by Mel LeBrun
They had met under unusual circumstances. Men were hunting him and he rescued her during a failed assassination attempt. He needed to know if they were after her too but, since he had basically kidnapped her, she wouldn't tell him anything. Later, when she wanted to know how he knew where she lived, he told her that she was so out of it from the Vicodin, she talked in her sleep.
“What?” Jessica asked uneasily after seeing the guy's reactions to her comment.
“I'm going to go check on the prisoner.” Martin quickly bailed.
“I'll go too.” Josh swallowed the last bite of his sandwich and followed Martin downstairs.
Corvo couldn't go downstairs so he just left the room and walked to another part of the house. Jessica didn't speak, she just stared at Michael, waiting for an explanation. He felt her eyes boring holes in him. He sighed. They had been through so much before getting married, and again the past few days, he didn't want to lie to her now.
“You didn't talk because of the Vicodin,” he admitted. He carefully watched her reaction. She looked a little angry. “I really hadn't planned on ever telling you, but I suppose you should know the truth.” He took a deep breath. “I drugged you in your sleep.”
“I'm sorry, you did what to me?” Her tone was a mix of shock and anger.
“I did it while you were sleeping so you wouldn't remember and so I wouldn't traumatize you. I needed to know who you were, and you were lying to me. You didn't leave me much choice.” He tried to defend his actions.
“You kidnapped me!” she shouted.
He shrugged. “What else was I supposed to do?”
She shook her head in disbelief. “I can't believe you drugged me.” She turned away from him. After a minute of being angry, she mellowed, realizing she hadn't left him with many options.
“I wish you told me sooner.” She looked down at her hands. “I feel so stupid.”
He stepped close and rubbed her shoulders. “I'm the one who drugged a defenseless woman and then lied to her about it,” Michael said. “Trust me. I come off looking way worse.”
She gave in to a slight grin. “Yeah, you're right.”
He rolled his eyes and pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. “You've been trouble since the day I met you,” he teased.
“I could say the same for you,” she replied back.
Corvo got bored of wandering around and returned to the kitchen after it quieted down.
He smiled at them. “I can't tell you how many couples I know who met through a good old-fashioned kidnapping.”
Michael sighed. That was Corvo's way of saying he wanted to know what happened. Michael didn't really want to get into it, so he changed the subject.
“Lets see what our friend has to say.” He grabbed the paper bag off the counter and started walking towards the stairs. “He's facing away from the stairs, so if you want to listen in, you can.”
Corvo followed him to the stairway. About halfway down, he took a seat on a step. Michael stayed behind Ben while he filled a syringe. Afterward, he stuck it in Ben's neck. Ben protested as much as he could when he felt the needle go in, but it did little good. His cries muffled by the towel, he was helpless to defend himself. Soon it didn't matter. The drug took over.
Michael pulled the towel from his mouth. “So, what's your real name Ben?” he asked.
Ben's eyes were half closed and he didn't respond. Michael tapped his face to wake him up. He looked at Michael, but still wouldn't reply.
“Why were you after my wife?” Michael asked.
The only response he got was a slight smirk.
“You're dying to talk.” Michael smiled at him. “I just know you are.”
“I'm not telling you anything,” Ben said.
“Not going to tell me anything about what?”
“The plan.”
“What plan?”
Ben groaned when he realized he was starting to talk. Truth serums work by diminishing a person's higher cognitive function, thus making it harder to formulate lies or keep their mouth shut. It's not impossible to lie, just more difficult. Since they make the person chatty and less able to think things through, the truth often gets blurted out unintentionally. Throw in an experienced interrogator and they usually didn't stand a chance.
“Come on. What was your name again? Patrick? Austin? Jeremy?” Michael continued.
“You're going to kill me. Why should I tell you anything?” Ben asked.
“You tell me what you know, and I won't kill you.”
“Yeah, right. You're just going to let me go?” Ben scoffed.
“No,” Michael said. “After I verify your information, I'll be turning you over to the FBI.”
“They have people inside the FBI.”
Josh moved casually over to the wall by the stairs, out of Corvo's view. He pulled out his gun and held it ready, nervous about where the conversation was heading and whether Corvo could be trusted or not. Michael watched him out of the corner of his eye.
“People or person?” Michael asked Ben.
“I don't know.”
“Give me a name.”
“I told you. I don't know!” Ben shouted.
“Not good enough, Edward.”
“Eric,” he corrected him.
“Right.” Michael smiled. “Eric. Eric Thompson was it?”
“Ben” cursed, realizing he just gave Michael his real first name. Now he was fishing for his last name. Eric was trying desperately to keep his senses, but the drug was making that extremely difficult. He didn't answer Michael, instead choosing to keep his mouth shut. Or at least try.
Michael decided to try a different direction. “Who hired you?”
“I can't. He'll kill me. He's already pissed at me.”
“Why is he pissed at you?”
“I messed up.” Eric closed his eyes and hung his head.
“What did you do?”
“I let her escape.” Eric talked at the floor.
“You let Jessica escape?” Michael said.
