Black Pawn (Michael Cailen Book 1) (16 page)

“I can do it.  We can look up those case files.  There's
more on the drive.  Code names, coordinates.  I can hack in and we can get the
information.”

“No, you're out of your mind!”  Michael was beyond angry.

“She can do it,” Kevin finally spoke.

Michael looked at him.  “Oh, now you too?  You're both
crazy.  We're not hacking into the CIA.  Especially if it means getting other
people involved.  It's out of the question.”

“Michael, you don't understand,” said Jessica. “These are my
people, we stick together.  They would do anything to help me and Kevin.  We
can trust them.  And hacking into the CIA would be like winning the Olympics of
hacking.  They will jump at the chance.”

Michael rubbed his forehead.  “How many people are we
talking?”

“At least ten,” Kevin replied.

“Why so many?”

“Think of it like a military attack,” Jessica said.  “If you
wanted to go in undetected into a highly sensitive area in a highly secured
compound with guards crawling all over the place, what would you do?”

“Create a diversion,” Michael answered.

“That's essentially the way we have to attack the CIA.  If I
try to go in alone, they'll spot me right away and it's over.  But if they're
being bombarded with attacks, I have a better chance of slipping in the
backdoor undetected.”

Michael was quiet as he considered it.  He didn't like it,
but if they could get into those case files it might shed some light on what
was happening.  “I need to think about it.”

Jessica was hoping for a different answer.  “Michael, I can
do this.”

“I'm not agreeing to it without thinking it over first!” he
snapped. “You push me now, and it's a firm no!”  Still seething that she had
misled him about being able to decrypt the flash drive, he walked to the window
and took a deep breath as he looked out.

“I'm sorry I lied to you, Michael.”  Jessica stepped closer
to him.

“Save it,” he replied angrily, his back still turned to
her.  “You deliberately manipulated me.  It won't happen again.”

His words hit her hard.  She lost his trust and wasn't sure
how badly their relationship was damaged now.

“We're leaving,” Michael announced finally.  He turned and
saw Jessica facing away.  He knew she was crying, but was so angry he didn't
care.

“I'm not sure she should leave with you,” Kevin said.

Michael shot daggers at him.  “Excuse me?”

“You're angry and I don't know you.  She's not leaving with
you,” Kevin said firmly.

Jessica didn't like the direction this was going.  “It's
fine, Kevin.”  She dried her eyes.  “He's not going to hurt me.”  She was more
afraid Michael would hurt Kevin.

“I'd rather you stayed here,”  Kevin said to her.

“She's not staying here,” Michael said firmly.  He grabbed
her arm. “Let's go.” He moved her towards the door.

Kevin put himself between them and the door.  Jessica's
heart started racing.  She knew Michael was agitated and feared he might
overreact.  She stepped between the two men.

“It's okay,” she said.  “I'll call you.”  She hugged him and
he squeezed her tight.  He didn't let her go and she eventually had to push him
away.  He looked worried.  “It's fine.”  She forced a smile.  Kevin reluctantly
stepped aside and they left the study.

“Can I please say goodbye to the girls?” she asked Michael
as they entered the kitchen.

He nodded and looked away.  She went off leaving Kevin and
Michael alone in the kitchen.

“What kind of relationship do you have with her?” Kevin
asked.

Michael didn't want to have this conversation.  Kevin looked
the same age as him, yet was acting like a protective father.  “None.”

“Bull.”

Michael sighed and looked outside. “Whatever it is, it's
between me and her.”

“She's had a lot of bad experiences with men.  She doesn't
need another one.”

“I know.”

Kevin seemed surprised. “You know?”

“She told me everything.”

He wondered if that was true.  It took him years to get her
to open up about her past.  “What's everything?” he asked.

Michael took a deep breath.  “Her parents, the rape, running
away, you, the string of losers she dated ... Everything.”

Kevin stood dumbfounded.  Michael managed to accomplish in a
few weeks what took him years to do.  Kevin felt better about him.  Jessica
didn't trust men, yet she trusted Michael.

“Do you have to leave?” Kevin asked.

Michael was still angry, but it was manageable.  He looked
at Kevin, but didn't answer.

