Black Pawn (Michael Cailen Book 1) (35 page)

Agents Gatti and Price arrived at the local CIA office in
Boston.  They were met at the entrance by a young, eager agent holding a file. 
He introduced himself as Agent Emmett Ryan.

“What do you have?”  Gatti asked.

“They think they've identified the victim at Dominic
Foster's place,”  Ryan answered as he walked with them.

“Who was it?”

“They believe it's Evan Cutler.” Ryan handed him a piece of
paper and watched intently for his reaction.

Gatti stopped dead in his tracks and looked at him with measured
disbelief.  “Evan Cutler?” he repeated.

“Yes sir.”

“The Evan Cutler?” Price also repeated in disbelief.

“Yes sir,” Ryan affirmed again.

“They're not sure?”  Gatti started walking again while
looking over the report.

“He's been dead a few days.  Single bullet to the head. 
Won't be sure until DNA comes back,” Ryan answered as they stepped into an
elevator.

“Just to be sure, they think this is Evan Cutler, the Ghost
Assassin?”  Gatti turned to him.

“Yes sir.”

“That can't be right,” Price remarked. “We've been after him
for what?  Fifteen years?”

Evan Cutler had been a menace to nearly every country on the
planet.  He was both highly feared and sought after, both by law enforcement
agencies and criminal organizations.  For different reasons of course.  When
hired, he never failed.  Believed responsible for countless murders,
assassinations, and other atrocities, little evidence could ever be found
linking him to the crimes and his whereabouts remained unknown.  Some crimes
they believed he committed without a contract, instead just for the sheer
pleasure of it.  He was more careless with those crimes and on a few occasions
left behind critical DNA evidence that to this day they had no match for.  He
was a serial killer at heart and he got paid to do what he loved.

They called him the Ghost Assassin because every time they
thought they had him, he'd disappear into thin air.  As if he were a ghost. 
Some even doubted his existence.

What no one knew was that he had help from the inside. 
Morgan always alerted him when he was about to be caught.  It was more for self-preservation
than anything else.  Evan was his personal assassin.  His arrest would have
been detrimental to him in more ways than one.

“What else did you find?”  Gatti asked.

“Cailen's prints.”  Ryan handed him another paper from the
file.

“Cailen was there?”  Gatti looked over the report with Price
reading over his shoulder.

“His prints were in the house and the car believed to be
Cutler's,” Price said out loud.  “Think he killed him?”

“That would be my guess,” Gatti answered. “There were no
other prints in the car.  Why do they believe it was Cutler's?”  Gatti asked
Ryan.

Ryan turned his attention back to the first page describing
the body.  “He was wearing skin colored latex gloves. They were even textured
to look like skin,” he added.

“Explains why we have no fingerprints on file,” Gatti
deduced.  “Think they knew each other?”

“No way,”  Price responded confidently.  “Cailen is a
straight arrow.”

Gatti gave Price a look.  “Cailen, who's been off grid for
four years?” he asked with a tone of sarcasm.

Price shook his head.  “He would go out of his way to avoid
civilian casualties, many times putting his own life at risk.  There is no way
they knew each other, and if they did they'd be mortal enemies, not friends. 
That's what I'm saying.”

“I agree.”  Gatti handed the papers back to Ryan.  “So what
the heck is going on?”

Michael finally got ahold of Kevin after several tries. 
Kevin explained he was in an area with bad reception.  Listening to Michael's
suggestion that he take the girls and leave the house for a while he rented a
remote cabin through one of his companies.  Michael got directions and after
picking up new cell phones for him and Josh, he took Jessica and Jinx to meet
up with him.

Lauren and Emily were all over them the instant they stepped
inside the cabin.  Emily clutched Jessica's legs and Lauren insisted that
Michael pick her up.  They introduced the girls to Jinx and after giving them
sufficient attention, Jessica and Jinx sat down with Kevin to discuss where he
was at with the programming.