“Well, I didn't let her. I wasn't trying to anyway, but she got away. I was only hired to find her. Another team had been arranged to pick her up, but for a little extra money I promised I could deliver her. I was supposed to drive her to a cabin where they were waiting to take her but I stopped along the way.” Eric seemed to be reliving the experience. “She was so beautiful. I wasn't expecting her to fight back so much.”
Michael wanted to tear his head off. He resisted the urge to beat him senseless.
“You trained her, didn't you?” Eric said.
Michael forced a smile and changed the subject. “Was the cabin far from where you stopped?”
“No. It was just up the road.”
He asked a few more questions about the cabin and worked the address and a description of the place from Eric, who growled in frustration when he realized that he just gave away more information.
Michael stepped over to the stairs and motioned for Martin to come near. Josh tucked away his gun and joined them as did Corvo.
“Lance and I are going to check out that cabin,” Michael spoke softly. He looked at Martin. “Do you think you can keep working him for more information?"
“No sweat,” Martin replied confidently.
“Try to find out his name and who hired him.”
“I got it, Michael.” Martin was slightly offended that Michael even felt the need to tell him that.
“Sorry. You know what you're doing.”
“Michael, I think I should go with you,” Josh butted in. He didn't trust Corvo.
“No,” Michael said. “I want you to stay here with Jessica.”
“Can I talk to you alone?” Josh asked, becoming increasingly agitated. He stared straight at Michael and wouldn't look at Martin or Corvo.
Corvo crossed his arms, suspecting Josh wanted to talk about him.
“Yeah, sure.” Michael walked with him upstairs.
Josh turned to him. “I don't trust this gu
y.”
“Who, Lance?”
“No, Martin,” Josh replied sarcastically. “Of course Lance. He's hiding something. We know the FBI is compromised. What kind of FBI agent condones and even participates in the kidnapping and drugged interrogation of a suspect?”
“One who's a CIA plant,” Martin answered from behind them.
They both turned around.
“What are you talking about?” Josh asked.
“Think about it,” Martin answered. “He talks to someone on the phone for two seconds who claims to be a CIA agent, but gives no evidence to support his claim. He believes him, readily accepts his help, then readily helps us. If he's not CIA, then he is one terrible FBI agent.”
“I don't know.” Josh still had doubts about him. He glanced at Michael, who was remaining suspiciously silent on the subject, and knew instantly that he was hiding something. “You knew, didn't you?”
Michael took a deep breath. “Tim made me promise not to tell.”
Josh huffed and turned away. “I've been on the verge of shooting him for the past hour thinking he can't be trusted.” He looked back at Michael, miffed that he didn't tell him.
“I'm sorry. I promised Tim.”
“Should we tell him we know?” asked Josh.
“Know what?” Jessica walked from the other room when she overheard them talking.
It suddenly got quiet and no one answered her. She frowned as she looked at the three men who were now not so talkative. Corvo came back up the stairs to see what was going on and joined everyone in the silent staring contest.
“What's going on?” Corvo finally broke the silence.
Michael sighed. He didn't know what he should do, but it seemed silly to keep up the pretense of Corvo being FBI when nearly everyone knew he was not. “We know you're CIA,” he announced while looking directly at Corvo.
Corvo's only response was to stand there looking dumbfounded.
“I didn't know,” Jessica blurted out sharply. She gave Michael a look and then joined the others in staring at Corvo.
“Gatti told you, didn't he?” Corvo didn't bother trying to deny it.
“He told me. They figured it out for themselves.” Michael gestured towards Josh and Martin. “Martin is ex-CIA. Josh and I used to work black ops together.”
“Technically, only I figured it out,” Martin corrected him.
“Well I guess I can take comfort in the fact that my cover wasn't blown by an accountant,” Corvo remarked. “Does this mean I get to learn your real name?”
“Last name is Cailen,” Michael answered.
“So I guess that explains the sealed files. For everyone except your wife.” Corvo looked at him.
“It's sealed because of me,” Michael answered.
“Why would the CIA even need someone in the FBI?” Jessica asked. “Can't they just ask for whatever they might need?”
“I really can't talk about that,” Corvo replied.
“It saves the agency from request forms and paper trails. As well as sticky questions about jurisdiction,” Martin answered her, then grinned at an unhappy Corvo.
“No wonder you're ex-CIA,” Corvo snipped.
“I left on my own, thank you. Besides, Jessica is practically CIA herself.”
“Martin!” Michael didn't want him to say anymore on the subject.
“What's that supposed to mean?” Corvo asked.
“Nothing.” Michael said emphatically. “This conversation is over. Martin is going to continue the interrogation while you and I check out the cabin.”
Corvo glanced at Josh, Martin and Jessica. It was obvious they knew the reason behind Michael's defensive behavior. Jessica stood with her arms crossed staring at the floor. Josh and Martin wouldn't make eye contact. He finally looked back at Michael. “All right, let's go.”
Chapter 9
Michael stopped the car roughly a mile from the cabin. He shut off the engine and turned to Corvo in the passenger's seat. “We should probably go the rest of the way on foot. It's unlikely they're still there, but if they are, they're sure to be watching the roads.”