“Why don't you stay for dinner?  I haven't seen Jessica in
so long.  The girls miss her.”

“Where's their mother?” Michael asked.

After a moment of silence Kevin replied, “She died giving
birth to Emily, my younger.”

“I'm sorry,” Michael softened.  He took a deep breath.  “I
guess we could stay.  I just have to make a call.”

Michael stepped outside to call Josh.  As angry as he was,
he knew Kevin and the girls were family to Jessica and he didn't want to tear
her away.  If they were in no danger there was no reason they couldn't stay,
even though he was still livid.

Getting an all-clear from Josh, he informed him of their
plans to stay for dinner and sent him home.  When he came back inside, Jessica
was in the kitchen with the girls hugging her legs begging her not to go. 
Kevin was just about to tell her they could stay for dinner when Michael came
in.

“You tell her yet?” Michael asked Kevin.

“I was just about to.”

“Tell me what?” Jessica asked, looking worried.

“We can stay for dinner if you want,” Michael answered.

“Really?” Jessica was surprised.

“Yay!” the girls shouted in victory that Jessica could
stay.  Everyone smiled.  They obviously loved Jessica very much and their
enthusiasm was infectious.

“I'm going to start dinner,” Kevin excused himself.

“Who is he?” the oldest asked, pointing to Michael.

“He's a friend of mine,” Jessica answered.

“Is he your boyfriend?” the girl asked with a huge grin on
her face.

Michael couldn't contain a laugh.  She was so cute.  Jessica
didn't know how to respond.   Michael stepped toward the girls and crouched
down.

“My name is Michael.  What's yours?” he said.

“Lauren,” replied the oldest.

He turned to the younger one. “And you're Emily right?”

Her face lit up. “How do you know that?”

Both girls seemed enchanted by Michael.  “Your dad told me,”
he smiled.  “How old are you?”

“I'm seven and a half,” Lauren said proudly.

“I'm five!” Emily nearly shouted and then giggled.

Jessica was watching Michael with the girls.  The sight of
him interacting with young children was adorable.

“You want to see my room?” Emily asked.

“Sure,” he replied.

She grabbed his hand, leading him off to her room.  Lauren
tagged along as they disappeared from sight.

Jessica couldn't get over how much the girls seemed to like
Michael.  She had a huge smile on her face.  She turned to Kevin who had
started prepping for dinner, slicing some squash.  “Do you need any help?”

“Nope.  But if you want to pick a wine from the cellar, go
right ahead.”

“I can do that.”

She walked into the finished basement that was almost a
whole house in itself.  She strolled past a small kitchen and dining area, full
bath, a couple of bedrooms, a living room complete with a flatscreen TV and a
small gym to a set of French doors.  Upon opening them, she flicked a switch
lighting up a huge, temperature-controlled wine cellar.  Floor to ceiling wine
racks lined the walls with two stand alone racks in the middle of the room. 
She walked straight to the rack on the back wall and reached up, grabbing her
favorite bottle of Merlot.  She looked over the label and then grabbed another
one before leaving the room.  She set the bottles on the counter in the
kitchen.

Kevin glanced at her selection.  “Merlot, what a surprise,”
he teased.  “Dinner will be ready in another ten minutes.  Maybe you should
rescue Michael from the girls.”

She grinned.  “They seem to really like him.”

“If you trust him, I don't see why they wouldn't.”  He
smiled at her.  “So how close are you two?”

She knew what he was really asking.  He wanted to know just
how romantically involved they were.  She looked down at her hands not quite
sure how to respond.  “Pretty close, I guess.”

“You want to elaborate on that?”

“I think he has feelings for me.  He seems to anyway.”

“Do you have feelings for him?”

She looked up at him. “I think I'm in love with him.”

“Wow, Jess.  I'm not sure whether I should be shocked or
happy for you.  Maybe a little of both.  What is it about this guy that you
trust him so much?”

“I don't know.  There's just something about him.  He didn't
even seem attracted to me at first.  I don't feel like he's trying to deceive
me.”

Kevin took a deep breath.  “Well you seem to have had a
rapidly developed romance.  Try to have realistic expectations, Jessica.  You
still don't know him very well, even if you think you do.  I'd hate to see you
get hurt.”

