Critical Play (Michael Cailen Book 3)

by Mel LeBrun

  “Jess, said you invited her to go swimming later tonight. I know she didn't feel up to it but I'll go with you if you still want. Although, I don't know about skinny dipping. I feel a little weird about that. I think I'll wear my trunks if that's alright?”

  Hank's face turned bright red and beads of sweat were already starting to form. He looked absolutely horrified. Gloria on the other hand, looked absolutely furious.

  Feeling things were about to erupt, Michael decided he'd better high tail it out of there.

  “Well, let me know.” Michael smiled innocently and walked back to his condo.

  The screaming began before Michael was even able to shut the door.

  “What happened?” Jessica asked as he walked in.

  “Shh.” He gestured for her to come near the door.

  She walked over and they both listened to the heated argument happening just outside.

  “You invited her to go skinny dipping!” Gloria shouted.

  “Baby, I didn't. I don't know what he was talking about,” Hank tried to deny the accusation.

  “Oh, right. Like you didn't give that other girl your cell phone number? She just happened to get it some other way and started texting you?”

  When the argument ended, so did Hank and Gloria's vacation and relationship. Gloria stormed off to pack her bags and since she had paid for the condo, she kicked Hank out to fend for himself.

  “I feel bad, ruining Gloria's vacation,” Jessica said.

  “Oh please,” said Michael as he walked back to the couch. “I did her a favor. That man is worthless. And now she's free of him. As are we.”

  “I almost rather you had just beat him up.” She sat down next to him.

  He squeezed her thigh and smiled at her. “You hungry?”

  “Yes, but we should call Ana before we go. Kevin will be putting her to bed soon.”

  “Agreed.” Michael reached for the phone on the coffee table and began dialing. He handed the phone to Jessica as it rang.

  Ana was short for Tatiana, a little girl they had adopted just over a year ago. Based on doctors' estimates she was approximately eight years old. Michael was part of a rescue operation that saved her from the hands of child traffickers. The authorities were unable to find any family to return her to. When Michael and Jessica heard of her situation, they readily adopted her. She spoke better Russian than English, but after a year with Michael and Jessica, that was beginning to level off. Michael was fluent in both languages while Jessica spoke mainly English though she had picked up a little Russian over the past year. Michael wanted Tatiana to retain her Russian so he often spoke to her in her native tongue.

  Kevin was a close family friend who was more like a father or older brother to Jessica. He had two little girls, Lauren and Emily, who were around the same age as Tatiana. The three girls had become great friends. Michael and Jessica even enrolled Tatiana in the same private school that Kevin's girls went to so that they could be together.

  “Hi, Kevin,” Jessica greeted him.

  “Hi, Jess. How is your vacation going?”

  “Wonderful,” she replied. “I think it's been just what we needed.”

  “That's great. I'm glad to hear it.”

  “How's Ana?”

  “Umm. I need to talk to you about that.”

  “What's going on?” Jessica asked, concerned.

  “Well … the past two nights she's been up crying for you and Michael. I didn't say anything yesterday because I thought maybe it was just the one night and I didn't want to worry you. But it happened last night, too.” “The first night she woke up around one o'clock, crying for Michael. She wouldn't let me hold her or anything. She ended up crying herself to sleep at four in the morning.”

  “Last night she seemed fine after she talked to you but when it was time to go to bed she said she was scared. Again, she wouldn't let me touch her. Lauren and Emily tried to comfort her. They all ended up sleeping on my bedroom floor in sleeping bags. But she woke up around midnight and cried until three. I don't know what to do, Jess.”

  “Oh my God. I'm so sorry Kevin.” She turned to Michael. “Ana isn't doing well. She was up the last two nights crying.”

  “Is she having nightmares?” Michael asked.

  “I don't know. It would seem like she is,” Jessica answered.

  “Let me talk to her,” said Michael.

  Jessica turned her attention back to Kevin. “Can Ana come to the phone?”

