by Mel LeBrun
“Jess. We need to talk.”
“Just leave me alone.” The crying resumed, more intense than before.
“I'm sorry. I know you feel bad. Please come out.” Half a minute passed with no response. “Jess.”
The doorknob finally turned and the door slowly opened. Her eyes and nose were red and she tried in vain to wipe the tears away with her hands. There wasn't any toilet paper or paper towels in the bathroom to use. Michael let himself feel pity for her.
“Do you want my shirt?” he joked.
“Yes,” she answered knowing he didn't really mean it.
Michael took it a step further, pulling off his shirt and holding it out to her.
She looked up at him. “I'm not using your shirt. It's your only one.”
“I'm sorry,” he said again.
“You don't have to apologize.” She looked down and brushed away a stray tear.
“When are you going to start trusting me?”
She shook her head. “I don't know why I didn't tell you. I mean, at first I didn't tell you because I didn't think they would be able to find her and I just wanted to get the translation program. But later, I should have said something. I still didn't think they would find her.”
“You can't underestimate what they're capable of, Jessica. You'll get yourself or someone else killed. I've already done it. My friend Charlie is dead because of me. I have to live with that. I don't want you to.”
Jessica nodded her head and started crying again. Michael took her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. “It's okay, Jess. She's safe.”
Back upstairs, Josh was introducing Jinx to the Gomezes. He was completely taken with her and was trying to be as charming and entertaining as possible. Alonso and Elaina picked up on it and gave each other a look. He was trying so hard, it was actually quite adorable. His efforts weren't in vain. She was quickly warming up to him. Jessica and Michael though soon joined them and spoiled the moment.
“Josh, can you call Martin and see if he wouldn't mind covering for a few hours? I'm going to need your help tonight.”
“Yeah, sure.” Josh looked at Jinx and smiled before tearing himself away to phone Martin.
Michael reached in one of the duffel bags on the floor and tossed a deck of cards to Alonso and told everyone to settle in for a long night. Then he went downstairs to the truck and started unloading the weapons and equipment, setting the bags on the office floor. Josh joined him and the pair spent the next few hours checking over their equipment, cleaning the guns and loading cartridges. Shortly after nightfall Jessica came down the stairs. Michael was sitting on the floor across from Josh cleaning a dismantled assault rifle. Josh was doing the same with a handgun.
“What's up?” Michael looked up at her.
“The Gomezes are going to bed.” She rubbed her arms and took a deep breath as she glanced around at the weapons and ammo littering the floor.
“You should probably do the same.” Michael kept working.
“Yeah, well. Neither of us feel like sleeping. We were wondering if we could hang out with you guys.”
“Sure,” Josh jumped at the prospect of spending time with Jinx. He broke into a shameless smile.
Michael gave him a look then turned to Jessica. “We'll be leaving in a few hours when Martin gets here. Until then, you're welcome to sit with us.”
Jinx must have been waiting on the stairs because as soon as Michael gave the okay, she appeared. She found an open spot on the floor to sit while Jessica cleared a space next to Michael. For the next few hours, they swapped war stories. Jessica and Jinx reminisced of their hacking escapades while Josh and Michael told a few of their tamer experiences abroad. Josh, of course, had to tell the nude beach story again. Michael vowed revenge as they all had a good laugh at his expense.
When Michael and Josh had finished cleaning all the guns and refilling the magazines, they organized everything back into the duffel bags and put them in the garage by the door. They returned to the office and continued chatting with the girls until Martin arrived shortly before midnight.
After briefly introducing Martin and Jinx, Michael suggested the girls try to get some sleep. They reluctantly agreed and went upstairs.
Michael looked back at Martin. “I can't wait to see what I'll have to do to make up for all your help.”
Martin chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. “Nothing a good friend wouldn't do.”
“Right.” Michael smiled, knowing it would be something more than helping him move.
Chapter 66
Agent Gatti was sitting in the conference room with Agent Price, who had been in charge of finding Michael. They were looking over the police reports on the cases they had taken over, trying to make a timeline and gather some sense of what was going on.
“Okay, well Cailen and Lavene have a history. They worked together and were known to have been good friends. So the fact that he was staying with him isn't so surprising,” Gatti was talking the case out loud. “But this Brook Fosters. What was he doing with her?”
“Well, I doubt he was dating her. She's not his type at all. From what I know of him, he'd rather chew off his right arm than be with someone like her,” Price responded. His knowledge of Michael was quite in-depth as he had spent the last four years searching for him.
“So she's an asset. What's he after?” Gatti asked perplexed. “Do we have her file?”
“Yeah.” Price grabbed a file from the middle of a stack on the table and passed it to him. “Her parents are dead. She has an uncle in prison and her brother was in trouble a few times, then dropped off the grid.”
“Do we know where he is?” Gatti asked still looking over the file.
“Yes. I started working on that when Cailen's prints showed up at her house. We tracked him to a small town in Pennsylvania. I have agents on the way.”
“How long before they arrive?”
Price looked at his watch. “Should be any minute.”
