Critical Play (Michael Cailen Book 3)
Page 8
Michael took two more blows before he could even put his arms up to defend himself. Three more hits and Michael began to fight for his life. He blocked the next move and tried to counter but David had the upper hand. Everything went black with the next blow.
Michael heard Josh through the darkness yelling his name and screaming to be let go. Michael half opened his eyes and saw Josh being held on the floor by David's two companions. He closed his eyes again and tried to move. Every beat of his pounding heart sent a corresponding wave of throbbing pain through his head. He noted the lack of pain as he took a deep breath. No ribs were broken, though he was likely suffering from a concussion.
He felt himself being rolled onto his back. He opened his eyes again to see David crouched next to him.
“That was for my sister,” David informed him.
Apparently David did know about him and Adi.
Michael didn't bother to deny it. “She said you didn't know.”
“I saw how she was after you left and I became suspicious,” said David. “When I checked her phone records, I knew.”
Michael coughed and tried to sit up. His mouth was full of blood.
“Are you going to kill me?” Michael asked.
“The thought crossed my mind. But no. I'm not going to kill you, Michael.” David gestured for his men to release Josh who then rushed to Michael's side.
After a quick check of Michael's vision and comprehension, Josh helped him to his feet.
“With friends like him, who needs enemies?” Josh said to Michael.
“It's fine,” Michael said. “I suppose I deserved it. He did tell me to leave her alone.”
“Why didn't you?” David asked.
Michael leaned on Josh for support as the room was still spinning. “I didn't plan it. It just happened.”
“You broke her heart,” David said angrily. “She was only nineteen. You were her first and you knew you couldn't stay!” David's voice was rising, his anger renewed by Michael's presence.
“You're right. I'm sorry. I should have left her alone,” Michael admitted. “It's one of many regrets in my life, David.”
David turned away trying to calm his emotions. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“We all have regrets, don't we, Michael?” David finally said.
“Some more than others,” Michael replied.
David shook his head. “Adi said you needed to speak with me. What about?”
Not feeling so secure about their relationship anymore, Michael hesitated to tell him.
“If you're not in a very helpful mood, I'll understand,” Michael said. “We can just leave.”
“What do you need, Michael?” David asked, his voice louder than before.
“I'm trying to track down the person responsible for selling a nuclear weapon to a Syrian extremist group,” Michael said.
“You and every other country on the planet,” David quipped.
“They're looking for the wrong people,” Michael explained. “I'm going after the person who is truly responsible.”
“What do you mean we're going after the wrong people?”
“The men being hunted.” Michael shook his head. “They didn't do it. They were framed.”
“By who?” David asked.
“That's what I intend to find out,” Michael replied.
“Why do you believe they were framed?” David asked.
Michael ignored the question. “I need your help.”
David looked at him, wondering how to proceed. Michael obviously knew more about the men they were hunting than he did. If nothing else, he wanted to know what Michael knew.
“What kind of help?”
Michael was starting to feel more and more that coming to David was a mistake. Perhaps it hadn't been worth the risk.
“You know what, it's fine. We can do it on our own,” Michael said. “We should go.”
David's men stepped between them and the door, blocking the way out. Michael looked back at David as if to ask if he was really going to take it to that level. David waved his men off and approached Michael.
“We both want the same thing,” David said. “To catch the men responsible for selling the nuke and to stop the Syrians from using it.”
“What's your point?” Josh snapped, angry over what he did to Michael.
David took a deep breath. “Tell me what you know and I'll see what I can do.”
Michael shook his head. “No. I don't exactly feel all that warm and fuzzy about our relationship.”
“You don't trust me?”
“Yeah, well, you see I have this concussion now, hard to think clearly,” Michael said sarcastically.
“Michael, if I really wanted to hurt you, do you think you would be standing right now?”
Michael thought about it and realized he had a point. David could have injured him far worse than he had. He wasn't suffering from any broken bones or open wounds, and David ceased his attack once Michael was down and out.
“You know I can separate personal from professional,” David assured him.
“I need a little of both right now, David,” Michael admitted.
“OK,” David said. “Let's talk alone then. Just you and me.”
Michael agreed and followed him into one of the bedrooms. The only piece of furniture was a cot which was a welcome sight to Michael, who was finding it exceedingly difficult to stand. He promptly sat on it and rested his aching head in his hands.
“What is it?” David asked.
“The men who sold the nuke were running a sting operation, or so they believed, in order to expose the terrorist group's leaders. The nuke was not supposed to be real and it was supposed to have a tracking device installed so that they could track its movements and gather more intel on the group's members.”
“This is according to who?”
“The men who sold the nuke.”
“You know where they are?”
Michael shook his head no. He still wasn't sure he could trust David enough to tell him the whole truth.
“But you spoke to them?”
