Critical Play (Michael Cailen Book 3)

by Mel LeBrun

  “Ana, sweetie, can you try to smile?” He asked again after the third photo of her looking terrified.

  “I don't want to,” she began to cry.

  “I know, Ana. I just need one picture of you smiling. Can you fake it just for a moment?”

  Jessica came out of the bathroom then and saw Tatiana crying.

  “What happened?” Jessica rushed towards her.

  “I need a picture of her where she doesn't look like she was just abducted,” Corvo replied, beginning to feel frustrated.

  “Ana, Mommy doesn't feel like smiling either. But Uncle Lance needs us to smile in the pictures. Can you try to do it for me?” Jessica asked.

  Tatiana looked at Corvo and then Jessica. She nodded even though she still wasn't smiling.

  Corvo held up his phone to take the picture. “Just give me one big fake smile, Ana.”

  Tatiana forced a smile and Corvo quickly took the picture. Her face was a contradiction. Her smile was the first thing you saw and at quick glance she appeared to be happy. But her eyes told a different story, that of sadness and fear. If you covered the smile, her true feelings were plain as day.

  Corvo took a few more pictures of Jessica donning new clothes and a different hairstyle. Afterward, he asked to speak with Jessica alone. Tatiana didn't want to be left alone but Corvo insisted it was necessary. Jessica eventually convinced Tatiana to give her and Corvo just a few minutes to speak. Tatiana reluctantly went to her room and Corvo closed the door to Jessica's bedroom.

  “You need to pack enough supplies for you and Ana to cover you for at least four days,” Corvo said. “Clothes, food, water. Anything that you might need over the course of four days.”

  “OK.” Jessica nodded.

  “Pile everything here in your bedroom by the door. Do not make it obvious you are packing. The men are watching the house. If they see you packing, you're done. Do you understand?”

  “Yeah,” Jessica answered. “Excuse me.”

  Jessica rushed into the bathroom and promptly threw up. Corvo listened from outside the bathroom, unsure whether he should offer assistance. She came out a few minutes later.

  “Sorry,” she said. “Pack for four days. What then?”

  “You and Ana are going to see a movie at three o'clock.”

  “What movie?”

  “Any movie. It doesn't matter. I just need the men to follow you to the theater so I can pack your things.”

  “You're using us as bait?” Jessica asked surprised.

  “No, I'm not drawing them to attack you, Jess. They're not going to take you from a crowded movie theater. You'll be safe. You're more like a distraction. While you're at the theater, I'll come here and get your things. I will then come to the theater and get you and Ana.”

  “That sounds too easy,” Jessica remarked.

  “Well it's not.” Corvo took a deep breath and looked in her eyes. “Michael always jokes that you couldn't lie to save your life,” he remarked. “We are about to see if he's right.”

  Jessica felt her heart pounding in her chest as he spoke.

  “If these guys suspect for one second that you're about to run,” Corvo continued, “they will take you in a heartbeat and there won't be anything I can do.”

  “What do I do?” Jessica asked. “Or not do?”

  “You need to act like nothing is wrong. You need to pretend it's just another day.”

  “OK,” Jessica nodded. “I can do that.”

  “Can you? It may not be as easy as you think it is. You have to act like you don't know they're there. Like you have no idea they are watching you and you can't even appear slightly concerned about it.”

  “I can do it, Lance.” Jessica looked confidently at him. “I have to.”

  “Also, do not contact any of your friends. Do not tell anyone what is going on or what you plan to do. That includes Kevin and Jinx.”

  “But they're going to worry about me when they find out I'm missing.”

  “You cannot contact them, Jess. You put them at risk if you do.”

  “Why does this keep happening to me?” Jessica asked, feeling sick to her stomach.

  “There's one more thing.”

  “What?”

  “We need to give the men a reason for my presence here. They are going to wonder why I'm here. I'm sure they already know I'm FBI and may suspect that you called me for help. We need to deflect their suspicion away from the real reason for my being here.”