“Get them on the phone.”
Price reached out to the phone on the conference table. He hit the speaker button and dialed. Someone answered. “What's your status?” Price asked.
“We're almost there. We just pulled onto his street.” A brief silence followed. “Alright, we're here,” the agent announced. “There's a black BMW parked on the street in front.” The agent rattled off the plates.
“We'll check it out.” Price said as he jotted it on a piece of paper. He waved it in the air to someone outside the conference room and they came and took it from him.
“Ahh, I gotta go,” the agent said nervously.
“What's wrong?” Gatti asked before Price was able to.
“Windows are shattered. Looks like gunfire. We're going to secure the house. I'll call you after.”
“Should we send back-up?” Price asked.
“Negative.” He hung up the phone.
Price and Gatti looked anxiously at each other and the phone.
“Guess we know what he was after,” Price asserted.
Gatti rubbed his forehead and leaned back in his chair. Ten agonizing minutes went by before the phone rang in the conference room. Gatti hit the speaker button.
“We got one dead body.”
“Any ID?” Gatti asked.
“Negative. Looks like he's been dead a few days. Shot in the head at close range. We found an assault rifle close by. Looks like there was an exchange of gunfire with someone in the house. Another weird thing, we thought someone was inside, but it was just a shirt hanging from the ceiling fan in the kitchen.”
The person Price had given the plates to popped his head in the conference room. “Plates are stolen.”
Price nodded and directed his attention back to the phone. “Stay there until we can secure the house. We need to find out who that is.”
“Does he match Cailen's description?” Gatti asked.
“Can't be sure, but he doesn't look tall enough.”
“All right, thanks.”
<
br /> They ended the call and sat in reflective silence for a minute or two.
“I'm tired of being behind this already,” Gatti complained.
“I know how you feel,” Price sympathized.
They went back to looking over the files and reports strewn on the conference table. Gatti picked up Josh's file and looked it over more closely. They knew Josh had worked with Michael which explained why he might go to him, but they hadn't looked any further than that.
“Did anyone talk with Lavene's cousin, Martin?” Gatti asked.
“Don't know. Why?”
Gatti looked up at him. “He's ex-CIA and lives in Boston.”
You could almost hear bells go off. If Michael had sought help from Josh there was a really good chance they would have also sought help from Martin. After securing Martin's phone records, they boarded a plane to Boston.
MARTIN RETURNED home from keeping watch at the hideout and was sound asleep when Gatti and Price arrived on his doorstep. Awoken by the sound of the doorbell ringing, he groaned and rolled off the bed still fully dressed. Groggily, he walked to a window and looked out at the front door. He saw a dark colored SUV with a man in the driver's seat and two men in suits standing at his door. After grabbing a handgun, he cautiously opened the door, keeping the gun hidden.
“Martin Lavene?”
“Who's asking?”
“I'm Agent Tim Gatti, this is Agent Allen Price.” He flashed his CIA badge.
“What can I do for you?”
“May we come in?”
Martin looked at them for a few seconds while he slid the gun into his waistband and covered it with his shirt. He stepped back and opened the door for them. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Have you heard from your cousin, Josh?” Gatti asked.
“Not since the shootout in his apartment. Why is the CIA interested in Josh?”
“We're not. We're interested in who he's helping, Michael Cailen.”
“Never heard of him.”
“When's the last time you saw Josh?” Price asked.
“I don't remember.” Martin looked at him stone faced.
“Well, are we talking days, weeks, months?” Gatti asked with a condescending tone.
“What is this about?” Martin deflected the question.
“We know you're helping him,” Gatti asserted.
“He's my cousin. I've helped him with a lot of things. Helped him move, fixed his car.”
“You know damn well that's not what we're talking about.” Gatti was getting annoyed.
“Honestly, I haven't a clue. Why don't you fill me in?”
“Four days ago, your cousin was involved in a high-speed shootout through town that ended when his car flipped over and crashed. Witnesses say a woman was taken from the car and driven off in a tan Mercedes by men who spoke with Russian accents. The driver of the car, your cousin, then walked away from the scene and was never found. Within ten minutes of the crash, you received a call from a pay phone just a block away from the accident. Would you like to tell me who that was?”
“Wrong number.” Martin didn't even flinch.
“You're hindering an investigation.” Gatti tried to intimidate him.
“What investigation?” A slight smile crossed Martin's lips, knowing they would either have to inform him of what they were investigating or drop it.
Gatti stared down Martin, but he didn't budge. He was debating how much to tell him. “We're investigating the attempted assassination of one of our own.” Gatti tried to appeal to Martin's experience as a CIA operative.
Martin held his ground. “I wish I could help you.”
Gatti was vexed, though not surprised. He clenched his jaw. “Have it your way.” He insincerely thanked him for his time and they left.
“Did you really think he'd tell us anything?” Price asked as they walked down the sidewalk to the truck.
“I want his house and phones bugged, and round the clock surveillance on him starting now,” Gatti ordered gruffly.
