by Mike Ryan
“Why? What’s up?” Lawson asked.
“I’m just not sure about some things. Something seems off.”
“Did you meet your contact?”
“That’s the picture I’m sending.”
“What are you not telling me?” Lawson wondered.
“He led me to Kurylenko’s apartment.”
“That’s great. So what’s the problem?”
“Well he took off before I went inside. Once I got into the apartment it looked pretty clean, almost like no one was living here,” Cain explained.
“And?”
“And I found some pictures.”
“What kind of pictures?”
“Pictures of me. And Heather. Some of us separately and some where we’re together,” he sighed.
“Oh my God.”
“Yeah.”
“You think your contact knew what you were gonna find?” Lawson asked.
“I’m not sure. Something doesn’t feel right. And if he was sent by Sanders I’d rather keep it between you and me until we figure out what’s going on.”
“We have to tell him about the pictures.”
“I don’t know.”
“If he’s got pictures of you that means he already knows you did it. He’s further along than we thought he was. So that means we’re gonna need the full power of the agency to find his whereabouts.”
“I guess you’re right,” Cain stated.
“If he’s got pictures of you guys that means he’s been in New York in the past couple of weeks. That means we can try to get a trace on him and see where he’s been.”
“My contact said Kurylenko was here as recently as three days ago,” Cain informed.
“Well come back home and we’ll figure it out.”
“What if he’s still there?”
“In New York?” Lawson asked.
“Yeah,” Cain said, thinking about Heather. “I gotta come back now and make sure Heather’s all right.”
“I’ll make sure she’s OK. I’ll go over to your place myself and check on her,” Lawson replied.
“OK,” Cain said.
As they continued talking, Cain kept pacing around the room until he stopped by a table in front of the window. He put the photos down as he leaned over to continue looking at them. The window suddenly shattered, a bullet piercing through it, just whizzing past Cain’s head. The suddenness of the window bursting knocked Cain to the ground, his phone flying out of his hand. Lawson heard the glass breaking and kept calling for Cain though she got no response. Cain slowly got up amidst dozens of pieces of glass on the floor. He felt his forehead and winced, wiping his head and seeing blood on the tips of his fingers. He then touched his cheek and wiped more blood off his hand. A couple pieces of glass had sliced through his forehead just above his right eye and on his right cheekbone. They weren’t deep cuts and were more of just an annoyance to him. He peeked above the bottom of the window to see where the shot came from. There was a building across the street that appeared to be some type of warehouse, though from the looks of its exterior, probably wasn’t being used currently. Cain shook the cobwebs loose and looked for his phone and crawled over to it.
“You still there?” he asked, breathing heavy.
“Yeah. What happened? You OK?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Someone took a shot at me through the window.”
“Are you hurt?” Lawson asked.
“No, not really. Got cut a few places on my head from the glass shattering but it’s nothing too bad. Other than that I’m OK,” Cain responded.
“Did you see who it was?”
“No. Must’ve come from the building across the street. I’m gonna go check it out.”
“Be careful. Keep me updated.”
“I will,” Cain replied.
Cain quickly gathered up the pictures and put them in his pocket. He rushed out of the apartment and scurried down the steps. He exited the apartment building and ran across the street, clinging to the side of the brick warehouse. He pulled on a glass door but it was locked. He peeked in, careful to not expose too much of his head in case someone was waiting to blow it off. Cain pulled his gun out and looked around to see if anyone was nearby. He thought about blowing a hole through the glass but was concerned the gunshot would alarm anyone nearby and put him in a compromising situation. He looked toward the ground and found a loose brick on the side of the building. Cain wrestled it free from the others and in one motion threw it through the door, shattering the glass. He stepped through the door and combed his way through the warehouse, ready to take on anyone he came across. The building had two floors and as soon as Cain was satisfied the first floor was empty he made his way up to the second floor. After a few more minutes of searching, he concluded that the shooter was no longer there. He most likely knew he only had one shot and immediately split whether he hit Cain or not. Cain did fall to the floor so maybe the shooter thought he hit him. Cain sighed as he looked around the empty warehouse and then noticed an open window. He quickly walked over to it since it was on the side the shooter must’ve been on, facing the apartment window. Cain looked over the area to see if the shooter left anything behind. There was a shell casing on the ground that Cain picked up. He looked it over for a moment before putting it in his pocket. He called Lawson to let him know what he found. She instructed him that as long as he had no other leads to follow up on that he was to get back to New York as soon as possible. Cain went to his hotel while Lawson booked a flight for him. She wound up getting him a flight for later that night. Cain worried about Heather’s well being and called her as soon as he got back to the hotel.
“Hey honey,” Heather exclaimed.
“Hey.”
“How’s your trip going?”
“Oh, it’s going,” he told her.