  “How do we do that?”

  “When I leave,” Corvo paused wondering how she was going to react, “you're going to have to kiss me.”

  “I'm sorry, what?” Jessica was shocked and bewildered by that statement.

  “It would be better for them to think I'm here because we're having an affair and not because I'm helping you escape.”

  Though it was logical and made sense, Jessica was having a hard time with the thought.

  “Kiss how?” she asked.

  “On the lips.” Corvo said as if it was a dumb question.

  “Like a quick peck?” she asked, hoping that would suffice.

  Corvo let out a sigh. “No, Jess. Like we're actually lovers and you're saying goodbye to me.”

  Jessica stood there for a minute absorbing what he just said. A few seconds later and she was back at the toilet throwing up what little remained of the toast she had for breakfast.

  Corvo was pacing anxiously when she returned from the bathroom.

  “I don't want Tatiana to see,” Jessica stated.

  “Agreed. Are you OK?”

  “I'm fine.”

  “You've thrown up twice since I've been here. I'm really hoping the second time wasn't because the thought of kissing me was that repulsive.”

  “No, Lance. I'm pregnant.”

  “Pregnant?”

  “Yeah. Great timing huh?” She laughed nervously.

  Corvo wasn't sure what he should say to that. “Congratulations?”

  She smiled. “Thank you.”

  Corvo smiled back. “Well I should get going. Can I ask you one favor?”

  “What is it?”

  “Could you brush your teeth?” he asked, slightly nervous about what kind of reception his request would get.

  Jessica found the humor in his request and let out a tepid laugh. Her nerves were shot and the laughter did her some good.

  “Yes,” she said with a smile. “Yes, I will brush my teeth.”

  Corvo felt relieved that she was taking the situation as well as she was. He had been concerned that she would be much more resistant to, or perhaps traumatized by, his suggestion that they kiss goodbye.

  Jessica brushed her teeth and then told Tatiana to stay upstairs while she saw Corvo out. They walked down the stairs together and stopped at the front door.

  “Are you going to be able to do this?” Corvo asked. “It needs to look real.”

  “Yes. I can do this,” she assured him.

  Corvo opened the door and stepped out onto the front step. Jessica came out behind him and shut the door so Tatiana wouldn't be able to see if she looked on from the hallway.

  Corvo pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her. He squeezed her tight.

  “I promise, it's going to be OK,” he said.

  She hugged him tightly back. “Thank you, Lance.”

  “Are you ready?” he asked while still holding her tight.

  “As ready as I'll ever be,” she answered.

  He pulled away from her enough to look into her eyes. He stroked her cheek and brushed the hair away from her face. Her heart beat fiercely in her chest. She felt like she would have fallen down if Corvo hadn't been holding her up. He moved in close and tenderly touched his lips to hers. That tender touch was soon a passionate kiss. He tightened his grip even more on her as they shared a kiss that would make most people blush. Corvo finally pulled his lips away from hers but kept his arms around her. They remained like that for another minute, both of them trying to recover from the
intensity of the encounter.

  Corvo swallowed, still trying to catch his breath and regain his senses. “I think they bought that.”

  “I think I bought it,” Jessica joked.

  Corvo looked in her eyes and smiled. “I'll see you in a few hours. If anything changes or you start to get a bad vibe about anything, give me a call. OK?”

  “Yeah. OK.”

  Corvo stroked her cheek and then, to her surprise, he kissed her again. At the end of the kiss Corvo abruptly pulled away without another word and Jessica was left wondering if the second kiss was for the benefit of the men watching or for Corvo.

  JONES AND Carter were really Osin and Nikonov, men from Dmitri's unit who had orders to track down the fugitives at all costs. They were efficient and highly capable agents. They parked so far from the Cailens’ home that anyone who spotted them likely would never suspect they were watching the Cailens’ house. Even though Corvo noticed the men on the street, he wasn't aware they were watching Jessica until she mentioned that two men had stopped by. It was only then he put it together.