Michael took over as sole entertainment for the girls.  They
dragged him over to help them with a puzzle they were working on.  Since he
couldn't help with the programming, he figured the least he could do was keep
the girls occupied and out of their hair.  Plus, even though he wouldn't admit
it, he enjoyed spending time with them.

A few hours passed and the puzzle was nearly finished when
Michael received a voicemail alert on his phone.  In spite of the alert, he had
no signal.  He must have only gotten a signal long enough to get the alert.  He
wandered the house trying to find a spot with reception.  Outside he managed to
get one bar.  He dialed his voicemail.  It was Josh.

I don't know where you are, I've been trying to call
you.  Call me asap!

Michael dialed Josh's number.  “What's going on?” he asked.

“I'm at Mass General with Elaina.  She was having abdominal
pain, fever, weakness.  She threw up and she was bleeding.  I had no choice.  I
didn't know what's wrong.  I registered her under a fake name but I don't feel
safe here.”

“When did this happen?”

“About an hour ago.  They got her in a room for
observation.  They think it was a miscarriage but they're waiting for some test
results.  She might also have an infection.”

“Any idea when she'll be able to leave?”

“I don't know.  We're still waiting for them to confirm the
diagnosis.”

“Where is Alonso?”

“Back at the garage with Eddie.”

Michael took a deep breath.  “I'm on my way.  As soon as you
can leave, go.  Don't wait for me.  If they're watching the hospitals, it's
only a matter of time.”

“I know.  I'm keeping an eye on the room from the hallway. 
I'm nervous, Michael.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.  Did this just come on suddenly?”

“Guess she hadn't been feeling too good the past few days
but didn't think much of it.”

“All right.  It will probably take me about an hour or less
to get there.”

“She's in room 347.”

“See you soon.”  He hung up.

Michael rushed inside.  “I gotta go.  Elaina is in the
hospital. You girls stay here.”  He headed for the door.

“What happened?”  Jessica called out to him.

“I can't explain.  Stay here.”

He was out the door before she could say anything else.

MORGAN HAD
been keeping tabs on the investigation
into Gomez's assassination attempt.  There was a lot of commotion coming from
the conference room they were using as a base and he decided to check it out. 
A man and woman were talking on the phone while another man was looking at
pictures of the Gomez family.

“How is it going?” he asked.

“We might have a hit,” the man answered.

“Really?” he stepped forward.

“Yeah, we got a woman matching Elaina Gomez's description
that just checked into Mass General in Boston.  We're waiting on a photo to
confirm.  They should be sending it any minute.”

“How likely is it to be her?”

“Well, we suspect they're in Boston, so it could be her. 
Though I'm not really expecting it to be.  Can't imagine getting that lucky,”
he shrugged.

Morgan nodded, then left.  Once clear of the room, he made a
bee line to his car.  He grabbed the cell phone from his glove box and popped
the battery in.  He quickly dialed Milovich.

“It's me.  You have to act fast.  There's a chance Cailen is
at Mass General Hospital in Boston.  If he is, the CIA will be all over it
soon.  You need to get there first.  I'll call you if I learn more.”

He closed the phone and took a deep breath.  He slipped it
into his pocket and walked back to his office.  After ten minutes of tapping a
pen on his desk he went back to see if they had confirmed it was Elaina.

The room was buzzing.  The agent Morgan had spoken with was
on the phone.  He just asked to speak with Agent Gatti.  Morgan hovered nearby
so he could eavesdrop on the conversation.

“We have visual confirmation of Elaina Gomez at Mass General
in Boston.  She's in room 347...”

Morgan slowly eased his way out of the room and hurried back
to his office while dialing Milovich again.  “Room 347.  Make sure your guys
don't blow it.”

Milovich's men were already at the hospital.  Dmitri and
Andrei were also on their way.  The men were given orders to blend in until
they saw Michael.

MICHAEL ARRIVED
at the hospital and quickly navigated
to room 347.  He tried his best to avoid security cameras, but couldn't do
anything about the hidden ones.  He figured he wouldn't be there long enough
for it to matter anyway.

Elaina was sitting up in bed crying.  He walked to her
side.  “How are you doing?”