“I agree.” Corvo glanced around. “I'll help you, under one condition.”
Michael glowered at him. “Which would be?”
“You tell me what's going on with Jessica and the agency.”
“Fine. Stay here then.” Michael removed the keys from the ignition and got out of the car.
Corvo was right behind him. “Come on, Michael. What's the big deal?” Michael kept walking. “Don't make me find out the hard way.”
Michael stopped. He turned back around and came within an inch of Corvo. “You need to drop it,” he said forcefully.
Undeterred by his threatening tone, Corvo continued. “I guess I'll just have to start asking around.”
Michael entertained the thought of killing him right there and leaving his body in the woods, but shook it off. His anger at Ben, or Eric he supposed, was causing his adrenaline to flow double time. Corvo was turning out to be a huge pain, but he was just doing his job and he had helped them thus far. Instead, he sighed and began to explain the situation. “You know anything about the discovery of CIA agents who were working for a Russian mob a few years back?”
“I heard about it.”
“Did you also hear about the hacker who broke into the CIA?”
“I heard rumors. Not sure they're true.”
Michael took a deep breath. “They're true. Jessica was the hacker. We were on the run from those corrupt agents and we gathered the evidence to take them down. We're still hiding from the mob. They're not too happy with us.”
“I would imagine. Do you think the Russians found you?”
“I think if they had they would just kill us. Elaborate revenge schemes don't seem like their style.”
Corvo nodded. “There's more to the story, isn't there?”
Michael frowned. “The CIA was after Jessica to work for them for months after all that. She is a highly skilled hacker. Probably one of the best in the world. They wanted her, in a bad way.”
“You were against it?”
“They wanted her to hack into foreign intelligence agencies, embassy emails, terrorist websites, you name it. If it ever got out that she did any of that, there would be no end to the people after her. As it is, we had to go to great lengths to live as much off grid as we could. Most all of Jessica's clients never even learn her name. Everything is done through a company that's run by the CIA. All the money she makes gets filtered before it reaches us so there's no connection. Same with Josh's business. We are in hiding.”
Michael sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Six months ago, I learned she had been doing jobs for them. Tim Gatti found out and told me. She had kept it from me. We had a huge fight. I left for two weeks until she begged me to come back and promised she would never work for them again.”
“Do you think this has anything to do with her work at the CIA?”
“It had better not.” The thought had crossed Michael's mind. Gatti had assured him that he would do what he could to protect her anonymity, but it was not a sure thing. There was only so much he could do.
“Well, now I understand the sealed files. Shall we?” Corvo gestured towards the woods.
They stealthily made their way to the small cabin that Eric was supposed to deliver Jessica to. A dirt driveway led to a charming log cabin surrounded by dense woods. A black Lincoln Navigator was parked out front. A man stood on the covered front porch lighting a cigarette. Likely a lookout.
While they scoped the cabin, a man began shouting angrily inside. The man on the porch turned in the direction of the sound, but didn't leave to investigate. Quickly losing interest, he returned to looking at the woods even though the shouting continued. They were too far away to hear what he was shouting about. Half a minute later, the source of the shouting burst through the front door. The man on the porch became nervous and edgy.
The man shouting was on a phone. Michael c
losed his eyes and tried to listen.
“You vouched for him! How is this my fault? He never arrived with the girl and he won't answer his phone!” The man paced the porch. “We were supposed to be out of the country before her husband got back. You were supposed to take care of that! What happened? Don't tell me that's my fault too!” The man hurled a barrage of obscenities at his phone and then threw it into the woods. He turned to the terrified guard. “Pack everything up, we're leaving!”
The guard wasted no time following the order. He bolted inside, leaving the rattled man alone on the porch. Michael and Corvo looked at each other. Now was the time to strike.
They worked their way around the side of the cabin, using the woods as cover. The man on the porch was leaning his elbows on the railing, resting his head in his hands. Corvo took a position right in front of him and aimed his gun at him while Michael snuck up behind him.
“Psst.” Corvo tried to get his attention.
The man looked up, startled by the sound of someone so close to him. Just as he saw Corvo with the gun, Michael grabbed him, putting a knife to his throat. “Let's go meet your friends.”
Michael slowly maneuvered him to the front door. While he did, Corvo went around back to prevent anyone from slipping out.
The front door opened slowly into the living room, revealing two men stuffing a duffel bag with food and clothing. The sight of Michael holding a knife to their boss was not what they were expecting. One of the men immediately put his hands up and surrendered while the other tried to run out back only to be met in the kitchen with Corvo's gun. He was forced back into the living room.
Corvo held up a roll of duct tape. “Look what was on the kitchen table.”
Michael pushed the man he was holding captive into the other two men. He took the duct tape from Corvo and used it to restrain the men. No doubt its intended purpose was to restrain Jessica. Michael appreciated the irony even if the men didn't.
“I am the husband of the woman you were trying to kidnap,” he announced. The men couldn't have looked more terrified. “Two of you will die, and one will live.” They looked at each other, each wanting to be the one that lived. “The first person to answer my questions will live.”