  They watched as Corvo entered the residence and quickly identified him as one of Michael's known friends, Special Agent Lance Corvo. They talked between themselves as to the possible reasons for him showing up just minutes after they had left. None of those reasons was that he was having an affair with Jessica. That is, until they watched him leave. The long embrace and passionate kiss they witnessed was more than convincing.

  As Corvo drove past them on his way out, he pretended to be making a call on his cell phone but instead was capturing video of the men, hoping to catch their faces on camera. He continued another few minutes before pulling over and allowing himself to react to everything that just happened. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he tightly gripped the steering wheel.

  Kissing Jessica unleashed a torrent of emotions he wasn't prepared for. He cursed himself, wishing he could take back that second kiss which hadn't stemmed from any need to convince the Russian operatives of their romantic involvement. That had been accomplished quite sufficiently with the first kiss. No, the second kiss was an impulsive and desperate attempt to fulfill a selfish longing.

  Deep down, Corvo knew he had a thing for Jessica. But being Michael's friend, he suppressed those feelings to such an extent that he convinced himself they didn't exist. Holding Jessica close and kissing her so passionately started a chain reaction that could not be stopped. He couldn't suppress his feelings any longer. They were there to stay and they were more powerful than ever before. Being needed by her only added to the intensity of his emotions. He knew he was in trouble.

  Chapter 10

  In addition to clothes and food, Jessica packed up their laptops and tablets. She didn't want them to end up in the hands of Russian operatives. Even though they were heavily encrypted and would be nearly impossible to crack, she simply felt better having them in her possession.

  She tried to feed Tatiana lunch, but Tatiana was so stressed out she just didn't want to eat and barely took two bites. Jessica tried to force something down herself, but it came back up twenty minutes later. Though she tried to put up a carefree front for Tatiana, Jessica found it difficult to pretend. She was never good at disguising her emotions. So instead she decided to just be honest with Tatiana about how she felt and what they were going to do.

  She called Tatiana to come sit with her on the couch. Tatiana curled up next to her and Jessica wrapped her arms around her and held her tight.

  “Ana, I want to talk to you about what happened earlier and what we're going to do,” Jessica said.

  Tatiana just quietly listened.

  “The men who came here this morning were looking for Dmitri, Ivan, and Timur. They wanted to talk to Daddy to ask if he had seen them but Daddy isn't here.”

  “Why did they want to take us?”

  “I wasn't answering their questions and they got angry. But we don't need to worry about them. Uncle Lance is going to help us get away and we'll be safe.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “I don't know yet, sweetie. But wherever we go, we'll be together. OK?”

  Tatiana nodded and squeezed her tight.

  “I'm scared,” Tatiana admitted.

  “I know, sweetheart. I'm a little scared, too.” A remarkable understatement. “But we're going to be all right. Uncle Lance will make sure nothing happens to us.”

  “When is Daddy coming home?”

  “I don't know, baby.” Jessica closed her eyes and held her tight. “I don't know.”

  AROUND TWO o'clock, Jessica began prepping Tatiana for the movies. She explained that Uncle Lance was going to come get their things while they went to see a movie. She didn't tell Tatiana the reason was because the two men were watching the house or that she needed the men to follow them to the theater. She just said they were going to pass the time at the movies while they waited for Uncle Lance.

  Jessica then began to prepare herself for what she had to do. She needed to portray a calm and cheerful demeanor. Two things she wasn't feeling in the least. The fact that it could make the difference between escaping or becoming a captive didn't make it any easier.

  The time came to leave for the movies and Jessica put on a pretense of being happy and excited. The feeling carried over to Tatiana who smiled a little herself. Jessica unlocked the back door so Corvo could get in and then they left.

  Corvo was down the road in a dark blue Dodge Charger, watching the men who were watching Jessica as she left with Tatiana to go to the movies. Corvo blended in so well with the neighborhood Jessica didn't even see him as she drove past him. A few seconds later, the two Russian operatives passed by following her. Corvo waited until they were out of sight before starting up his car and pulling in to the Cailens’’ driveway.