“Well I hope you’ll be back soon. I miss you already.”
“Good, cause I’m already on my way back.”
“What? Already?”
“I’m leaving here tomorrow morning,” Cain informed her.
“Oh wow. I definitely wasn’t expecting you to get back so soon but I love it.”
“I mean, I guess I could stay here another week if you want.”
“Don’t you dare,” she said.
Cain started thinking about Kurylenko and the pictures he had of them. Heather kept talking but stopped after a minute after she realized that Cain wasn’t listening or responding.
“Matthew?” she asked.
“Hmm?”
“You’re not listening to a word I just said.”
“Oh. Sorry,” Cain replied.
“It’s OK. What are you thinking about?”
“Just some things.”
“What kind of things?”
Cain sighed, not wanting to tell her the truth, but knowing he needed to. “Listen, I need to talk to you about something.”
“Sounds serious,” Heather said.
“It is. I want you to stay home from work until I get back.”
“What?”
“Please just trust me,” Cain pleaded.
“Why? What’s going on?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do. You know that,” Heather answered.
“Then just stay home and don’t answer the door or pick up the phone for anybody other than me.”
“Matt, you’re starting to scare me.”
“I’m sorry but it needs to be done. You have to listen to me,” he said.
“If you want me to do what you’re asking then you have to tell me what’s going on.”
“OK,” he sighed. “I’m in Russia trying to find the half brother of the man I killed the last time I was here. Apparently he threatened to get even with the person responsible by killing them and their family.”
“Oh,” she said, stunned.
“There’s more. I found his apartment and inside were pictures of me. There were also pictures of you and of us together.”
“Oh my God.”
“That means he knows where we live. While I was in his apartment someone shot at me through a window,” he told her.
“Are you OK? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. Just a few cuts. I’m assuming it was him that shot at me though which means he’s not there. But I don’t want to take any chances.”
“OK, umm, I’ll call my boss and tell him an emergency came up and I’ll be gone for a couple of days,” Heather said.
“Good. There’s one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I have a gun in the kitchen drawer should something happen before I get there. Use it if you have to,” Cain warned.
“I don’t know how to use that.”
“It’s easy. Just pull the trigger.”
“OK.”
“Heather?”
“Yeah?”
“I work alone,” he told her. “The only other person that may stop by is Shelly. If she does, that’s fine. Other than that, don’t let anyone in. If anyone else stops by and tells you I sent them then you give ’em two in the chest and one in the head.”
“I’m getting scared,” she cried.
“Try to stay calm. I will protect you at all costs.”
“I know. It’s just a little scary.”
“I know it is. But I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
Chapter 8
New York--Cain and Heather continually texted each other on his way back to let him know she was doing OK and ease his concerns. Lawson had stopped by their apartment to stay with Heather and keep her company for a few hours until Cain returned. Nothing happened that was out of the usual but it was better that they played it safe. Cain called them when he reached their building. He just wanted them to know it was him coming so they wouldn’t get a little haphazard with their trigger finger thinking it was someone else. Once he entered the apartment, Heather rushed over to him and gave him a big hug.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she whispered.
“Me too,” Cain replied, giving her a passionate kiss.
Cain looked over at Lawson who was sitting on a chair watching TV. “Thanks for being here.”
“Don’t mention it,” she replied.
“Here’s the casing.”
Cain handed her the shell casing he found from the warehouse so she could take it in to The Center and have it analyzed.
“And the pictures?” Lawson asked, holding her hand out.
“What about them?” Cain answered.
“I’ll take them in too.”
Cain hesitated for a few seconds, not sure if he wanted to turn them over or if he wanted to just hang on to them. He looked at Heather, not wanting her to see them.
“It’s possible we can get some prints off them,” Lawson stated.
“I think we already know who it is,” Cain replied.
“What if we find prints of someone else? Maybe an accomplice or a girlfriend or something. Maybe someone that we can find easily who can take us to Kurylenko.”
“You’re right,” Cain said, handing her the photos so Heather couldn’t see them.
“Sanders might want to see you.”
“I’m not leaving here,” Cain said, looking at Heather.
“I’ll let him know,” Lawson responded, putting her jacket on. “I’ll let you know if we come up with anything.”
“Oh, did you get anything from the picture I sent you?” Cain asked.
“Not yet. I’m still working on it though.”
Cain saw Lawson to the door and thanked her again for sitting with Heather. He then went back to sit with Heather on the couch. Once he sat down she gently touched his face where the cuts were, causing him to grimace slightly.
“Does it hurt much?” she asked.
“Nah. It’s not too bad. I guess I’ll have to put my modeling career on hold now,” Cain joked.
Heather tenderly kissed his cheek and forehead. She worked her way down to his lips and then his neck before Cain pulled away.
