by Mike Ryan
Cain and Lawson walked out of the room and towards the last remaining door. Cain took a heavy sigh and looked at his partner. They both knew that it was likely that they were about to encounter a lot more resistance. Cain slightly opened the door a sliver so he could see what they were about to run into. A voice grew louder and it was apparent that someone was about to come their way. Cain and Lawson took a step back as the door swung open all the way. Surprised to find intruders, the man reached for his gun but was quickly gunned down by Cain. He fell completely inside the hallway allowing for Cain to close the door again.
“That’s four so far,” Lawson whispered. “How many you think are here?”
Cain shrugged and opened his hand to reveal all five fingers. He closed his hand and put all five fingers up again. Lawson wasn’t sure if that mean he figured ten total or ten more. Either way it seemed a rather daunting task. Cain opened the door and rushed through it and turned to his left as it opened up into the kitchen. Three men were sitting there eating sandwiches. Cain scurried into the room firing his gun, hitting one man in the back, one in the side, and the other dead in the chest. The two men that were hit in the back and the chest immediately died. The one hit in the side fell to the floor but was still breathing. Cain told Lawson to watch the door to make sure they didn’t get a surprise guest. Cain knelt down beside the fallen man to try and get a few answers.
“Listen, from the amount of blood you’ve lost it looks like you’ll live,” Cain told him. “As long as you tell me what I need to know you’ll stay that way. If you don’t give me the answers I’m looking for then I’ll end your miserable existence right here, got it?”
The man nodded. “Yeah,” he answered.
“How many men were stationed here including you?”
“Twelve.”
“Five left. Where’s Raines being held?”
“Basement.”
“Where’s that?”
“Over there,” the man answered, nodding to a door off the kitchen.
“Anybody down there guarding him?” Cain asked.
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“I find anybody down there when I come back up I’m gonna shoot you on the way out,” he threatened.
“No guards. That’s what we were here for.”
“Can he walk?”
“Yes.”
“I assume he’s tied up?”
“Handcuffed. Keys are on hook by the door.”
“That the only door in or out?” Cain asked.
“Yes.”
Cain got up and went to the door and grabbed the keys that were hanging there. He went over to Lawson and handed them to her.
“You go get him and I’ll stay here in case we have any company,” Cain said. “If we both go down there and the rest of his friends stop by and realize we’re down there then we’re all dead.”
“What if there’s someone else there?” Lawson asked.
“Well if you scream then I’ll know someone’s there and I’ll come running.”
“You might here a gunshot first.”
Just as Lawson opened the basement door and started going down the steps, Cain heard the sound of a helicopter coming closer. Lawson flipped on the light switch and raced down the steps. As soon as she got to the bottom she immediately saw Raines sitting in the middle of the room. She glanced around the room just to make sure there was no one else there. There was a hood over Raines’ face and his arms were cuffed behind his back to the chair. She removed the hood, startling him as he struggled with the light. His face had a few bruises on it along with a few cuts and some dried blood on his cheek.
“C’mon. Matt and I are here to get you out,” Lawson told him as she uncuffed him.
“Shelly?” he asked, looking behind him. “What are you doing here?”
“Saving you. What do you think?”
“I had everything under control. I was just about to get out.”
Lawson laughed. “Yeah. I can see that.”
“I was just breaking their defenses down.”
“Come on. We have to hurry. Can you stand and walk?”
“Yeah,” Raines replied, standing up and walking, though a little slowly.
Lawson put his arm around her neck and hers around his waist to help him move a little faster as they walked back up the steps. Cain had made his way towards the kitchen door opening to make sure that nobody entered the hallway they came in at. He’d have hated to have one of them get picked off in an area that they thought they already cleared. It took a minute for Lawson and Raines to emerge from the basement. Once Cain saw them, he rushed over to help Lawson.
“Give me a gun and I can help cover us,” Raines said.
“You can barely walk,” Cain replied. “You worry about getting out of here. I’ll worry about covering us.”
The three of them exited the kitchen and proceeded toward the hallway door. They were met halfway there by another of Raines’ captors. Cain quickly released his grasp of Raines and shot the man two times. The man died without getting a shot off but screamed in the process.
“There goes the neighborhood,” Cain stated. “Get him out! Move!”