“It's probably too late for that.  I think I'm already lost
to him.”  Her mood turned somber and reflective.

“I'm always here for you.”

“I know,” she smiled.  “I should probably get Michael now.”

SHE FOUND
him in Lauren's room sitting on the floor
playing with her in her dollhouse while Emily told him all about her stuffed
animals.  His back was turned so he didn't see her.  She stood watching him try
to pay attention to Lauren and Emily simultaneously.  Both girls hung on him
competing for his attention.  It was an adorable contradiction.  This deadly
assassin sitting on the floor playing with two little girls.

Emily finally noticed Jessica standing in the doorway.  “Hi
Jessie!” she yelled, running over to her.

Michael quickly stood and turned looking mortified that she
caught him playing with a dollhouse.  “Hi. Uhh ...  I was just ...”  He
nervously smoothed his shirt.  “What's up?”

Jessica had a huge smile on her face.  She picked up
Emily who was clutching her legs. “Dinner is about ready.  You'll have to put
playtime on hold,” she teased.

Looking at her with an abashed smile, he nodded. 

“Thanks.”

“Anytime,” she chuckled as she walked out carrying Emily. 
“You're going to be too big to carry soon,” she said to her.

“No, sir!” Emily protested.

Lauren felt left out and ran to Michael. “Carry me!” she
said holding up her arms to him.

He looked down at her and smiled.  “Carry you?  Okay, you
got it.”   He picked her up, threw her over his shoulder and started to walk
out of the bedroom.

“No! Not like that!” she laughed.

“Not like what?”  He pretended not to know what she was
talking about.

“Carry me like Emily,” she giggled.

“What? You want me to carry Emily?”

“No,” she laughed as he carried her down the stairs.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs he put her on his
hip.  “Like this you mean?”

“Yes,” she grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck.  They
joined everyone else in the kitchen.  The table was set and Kevin was putting
the finishing touches on the meal.

“Girls, go wash up for dinner,”  Kevin said.

“Looks like I have to put you down now,” Michael said to
Lauren.

She kissed his cheek and he let her down.  She ran off with
Emily into the bathroom to wash their hands while Jessica poured three glasses
of wine.

“They're great kids,” Michael said as he grabbed one of the
glasses.

“Thanks,” Kevin replied as he portioned out the meal on
plates.  “Jessica helped a lot after Tiffany died.  I couldn't have done it
without her.”

Lauren insisted on sitting next to Michael while Emily
wanted to sit with Jessica.  Kevin asked the girls about their day at school. 
Emily got to play with clay during art class and Lauren received an A on a math
exam.  The girls chatted through the entire meal.  They had so much they wanted
to tell Jessica and Michael.  Michael was worn out by the time they finished
eating.  He wasn't used to being around kids.  Especially such exuberant ones.

After they finished eating, Kevin cleared the plates and
told the girls to get out their homework.  Michael looked at his watch.  It was
almost six o'clock.  He still had to drop off his things at the new hideout and
they had at least an hour drive ahead of them.

“We'll have to leave soon,” he said to Jessica.

“Yeah, I suppose,” she frowned.  “Have you made a decision
about hacking into the CIA?”

“Oh, don't you worry.  We'll be talking about that.”  His
tone was ominous.

“Should I be nervous?” she asked timidly.

His eyes locked onto hers and his face turned to stone.  “I
haven't forgotten your deception.  You can be sure we're going to talk about
that too.”

The sick feeling Jessica felt when Michael discovered she
had lied to him about decrypting the drive returned.  Apparently, he had been
hiding his anger well.

Kevin returned from clearing the table and noticed the
tension between them.  Michael looked at him and smiled.  It looked sincere,
but he felt it couldn't have been.

“We have to get going,” Michael announced.

“Is everything okay, Jess?” Kevin asked.  He looked
concerned.

“It's fine, Kev.”  She looked up at him, but didn't smile. 
“I just have to face the music for lying to Michael.”

The girls returned with their homework and were upset to see
Jessica was leaving.  She knelt in front of them and gave them a smile.  “You
know I'll see you both again soon.”

They gave her hugs while Michael stood by the door.

Kevin shook his hand.  “You better take it easy on her,” he
warned Michael.