Michael nodded yes. “One of them is a good friend, we go way back. I know he was set up. He would never put a real nuke in the hands of terrorists. Even if he was ordered to. He just wouldn't.”
“Dmitri Kirsanov,” David said.
Michael looked up at him completely unnerved by the fact that he knew that. “That's not good.”
“What?”
“If you know that, who else does?”
“Your name was one of many in his file, Michael. I only put it together now as we were speaking. Why does it concern you so much?”
Michael took a deep breath, wondering if he should explain or not.
“I guess I'm just worried for my wife and daughter,” Michael finally admitted. “If the Russians come to question me but can't find me, will they go after her?”
“You're married?” David seemed surprised. “How did you manage that with your line of work?”
“I've been retired for years.”
“So you're not here on orders?”
Michael shook his head.
“Why get involved then? Why put yourself at risk?”
“Dmitri saved my life. And he's been there for me when I needed him. I owe it to him.”
“I see your loyalty hasn't changed,” David remarked.
“Has yours?” Michael asked.
“I'm loyal to my country,” David answered. “But I'm also loyal to my friends. And although I'm still angry about what you did to my sister, you were a good friend.”
“Will you ever forgive me for what happened with Adi?”
“Probably not. But I can look past it.”
Michael nodded. “I guess I can accept that.”
“Does she know you're married?” David asked.
Michael shook his head.
“It's probably better that way,” said David. “Now do you want to fill me in?”
“I need to
get a closer look at a man named Sergey Grekov. He's Russia's Deputy Minister of Defense.”
“Why are you interested in him?”
“I suspect he is the one who arranged the sale of the nuke.”
“And you're basing this belief on?”
“A tip from an informant.”
“I see. Who is this informant?”
“No one I'm going to talk about,” Michael replied.
David frowned, knowing Michael well enough to know he wouldn't get anything more out of him. “How credible is he or she?”
“Very.”
“All right. I'll see what I can do,” David said.
“Can I ask you for a favor?”
“What do you need?”
“Do you have any operatives working near Boston?”
David smirked. “Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer?”
“Can you send them by my house to check on my family? Without alerting my wife. I don't want to worry her unnecessarily.”
“I can arrange that,” David said. “Might not happen right away but I'll make sure they work it into their plans.”
“I appreciate it,” Michael said, feeling somewhat relieved.
Chapter 9
The last few days had been rough on Jessica. She spent her days trying to keep Tatiana distracted from the fact that Michael was gone. They were so used to him being around, it was a strange feeling not having him there. Tatiana did well the first two nights Michael was away but last night she woke up at two in the morning crying from a nightmare. Jessica wasn't sleeping well anyway. It was difficult to fall asleep and she woke repeatedly throughout the night. Emotionally depleting days and a lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll on her. Between her nerves and the pregnancy, she was hardly eating. Most everything came back up and she felt herself becoming weaker every day. She worried she wouldn't be able to care for Tatiana the way she needed.
She was trying to eat some toast with her coffee when the doorbell rang. Tatiana was still asleep in bed but the doorbell probably woke her. Jessica walked to the door and saw two men in suits standing on her doorstep. Her heart raced and she wondered what she might have to deal with now.
“Who is it?” she called out through the door.
“Secret Service, ma'am,” one of the men replied.
“Can I see your badge?” She asked as she looked through the peephole.
The man held up his badge and Jessica opened the door.
“Sorry,” she said. “You can't be too careful these days.”
The men smiled. “We understand.”
“What can I do for you?”
“May we come in?”
“Of course.” Jessica opened the door and gestured for them to come inside. Her nervousness was hard to control and she hoped the men wouldn't read too much into it. “What's going on?”
“I'm Agent Jones and this is Agent Carter,” the first agent said.
The men were about the same height and build with brown hair and brown eyes.
“We were hoping we could speak with your husband. Is he around?” Jones asked.
“Umm. No, he's not here. Is there something I can do?”
“Have you seen these men?” Jones asked as he pulled out pictures of Dmitri, Ivan, and Timur.
She glanced over the photos and shook her head. “No, why?”
“When will your husband be back?” Carter asked, ignoring her question. “It's important that we speak with him.”
Jessica didn't know how to answer but she knew Michael wasn't coming back anytime soon and needed to tell the agents something.
“I'm sorry, he's not around. He went camping in Vermont with some friends.”
“Can you call him?” Jones asked.
“I could try, but where they are there isn't any cell service. I could leave a message but I don't know when he'll get it.”
“So he doesn't check on his family while he's away?” Carter asked either in disbelief or disgust. Jessica couldn't tell which it was.
“They like to rough it,” she replied.
The men appeared irritated. Jones reached for something in his pocket but couldn't find it. He searched his other pockets but didn't seem to find what he was looking for.
“I appear to have given away all my cards,” Jones said. “Do you have a pen and paper? I want to leave you my number so you can call me when you hear from your husband.”
