely. Jane felt a little guilty for keeping another secret and mostly for planning a robbery, but she could feel this was for the greater good. Greater good, a thought that always was calming her down in bad situations.

  At the
end of the night they decided to pull off the con on the next day after work. It was either because Jane showed she didn’t want to stay in that tiny room with him for two days, or because Johnathan was afraid that Jane was smart enough to figure him out. Anyways, the plan for action was ready and J offered an old and exclusive whiskey as a reward.

  “Cheers!” J lifted his glass over the table which was now covered with two large pizzas.

  “Cheers!” Jane also lifted her glass and took a sip.

  “I hope everything goes on plan tomorrow.” J said.

  “Nothing ever goes on plan.” Jane laughed “You’re a thief, you should know that! Be ready to improvise!”

  “You are supposed to be the best in business, I thought your plans worked perfectly!” J smiled, lifted his eyebrows in surprise and added “But if we have to, we will improvise!”

  Jane laughed. After years of being a con artist she was never interested in what others think of her work and now when a thief said she was the best Jane was delighted to know she had respect from others.

  They ate their dinner, drank one more small whiskey and headed to bed. J didn’t really want to stop the nice conversation they had but Jane insisted. “A good con can’t be done by sleepy con artists”, Jane said as an argument why they shouldn’t stay and talk more.

  Johnathan agreed, laid down on one of the rollaway beds and after Jane also made herself comfortable on the other he closed his eyes. Blake heard his quiet snoring.

  The bed was small and not very comfortable but for Jane was like sleeping in her own king size bed. After the several nights she had spent half asleep in her office chair this bed was more than amazing for her. She dozed off quickly.

  Blake didn’t have any nightmare’s that night, didn’t wake up every fifteen minutes, she was feeling somehow calm and safe around that guy.

  “Morning!” J’s loud voice came as if from a great distance. He repeated several times but Jane couldn’t open her eyes and he left her alone.

  But moments after the smell of freshly made coffee made Blake finally wake up.