Mind (the) Game

by Kelly Shade

  Blake noticed that terror in her eyes and used it in her advantage. For a millisecond Jane managed to release Evan’s right hand, grab her left and take the detonator with thumb on the button. Victoria realized what happened and punched Jane in the face, Blake staggered backwards and almost dropped the device.

  Victoria pushed Jane and she fell on the ground. Evans’ leg was inches away from Blake’s head but Jane was able to grab it at the last second and Victoria fell down on the ground next to Jane. Blake stood up swiftly, searched for a gun with eyes, and when she saw one on the floor next to Evans she hurried to get it. But it was too late, Victoria also had skills and like a cat she jumped over Jane and grabbed the weapon.

  “You know what’s going to happen if you pull that trigger, Evans! You are going down with me!” Blake was on the ground with a gun pointed at her head.

  “I have no choice!” Victoria shouted and closed her eyes for a moment, she was scared and she was preparing mentally for what was next.

  Evans shot once but Jane moved and the bullet flew next to her. Victoria was determined to kill Blake, she took a breath and fired again. This one was closer but missed Jane again. Blake knew that she won’t have that luck for the third time, but she had nowhere to go. Now her back was against the corridor wall and she was cornered by Evans.

  “Ryan! Ian! Nick! GET OUT NOW!” Blake shouted. This was the only thing she could do. Jane had to make sure that Gray, Lee and Valdez are out of the blast zone.

  Blake closed her eyes, waiting for the final shot. She heard a loud BOOM and she thought this was the end. She didn’t feel any pain. Jane opened her eyes and saw Tylor, Kyle and several more people jumping over Evans and disarming her. Jane stood up quickly and ran to the kitchen, still squeezing the detonator in her hand.

  Ryan and Ian were sitting on the floor and breathing heavily, but with wide smiles on their faces. Nick laid down next to them with a satisfied expression.

  “What happened?” Jane asked eagerly and lifted the detonator.

  “You may get rid of that thing.” Ryan stood up, took it off of her hand. Jane shrugged expecting an explosion but nothing happened. Gray hugged her tightly and Jane melted in his hands.

  “Valdez, you did it!” Nick said, sat and turned to Jane who was still in Ryan’s hands “Ian disables it!”

  “We all did! I couldn’t have done it without you two!” Ian congratulated them.

  Kyle walked in the kitchen. Jane and Ryan awkwardly got away from each other. Collins seemed as if he didn’t notice them hugging. Blake walked to him and he hugged her and kissed her. Jane wasn’t glad of the fact he did that in front of everyone and she stepped back.

  “Smith and his team will take Evans into custody, it’s over!” Kyle said with a smile.

  “How did all of you knew we were here?” Lee asked with a confusion.

  “Jane figured Victoria would have some kind of an alarm system and she called me and Smith for backup. We were supposed to wait outside until Jane makes Evans confess and then we were supposed to walk in and arrest her. But when we heard about the bomb we had no choice but wait. And when Jane disarmed Evans we knew it was a go time.” Explained Kyle with a smile.

  “You were wired?” Ian asked with a high pitched voice.

  “Yep.” Said Jane and showed the microphone under her shirt.

  “You could have told us!” Ryan said irritably.

  “If I did, you wouldn’t be genuinely surprised and Evans was going to get suspicious.” Jane said and walked out without waiting for further questions.

  ◆◆◆

  Blake went to the FBI headquarters. She wanted to interrogate Evans but Barrett didn’t let her in, she was too close to the case. Jane got annoyed and decided to go visit her house. It should have been almost done by now and she was eager to go back in her beautifully renovated home.

  Jane arrived at her place and she was pleasantly surprised. The workers were gone but the only thing that had left was the final touches and in several days Blake could move in. Blake laid on the sunbeds next to the swimming pool, closed her eyes and tried to relax. It was almost midnight and even though the air was chilly, the wind cold, Jane fell into a light sleep. She could hear the sound of the wind blowing the leaves of the palm trees and the passing cars far away, but a crazy dream started to form in her head. Ryan was reaching his hand to her but she turned back and saw Kyle waving her to join him in his car. Blake felt confused and she froze, thinking which way she should go. The dilemma in her dream wasn’t solved, because a sound of steps closing towards Jane interrupted it. She opened her eyes and jumped up. A man in a long dark coat was walking slowly next to the pool on the opposite side of Jane.