Lawson and Raines kept moving toward the door, Cain moving in unison with them but staying in front of them to prevent them from getting hit. Cain heard the sounds of men running in their direction.
“Company’s coming,” he said.
Lawson and Raines reached the door and were able to get into the hallway as Cain knelt down near it. The rest of the men had gotten there and Cain was now in a hail of gunfire, successfully holding the men off. He knew he had to wait it out another couple of minutes to give Raines and Lawson enough time to get to the chopper. Lawson and Raines finally made it out of the hallway and through the back door. Chris had the helicopter sitting there waiting for them. He got out and helped Lawson with Raines as the two of them put him in the back of the chopper.
“Matt, where you at?” Lawson asked.
“Busy,” he replied, still engaged in a barrage of bullets.
“We just got in the chopper. Hurry up. Need me to come back?”
“No. Stay there. I’m coming.”
Cain knew he had to make a move. He dove through the open door and quickly sprung to his feet. He closed the door and ran to the back door. Just as he got there he heard the other door open. Cain turned around and fired, hitting the first man that came through. Cain ran out and raced toward the helicopter. Lawson was tending to Raines in the back. Just as Cain was about to jump in, a man emerged from the back door, ready to fire upon him. Chris had his eyes glued to the door and reached under his seat, removing a gun. He fired a few times, the bullets whizzing past Cain. One of the bullets hit the man in the leg, temporarily stunning him, giving Chris enough time to get the helicopter in the air. A few bullets glanced off the chopper as Chris took it higher.
“Much obliged,” Cain told the pilot. “Didn’t know you carried a gun.”
“Helps to carry in case of emergencies,” Chris replied with a smile. “Never know when you might need one.”
“I can see that.”
“Man, you guys sure know how to operate.”
“We do?”
“Yeah. I hate simple pick up and drop off stuff. No excitement. But you guys…you guys know how to throw a party. I love it.”
“We certainly do.”
“How’s everyone doing? Anyone hit? Any problems.” Chris asked.
“No. We’re all good,” Lawson replied. “Thanks for the assist.”
“Oh, no problem. Like I said, you guys are my kind of people. How’d you guys find me again so soon?”
“Like you said, you’re in the book,” she told him.
Chris started laughing, amused by her humor. On their way to the rundown airfield that Chris was flying to, Lawson tended to Raines. He was taken care of pretty well while he was being held other than the cuts and bruises on his face. His eyes were adjusti
ng back to the light and he felt some strength start to return to his legs. Chris had some water that he passed back to him so he could get some fluids back into his system. It didn’t look like he’d need any further medical attention.
“What were they keeping you for?” Lawson wondered.
“I think they were hoping more would come looking for me and they could take them as well,” Raines answered.
“Well that was a lousy plan.”
“Only because it was you two that came after me.”
“Well, you saved my life a couple of times already. I guess I owed you some,” Cain said. “I think I might still owe you one or two more.”
“I’ll consider us as even.”
It took another hour before the helicopter touched down in the closed off, rundown airfield that Chris kept the chopper in. Cain, Raines, and Lawson got out as Chris was still in the helicopter, powering it down.
“Hey. Here you go,” Chris said, handing a business card to both Cain and Lawson.
“What’s this?” Cain asked.
“Contact info.”
“Thought we already had it.”
“No. Right now you just have a way to get in touch with me via a third party,” he explained. “That right there is my personal, private number. You guys ever need me you let me know.”
“How far do you travel?” Lawson asked.
“As long as I can get there in the air I’ll get there.”
“Good to know. Thanks. Appreciate it,” Cain told him.
“Good luck to ya’s.”
The Specter crew checked into a hotel so they could get some food into Raines as well as figure out a plan moving forward. They knew Collins was supposed to be in Germany but didn’t yet have a lead on him.
“Anything on Proulx’ phone? Like a call to Germany maybe?” Cain hopefully asked though he knew it was doubtful.
“No,” Lawson responded. “Nothing but local calls and texts. It’s possible he had no idea where Collins is. They might not have communicated with each other at all.”
“Yeah. It’s possible,” Cain sighed. “I just wanna get this over with.”
“I know. You know these things take time.”
“It’s also possible that once word of the deaths of Proulx and Booth leak out that an associate may decide to up the process for a financial gain,” Raines interjected.