  “Yeah, one minute.” He called out for Tatiana to come and take the phone while Jessica handed the phone to Michael.

  A few minutes later Tatiana's little voice came over the phone line.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey sweetie,” Michael said in Russian. “How are you doing?”

  “Fine,” she answered in Russian.

  “Kevin says you're not sleeping. Are you having bad dreams?” Michael continued to speak in Russian. Of the two languages she spoke, Russian was the one she felt more comfortable expressing her feelings in.

  “I dreamed that bad men came and took me away,” Tatiana said as she started to cry.

  “Oh sweetheart, I'm sorry you're having bad dreams. You know Kevin loves you very much and he would never let anything like that happen to you.”

  “When are you coming home?” she asked, still crying.

  “Not for a few more days.”

  Apparently not the news she was hoping for, Tatiana began crying harder. “Daddy, please can't you come home now?”

  Michael's heart was torn to shreds listening to his daughter crying and begging him to come home and get her. He ran his hand down his face and looked at Jessica.

  “I don't know sweetie. Let me talk to Mommy. I'll call you back in a few minutes.”

  “OK,” she said still sobbing.

  Michael hung up the phone and sighed deeply.

  “She's not doing well, huh?” said Jessica.

  Michael shook his head. “I think we need to go back.”

  “That bad?”

  Michael nodded. He looked greatly distressed. “She's only going to get worse the longer we're away. I don't want to put her through that. I'm not going to enjoy anything here after tonight anyway.”

  “We'll get on the next flight out then.”

  “I'll call the airline,” Michael said. “Then we can call Ana back.”

  The next available flight didn't leave until the following morning. Michael booked two tickets and then called Tatiana to let her know she would only have to tough it out one more night. Tatiana said she wanted to wait for them at the airport. Kevin agreed to bring her the next day and that seemed to satisfy her for the time being.

  Chapter 3

  Jessica and Michael wearily boarded their plane. Neither had gotten much sleep the night before. Worried for Tatiana, they tossed and turned. Michael took the brunt of it. He spent the majority of the night keeping Jessica calm. She was a highly emotional person. It was just the way she was made. Everything she felt, she felt deeply. Whether it was love, hate, joy, sadness, or worry, she felt it to a degree beyond what most people would. It was a quality Michael both loved and feared in her. On one hand, it made her an extremely compassionate, loving, empathetic, and kind person. But on the other hand, it was hard to talk her down when she experienced negative emotions like anxiety, anger, or sadness. She was feeling all three presently: Anxiety over what was happening with Tatiana; Anger and sadness over how she had been treated prior to their adopting her.

  They sat in their seats, feeling both relieved and disappointed to be going home.

  “It's times like this, I'm glad we weren't able to conceive,” Michael said, expressing his frustration with the situation.

  The words stung Jessica, who strongly desired children of her own. They adopted Tatiana before they even began trying for children. She was in need and they wanted her regardless of whether or not they had their own children. Seven months of trying for a baby and failing had begun to strain their relation
ship. The purpose of this vacation was to try and bring their relationship back on track.

  Jessica turned and looked out the window trying not to let on how much his remark hurt. A few minutes passed and Michael picked up on the change in her demeanor.

  “I'm sorry, Jess. I didn't mean it like that.” He reached out and took her hand.

  “I know,” she said, wiping away a few tears that defiantly fell. “I know you're just frustrated.”

  “I told you before, I'll go with you to see a doctor. We might have other options.”

  She shook her head. “No. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen.”

  “You're just being stubborn. Why don't you want to see a doctor?”

  She shook her head. It was a question he had asked her many times before but she would never answer him.

  “Jess, you want kids so bad. I don't understand why you don't want to try everything?”

  “Maybe I'm not meant to be a mother,” she tearfully replied.

  “That's absurd. You're a terrific mother to Ana and you'd be a great mother to your own biological children.”

  “Can we please not talk about it?” she asked, not wanting to have a complete breakdown on the plane.