  “Who are you and what are you doing on my property?” Jane shouted and prepared her gun. She couldn’t see the man’s face, it was dark and he was wearing a hat.

  “Shawn Higgins.” Yelled back the man and picked up the pace.

  Jane relaxed a bit, but soon she realized that she had hypnotized this man and his maid and he may want an explanation or worse - revenge.

  Mr. Higgins stretched his hand for a handshake with the words “I’m glad to meet you, Jane Blake!”

  “How did you know where to find me?” Blake asked.

  “I have friends in the FBI, Ms. Blake.” Shared the man with a smile.

  “What do you want? The case is closed, your friend William Spenser was killed by Victoria Evans who tried to set me up. I had nothing to do with his death!” Blake said, she couldn’t understand what he wanted from her.

  “I know that, yes!” said Higgins calmly and sat on the sunbed next to Jane’s “But I also know what you did to find the truth.”

  “I did what I had to do. I knew Willy since we were kids, I had to find out who took his life and why.” Jane answered coldly.

  “And I’m grateful for that!” said the man “Even though you made me look like a fool!” he smiled.

  Blake didn’t know what to say, she didn’t expect Higgins to be happy with her methods.

  “My friend told me you risked your life. You came back to capture the killer no matter the concecuenses. I admire what you did and I’m here to thank you! Tell me, Jane, is there something you need? Is there something I can do for you?” Higgins ask.

  “I don’t think I need something now, but I’ll call you if I do!” Jane always welcomed powerful people who were offering some kind of support. She knew that sooner or later she may need them and it was good when someone like Higgins owed her a favor.

  “Okay then!” he stood up and made several steps but he turned around and spoke again “Since you don’t want anything now, I’ll give you an advice. The one who helped you to find Michael Morse in Chile is connected to you in a deeper level than you expect. Find him and you may find Melissa Cole as well!” Higgins finished and walked away.

  Jane was confused by this new information. The only people who helped her in Chile were Erik and Nancy. The one who tipped Jane about Morse’s whereabouts was Jonathan. How was he connected to her? What was ‘deeper level’ supposed to mean? Blake stared at where Higgins walked long after he was out of sight.

  The only idea she had was to locate Jonathan and try to find out what was the connection. But now she needed sleep and she was going to enjoy her brand new bed. Jane went to the bedroom, laid down and fell asleep instantly.

  ◆◆◆

  Jane was awoken in the early morning from her ringing phone. Tylor was, apparently, calling for an hour. It looked like it was an emergency and even though Jane wanted to sleep in, she had to pick up.

  “Yeah?” said Jane sleepily.

  “Jane, he is back!” Tylor shouted “Morse is back in the States!”

  “What?” Blake woke up immediately.

  “He killed a man on camera! I’m on the crime scene now!” Tylor kept yelling.

  “Send me the address!” Jane said and hung up.

  She dressed up as fast as she could and drove to the address Smith texted her whic
h was in San Diego.

  Couple of hours later Jane was at a gas station in the suburbs of San Diego. There were no houses nearby, it was just an empty road. Blake saw Tylor inside and walked towards him. She waved the other agents hello and headed to Tylor.

  “Hey!” Blake greeted.

  Smith waved her to join him in front of the monitor and when she did he played the recording of the surveillance cameras.

  Morse went in the gas station with another man, both of them disguised with hats and sunglasses. The man went to choose a snack and Morse went to the clothes area. The station worker, a middle-aged man, said something to Morse and Morse looked at him. A moment later, it was obvious that the worker started shouting at Morse. Morse’s companion walked towards the man and they argued for some time. Soon Michael Morse joined them but apparently the worker recognized him and quickly reached for his phone. That was enough for Morse to take out his weapon and to shoot the worker in the head, then Michael turned to the camera and shot it too.