“The doctor just left.  I had a miscarriage and I have a
mild infection.  He's prescribing antibiotics and bed rest.”  She wiped more
tears away.

“I'm sorry.”

“It's not my first one.  Though they were never this bad,”
she tried to brush it off.

“I'm still sorry.”

She gave in to a weak smile.  “Thank you.”

“We need to go now.  Can you get up?”

She nodded.

“Do you need help getting dressed?”

“No, I'm okay.”

Michael turned to give her some space when the door to the
room opened and an orderly entered.  He had an intense look on his face as he
walked towards them, like he was on a mission.  He raised his arm, and it was
then Michael saw the gun.  He knew in that moment it was over.  It happened too
fast.  He wasn't prepared, and there wasn't enough time to react.  A shot rang
out and the man fell to the floor lifeless.

There Josh stood with his own gun drawn.  “I think it's time
to go.”

He was watching the door when Michael entered the room.  He
noticed an orderly acting strange and followed him into the room.  The man had
tunnel vision, not even noticing Josh behind him.  As soon as Josh saw the gun,
he quickly pulled his own and shot the man in the head before he could fire.

Michael turned to Elaina and told her to quickly get
dressed.  He tossed Josh the truck keys and asked him to get the it ready for
them.  Josh took off and Michael drew his gun.  Elaina got dressed faster than
she ever had before in her life.  Michael took her hand and walked to the
door.  He peeked out of the room.  Screams of panic filled the air as people
scattered trying to find cover.  All but one, who seemed focused on their
doorway.  Michael readied himself and opened the door a little more.  The man
raised a gun and shot at them.  Michael returned fire, putting three shots into
his chest.  He fell backwards onto a cart.

They ran out, quickly making their way down the hallway. 
Another man appeared at the end of the hall and looked right at them.  He
pulled a gun, but without even slowing down, Michael shot him before he could
even aim.  Screams filled the air.

They reached the doors at the end of the hall and spotted
four security guards running towards them.  Michael didn't want to go through
them.  He grabbed Elaina's hand and ran in the other direction.  They dashed
down another hallway and came to another set of doors.  He saw two security
guards advancing towards them.  He didn't have a choice.  He was going to have
to take them out.

He stationed Elaina in a nearby room and hid until the
guards came through the doors.  After a brief scuffle, the men were
unconscious.  He grabbed Elaina and they continued making their way towards a
stairwell to get down to the ground floor.

AGENTS GATTI
and Price, along with a small team of
agents, arrived just as the shooting broke out.  It was sheer chaos.  They
headed straight for the security office and Gatti introduced himself to the
head man, who was himself in a state of panic and confusion.

“What is going on here?” Gatti asked.

“Damned if I know,” he replied.  “We got reports of shots
fired on the third floor.  So far at least three confirmed dead.”

One of the agents looked over the security footage of the
shootout.  “Sir.  It's him.”  He turned to Gatti.  “And we have company.”

“What do you mean?”  He turned to look at the video footage.

The agent replayed one of the shootings.  He pointed to a
man firing at Elaina's room before being shot by Michael.

“He's shooting in self-defense,” Gatti said.

“Yes, and he avoided a group of security guards,” the agent
observed.

“Tell your men, no lethal fire,”  Gatti demanded.

“What?  He's shot three people!”

“In self-defense.  Tell your men or have them stand down.” 
Gatti spoke with an authority that was hard to ignore.

Reluctantly, he picked up his two-way radio and ordered his
men not to use lethal fire.  He gave Gatti a look like he still wasn't sure it
was a good idea.

“How long before the police arrive?” Gatti asked.

“Hopefully, only a few minutes.”

“I want this place locked down.  No one in or out.”

Gatti turned to the agent who was watching the video feed. 
“Stay here and keep me updated.”  He turned to the rest of the men.  “Let's
go!  I want them alive.”

Michael and Elaina were still trying to get to the ground
floor while dodging security and assassins.  Michael began shooting out cameras
to make it harder to track their movements.  He was going through bullets
quickly.