“I’m sorry I got you into this,” he told her.
“It’s not your fault.”
“Yes it is. I’m not sure this is gonna work.”
“What?” Heather asked, hoping he wasn’t saying what it sounded like.
“I can’t do this to you.”
“You’re not doing anything to me.”
“By being with me, by being part of my life, I’m putting yours in danger,” Cain said. “I should’ve realized that before. Maybe I did. Maybe that’s why I kept you at bay for so long.”
“It’s not just your choice you know. I have a say in it too.”
“I’m in this life because I chose to be. You didn’t. You’re locked in a room right now because of me.”
“And there’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now than here with you,” she stated.
“You deserve better.”
“All I want is you. My life before I met you really wasn’t worth living. I pretended to be happy but I wasn’t. Now I have a reason to get up every morning. As long as I have you I know we can get through anything.”
Cain smiled at her and began stroking Heather’s hair. He couldn’t remember being with any other women but he was sure it would’ve been tough to find one as devoted as her. He couldn’t imagine someone else being so attached to him even in the face of danger. They began kissing, slowly at first before getting more passionate. They quickly ripped each other’s clothes off as they laid down on the couch. They enjoyed the closeness of their bodies for the next hour before they drifted off to sleep. They were awakened by Cain’s phone going off a couple hours later. He stood up to answer it as Heather rubbed her hand over his naked butt.
“I want you to come down to go over some options with you,” Sanders stated.
“Can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“I have Heather here. I’m not leaving her alone,” Cain told him.
“Well, we still need to talk.”
“Fine. I’ll bring her with me.”
“I’m afraid that’s out of the question. It’s completely against the rules and regulations of this office. Non personnel are not permitted to be here. It’s not possible.”
“Then I can’t come in,” Cain said.
Sanders realized he was fighting a losing battle and knew Cain wasn’t going to go anywhere without Heather so he tried to make a compromise.
“I’ll station a couple guards outside your building and one inside the lobby to make sure she’s safe while you’re gone,” Sanders offered.
“OK. Once they’re here I’ll come in.”
“I’ll send them now. I’ll expect you within the hour.”
Cain got dressed immediately as Heather got up, wondering what was wrong.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Just going down to the office. They wanna talk about some things.”
“Can I come?”
“I’m afraid not. They won’t let you,” Cain told her.
Cain could see a little bit of fear creeping into Heather’s eyes as she wondered what she was going to do without him.
“Don’t worry. There’s gonna be a team here before I leave to make sure no one gets in this building. There’ll be two guys outside and one in the lobby so you don’t have to worry,” Cain explained.
“I probably still will anyway.”
Half an hour later the agents assigned to guard Cain’s apartment building arrived and called him to let them know they were there. He kissed Heather on his way out the door and met with each agent to shake their hand and get an initial impression of them. Once satisfied that they’d do an adequate job of protecting Heather he left to meet Sanders.
Sanders was in his office waiting for Cain and had summoned for Lawson to meet them as well. Sanders had been increasingly relying on Lawson when it came to Cain as he could tell that she was able to get through to him when others had a harder time. He could tell that Cain trusted Lawson more than anyone
, which was how it was supposed to be between an agent and handler, and wanted Lawson there to reinforce anything he told Cain. Once Cain arrived, he took a seat next to Lawson in front of Sanders’ desk.
“So what’s up?” Cain asked.
“We’ve identified some fingerprints off the pictures you found in Russia,” Sanders answered.
“Kurylenko?”
“Not quite. The only fingerprints that could be identified belong to a man named Darren Ackers.”
“Who the hell is that?”
“Small time crook that lives here in New York,” Sanders informed them.
“Am I the only that doesn’t get this?” Cain wondered.
“What’s that?”
“A small time crook, who’s American, is mixed up with a Russian and has fingerprints on photos that I found in Russia?”
“There’s one possibility,” Sanders stated. “It’s possible that Kurylenko, knowing his movements here would be tracked, hired someone to take the pictures. He somehow got connected to Ackers who did the work for him, took the pictures, then sent them to Kurylenko in Russia.”
“How would he get matched up with Ackers?”
“That’s unclear right now.”
“You’re quiet,” Cain said, looking at Lawson. “What do you think?”
“Well, we have no hits on Kurylenko either entering or leaving this country in the past two months. Your contact in Russia said he was there as recently as this past week. It would seem to lend credence to him hiring someone to get him what he was after without risking showing himself,” she replied.
“But how would that happen?” Cain asked again.
“I’m not sure that’s really the question we need to find the answer to,” Sanders answered. “How he got into contact with him is irrelevant at this point. The real question is finding Ackers in hopes he can still contact Kurylenko.”
“Have any leads on him?” Lawson asked.