Black Pawn (Michael Cailen Book 1) (46 page)

“I don't know why.  I was there to
rescue him.”

“I don't think he remembers it
that way,” Josh teased.

“We had a long walk ahead of us
and a deadline to reach the extraction point and he wanted to stop for every
little thing,”  Michael defended himself.  He shook his head.  “He's alive,
isn't he?”

“Yep.”  Josh nodded.  “Alive and
terrified of you.”

Michael just grinned.

“So what's up with you and Jinx?”
Michael asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You've been dating a while.  You
ever talk about moving it along?”

Commitment-phobe Josh shook his
head.  “We're fine where we are.”

It was Michael's turn to snicker. 
He heard earfuls from Jessica about how much Jinx wanted more from the
relationship, but that she wasn't sure Josh was ready.

“You know something I don't?” Josh
asked.

Not wanting to get in the middle
of that, Michael shook his head.  “Nope,” he said with a slight smirk before
closing his eyes to take a nap.

THE PLANE
finally landed and Michael had to restrain himself from
pushing everyone out of his way as they seemed to move in slow motion
retrieving their bags from the overhead bins.  He took deep breaths to calm
himself as the passengers filed out slowly.  Martin and Josh made sure they
were behind him.  The last thing they wanted was to be in his way.

At last they were off the plane
and Michael darted for a payphone.  He dialed the number on the paper and
anxiously waited as it rang.

“Hello?”  Jessica answered.

“Jessica.”  He was immensely
relieved to hear her voice.  He closed his eyes and rested his head on his arm
as he leaned against the payphone.

“Michael?”

“Yeah baby, it's me.”

“I'm so happy to hear you're
voice.  How did you get this number?”

“I'm guessing you called Tim?”

“Yes.”

“He had someone deliver a message
to me in Germany with your location and this number.”

“Are you close?”

“Yeah, I am.  I'll be there
shortly.”

“Please hurry.  I miss you.”

“I'm on my way.”  He hung up the
phone and turned to Martin and Josh, who were hovering nearby.  Katie was still
clinging to Martin's side.  “Okay guys, this is where I get off.”

“Before you go, we should pick up
some phones,” Martin suggested.

“I suppose that would be the smart
thing to do,” Michael agreed, even though he wasn't fond of the delay in seeing
Jessica.

Martin drove them to a store to
pick up some prepaid phones.  He kept an eye out for anyone who might be
following them, but it was hard to tell during the short ride to the store.

Once they had their phones and
exchanged numbers, Michael left them to go see Jessica.  He didn't want to drag
Martin and Katie along.  He also didn't know if they were being followed and he
knew it would be easier for him to lose a tail by himself rather than with a
group.   Josh wanted to go with him, but Michael insisted he go alone.  He told
Josh he would call him if he needed help.

He walked a few blocks on foot
using reflections in mirrors and windows to keep an eye on the people behind
him.  No one stuck out.  He pulled out his phone as he walked and called
Jessica.

“Hello?” Jessica answered.

“Hey, Jess.  It's me.”

“Michael, are you okay?  Where are
you?”

“I'm coming, we just had to pick
up some phones and I wanted to make sure I wasn't being followed.”

“Are you?”

“Not that I can tell.”  He stopped
abruptly and turned around.  A man walking on the sidewalk behind him suddenly
stopped as well.  He looked at his watch then stepped into a bank that was
nearby.  “Hmm.  Okay, maybe I am.”

“Oh, fantastic.”

“Relax.  I'll be there shortly. 
I'm going to stop at the bank first.  I'll talk to you soon.”

“Michael ...”

Without saying anything more, he
pulled the phone from his ear and closed it.  He started walking to the bank
that the man turned into.  He entered the building, coming face to face with
the suspicious man as he was leaving.  Michael smiled at him.  The man looked
like he was about to be sick.  He tried to breeze past but Michael made sure to
bump into him.  As he did, he lifted the man's wallet, or at least what he
thought was his wallet.  The man left in a nervous hurry.  Michael stepped back
outside watching him walk away.  He opened the wallet and wasn't sure how to
feel about what he found.  The man following him was an FBI agent.  Now feeling
uneasy about Jessica being guarded by the FBI, he dialed another number from
his phone and put it to his ear.

“I need to speak with Agent
Timothy Gatti,” Michael said.

“I'm sorry.  We don't have anyone
by that name working here.”

“Tell him it's Michael Cailen.” 
He hung up and waited.  A minute passed before his phone rang with a private
number.  “Hi Tim.”

“Michael, what's up?”

“Jessica is with the FBI.  I was
on my way to meet her when I spotted someone following me.  He turned out to be
FBI.”

“That's not good,” Gatti remarked

“I'm feeling a little nervous
about who she's with right now,” Michael admitted.

“Well don't.  I can vouch for both
of them.”

“Really?  How's that?”

“I can't tell you.”

“That doesn't work for me, Tim.”

He heard Gatti sigh on the other
end. 

“Michael, just trust me.”

“I trust you.  Why should I trust
them?” 

Gatti's response was silence. 

“Tim?”

“Michael, if I tell you, you can't
tell anyone.  Not Josh, Jessica, and especially not the agents.  No one.  Am I
clear?”  Gatti's tone was serious.

“As a bell.”