  Michael took a deep breath and squeezed her hand. He sat back in his seat and didn't say anything more about it. Jessica stared out the window as the plane took off. She watched the ground move farther away, trying to clear her head of all the thoughts that were flooding it.

  KEVIN STOOD with Lauren, Emily, and Tatiana just outside the secured area at the airport waiting for Michael and Jessica to arrive. Tatiana bounced up and down like a pogo stick when she caught sight of them. She could hardly contain herself.

  Tatiana looked like she could be Jessica and Michael's natural daughter. She had the same skin tone as Michael and luxurious brown hair like Jessica. With her big, beautiful, hazel eyes Michael knew he would have trouble with boys when she got older. He didn't look forward to it.

  Five feet ten inches tall with blond hair and blue-grey eyes, Kevin had lost a lot of weight with Michael's help over the past year. His doctor told him to lose the weight or start shopping for life insurance. Given that ultimatum, he worked hard and now looked better than he did ten years ago.

  Both his girls had beautiful, long, straight, light brown hair. Lauren was ten with blue-grey eyes like her father, while her sister, who was the same age as Tatiana, had her mother's honey-colored eyes. Unfortunately, Emily never knew her mother. Kevin’s wife had died giving birth to her. What little memory Lauren had of her mother had faded over the years. Jessica was the closest thing the girls had to a mother and they both loved her dearly.

  Tatiana ran to Michael and Jessica as they left the secured area.

  “Mommy! Daddy!” she cried out.

  Michael dropped his bags and scooped her up in his arms. She hugged him tightly back. Jessica put her arms around her and Michael and stroked her hair.

  “Please don't go away again,” Tatiana said as she began to cry.

  Michael squeezed her tight. “We're not going anywhere, sweetheart.”

  “Don't cry, sweetie,” Jessica said. “We're home now.”

  Feeling overwhelmed, Tatiana buried her face in Michael's neck and wept. Michael held her tight, assuring her they wouldn't leave her again. Jessica continued stroking her hair and rubbing her back, trying to calm her down. They both reaffirmed their love for her. After a few minutes she settled down.

  Feeling satisfied with her hug from Michael, Tatiana pulled away from him and held her arms out to Jessica. Michael transferred her to Jessica’s arms and picked up their bags. They walked over to Kevin, who had kept his distance so they could have a private moment with Tatiana. Jessica had to put Tatiana down as she was too heavy to continue holding. She clung to Jessica's legs as they talked with Kevin.

  It was Lauren and Emily's turn to smother them now. The girls adored Michael just as much as they did Jessica. Michael picked up Emily and patted Lauren's head as she hung on him.

  “Rough flight?” Kevin asked, noting their weary and exhausted appearance.

  “Rough night,” Michael answered.

  “I'm just happy to be on solid ground,” Jessica said.

  “She was sick during the whole flight,” Michael explained.

  “You don't usually get airsick,” Kevin remarked, appearing concerned.

  “It's probably just nerves,” Jessica replied. “I didn't feel good last night either.”

  “I hope you're not coming down with something,” Kevin said.

  “Me too,” Michael agreed.

  “I'm starting to feel better,” Jessica said. “Like I said, it's probably just nerves.”

  “Well, you guys probably want to get going,” Kevin said.

  “Yeah, we should get this munchkin home.” Michael smiled at Tatiana.

  “Would you guys like to come over for dinner later?” Kevin asked. “I'm sure neither of you feel like cooking.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Jessica turned to Michael.

  “Sure,” Michael said. “How about six o'clock?”

  “Perfect.” Kevin smiled.

  MICHAEL DROVE down the long driveway of their home in Newton, Massachusetts. It was a large tan colonial with white trim and black shutters. A spacious yard sprawled out behind and in front of the house.

  “Daddy, I have to pee!” Tatiana declared loudly.

  Michael shut the truck off. “Can you wait a few minutes for me to unload the truck?”

  “I have to go really bad.”

  “OK, come on. I'll open the door.”

