Critical Play (Michael Cailen Book 3)

by Mel LeBrun

  Michael sat on the bed and clutched his head.

  “Michael do you hear me?”

  “Tim, I can't live without her.”

  “And you're not going to.”

  “If you're lying to me, I swear to God ...”

  “I'm not lying, Michael. Please trust me. And don't do anything stupid.”

  “OK, Tim. I'll trust you.” Michael finally relented.

  “As soon as I know more, I will call you,” Gatti assured him.

  “OK. Fine.”

  “Michael, don't worry. She's in good hands.”

  Michael still wasn't sure if that was true. He hung up the phone without saying goodbye and tried desperately not to have a complete meltdown. He lay back down on the bed and closed his eyes reassuring himself that Gatti was his friend and he could trust that Jessica and Tatiana were OK. By tomorrow, he might even be able to speak to her. He shouldn't let himself get carried away with thoughts of revenge for something he wasn’t even sure had happened.

  A soft knock came on the bedroom door as he was trying to calm his nerves. He opened the door to see David standing there.

  “Everything OK?” David asked.

  “Fine,” Michael answered though he clearly wasn't.

  “Michael, what can I do to help? Something is wrong. Let me help.”

  Chronically gathering intel, David was hunting for information. Though Michael knew this, it still was a tempting offer. If he asked David to look into what happened at Jeffrey Bowen's estate he might get more answers than what he was getting from Gatti and Corvo. But David's loyalties were still unclear and letting him in on that aspect of his life wouldn't be wise.

  “There's nothing you can do, David. But thanks for the offer.”

  “You still don't trust me, do you?”

  Michael took a deep breath and released it. “Good night, David.”

  David frowned. “If you change your mind. All you have to do is ask.”

  Chapter 26

  Corvo left work shortly after his conversation with Michael. He was so anxiety ridden with the whole situation he could hardly function. He sorely regretted not going Jessica when she had practically begged him to. There was nothing he could do about that now though. He decided to head back to the hospital and see if there was anything he could do for Josh or Jinx.

  Josh had remained by his wife's side even as she slept from the heavy medication. He sat quietly watching her, grateful they had found her. Determined to keep her safe, even from herself.

  There was a soft knock on the door before it opened and Corvo stuck his head in the room. Josh got up and met him at the door.

  “What's up?” Josh asked as he stepped just outside the doorway. “Any word on Jess?”

  Corvo shook his head. “Nothing yet. How is she?”

  Josh rubbed his neck and sighed. “If she's not sleeping she's crying. If she's not crying. she's asking about Jess or begging me to kill her.”

  “Still?”

  “I don't know what to do. I'm scared she won't recover.”

  “It's still early, Josh. It will take time.”

  “If something happened to Jess and Ana, all the time in the world won't help.”

  Corvo sighed heavily. “Anything I can do? Have you eaten? Want me to get you something?”

  “That's not a bad idea. You don't mind?”

  “No. You want anything in particular?”

  “Honestly, I don't care. I'll eat whatever you bring.”

  “All right. Be back in a bit.”

  Corvo picked up a steak dinner from Josh's favorite restaurant. He figured it was the least he could do. As he was returning to the hospital, his phone rang.

  “Special Agent Corvo,” he answered.

  “It's me,” Gatti replied. “I have news.”

  Corvo pulled off the road as his head began to feel light, unsure what kind of news would follow.

  “I have a preliminary report on the bodies found in the rubble of Jeffrey Bowen's estate,” Gatti continued. “They have yet to identify anyone, but there were no women or children found. Also, one of Jeff's vehicles was missing.”

  Corvo closed his eyes and rested his head on the steering wheel. It was good news. But it left them with another question. If they weren't in the house. Where were they?

  “They're out there, Lance.”

  “We have no leads,” Corvo lamented.

  “We have footage of Renier at the airport in Winnipeg. We're trying to identify who his traveling companions were. Judging by the body count at Jeff's, at least some of them are among the dead. Perhaps even Renier himself.”