They came to a spacious area with a large nurses' station
and waiting room.  It was deserted and Michael was uneasy about walking out
into it.  It felt like a trap.  He carefully scanned the area, spotting a
terrified nurse cowering under a counter.  She looked right at him and shook
her head as if warning him.  The security cameras had already been taken out. 
It was a trap.

He leaned back against the wall and turned to Elaina.  “It's
going to get bad right now.”  He looked back in the room and then again at
Elaina.  “Stay here.  If something happens to me.  Get away from here as fast
as possible.  Find a security guard or get to an exit.  Just don't stick
around.  Okay?”

Elaina tried to nod.  She was terrified and silently crying.

Michael took a few long deep breaths and then made his
move.  He jumped out into the room and men started coming out of the woodwork
firing at him.  He took one guy out right away before ducking behind a
counter.  An onslaught of bullets continued in his direction.  He waited for a
lull and then moved again.  He got an opening on another man who had just stood
up from behind the counter.  He shot him once in the head and took cover
again.  He was closer to the nurse now who looked even more terrified than
before.  By Michael's count, there were only two left.

It was a stand-off.  The other men became fearful since
Michael had so easily picked off the first two.  He didn't have time for this
though.  Once the police locked down the building, it would be impossible to
escape.

He checked the ammo in his clip.  Only three bullets left. 
He swapped it for a fresh one he had in his side pocket and removed the three
remaining bullets.  He peeked around the corner.  Coast was clear.  This was
it.  Make or break time.

He threw the empty clip and then hurried across the room
after it.  He hoped it would distract them just long enough for him to get an
edge.  It worked.  In the split second they turned to look at the clip, he was
on top of them.  Two bullets and it was done.

He called to Elaina and they were on their way again. 
Things were heating up though.  Security was everywhere.  They made it to the
stairwell and down to the ground floor, but it was crawling with guards and
police.  They had to find another way out.  They started back up the stairs but
a patrol came out of the second floor and they were forced to go down to the
basement level.

Michael tucked his gun in his waistband as they walked down
the hall.  He snatched a lab coat from a room they passed and put it on.  He
next grabbed a clipboard off a counter and every so often pretended to be
looking at it.  The whole level seemed to be deserted though so it wasn't
really necessary.  He was hoping to find an access point to a parking garage or
something.  He wasn't familiar with the hospital though and neither was Elaina.

They ducked into a room and Michael closed the door.  He
pulled out his cell and called Josh.

“You're not out yet,”  Josh remarked.

“No.  The ground floor is crawling with security.  I need
another way out.  Do you know your way around here?”

“A little.  Where are you?”

“Basement.”

“Are you serious?  What are you doing there?”

“Josh.”

“Yeah, okay.  Umm ...”  There was a long pause.  “Find the
kitchen.  They should have a separate access point.”

Michael sighed in frustration.

“There's one more thing.  I passed Dmitri on my way out.  He
had someone with him.”

“Andrei.  Dammit.”

“Friend of yours?”

“Dmitri asked me not to kill him.  He wants to take him in
alive.”

“Well maybe they gave up and left with all the heat in that
place.”

“Maybe. All right, I'll try to find the kitchen.  Hopefully
we'll make it out of here.”

He hung up and slipped the phone back in his pocket.   They
stepped out of the room and started walking again.  A security guard popped out
of a doorway ahead of them and started walking in their direction.  There
wasn't anything they could do but keep walking as if nothing was wrong. 
Michael thought to himself that the guard must have lost a lot of weight
recently because his uniform looked too big for him.  He tried to remain calm
as the guard got closer.  The guard didn't even seemed concerned with them
which made Michael somewhat suspicious.  Michael pretended to be looking down
at his clipboard as they passed and noticed the guard's shoes.  There was no
doubt they were Russian military issue.  He put it all together and turned
around just as Andrei was pulling his gun.