“Umm, yeah. Sure. I'll be right back.”
While Jessica went to grab a pen and pad of paper, the men looked at each other.
“She's lying,” “Jones” said in Russian. “She knows something. And I doubt her husband is camping.”
“Should we take her?” “Carter” asked back in Russian.
“Not right now,” “Jones” answered. “Too many witnesses. We'll come back after dark and take her and her daughter.”
“Sounds good,” “Carter” replied just before Jessica returned with the pen and paper.
What the men didn't realize was that Tatiana had been watching them from the top of the stairs and heard every word they said. She was petrified as Jessica took down Jones' phone number and saw the agents out.
“Mommy!” she called out once the men were gone.
Jessica could hear the fear in her voice.
“Ana!” she called back as she bolted up the stairs. “What's wrong, sweetie?” She crouched in front of Tatiana. “Did you have a bad dream?”
“Those men are going to take us away,” she cried. Her tiny body trembled with fear.
“No, sweetheart. Those are policemen. They're not going to take us anywhere.”
“I heard them,” Tatiana said. “They said it in Russian. I heard them say it. They're going to come back after dark and take us away.”
Tatiana began crying loudly and Jessica knew she was telling the truth. They must have been men from Dmitri's unit. They were good. They didn't even have accents.
“No, Ana. That's not going to happen. I'm going to call Uncle Lance,” Jessica tried to comfort her. She held her hand and they walked together to the phone. Jessica dialed Corvo's number while she stroked Tatiana's hair and back trying to calm her down.
“Hey Jess. What's up?” Corvo greeted her.
“Lance, you need to get over here right now.”
“Is everything OK?”
“No, please come now.”
The tone in her voice struck fear in him. “I'll be right there. I'm only a few minutes away.”
“Thank you.” She hung up the phone and took Tatiana in her arms and held her tight. “Uncle Lance is coming, sweetheart. It's going to be all right.”
Tatiana wrapped her arms tightly around Jessica, numbly sobbing.
Corvo arrived ten minutes later. He rang the bell and waited impatiently at the door. Jessica left Tatiana upstairs as she went to let him in.
“What's going on?” Corvo asked once the door was shut behind him.
“Two men were just here,” she said.
“I saw them,” Corvo replied. “They're up the street watching the house.”
A wave of fear rushed over Jessica and in that brief moment her legs gave out. Corvo caught her and helped her to a nearby chair.
“What happened?” Corvo asked becoming more and more anxious.
“They said they were Secret Service,” Jessica replied in a fog. “Tatiana overheard them talking when I stepped away to get a pen and paper. They spoke in Russian and said they were coming back after dark to take us.” She looked up at Corvo. Her fear was clearly seen on her face.
“What did they want?”
“They wanted to talk to Michael,” she answered. “I told them he was camping with some friends.”
“I'm guessing they saw through that,” Corvo said, knowing what a terrible liar she was.
“Oh my God, Lance.” Jessica buried her head in her hands. “This can't be happening.”
“Well it is. So we had better deal with it,” he told her.
“I most certainly am not,” Corvo replied.
“Why not?”
“For one, they will just send more men and they won't be so polite as to stop by and chat first.”
“What am I supposed to do then, Lance? I can't stay with friends for protection. I'll only endanger them.”
“No, you have to run.”
“Run where?” Tears streamed her face as she began to lose control.
“Listen, I'm going to help you. It's going to be all right. Do you hear me?” He grabbed her shoulders tightly and looked her right in the eyes. “I'm going to help you.”
Jessica nodded and pulled herself together. “OK. What do I need to do?”
“Where is Tatiana?”
“Upstairs.”
“Let's go upstairs.”
Tatiana was sitting in the hallway at the top of the stairs. She had been eavesdropping on their conversation as she had done to the two Russians who were there earlier. She looked worried and afraid.
“Hi Ana,” Corvo knelt down in front of her. “You did the right thing telling Mommy what you heard.”
Tatiana just looked at him.
“You don't need to worry about those two men, OK? I'm going to make sure you and your mom stay safe.”
Without a word Tatiana stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck. Corvo was like family to her much like Josh and Martin were. He picked her up and turned to Jessica.
“I need to take some photos of you and Ana. I don't know if you want to fix your hair or something.”
“Why do you need to take pictures?”
“I'm going to get you some new IDs,” he answered.
“OK,” she agreed.
She turned and went to her bathroom to fix up her hair a little and put on some makeup. She came out a few minutes later still looking frazzled and sick but at least a little more put together. Corvo took a couple photos of her and then asked her to change her shirt and do something different with her hair.
“Why?” she asked.
“So you don't look the same in every photo,” he answered.
She hadn't thought of that. “Oh, right. That makes sense.”
She took a shirt from her dresser and went back into the bathroom to change and put her hair up in a ponytail. While she was doing that, Corvo asked Tatiana to pose for a few pictures.