  “Where the hell is she?” Corvo muttered out loud.

  “Any luck finding the informant?” Gatti asked.

  “None.”

  “Probably doesn't even matter now,” Gatti remarked.

  “How can it not matter? What if the informant was Renier, and he has Jess and Ana?”

  “Yeah, I suppose.”

  “You seriously didn't consider that as a possibility?” Corvo asked in disbelief.

  “I guess I have a lot on my mind.” Gatti tried to chalk it up to being distracted.

  Corvo shook his head. “I'll keep you posted.”

  “Same here.”

  Corvo hung up the phone, feeling relieved that at least Jessica and Tatiana weren't in the house, but still worried since there had been no word from them yet. He continued to the hospital to bring Josh his dinner and the good news.

  He knocked lightly on the door before stepping in to Jinx's room. She was awake, crying into Josh's chest as he held her. Corvo placed the food on the table by the bed. Josh just looked at him and shook his head. He was very concerned that Jinx simply wouldn't recover. Corvo gestured that he was going to go back outside and that he needed to speak with him.

  “Jasmine, honey.” Josh pulled away from her. “I'll be right back. I just need to talk to Lance.”

  She slumped on the bed and continued sobbing into her pillow. Josh took a deep breath and followed Corvo outside.

  “Man, I'm so sorry,” Corvo said.

  “It's all right. We'll get through it. What do you need to tell me?”

  “I got news on the fire. Short version, Jess and Ana weren't inside.”

  “Thank God.” Josh was relieved. “So where are they then?”

  “Still working on that.”

  Josh nodded. “Could you do me a favor?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “Could you tell Jinx that? She won't believe it coming from me. But she might believe you.”

  “If you think it will help.”

  “I'll try anything at this point.”

  “OK.”

  Josh and Corvo stepped back in the room. Josh sat next to Jinx, lifted her off the bed and back into his arms. “Sweetheart, Lance has some good news.” He then looked at Corvo, giving him his cue to begin.

  “Jessica and Ana are not among the dead at Jeff's. There was a vehicle missing from the garage. We're pretty sure they got away safely.” Corvo prayed that might give her some hope to hold on to.

  Jinx seemed to calm a little as the news sunk in. “Did they find Dmitri?” she asked.

  “They haven't been able to identify any of the bodies yet. But there were no women or children found, so we know Jessica and Ana are OK.” Though they really didn't know that they were OK, it was better to say that then “maybe they got killed elsewhere.”

  “Where are they then? Why hasn't she called someone?” Jinx asked.

  “We don't know yet,” Corvo answered honestly.

  Jinx began to cry again, fearing the worst.

  “Baby, listen to me.” Josh held her face in his hands and stroked her hair. “Just because we don't know where they are doesn't mean they're dead. They're out there. We're going to find them and bring them home. Until we find them dead, there is hope. You hear me? They're out there.”

  Jinx wanted to believe it, but her heart condemned her for what she had done and her guilt wa
s stronger than her power of reason. She hung her head and continued to cry.

  “Would Jessica want you to feel this way?” Josh asked. Not getting an answer, he asked again. “Would she?”

  Jinx didn’t respond.

  “Please, sweetheart. Try to stop thinking the worst,” Josh begged.

  She took a deep breath and tried to quiet the terrible thoughts flooding her mind.

  Josh kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms tightly around her. “I love you so much.”

  Chapter 27

  The day had started like the others. After breakfast, Jessica reclined in one of the lounge chairs by the pool watching Tatiana as she made jump after jump from the diving board. Jessica didn't know where the energy came from, but wished she could muster even a fraction of it.

  She glanced over at her father, who sat in the sunroom reading from his tablet. Almost as if he sensed she was watching him, he looked up at her. She quickly looked away, returning her attention back to Tatiana.

  “Mommy, watch this!” Tatiana shouted as she did another cannon ball from the diving board. Her head popped up from the water a few seconds later. “Did you see me?”

  “I saw you. That was a big splash.”