Michael lunged at him, knocking him to the ground.  Andrei
lost grip of his gun and it slid across the floor.  He turned his attention
back to Michael and a fierce battle ensued.  No matter what he did, Andrei just
couldn't get a good hit on Michael.  He tried repeatedly to get to his gun and
even tried to take Michael's gun.  Michael just kept disarming him.  He pulled
a knife and tried grabbing nearby objects to use as weapons, but nothing lasted
longer than a few seconds in his hands.  Eventually, Andrei had been hit in the
head so many times he couldn't see straight.

He tried in vain to get the upper hand, but he was no match
for Michael.  Finally falling to his knees, he slouched against the wall.  He
looked up at Michael.  He thought he was imagining things because he swore he
saw Dmitri standing next to him.  But then he spoke to him.

“I told you.  You have never killed a man like Michael
Cailen.”

Michael looked at Dmitri.  “How long were you there?” he
asked, still trying to catch his breath.

“The whole time,”  he smiled.

“This whole time? Why didn't you step in?” he asked annoyed.

“You looked like you were doing fine.”

“Had nothing to do with your ego?”

“Well, maybe a little,” he grinned.  Michael shook his head.

Andrei couldn't believe his eyes or ears.  “How could you
betray us?” he asked.

Dmitri knelt down in front of him.  “In order to betray you,
I would have to of been on your side, comrade.”  He smiled.  “I was never on
your side.”

Andrei clenched his jaw and called him some nasty names in
Russian.  Dmitri just smiled and stuck him with a syringe full of Valium.

Michael looked around at the cameras.  “Why is no security
coming?” he pondered out loud.

“They are offline at the moment.”

Michael looked at him.  “You did that?”

“You can thank me later.”

Michael frowned.  “I wasted all kinds of ammo shooting those
things out.”

Dmitri chuckled.  “Shall we get out of here?”

“You know a way out?”

“There is a service entrance not far.  My extraction team is
here.  They will clear the way.  Oh and your CIA is here.  Might get messy if
you are spotted.  We should hurry.”   He grabbed Andrei's phone and dialed his
extraction team to let them know he was coming.  He looked back at Michael and
pointed to Andrei.  “Could you bring him?”  He turned and started walking
away.  Michael looked down at Andrei and then back at Dmitri and then at Elaina
who just shrugged.  Michael wasn't thrilled with the assignment, but Dmitri was
his ticket out.  He pulled Andrei up over his shoulders and followed Dmitri.

“Any reason you chose now to extract him?  Not exactly great
timing,”  Michael complained.

“The team was standing by, but I had not been able to get
away from Andrei long enough to call in and let them know where we were.  When
he broke off to search for you, it was the first chance I had.  Then I just
followed him, waiting for a good opportunity to subdue him.”  He looked at
Michael and smiled.  “You did that nicely.”

“You're welcome,”  Michael replied sarcastically as he
adjusted Andrei on his shoulders. “How did you know I was here?”

“Morgan tipped off Milovich.” Dmitri kept walking.

“I really hate that guy.”

They arrived at the service entrance in under ten minutes,
dodging a couple patrols along the way.  There was a security guard posted at
the door, but Dmitri kept walking unconcerned.  The guard smiled at them and
greeted Dmitri in Russian.  Guess this was his extraction team.

The guard opened the door and two men dressed as paramedics
relieved Michael of Andrei. They put him on a stretcher and loaded him into an
ambulance.

Dmitri turned to Michael.  “They can take your friend.”  He
gestured towards Elaina. “She won't raise much suspicion if they get stopped. 
But as for you and me, we are on our own.”

Michael nodded and told Elaina to go with them.  She was
hesitant, but Michael assured her she would be safe with them and that he'd
meet up with her later.  She nervously climbed into the back of the ambulance
and they were off.

“If you don't hear from me, then you will have to get her to
Josh.” 

After giving Dmitri Josh's number Michael called Josh and
told him where he was.  As they were speaking, a police cruiser pulled up to
the door and stopped.  The Russian operative dressed as a security guard went
out to talk to them.  He smiled and waved then walked back inside.  The cops
parked the cruiser and got out.