  Jessica and Tatiana arrived at the movies and bought tickets to a kids’ movie that they had already seen. She tried to avoid watching the front doors for the men who were following her but she found herself glancing repeatedly in that direction. She never saw the men enter the theater and she wondered if they were even still following her.

  They went in to the theater and sat down. The movie started and Jessica kept looking at her phone waiting for Corvo to contact her.

  An hour into the movie and a tall figure entered the theater and began looking up at the moviegoers. Jessica immediately recognized it was Corvo. She grabbed Tatiana's hand and hurried down to him.

  “How did you find us?” Jessica asked. “I was waiting for you to text me.”

  Corvo ignored her question. “My car is just outside. The operatives are outside watching your car. If we leave out the side door, they can't see us.”

  Corvo picked up Tatiana and began quickly walking to the side entrance where the Charger was parked. He placed Tatiana in the booster seat in back and Jessica got in the front passenger's side. Without a word, Corvo drove out of the parking lot keeping an eye out to make sure they weren't spotted. They drove to a shopping mall twenty minutes away and Corvo parked the car.

  “Let me see your purse,” Corvo said.

  She passed him her purse. He dug through it removing her wallet and cell phone and then handed it back to her.

  “Do you have anything else on you that could identify you?” he asked.

  “No. You're holding it all in your hands.”

  Corvo reached into the backseat and handed her a manila folder. “Your new IDs,” he said. “Passports for you and Tatiana and a Michigan driver's license for you. And some credit cards to match although they won't work. They're just for show.”

  “OK,” she said opening the folder. There were two passports and a wallet inside. The wallet was already prefilled with her new driver's license and the fake credit cards. “What do we have for money?”

  He grabbed another envelope from the back and handed it to her. “There's almost fifteen hundred in there. It's all I could scrounge up without raising suspicion.”

  “This is your money?�
��

  “Yeah. I'm sorry I couldn't get more.”

  “I have money, Lance. We can just go to the bank and I can make a withdrawal. You don't have to use your money.”

  “No, Jess. They'll have your accounts flagged. You even step near an ATM and they'll be notified.”

  “This isn't going to last us long,” she stated the obvious.

  “I know,” Corvo admitted. “That's why I think you should go to your father.”

  “Wait, what do you mean? You're not coming with us?”

  “I can't, Jess.”

  Jessica looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown. Corvo left the car and opened her door. She got out and he walked her behind the Yukon parked next to them, out of sight from Tatiana. He took her in his arms and held her tight.

  “You're going to be OK, Jess,” he told her.

  “I can't do this alone, Lance,” she cried. “I'm so scared. Please don't make me do this alone.”

  Hearing the anguish in her voice nearly made him cave. He closed his eyes and squeezed her tight.

  “I want to go with you, Jess. More than you could possibly know. But I can't. I just can't.”

  Emotionally worn, she just cried into his shoulder. His heart ached as he held her crying, wishing he could abandon everything and run away with her.

  “Your father can protect you, Jess,” Corvo continued. “If Dmitri, Timur and Ivan are there, then you'll be even safer. They will look out for you. And your father has all the money you could ever need,” he reasoned.

  Jessica didn't know what was more distressing. The thought of being completely on her own or going to her father for help. She continued to sob uncontrollably in his arms. The stress of the past few days was catching up to her and she was barely holding on.

  “You need to leave now, Jess,” Corvo said softly, although he didn't lessen his hold on her.

  Jessica fought to regain control over herself. She lifted her head from his shoulder and wiped her tears away. Corvo held his arms around her, reluctant to let go. She looked up into his eyes and saw the concern on his face.

  “Thank you for your help, Lance.”

  “I'd do anything for you,” he replied. He wiped a tear from her cheek while desperately fighting the urge to kiss her.