by Mel LeBrun
Kevin felt a glimmer of hope. “What do you need me to do?”
“I need you to fill it with something, anything. Just make it look like there's a lot of information on it, and then I need you to encrypt the hell out of it.”
“I'll get started.” He stood up and headed towards his office.
Once he was out of sight, Martin spoke up. “Michael, I didn't get a chance to talk to you before, but I found out what's at those coordinates.”
“What did you find?
“Two of them are poppy fields in Myanmar close to the Chinese border. Another was the location of a tiny village in Yunnan, China that, for reasons unknown, is abandoned. The last was also in Yunnan not far from the village, but as far as I could find there is nothing there.”
“There's something there,” Michael remarked. “Something someone doesn't want found.”
“Everything about this stinks of heroin,” Josh chimed in.
Michael and Martin nodded in agreement.
“It's no coincidence that the drive contained coordinates to two poppy fields, emails from the head of the drug trafficking division of the CIA, Edward Morgan, and Alonso Gomez, who specifically covers heroin. Along with all this talk of a mission in China,” Michael added. “It's all related. I just don't know how the Russian Mafia fits into all this or what role Edward Morgan plays.”
The three men were pondering possibilities when Kevin emerged with the flash drive in hand. He handed it to Michael.
“Thanks. There's something else I need. I don't know if you can do it,” Michael said as he passed it off to Martin.
“What is it?”
“I need to speak with a man named Rick Hamilton. Only, I don't know where to find him. I was hoping you could help me with that.”
“Umm. You got anything more I can go on besides just a name?”
“He works for the CIA and must live close to their headquarters in Langley.”
“Ah, well. That narrows it down a little at least.” A hint of sarcasm could be detected in his voice.
“Do what you can.” Michael patted him on the shoulder then turned and started to leave. “You've got eight hours,” he said loudly as he headed towards the front door. Josh and Martin followed.
“What happens in eight hours?” Kevin asked somewhat concerned.
“I'll be in Washington,” Michael replied as he opened the front door.
“Washington, right,” Kevin mumbled to himself.
Chapter 42
Jessica woke in the back of a van, gagged and blindfolded. Her feet were bound and hands tied behind her back. She heard men talking in another language. It sounded like Russian. She subtly rubbed the blindfold on the floor of the van, trying to push it up off her eyes.
“Looks like someone's awake,” she heard a voice disturbingly close to her say.
She felt a surge of adrenaline and her breathing became rapid.
“You'd better calm down or you'll just pass out again,” the man spoke again. He had a faint Russian accent.
She tried to scream, but with the gag in her mouth it just sounded like pathetic whimpers. Terrified, she began to cry.
“There, there,” the man next to her spoke again. “Want me to hold you? Would that calm you down?” he said mockingly.
Feeling him touch her arm, she recoiled and tried to move away. One of the men in front said something in Russian to the man in the back, and they all started laughing. Her heart raced, she had no idea what they were going to do to her. On top of everything, her whole body hurt from the crash. It felt like every muscle in her body was torn and being tied in that position only made it worse. Her cries intensified.
“Okay, okay. Calm down. We'll stop teasing you. We have a few more hours before we reach our destination. Just relax, we have orders not to hurt you.” The man in back tried to calm her.
It didn't work. She was already so distressed and she felt helpless and alone. She wanted Michael to jump through the back door of the van and rescue her. She started wondering if maybe they had gotten him, too. She worried about Josh. She continued sobbing uncontrollably.
The men started arguing in Russian while she cried.
“Alright, enough!” the man in back shouted. “Stop crying! I told you we're not going to hurt you. If you do not stop, I swear to God I will make you stop!”
Jessica struggled to get a grip on her emotions. She tried to take deep, calming breaths but with the gag and her nose plugged from crying it was hard to breath. Noticing she was having trouble, the man tried to take off the gag, but when she felt him near, she started panicking again.
“Calm down! I'm going to take the gag off so you can breath.” He was getting frustrated with her. Removing the gag from her mouth, he held it up so she could blow her nose.
No longer gagged and now able to breathe a little better, she tried to calm herself. The man in the back with her looked upon her with pity.
The driver said something again in Russian and the front passenger and driver let out some hearty laughter, but the man in back wasn't amused. He barked something back at them and they immediately stopped laughing and didn't say another word for the rest of the trip.
The next few hours felt like an eternity. Jessica was trying not to fall into total despair. The van came to a stop and the driver shut off the engine. Her heart pounded in her chest as she heard the back doors open. The man sitting with her cut the ropes around her ankles then grabbed her arm and forced her out of the truck. Still blindfolded, she had no idea where she was. They walked across some sandy gravel or pavement, she couldn't tell which. She heard the familiar squeak of a rusty metal door opening. She was told to watch her step. Her foot hit a raised edge and she stepped up onto it as they entered the building. She was now inside walking on concrete. She heard the door close behind her as her captor escorted her across a large room. She heard another door open. Her shoulder hit the doorway as she was pushed in. Something cold touched her hands, startling her. The man was cutting the rope from her wrists. He removed the blindfold and turned to leave. She found herself inside a tiny room with a cement floor and metal walls. A disgusting cot sat in the corner. She quickly turned to her captor.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” she blurted.