“They said they were ordered to guard this exit,”  The
operative informed them.  “I can't make them leave.”

Dmitri and Michael looked at each other.  Michael knew what
he had to do.

“Okay, slight change.  I'm going for a little sprint,” he
said to Josh.  He gave him a rundown of his plan.  He was going to distract the
police so Dmitri could get away and hopefully be able to evade capture.  He was
counting on Josh to pick him up at some point.  He told him the general
direction he was going to head in and then gave him a few minutes to get in
position.

THE COPS
were shooting the breeze when Michael flew
out of the building, grabbing their attention.  They were on the radio within
seconds calling it in.  One took off on foot after him and the other hopped in
the cruiser.  Michael was in better shape than the cop and soon left him in the
dust.  He dashed over grassy areas and other terrain where a car couldn't
follow, heading towards a residential area.  It didn't take long for a few
cruisers as well as Gatti and his team to join the chase.

Michael darted between buildings and jumped a fence making
it difficult to follow him.  He repeatedly changed directions to keep them
guessing as to where he was headed.  He knew he had to get to Josh quickly
before more cars joined in the hunt.  He spotted the truck driving slowly down
the street and ran to it.  It wasn't until he was right on top of it that he
noticed it wasn't Josh, but four men in suits who seemed just as surprised to
see him.  It was Gatti and Price.  Michael took off again as Gatti jumped from
the vehicle.

Gatti was in better shape than the cop and stayed right on
him.  Michael was growing weary and wondered where the hell Josh was.  He
spotted him on the next street over.  He wanted to lose the agent chasing him,
but at this point knew it wouldn't be possible.  So instead, he stopped and ran
towards the man chasing him.  Gatti became fearful when he saw Michael coming
at him.  He stopped and had to fight the overwhelming urge to run away.

“Cailen, I just want to talk.”  He fearfully put his hands
up, hoping to avoid physical contact.  He knew he wouldn't be any match for
him.  It didn't work and he felt like he was hit by a freight train.  He lay on
the ground half dazed.

Michael grabbed his ID and looked at his name.  He tossed it
back at him.  “I'll call you later, Agent Gatti.”  Michael took off and hopped
in the truck with Josh.

Gatti caught a glimpse of the truck as Michael got in.  His
team spotted him on the ground and ran to him.

Michael jumped in the truck with Josh just before a couple
cruisers and the rest of Gatti's team pulled on the street.  He ducked as they
flew past.  Josh picked up the pace once they were clear.  Gatti would be
giving the police a description of their vehicle so they had to get out of the
area.  It was crawling with cops though and it was only a matter of time before
they were stopped.  They needed to ditch the truck.

Josh turned into a nearby parking garage.  They saw a woman
getting out of a white Mercedes with dark tinted windows.  She threw her keys
in her handbag and started walking towards the building.

“I'll get it,”  Josh offered as he put the truck in park.

He walked quickly towards her with his head down looking at
his phone.  He bumped hard into her, startling her.  She lost her balance and
Josh quickly grabbed her to prevent her fall, snatching her keys in the process
and slipping them in his pocket.  He began apologizing all over himself.  “I'm
so sorry. I didn't see you.”

“Watch where you're going!” the woman snapped.

Josh put his hands up and his head down in an attempt to
appear submissive and so she couldn't get a good look at his face. “Again, I'm
so sorry.”

The woman stormed off and Josh turned, grinning at Michael
in the truck.

Now driving the Mercedes, they easily cleared the search
area.  They contacted Dmitri and soon were reunited with Elaina.  She was a bit
shaken and still not feeling well, but all in all she came out unscathed. 
Before taking off again, Josh and Michael took advantage of the stop to disable
the car's GPS tracking system.  Michael then dropped Josh and Elaina off at the
hideout and went to get Jessica and Jinx from Kevin's.

Gatti and his team searched for an hour before giving up the
hunt for Michael.  They returned to the local office empty handed.  The police
were still searching, but reduced the amount of patrols assigned to the task. 
Most agreed that Michael had slipped through their fingers.