  Blake watched the video in silence and when it was over, she stood up and went to see the body. Agent Barlow was also examining the body.

  “Hello, Jane!” Barlow said without moving her eyes off the victim.

  “Hi.” Jane answered coldly and kneeled next to the victim.

  Blake saw a phone in his hand and she lifted it. The worker wanted to call 911 but he had no time to dial, he simply typed the numbers before Morse killed him. There was nothing Jane could do for the victim, there was no need of an investigation, the killer was on tape. Blake stood up and returned to Tylor who was giving orders to his team.

  “Where did you find the recordings?” Jane asked.

  “There!” he ponied at the cashier’s place “Why?”

  “Just asking.” Blake said.

  “Why did Morse come back?” Tylor scratched his head and added “That’s what I don’t get!”

  “Revenge. To finish the job Evans started.” Jane said casually and added with a smile “Or maybe he is homesick.”

  “You are taking this too well!” Tylor shook his head in disbelief but since Jane didn’t answer, he continued “Once we get this tape in the office, the technicians will tell us what did they talked about.”

  “Sounds good.” Jane said and made a few steps towards the exit but before she walked out she turned and asked “You don’t mind me telling my team about that, right?”

  “We need all the help we can get, tell them!” Tylor sighted “But whatever you find you call me first, okay? You don’t go after Morse alone!” He said firmly.

  Jane nodded and headed to her car.

  ◆◆◆

  When Jane arrived at the Homicide office and told the news about Morse to her team, they all dropped the work they had till that moment and started investigating Morse once again.

  Hunt also joined the team and now Ian, Nick, Ryan, Hunt and Jane were digging into everything they could think of to find Michael Morse and lock him up at last.

  Gray hacked into San Diego’s traffic cameras and started searching for the car Morse had escaped with. Soon enough he found a camera nearby the gas station and they were able to see Morse sitting on the passenger seat of a black sedan with Washington plates. Ryan was able to follow the car for some time but soon it went off the radar and the trail was lost. Hunt informed the FBI and ordered every cop in California to look for that car.

  Although they spend several hours in digging for more clues, nothing popped up. It was late and all of them were exhausted. Hunt went back to his office leaving Nick, Ian, Ryan and Jane to have dinner and continue working.

  They ordered pizzas and beers and sat on the conference table to eat.

  “I think he switched the cars somewhere. There is no way Morse continued with that Ford for much longer.” Ryan said while chewing.

  “Yeah, probably. But there is nothing else to go on.” Ian said and took a piece of pizza.

  “Don’t you think it is too easy?” Jane asked quietly as if she was talking to herself.

  “What do you mean? How is that easy?” Valdez said with surprise.

  “I mean, it looks like he wanted us to know he is in the States.” Jane said thoughtfully.

  “Or maybe he just made a mistake?” Ryan said.

  “I have a feeling he did that on purpose.” Blake bit her lip and stared through the window.

  “You think Morse is smart, I get it, but everyone can mess it up.” Nick joined in the conversation.

  After Evans was arrested Nick was different, sad, sometimes cranky, easily annoyed.

  “How are you, bro?” Ian padded him on the shoulder.

  “Fine, I guess.” Nick sighted.

  “You can’t be fine after this.” Ryan said.

  “Come on, it was just a chick!” Jane laughed “Big deal! You’ll find another one!”

  “No. At least not in the near future.” Nick shook his head and took a sip from the beer.

  “Did you really loved Evans?” Jane asked with amazement.

  “Yeah.” Nick mumbled “Dumb, huh?”

  “No, bro, it is natural to fall in love.” Ryan said and glanced at Jane “Some people just don’t get it!”

  Awkward silence filled the room for some time.

  Blake didn’t care about Ryan’s comment at this moment. The thoughts in her head were all about Morse. Why he showed up? Why did he let the camera catch him in the act? He wasn’t that stupid and Blake knew he didn’t make a mistake. What was the idea behind this?