  Tatiana grinned wildly and began climbing out of the pool to make another jump when a loud bang stopped her dead in her tracts. The sound was disturbingly similar to that of a gunshot. Jessica looked through the glass in the sunroom. Her father had turned in the direction of the sound, but then turned and locked eyes with her. When she saw his face, she knew. Then she heard more shots.

  “Ana, come here!” Jessica yelled to her.

  Tatiana stood frozen with fear on the other side of the pool.

  Jessica looked back at her father, who had pulled his gun and started firing it. Almost as quickly, he stumbled backward and fell to the ground. He had been shot. There was no more time to waste. Jessica ran to Tatiana and scooped her up. Her adrenaline was pumping so hard it felt like she was weightless. She began running to the barn, which offered the only hope for shelter.

  In the back of the barn, she found a large horse food container and tried to hide Tatiana in it. She thought perhaps she could draw the threat away from her daughter by leaving her out of sight, but Tatiana wasn't having it. She clutched Jessica terrified, screaming for her not to leave her.

  “OK, sweetheart. I'm not going anywhere.” Jessica hugged her tightly as she began to cry herself. She looked around, desperate for some place to hide. She ran down to the basement under the barn and found a room stuffed with old wine barrels. She curled up in a corner with Tatiana and spent the next few minutes trying to calm her down.

  “Ana, we need to be very quiet,” Jessica kept saying. “Please calm down. I'm here. I'm not leaving you.”

  They heard someone in the barn above them. Tatiana cried silently. Her body shook and she squeezed Jessica with all her might. Jessica held her tight and prayed that they would not be hurt. A few minutes passed, and they heard the person now in the basement with them. The door to where they were hiding opened. A man walked in and poked his head around the wine barrels, seeing them curled in the corner.

  A grin crossed his face. “There you are.” He stepped closer and raised his gun to them.

  Jessica pushed Tatiana behind her. “Please,” she begged. “We can't hurt you. Please don't kill us.”

  “I have orders not to leave any witnesses.”

  “Please. I'll do anything you want. Just let my daughter live. She's too young to know anything.”

  The man was either contemplating her request or enjoying watching them suffer. Jessica couldn't tell which it was. His face was devoid of all emotion.

  “I'll do anything you want. Just let my daughter live.” The implication of her words was clear.

  “Tell you what, I will give you the choice. I can kill you first so you don't have to see me kill your daughter. Or I will kill your daughter first, so she doesn't have to see you die.”

  “What kind of a sick ...”

  “Choose, or I will choose for you,” the man cut her off.

  A sick grin crossed his lips as he began pointing the gun back and forth between them saying, “Eeny, meeny, miny..”

  A shot rang out, startling Jessica and Tatiana. The man who had just been perversely toying with their lives dropped to the floor dead. Looking up to see who had saved them, Jessica’s eyes fell on none other than her father, who was bleeding profusely from gunshot wounds in his side and shoulder. The gun fell from his hands and he dropped to his knees.

  “Daddy!” Jessica exclaimed.

  She ran to his side and caught him in her arms. His shirt was drenched in blood and she didn't even know how he made it to the barn in his condition.

  “Daddy,” Jessica cried. “Daddy, don't die! Please don't die!” She pressed on his wounds to try and stop the bleeding.

  He groaned in pain. His breathing was labored and he just wanted to close his eyes. Tatiana stood next to them crying numbly, not understanding why she was calling Jeff “Daddy”.

  “Jess, I'm sorry.” His voice was weak and he struggled to speak. “I'm sorry I couldn't be the father you wanted … or needed.”

  Jessica just cried as he spoke. She wasn't prepared to lose him this soon. She thought she had more time to work though the anger, the resentment, the bitterness. But all that didn't seem to matter anymore. In a few moments, he could be gone forever and none of that would matter anymore.

  “I love you, Daddy. Please don't leave me.”

  Jeff almost couldn't believe his ears. He looked up at her and brought his hand to her face and touched her cheek. “If dying was the only way I would hear those words … then it's worth it.”