“That’s true too. Maybe one of Collins men will figure it’s better to turn traitor in exchange for a payoff than wind up dead with him,” Lawson stated.
“But we can’t count on it,” Cain reminded them.
Lawson went back to her computer and started digging for information. She also checked on Bisset to make sure she was complying with what Cain had told her. Lawson had a contact in the Judicial Police that she had asked for a copy of the report that Bisset made. Cain noticed some pictures of the cabin on the train on her computer and took a closer look.
“What are you doing?” Cain wondered.
“Oh, this is the official police report from the train incident,” she explained.
“What train incident?” Raines asked.
“We’ll tell you about it later,” Lawson said.
“How’d you get this?” Cain asked.
“I have a contact in the DCPJ. Told him we were interested in the events though we weren’t involved. Guess I’ll owe him a favor later.”
“What’d Bisset say? They suspect her of anything?” Cain wanted to know.
“No. Looks like she told police a long haired, bearded man in his mid-forties broke in asking about money that was owed to him. When Proulx declined knowing anything, this strange guy who only spoke French started shooting.”
The littlest of smiles crept over Cain’s face as he read along with Lawson.
“Guess you were right about her,” Lawson said.
“She’s probably still in the hospital,” Cain stated.
“Yeah.”
“Can you find her?”
“What? Why?”
“I’d like to pay her a visit,” he said.
“Any particular reason for that or anything?” Lawson wondered, confused.
“She knew Proulx had taken Eric. She knew he placed a phone call that day. Maybe she knows other things.”
“Like whether he knows anyone in Germany?” Raines asked.
Cain nodded. “Yeah.”
“All right. Give me a few minutes to track her down.”
While Lawson tried to find the hospital that Bisset had been transported to, Cain and Raines talked about the mission.
“Want me to go with you?” Raines asked.
“Nah. You stay here, rest up. I should be fine. Not expecting any gunplay or anything.”
“You never know.”
“It’ll be OK. You just get your strength up,” Cain told him. “How’d you ever get captured, anyway?”
“Got a call from an informant that he knew a guy who was willing to meet with me. He supposedly knew where Proulx was. Met with him in the back of some restaurant. Within a minute of meeting him I got jumped from behind and they must’ve injected me with something to knock me out because I don’t remember much after that. I woke up in that place you found me.”
Lawson interrupted their conversation a few seconds later. She’d found the hospital Bisset was staying and wrote it down on a piece of paper, handing it to Cain.
“I’ll be back in a little bit,” Cain told them. Once he reached the door, he looked back at the pair. “Maybe you should use the time that I’m gone to get reacquainted.”
Cain drove to the hospital, which was over an hour away, hoping Bisset would have something for him. Even if it was something that she thought was insignificant, it could turn into the lead that they needed. When Cain got to hospital he went into the flower shop that was located on the ground floor and picked out some flowers. He didn’t know much about flowers but figured the brightest would work the best. He asked at the desk if Bisset had any other visitors and was told that she didn’t. He wanted to make sure they were alone and would’ve waited if others were there.
Bisset smiled as soon as Cain entered her room. Her face lit up at the sight of a visitor. Cain was the first one she’d received.
“Are those for me?” she asked.
“They are,” Cain replied, handing them to her.
“Thank you.”
“Figured they’d brighten up the room a little bit,” he said, finding a chair at the end of the bed.
“I guess you’re here to see what I told the police,” Bisset assumed.
“No. I already know what you told them.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. I read the report.”
“How’d you do that?”
“I have my ways,” he told her.
“I’m sure you do.”
“So how you feeling?”
“Not bad. They said I should be able to go home tomorrow.”
“That’s good. Where you gonna go?”
“I don’t know. As you can see I’m not that popular,” she laughed.
“No friends or family?” Cain asked.
“A few friends but nobody I’m that close with. It’s been over a year since I talked to my parents or sister.”
“Might be a good time to reconnect.”
“Yeah, maybe. I don’t suppose you could use a thirty five year old, plain looking photographer in your life, could you?”
Cain smiled. “I have someone waiting for me at home.”
“Of course you do. I kind of figured you might. Is she pretty?”
“Yeah. She is.”
“She’s a lucky girl,” Bisset said.
“Not as lucky as I am. She’s the reason I breathe.”
“Sounds like a special girl. I’m jealous.”