  “People, we need sleep. We won’t find anything else now. Let’s call it a night!” suggested Ian after they ate their dinner.

  “Smith will call if they have something, right?” Nick asked Jane on the way out.

  “Yeah, I think he will.” Blake answered.

  ◆◆◆

  Blake went to her motel room. Her house was just renovated and she didn’t want Morse in it. It was ridiculous thinking about the integrity of her house, especially when her life was in danger, but Blake was coping with stress that way. It was way easier for her not to think about the fact that her psychopathic grandfather wanted her dead.

  Jane hoped to spend the night alone and in peace but apparently this was too big of a wish. When she walked in her motel room she saw a man waiting for her, sitting at the table in the dark. Blake pointed her gun and turn on the lamp.

  “You? Again?” Jane was extremely disappointed when she saw Jonathan’s face smiling arrogantly at her.

  “Oh, don’t pretend you’re not happy to see me, Jane!” said he.

  Blake went to the kitchen, took a bottle of whiskey, two glasses and a pack of cigarettes. She sat on the opposite chair, filled the glasses and lit up a cigarette. Jonathan took a sip of the whiskey and took a cigarette. They looked at each other for some time as if both of them were waiting the other to start speaking first. At last, Jane spoke quietly, hiding her irritation as much as it was possible.

  “What do you want from me? Again!”

  “This time I’m here to return the favor.” Jonathan smiled.

  Jane looked at him with disbelief. The room was filling up with smoke, both of them were lighting up one cigarette after another. J was waiting for Jane to talk. He was expecting her to be more curious but she was calm and uninterested in whatever he was offering.

  Jonathan decided it was pointless to wait for a curiosity that would not come and he started speaking.

  “I’m glad you locked Victoria Evans. It was about time!” he said.

  “What do you know about her?” Jane asked.

  “Everything. I knew for a long time. I believe I warned you.” J smiled.

  Blake tried to recall their conversation and after a minute she remembered he said that Morse will tear them apart from the inside. Jane got even more annoyed by the fact that he knew but didn’t tell her.

  “I’m here to warn you again, and I hope you will listen this time!” Jonathan said with a serious expression.

  “I can hear whatever you want t
o say but then you disappear! Understood?” Blake said with irritation.

  “Leave Morse to the FBI! I know he is in the Sates but you should stop searching for him!” J said.

  “Why?” Jane showed how bored she was.

  “Because he is not the worst, he is not the boss. The ones above will get you killed, Jane, sooner or later! Don’t waste your life on that! Leave it!” J spoke as if he was really concern about Jane.

  “Who is Jim?” Jane asked and drank her whiskey at once.

  “Nobody you should worry about!” J answered hiding his surprise.

  “Why are they so afraid of him?” Jane continued.

  “It doesn’t matter! The point is, you need to stay away!” J was getting annoyed.

  “Vidal told you about Morse’s whereabouts the first time, didn’t he?” Blake said with an arrogant smile, showing she also had information about him.

  Jonathan didn’t answer but his behavior was enough for her to know she was right.

  “Why did you tell him you are a friend of mine?” Jane continued.

  “It doesn’t matter, Jane!” he raised his voice “Stop looking for Morse!”

  “Why do you care so much?” Blake asked.

  “I just do.” J simply said. “The organization you think you took down was just a small part of the puzzle. Morse was one of the, let’s say, managers, and the people you caught from that list were working for him but he has bosses. The kind that you don’t want to mess with!”

  “How do you know that?” Blake asked irritably.

  “Because I was after them for a long time. Until I found out who I am dealing with! I’m lucky to be alive!” Jonathan explained.

  “Well, you don’t want to tell me who Jim is, you won’t tell me who those people are. Why don’t you leave me alone? I’ll find out myself!” Blake stood up and pointed at the door.

  “Your decision!” Jonathan stood up and walked to the door “But if you need any help,” he threw a business card at her “call me!”