  She ran to the front door and bounced up and down as she waited for him to get there with the key. He opened the door and she went running inside. Michael stepped over to disarm the alarm but found it wasn't even armed. He let out an annoyed grunt and stepped back out the door.

  “Jess!” he yelled out to her. “I thought you said you set the alarm!” He began walking back to the truck to help her unload.

  Hearing the irritation in his voice, she answered somewhat defensively. “I did.”

  “Then why wasn't it on?” he asked. He glanced in the front windows as he walked down the sidewalk. He noticed the blanket on the couch wasn't folded neatly over the top like it had been when they left. It was bunched up against the armrest and the pillows were rearranged. He stopped dead in his tracks.

  “I don't know,” she answered.

  Realizing there had been an intruder in their house who could very well still be inside and that he had just sent Tatiana in there alone, Michael bolted back into the house. He ran through the living room towards the kitchen where the nearest bathroom was located. In the kitchen he found Tatiana face to face with the intruder. She was frozen with fear as the man crouched in front of her trying to talk to her. He stood up nervously when Michael entered the room. He was tall and well-built with short brown hair and brown eyes. His clothes were clean and in good shape so Michael dismissed the possibility of him being homeless.

  Michael quickly spotted a gun on the kitchen table just a few feet from the intruder. The intruder seemed to be contemplating whether or not to make a move for it. Michael reached for his own gun in his back waistband. Only after not finding it did he remember that he had locked it away before they left for their vacation. Now he was at a loss for what to do. He was afraid to make any further moves towards the man because Tatiana was so close to him. He feared the man would hurt her.

  Even after realizing Michael was unarmed, the man seemed reluctant to go for his gun. Michael wasn't sure why.

  “I'm not going to hurt her,” the intruder said. He put his hands up and took a step away from her. “I don't want to hurt anyone,” he added.

  Michael discerned a subtle eastern European accent in his voice. He began to fear their unwanted guest had something to do with the Russian mob that he and Jessica had just about dismantled a few years ago.

  “Ana,” he called out to her while keeping his eye trained on
their unwanted guest. “Ana, come to Daddy,” he said in Russian.

  Tatiana didn't move. She was petrified.

  “Ana,” Michael called out to her again and took a cautious step forward.

  Just then they heard the toilet flush from the bathroom, and a few seconds later the door opened. Not knowing who else he was going to have to deal with, Michael rushed to grab Tatiana. He picked her up just as the second man stepped from the bathroom. He was the same height and build as Michael, also with brown hair and brown eyes.

  “What the hell?!” Michael exclaimed when he saw who it was.

  Dmitri looked almost as surprised to see Michael. “Oh, you're home finally.”

  Now that he knew they weren't in any danger, Michael turned his attention to Tatiana. He could question and curse out Dmitri later. Tatiana, on the other hand, needed his care. She was completely traumatized, having wet herself upon seeing the strange man in her kitchen.

  “Ana,” Michael said softly. He walked outside with her. “Ana, look at me.” He spoke to her in Russian.

  She didn't seem to register anything he was saying. Sensing something was amiss Jessica was soon at their side. She quickly noticed that Tatiana had peed herself and seemed completely out of it.

  “What's going on? What happened?” she asked.

  “I don't know yet, but Dmitri is here with a friend and they scared the crap out of her,” Michael answered.

  “Dmitri is here?”

  “Yeah, he's inside. I'm going to kill him.” Michael shook his head, furious because of how badly Tatiana was affected.

  “Ana, sweetie,” Jessica stroked her hair. “It's OK. You're safe. Those men are friends of Daddy’s. They're not here to hurt you.”

  Tatiana finally looked at her as tears rolled down her cheeks. She broke down in Michael's arms. Her body went limp and she sobbed into his neck. He held her tightly, reassuring her that everything was fine. After she had calmed down, Michael passed her to Jessica.

  “You want to get her cleaned up while I find out what the hell they're doing here?” Michael asked.

  Jessica nodded. She turned to Tatiana. “Let's get you in a nice bubble bath.”