Black Pawn (Michael Cailen Book 1)

by Mel LeBrun

  “No, you're out of your mind!” Michael was beyond angry.

  “She can do it,” Kevin finally spoke.

  Michael looked at him. “Oh, now you too? You're both crazy. We're not hacking into the CIA. Especially if it means getting other people involved. It's out of the question.”

  “Michael, you don't understand,” said Jessica. “These are my people, we stick together. They would do anything to help me and Kevin. We can trust them. And hacking into the CIA would be like winning the Olympics of hacking. They will jump at the chance.”

  Michael rubbed his forehead. “How many people are we talking?”

  “At least ten,” Kevin replied.

  “Why so many?”

  “Think of it like a military attack,” Jessica said. “If you wanted to go in undetected into a highly sensitive area in a highly secured compound with guards crawling all over the place, what would you do?”

  “Create a diversion,” Michael answered.

  “That's essentially the way we have to attack the CIA. If I try to go in alone, they'll spot me right away and it's over. But if they're being bombarded with attacks, I have a better chance of slipping in the backdoor undetected.”

  Michael was quiet as he considered it. He didn't like it, but if they could get into those case files it might shed some light on what was happening. “I need to think about it.”

  Jessica was hoping for a different answer. “Michael, I can do this.”

  “I'm not agreeing to it without thinking it over first!” he snapped. “You push me now, and it's a firm no!” Still seething that she had misled him about being able to decrypt the flash drive, he walked to the window and took a deep breath as he looked out.

  “I'm sorry I lied to you, Michael.” Jessica stepped closer to him.

  “Save it,” he replied angrily, his back still turned to her. “You deliberately manipulated me. It won't happen again.”

  His words hit her hard. She lost his trust and wasn't sure how badly their relationship was damaged now.

  “We're leaving,” Michael announced finally. He turned and saw Jessica facing away. He knew she was crying, but was so angry he didn't care.

  “I'm not sure she should leave with you,” Kevin said.

  Michael shot daggers at him. “Excuse me?”

  “You're angry and I don't know you. She's not leaving with you,” Kevin said firmly.

  Jessica didn't like the direction this was going. “It's fine, Kevin.” She dried her eyes. “He's not going to hurt me.” She was more afraid Michael would hurt Kevin.

  “I'd rather you stayed here,” Kevin said to her.

  “She's not staying here,” Michael said firmly. He grabbed her arm. “Let's go.” He moved her towards the door.

  Kevin put himself between them and the door. Jessica's heart started racing. She knew Michael was agitated and feared he might overreact. She stepped between the two men.

  “It's okay,” she said. “I'll call you.” She hugged him and he squeezed her tight. He didn't let her go and she eventually had to push him away. He looked worried. “It's fine.” She forced a smile. Kevin reluctantly stepped aside and they left the study.

  “Can I please say goodbye to the girls?” she asked Michael as they entered the kitchen.

  He nodded and looked away. She went off leaving Kevin and Michael alone in the kitchen.

  “What kind of relationship do you have with her?” Kevin asked.

  Michael didn't want to have this conversation. Kevin looked the same age as him, yet was acting like a protective father. “None.”

  “Bull.”

  Michael sighed and looked outside. “Whatever it is, it's between me and her.”

  “She's had a lot of bad experiences with men. She doesn't need another one.”

  “I know.”

  Kevin seemed surprised. “You know?”

  “She told me everything.”

  He wondered if that was true. It took him years to get her to open up about her past. “What's everything?” he asked.

  Michael took a deep breath. “Her parents, the rape, running away, you, the string of losers she dated ... Everything.”

  Kevin stood dumbfounded. Michael managed to accomplish in a few weeks what took him years to do. Kevin felt better about him. Jessica didn't trust men, yet she trusted Michael.

  “Do you have to leave?” Kevin asked.

  Michael was still angry, but it was manageable. He looked at Kevin, but didn't answer.