The man stopped in the doorway and sighed. He turned around and gazed at her. His brown eyes showed no emotion. He appeared to be in his thirties, with light brown hair that was cut short. He was tall, well toned and actually rather attractive. “If you cause me any trouble, I will make you go in your pants next time. Understand?”
She nodded in compliance and he gestured for her to come to him. She glanced around the large room as they walked towards a set of metal stairs on the other side. It was a large warehouse that was mostly empty except for a few stacked crates and some tables with automatic rifles on them. Two men sat at one of the tables playing cards. They looked over at her and their comrade as they walked across the floor. The man never let go of her arm as he escorted her up the stairs.
Located at the top of the stairs was a brightly lit office with large windows that overlooked the warehouse. They walked to another door on the other side of the room revealing a small bathroom.
“You have two minutes exactly,” he said as he let go of her.
She looked in the mirror as she was about to wash her hands and gasped at what she saw. Small cuts covered her face from the accident. Glass had flown everywhere and it didn't spare her. They weren't deep and she didn't think she would have any lasting scars, but the sight of it took her by surprise. She started remembering more about the crash and worried about Josh. She wondered if Michael would ever know what happened to her and Josh or even if he was still alive. Her situation seemed hopeless and she was trying hard to keep herself together.
A loud knock on the door startled her.
“Your time is up.”
She was lead back to the room on the first floor. It was the first time she really looked at it and came to appreciate how dis
gustingly filthy it was. It made Michael's old hideout look like a five-star resort. The tiny mattress on the cot looked like it came straight from the dump. It was dirty and lumpy, and she thought she might rather lie down on the concrete floor before laying her head on that. But after closer inspection, the floor wasn't much cleaner. The door started to close behind her.
“Can I please have some water?” she asked before he managed to shut it.
She heard him sigh. “Yes, I'll bring you some water.”
He shut the door and she heard a board slide across it, barricading her in. She looked again at her grungy surroundings. Her body hurt and she wanted to lie down, but she was so put off by the sight of the bed she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Her feelings of helplessness started to take over. She could feel herself just barely hanging on. Tears fell from her eyes and she started to sob. She took a deep breath, trying to regain control.
A few minutes passed and she heard the board slide off the door and then it opened. The man stood in the doorway and handed her two bottles of water. She took them and thanked him. He started to close the door.
“What's your name?” she asked as she wiped a stray tear from her face.
He stopped, perhaps debating whether or not to tell her.
“What should I call you? In case I need something,” she added. He seemed to have a little compassion for her and she thought she might try to use that to her advantage.
“Dmitri.” He shut the door and she heard the board slide back down against it.
She looked back at the disgusting cot and made a face. Grudgingly, she sat on the edge as she opened one of the bottles and nearly drank it all at once. Her body ached and it hurt to be sitting or standing. She resigned herself to having to lie on the wretched bed, cringing as she did. She tried to imagine that Michael and Josh were okay and that they were already planning her rescue. That hope was the only thing keeping her from giving up.
Chapter 43
Morgan strode through the hallways of the CIA holding two cups of coffee. He nodded at a few people he passed. Reaching his destination, he carefully balanced both cups in one hand as he knocked on a door with the other. The name plate beside the door read “Allen Price.”
A voice hollered through the door, “Come in!”
Still balancing the cups in one hand, he opened the door with the other.
“Ed! What a surprise. You come bearing gifts too, I see.” Price relieved Morgan of one of his coffees.
“I was by that coffee place you love so much and thought I'd pick one up for you.”
Price smiled and walked back to his desk. “Have a seat. How are things?”
The office was small like Morgan's. Just enough room for a desk, a couple of chairs, filing cabinet and bookcase. No window, just a bright fluorescent light.
“Pretty good. We finally wrapped up a big operation in Columbia. We have another going in Afghanistan that we're close to finishing. How about you? Any more news on Cailen?” Morgan sipped his coffee.
“Yeah, actually. Remember I told you his prints came up in a home invasion case just the other day? Well they found two dead bodies there the next day, and the woman who owns the home is missing. I just got word this morning his prints turned up at another crime scene.”
Morgan raised his eyebrows. “Really? Where?”
“Boston. An apartment rented by a Joshua Lavene. They had worked together for many years, but as far as we could tell hadn't had any contact for the past five years. The place was trashed and there were two dead inside. No sign of Lavene.”
“Wow. What the hell is going on?”
“I have no idea. Some detectives working the case connected Lavene to the home invasion case through calls made from a prepaid cell. They were on their way to question him when everything happened. I think Cailen was the one making the calls. I still have more to read in the report. I was just looking it over when you came in. It's all very strange.”