  “I'm sorry. Oh God, I'm so sorry.”

  “Listen to me, Jess. I understand why you hated me so much. I don't blame you. It's OK.” He squeezed her hand with what little strength he had left. “Something changed when I learned you were alive.” He looked in her eyes as if searching for the words. “My life became empty. Or maybe I just realized how empty it was. My money, my power … I'd give it all just to have you in my life.”

  “Daddy, if you gave up this life you could have me. I don't even know half of what you were doing and I don't want to know. But if you stopped, if you left it behind. You could start a new life with me.” Jessica could barely get the words out she was crying so hard.

  Upstairs, she heard Dmitri shout her name.

  “Down here!” she shouted back.

  Dmitri found them and began to assess Jeff's condition.

  “Please save him,” Jessica sobbed.

  Jeff tried to push Dmitri away. “Get her out of here. You know more might be coming. It's not safe here.”

  “No, Daddy. We're not leaving you,” Jessica cried.

  Dmitri knew Jeff was right. They needed to leave now while they still could. “He's right, Jessica. We need to leave.”

  “No. No I won't leave him! Please do something. Please, Dmitri. Please don't let him die.” Jessica was near hysterical.

  “Jessica, think about Ana,” Dmitri reasoned. “We can't stay here. We have to leave.”

  Jessica shook her head sobbing. She didn't want to believe this was happening. This wasn't supposed to happen.

  Dmitri tried to escort her from the room, but she pulled away from him. Though unable to speak, she said volumes with her demeanor. Jessica was overemotional under normal circumstances. In this situation, it was utterly impossible for her to think clearly or make a rational decision. Dmitri would either have to accede to her wishes or forcibly remove her. Neither option was appealing. Time was running out and things would go much smoother if Jessica was cooperative so Dmitri decided to give in to her. Or at least, let her think he was giving in.

  “Ivan has been shot,” Dmitri told her. “It's not bad. Timur is tending to him. Send him out here. Ivan will be fine. We will help your father. While we're doing this, I want you to get Ana changed and pack what you can. Everyone else i
s dead. It's just us. Do you understand?”

  Jessica nodded gratefully and tried to calm down. “Please don't let him die,” she begged.

  “I'll do what I can. Now go get Timur.”

  Jessica picked up Tatiana and hurried back to the house to get Timur. She shouted his name as she approached the house. Through the shattered back windows, he could hear her clear as day and ran to meet her at the back door.

  “Are you OK?” he asked.

  “We're fine, but Dmitri needs your help in the barn,” she said frantically.

  “OK. Ivan is in the living room. Can you help him?”

  Jessica nodded. “Yes, I'll help him.”

  Timur was about to leave when he stopped and looked back at Tatiana, who was beyond traumatized. “She shouldn't go in there,” he said, referring to Tatiana.

  “I can't leave her.”

  “Wait here.” Timur went back inside and returned with a strip of cloth. “Ana, I'm going to cover your eyes,” he said to Tatiana in Russian. “I don't want you to take this off until we say it's OK.”

  “I want to stay with Mommy,” she said.

  “I'm not leaving you, sweetheart,” Jessica assured her.

  “Don't worry. You'll stay with her,” Timur assured her as he tied the blindfold over her eyes. He gave Jessica a look, warning her that it was bad inside before he left to help Dmitri.

  Jessica tried to steel herself for what was inside, but nothing could prepare her for what she saw. There were blood trails and bodies in nearly every room she walked through. Horrific would be an understatement. Jessica was immensely grateful that Timur had blindfolded Tatiana.

  She called out to Ivan as she waded her way through the carnage toward the living room.

  “I'm here,” he answered.

  She followed the sound of his voice and found him on the floor propped up against the couch. He had been shot in the leg. Timur had cut open his jeans to gain access to the wound and Ivan was pressing a towel against it to try and slow the bleeding.

  Jessica put Tatiana on the couch and placed her hand on Ivan's shoulder.

  “Ivan is right here. I have to help him. I'm not leaving you. OK, Ana?”