  “Why don't you stay for dinner? I haven't seen Jessica in so long. The girls miss her.”

  “Where's their mother?” Michael asked.

  After a moment of silence Kevin replied, “She died giving birth to Emily, my younger.”

  “I'm sorry,” Michael softened. He took a deep breath. “I guess we could stay. I just have to make a call.”

  Michael stepped outside to call Josh. As angry as he was, he knew Kevin and the girls were family to Jessica and he didn't want to tear her away. If they were in no danger there was no reason they couldn't stay, even though he was still livid.

  Getting an all-clear from Josh, he informed him of their plans to stay for dinner and sent him home. When he came back inside, Jessica was in the kitchen with the girls hugging her legs begging her not to go. Kevin was just about to tell her they could stay for dinner when Michael came in.

  “You tell her yet?” Michael asked Kevin.

  “I was just about to.”

  “Tell me what?” Jessica asked, looking worried.

  “We can stay for dinner if you want,” Michael answered.

  “Really?” Jessica was surprised.

  “Yay!” the girls shouted in victory that Jessica could stay. Everyone smiled. They obviously loved Jessica very much and their enthusiasm was infectious.

  “I'm going to start dinner,” Kevin excused himself.

  “Who is he?” the oldest asked, pointing to Michael.

  “He's a friend of mine,” Jessica answered.

  “Is he your boyfriend?” the girl asked with a huge grin on her face.

  Michael couldn't contain a laugh. She was so cute. Jessica didn't know how to respond. Michael stepped toward the girls and crouched down.

  “My name is Michael. What's yours?” he said.

  “Lauren,” replied the oldest.

  He turned to the younger one. “And you're Emily right?”

  Her face lit up. “How do you know that?”

  Both girls seemed enchanted by Michael. “Your dad told me,” he smiled. “How old are you?”

  “I'm seven and a half,” Lauren said proudly.

  “I'm five!” Emily nearly shouted and then giggled.

  Jessica was watching Michael with the girls. The sight of him interacting with young children was adorable.

  “You want to see my room?” Emily asked.

  “Sure,” he replied.

  She grabbed his hand, leading him off to her room. Lauren tagged along as they disappeared from sight.

  Jessica couldn't get over how much the girls seemed to like Michael. She had a huge smile on her face. She turned to Kevin who had started prepping for dinner, slicing some squash. “Do you need any help?”

  “Nope. But if you want to pick a wine from the cellar, go right ahead.”

  “I can do that.”

  She walked into the finished basement that was almost a whole house in itself. She strolled past a small kitchen and dining area, full bath, a couple of bedrooms, a living room complete with a flatscreen TV and a small gym to a set of French doors. Upon opening them, she flicked a switch lighting up a huge, temperature-controlled wine cellar. Floor to ceiling wine racks lined the walls with two stand alone racks in the middle of the room. She walked straight to the rack on the back wall and reached up, grabbing her favorite bottle of Merlot. She looked over the label and then grabbed another one before leaving the room. She set the bottles on the counter in the kitchen.

  Kevin glanced at her selection. “Merlot, what
a surprise,” he teased. “Dinner will be ready in another ten minutes. Maybe you should rescue Michael from the girls.”

  She grinned. “They seem to really like him.”

  “If you trust him, I don't see why they wouldn't.” He smiled at her. “So how close are you two?”

  She knew what he was really asking. He wanted to know just how romantically involved they were. She looked down at her hands not quite sure how to respond. “Pretty close, I guess.”

  “You want to elaborate on that?”

  “I think he has feelings for me. He seems to anyway.”

  “Do you have feelings for him?”

  She looked up at him. “I think I'm in love with him.”

  “Wow, Jess. I'm not sure whether I should be shocked or happy for you. Maybe a little of both. What is it about this guy that you trust him so much?”

  “I don't know. There's just something about him. He didn't even seem attracted to me at first. I don't feel like he's trying to deceive me.”