Morgan tried not to show how upset he was. Hearing that local police had connected Josh through phone records, yet Rick hadn't turned up anything was enough to give him a coronary. “Well it sounds like you have your hands full,” Morgan remarked as he stood up. “I'd better let you get back to work.” He smiled at Price.
“Thanks for the coffee, Ed.” Price raised his cup to Morgan and took a sip.
Morgan left Price's office and headed straight for Rick's. He didn't even bother knocking. He just barged in. “Whose side are you on?!” he growled through gritted teeth.
Rick was a little surprised and frightened.
“What are you talking about?”
“Have you found anything in the phone records that might lead to Cailen?” he asked, wanting to see how incompetent Rick was.
Getting the feeling Morgan had learned about the phone calls, Rick tried to come up with a reasonable explanation of why he hadn't found anything. “I just barely began looking over the phone records. I started with financials.”
“It took you all day to look over financial records?!” Morgan shouted.
Rick didn't utter another word. He just stood there looking petrified. Morgan left in disgust. Rick took a deep breath and slumped down in his chair. He swallowed hard and tried to stop shaking. The stress of everything was too much; his daughter being threatened, hiding things from Morgan then having to deal with his wrath, reporting to Milovich. He entertained the thought of putting a gun to his head and ending it all.
Chapter 44
Martin drove so Michael and Josh could get some much-needed rest. They slept a little, but it wasn't very restful. Michael was worried about Jessica, and Josh was dealing with the guilt of not being able to protect her.
Michael woke about an hour before they reached Washington. They were starting to encounter some lunchtime traffic. Martin slowed as the highway became more congested.
The braking woke Josh, who sat up in the backseat rubbing his eyes. “Where are we?”
“We only have a little over an hour left,” Martin answered.
Josh nodded while yawning.
“Why don't we pull off now so I can call Kevin and see if he came up with anything," Michael suggested. "Would help to know where we're going.”
They pulled off the highway and stopped at a gas station. Martin went in to buy gas. Michael borrowed a pen and paper from the attendant, then headed straight to the pay phone in the parking lot.
“I narrowed it down to three possibilities. I'm sorry I couldn't do better,” Kevin said.
“Three is better than three hundred,” Michael assured him.
“Yeah, I suppose if you look at it that way.” Kevin gave him the three possible Rick Hamiltons.
He looked down at the list in his hand and smiled. “Thanks for your help, Kevin.”
“Will you call me when you get her back? Please.”
“I will.” Michael hung up the phone and returned to the truck. He handed the list to Martin as he got back in. “You see one you like?” he asked with a slight grin.
Martin glanced at the addresses. “The second one.”
Josh leaned over the seat and took the list from Martin. “Why the second one?”
“It's ten minutes from CIA headquarters,” Michael answered as Martin started up the truck.
“Oh,” Josh said as though a light had gone off in his head.
Chapter 45
Jessica managed to fall asleep on the gross, lumpy mattress. It helped that she was beyond exhausted. She woke when she heard her door open. She quickly sat up as one of the guards entered her room, shutting shut the door behind him.
The look in his eyes told her what he was about to do. She felt her body go numb as adrenaline raced through her veins. She wasn't going to give up without a fight, she told herself.
The man moved quickly towards her and she clambered to get away, but there was no where to run. She tried to take a swing at his head, but he easily deflected her punch. He threw her back on the bed and stepped close
r to her.
“I won't let you!” She tried to make her determination known.
The man laughed. “What makes you think you have a choice?”
He took another step towards her and she tried again to punch and kick him away. She started to feel she was doing as much damage as a pillow when he backhanded her across the face and she fell to the floor dazed. Grabbing her off the floor, he did it again to the other side of her face. He threw her on the bed and punched her so hard she blacked out.
When she came back around, her shirt was pushed up and the man was trying to get her pants off. She felt despair. She had no hope of fending him off. She started sobbing. She wanted to throw up. She remembered what Michael had made her promise. “Next time you find yourself in a situation, and you see no way out. I want you to fight like hell ... fight like hell.”
She looked back at the man as he pulled off her pants and then turned to throw them on the floor. She saw her opening and took it. She kicked him in the groin as hard as she could. He was not expecting it, to say the least. He looked at her with utter shock and surprise as he clutched his genitals and fell to his knees. She wasn't done. She leapt up and with a barrage of obscenities knocked him to the ground, kicking him. She got on top of him and began punching him as hard as she could in his face, calling him every filthy name under the sun, the pain in his groin still crippling him. He tried to grab her wrists to stop her from punching, but he couldn't manage to grab them.
Jessica was on a rampage. Her wrath overflowed on the man she had pinned to the ground. Suddenly she felt an arm wrap around her waist and she was being lifted up. She didn't stop her attack. With one final blow, she kicked him in the crotch again. The man rolled on his side and curled up in a ball. She was thrown on the bed again and finally saw who had grabbed her. It was Dmitri. She started to fear that she was now very outnumbered.
Instead of attacking her, Dmitri looked down at the man curled up on the floor. “What the hell are you doing?” he shouted in Russian.