Martin watched them until they got in the truck. He grabbed a screwdriver from a kitchen drawer and quickly walked to his bedroom. He unscrewed the cover for a light switch. Turns out it wasn't really a light switch at all but a hole in the wall and the switch was just a disguise.
He pulled out a bag containing two cell phones and chargers. He put the battery in one and plugged it in the charger. He dialed the phone Michael was using. It rang and then went to voicemail. He dialed again. This time, Michael answered.
“It's Martin. You need to get new phones. And I can't help you any more.”
“What happened?”
“I just got a visit from the CIA. They were asking about you and Josh. I didn't tell them anything, but they know I've been helping you. We can be sure they'll bug my house and phones and be watching me from now on.”
“I'm sorry, Martin.”
“I've been expecting it to happen. I was prepared. The agents were Timothy Gatti and Allen Price. You should see if Alonso knows them. They're investigating the attempt on his life.”
“Hang on, I'll ask him.” Michael walked over to the bedroom door and knocked. Alonso opened it. “Do you know a Tim Gatti or Allen Price?”
“I know of them. Why?”
“They're handling the investigation into what happened to you.”
“I don't know them personally, but they both have sterling reputations.”
“So you think they might be the good guys?”
“I would lean that way, yes.”
Michael turned away from Alonso and continued talking with Martin. “Maybe we can use this to our advantage.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I don't know just yet.”
“Well, when you figure it out you can reach me at this number.” He gave him the phone number to the other cell phone. “It's clean. You should ditch the phones you have now. They already have my phone records and they could even be tracking now. I'm tossing this phone once I'm off with you.”
“Thanks, Martin.”
“Be careful.” Martin hung up the phone and removed the battery. He peeked out a window and quickly spotted some agents in a car up the street.
Chapter 67
Agents Gatti and Price arrived at the local CIA office in Boston. They were met at the entrance by a young, eager agent holding a file. He introduced himself as Agent Emmett Ryan.
“What do you have?” Gatti asked.
“They think they've identified the victim at Dominic Foster's place,” Ryan answered as he walked with them.
“Who was it?”
“They believe it's Evan Cutler.” Ryan handed him a piece of paper and watched intently for his reaction.
Gatti stopped dead in his tracks and looked at him with measured disbelief. “Evan Cutler?” he repeated.
“Yes sir.”
“The Evan Cutler?” Price also repeated in disbelief.
“Yes sir,” Ryan affirmed again.
“They're not sure?” Gatti started walking again while looking over the report.
“He's been dead a few days. Single bullet to the head. Won't be sure until DNA comes back,” Ryan answered as they stepped into an elevator.
“Just to be sure, they think this is Evan Cutler, the Ghost Assassin?” Gatti turned to him.
“Yes sir.”
“That can't be right,” Price remarked. “We've been after him for what? Fifteen years?”
Evan Cutler had been a menace to nearly every country on the planet. He was both highly feared and sought after, both by law enforcement agencies and criminal organizations. For different reasons of course. When hired, he never failed. Believed responsible for countless murders, assassinations, and other atrocities, little evidence could ever be found linking him to the crimes and his whereabouts remained unknown. Some crimes they believed he committed without a contract, instead just for the sheer pleasure of it. He was more careless with those crimes and on a few occasions left behind c
ritical DNA evidence that to this day they had no match for. He was a serial killer at heart and he got paid to do what he loved.
They called him the Ghost Assassin because every time they thought they had him, he'd disappear into thin air. As if he were a ghost. Some even doubted his existence.
What no one knew was that he had help from the inside. Morgan always alerted him when he was about to be caught. It was more for self-preservation than anything else. Evan was his personal assassin. His arrest would have been detrimental to him in more ways than one.
“What else did you find?” Gatti asked.
“Cailen's prints.” Ryan handed him another paper from the file.
“Cailen was there?” Gatti looked over the report with Price reading over his shoulder.
“His prints were in the house and the car believed to be Cutler's,” Price said out loud. “Think he killed him?”
“That would be my guess,” Gatti answered. “There were no other prints in the car. Why do they believe it was Cutler's?” Gatti asked Ryan.
Ryan turned his attention back to the first page describing the body. “He was wearing skin colored latex gloves. They were even textured to look like skin,” he added.
“Explains why we have no fingerprints on file,” Gatti deduced. “Think they knew each other?”
“No way,” Price responded confidently. “Cailen is a straight arrow.”
Gatti gave Price a look. “Cailen, who's been off grid for four years?” he asked with a tone of sarcasm.
Price shook his head. “He would go out of his way to avoid civilian casualties, many times putting his own life at risk. There is no way they knew each other, and if they did they'd be mortal enemies, not friends. That's what I'm saying.”
“I agree.” Gatti handed the papers back to Ryan. “So what the heck is going on?”
Chapter 68
Michael finally got ahold of Kevin after several tries. Kevin explained he was in an area with bad reception. Listening to Michael's suggestion that he take the girls and leave the house for a while he rented a remote cabin through one of his companies. Michael got directions and after picking up new cell phones for him and Josh, he took Jessica and Jinx to meet up with him.