  Kevin took a deep breath. “Well you seem to have had a rapidly developed romance. Try to have realistic expectations, Jessica. You still don't know him very well, even if you think you do. I'd hate to see you get hurt.”

  “It's probably too late for that. I think I'm already lost to him.” Her mood turned somber and reflective.

  “I'm always here for you.”

  “I know,” she smiled. “I should probably get Michael now.”

  SHE FOUND him in Lauren's room sitting on the floor playing with her in her dollhouse while Emily told him all about her stuffed animals. His back was turned so he didn't see her. She stood watching him try to pay attention to Lauren and Emily simultaneously. Both girls hung on him competing for his attention. It was an adorable contradiction. This deadly assassin sitting on the floor playing with two little girls.

  Emily finally noticed Jessica standing in the doorway. “Hi Jessie!” she yelled, running over to her.

  Michael quickly stood and turned looking mortified that she caught him playing with a dollhouse. “Hi. Uhh ... I was just ...” He nervously smoothed his shirt. “What's up?”

  Jessica had a huge smile on her face. She picked up Emily who was clutching her legs. “Dinner is about ready. You'll have to put playtime on hold,” she teased.

  Looking at her with an abashed smile, he nodded.

  “Thanks.”

  “Anytime,” she chuckled as she walked out carrying Emily. “You're going to be too big to carry soon,” she said to her.

  “No, sir!” Emily protested.

  Lauren felt left out and ran to Michael. “Carry me!” she said holding up her arms to him.

  He looked down at her and smiled. “Carry you? Okay, you got it.” He picked her up, threw her over his shoulder and started to walk out of the bedroom.

  “No! Not like that!” she laughed.

  “Not like what?” He pretended not to know what she was talking about.

  “Carry me like Emily,” she giggled.

  “What? You want me to carry Emily?”

  “No,” she laughed as he carried her down the stairs.

  When they reached the bottom of the stairs he put her on his hip. “Like this you mean?”

  “Yes,” she grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck. They joined everyone else in the kitchen. The table was set and Kevin was putting the finishing touches on the meal.

  “Girls, go wash up for dinner,” Kevin said.

  “Looks like I have to put you down now,” Michael said to Lauren.

  She kissed his cheek and he let her down. She ran off with Emily into the bathroom to wash their hands while Jessica poured three glasses of wine.

  “They're great kids,” Michael said as he grabbed one of the glasses.

  “Thanks,” Kevin replied as he portioned out the meal on plates. “Jessica helped a lot after Tiffany died. I couldn't have done it without her.”

  Lauren insisted on sitting next to Michael while Emily wanted to sit with Jessica. Kevin asked the girls about their day at school. Emily got to play with clay during art class and Lauren received an A on a math exam. The girls chatted through the entire meal. They had so much they wanted to tell Jessica and Michael. Michael was worn out by the time they finished eating. He wasn't used to being around kids. Especially such exuberant ones.

  After they finished eating, Kevin cleared the plates and told the girls to get out their homework. Michael looked at his watch. It was almost six o'clock. He still had to drop off his things at the new hideout and they had at least an hour drive ahead of them.

  “We'll have to leave soon,” he said to Jessica.

  “Yeah, I suppose,” she frowned. “Have you made a decision about hacking into the CIA?”

  “Oh, don't you worry. We'll be talking about that.” His tone was ominous.

  “Should I be nervous?” she asked timidly.

  His eyes locked onto hers and his face turned to stone. “I haven't forgotten your deception. You can be sure we're going to talk about that too.”

  The sick feeling Jessica felt when Michael discovered she had lied to him about decrypting the drive returned. Apparently, he had been hiding his anger well.

  Kevin returned from clearing the table and noticed the tension between them. Michael looked at him and smiled. It looked sincere, but he felt it couldn't have been.

  “We have to get going,” Michael announced.

  “Is everything okay, Jess?” Kevin asked. He looked concerned.

  “It's fine, Kev.” She looked up at him, but didn't smile. “I just have to face the music for lying to Michael.”

  The girls returned with their homework and were upset to see Jessica was leaving. She knelt in front of them and gave them a smile. “You know I'll see you both again soon.”

  They gave her hugs while Michael stood by the door.

  Kevin shook his hand. “You better take it easy on her,” he warned Michael.

  “She'll be fine,” Michael assured him. His expression didn't change.

  Chapter 29

  Michael and Jessica spent the first ten minutes of their drive back from Kevin's in silence. Jessica was waiting for Michael to say something but he didn't.

  “So is this it?” she finally asked.

  “Is this what?”

  She didn't answer. She didn't really want to ask if it was over between them. She was afraid of what his answer might be, afraid he wouldn't forgive her for lying to him. She just looked out the window feeling sick.

  “What are you asking, Jessica?”

  “Nothing.”

  He sighed. “No matter what, I will protect you. That you can always count on. As far as what kind of relationship we have while I'm doing that is going to depend on the conversation we have about what you did.”

  She knew she broke his trust and was scared she had ruined their relationship. Her hands started to shake. “I'm sorry.”

  “Make me believe it.”

  She wiped tears from her eyes. “I don't know how.”

  “Why don't you start by telling me why you did it?” He didn't look at her, he just stared at the road. “I want to know why you felt lying to me was a better option than telling me. You had to know I would find out eventually.”

  She took a deep breath and nodded. “If we can hack into the CIA, we may be able to find out what's going on. It could solve everything. I thought I'd have a better chance convincing you with Kevin than on my own. I didn't think you would listen to just me. I thought if I told you what I wanted to do, that you would say no and you wouldn't let me see him.”

  He shook his head. “Why don't you trust me?”

  “I do trust you.”

  “No. If you did, you wouldn't have lied to me. You would have told me what you wanted to do and trusted me to make the right decision. I'm not just trying to get to the bottom of this, Jessica. I'm trying to keep us alive in the meantime, and make sure no one else dies needlessly. It doesn't do us any good to get killed while trying to unearth wha
t's going on. We can't afford to be reckless. You need to start trusting me. Our lives come first, Jessica. Everything else is secondary.”

  “I'm sorry.”

  “Next time, talk to me about it.”

  “I will.” She wiped a stray tear from her cheek. “Do you hate me?”

  “No Jess. I don't hate you. Quite the opposite.”

  Her emotions finally boiled over and a steady stream of tears fell from her eyes and she let out a few quiet sobs.

  Michael reached out and squeezed her hand. “You know I'm going to develop a complex if you cry when I express my feelings for you.”

  She laughed. “I'm a mess.”

  “I kind of like it,” he smiled.

  “You're sick,” she teased.

  “Maybe.” He grinned.

  MICHAEL PARKED in front of the deserted garage. With a lone street lamp lighting only a small portion of the parking lot, it looked like a dark mass standing in the middle of a sea of asphalt. The two-story building was a medium gray color, though it was impossible to tell in the dark. It had two garage doors on the right side. A glass door on the left lead into the reception area.

  After walking the perimeter, Michael shined a flashlight through the front door. A tall counter ran down part way in the middle of the room. A couple doors were at the other end of the room. The access to the garage must be behind one of those doors.

  He unlocked the front door then drew his gun as he opened it. The door on the left was a bathroom. A simple toilet and sink. The other door lead into an office that was bare. A door on the right led to the garage. He walked to the other end of the office and found a staircase that ran behind the bathroom, up to the second floor. At the top of the stairs was a large, mostly carpeted, room with two doors on the right. In the far corner was a small kitchen area with a counter, sink, and fridge.

  The first door was another bathroom, a bit bigger with a shower. Behind the second door, he found an empty room with a closet. It could be used as another office or perhaps a bedroom. He turned on lights as he made his way back down to the garage. With the building cleared, he opened one of the garage doors and brought the truck in. He asked Jessica to help him unload. He grabbed a few cases while she picked up a very heavy duffel bag and followed him upstairs.