“One of the agents with her is
CIA,” Gatti admitted.

“I thought they were FBI?” said
Michael

“They are.  But Special Agent
Lance Corvo is really one of ours.”

“You guys have your fingers in
everything don't you?”

Gatti ignored the remark.  “She's
safe.  Lance trusts his partner Mark Preston.  You can trust both of them.”

“So what's with the tail?”

“I really don't know.  Mention it
to Lance and he'll look into it.  Just don't let on that you know, Michael.”

“No worries, Tim.”  Michael hung
up and continued on his way to meet Jessica.

Finally, he arrived at the hotel
and knocked on the door to the room.  Corvo had Jessica look to make sure it
was Michael.  She declared it was and then walked away from the door.  Corvo
and Preston gave each other a nervous look.

Jessica had been visibly livid
since her last conversation with Michael when he hung up on her.  Corvo
introduced himself and Preston as he let Michael in.  Michael greeted them then
looked over at Jessica who was facing away from him.  He stood for a few
seconds wondering why she was acting like that.   He stepped closer to her. 
“Jess?”

Corvo and Preston knew how upset
she was and were anticipating a blow out.  They moved away from the pair.

Michael reached out, gently
touching her arm.  She responded to his touch in a way he wasn't quite
expecting.  She whipped around, raising her hand to slap him.  He instinctively
blocked it which only made her more angry.  She tried to use her other hand,
but he grabbed her wrist.

“Whoa.  Take it easy.”  He tried
to calm her down.

“Don't you ever hang up on me like
that again,” she spoke through clenched teeth as tears began streaming down her
face.

“I'm sorry,” he said, a tad
stunned by how upset she was.

“I was so scared.”   She started
bawling.

He took her in his arms and held
her close.  “I'm sorry, Jess.”

She wrapped her arms around him
and sobbed into his chest.  He squeezed her tight, telling her he loved her and
again that he was sorry.  She cried in his arms for what felt like an eternity
to Preston and Corvo.  The trauma of what she went through and him not being
there had taken its toll on her.

“Come on.”  Michael kissed her
head.  “Let's get you cleaned up.”

He walked her into the bathroom,
shutting the door behind them.  He grabbed a washcloth from off the linen rack
and went to wet it in the sink.  Before he could, Jessica reached her hands up
to his neck and began kissing him with an intensity he had never felt before. 
He slipped his arms around her again pulling her close as they settled into a
passionate kiss.

Preston and Corvo had been sitting
on the bed the entire time staring at the floor, not knowing what to do during
Jessica's breakdown.  They breathed a sigh of relief when Michael took her into
the bathroom.

Preston looked at Corvo.  “You
ever date anyone that emotional?”

Corvo just stared at the floor and
shook his head, no.

“Me neither,” Preston admitted. 
“Don't think I'd want to.”

Corvo raised his eyebrows while
shaking his head in agreement, never taking his eyes off the floor.  They sat
there in silence for another five minutes.

“They've been in there a while,”
Preston observed.

Corvo nodded his head.

“You think she's okay?”

Another nod.

“You think they're..?”

Preston didn't even have to finish
the question and Corvo was again nodding his head.

“Well.”  Preston sighed.  “At
least some of us are having fun.”

Corvo chuckled painfully.

“How do you suppose they know
people inside the CIA?” Preston asked.  “I always thought, like, your own
brother could be CIA and you wouldn't know?”

Corvo just shrugged.  “I have no
idea.”

Chapter 7

Michael and Jessica emerged from
the bathroom looking disheveled.  Jessica appeared calm and content while Michael
looked exhausted and worn out.  Preston was sitting up watching TV.  Corvo was
lying down shirtless with a bag of ice on his bruised chest.

“Have fun?”  Preston grinned.

Jessica's face turned bright red. 
She crossed her arms and walked over to the other bed and sat down.

Michael was trying not to smile. 
“What happened to you?”  He directed his question to Corvo.

“Took one to the chest at close
range,” Corvo answered.

Michael grimaced at the thought. 
He had taken similar hits in the distant past.  You never forget the pain.

“Think I have a broken rib too,”
he added.

“You taking anything for the
pain?”  Michael asked.

“No, we didn't really have time to
pick anything up,” Corvo replied,

“We tried to call an ambulance for
him.  He refused,”  Preston chimed in, annoyed at Corvo's stubbornness.

Michael grinned.  He liked Corvo
already.  “Anyone have cash?” he asked.

“Some.  Why?” Corvo answered.

“I'll go pick up some pain meds,”
Michael offered.

Corvo reached in his pocket and
pulled out a wad of bills.  He tossed it on the bed.  “Just take it.”

Michael slipped the cash into his
pocket. 

“By the way ...”  He tossed the
FBI badge he took off the man following him on the bed.  “This guy was
following me.  Any idea why?”

Preston grabbed the badge before
Corvo could reach it.  He looked at Michael.  “How did you get this?”

“Told you.  He was following me. 
I took it from him.”

Corvo took it from Preston.  “He
wasn't following orders from me, that's for sure.  What did you do to him?”

“Nothing.  He ran off when he knew
I was onto him.”

“I'll look into it,”  Corvo
assured him.

“Thanks.”

MICHAEL RETURNED
with painkillers.  He tossed the bottle of pills to Corvo
then filled one of the little plastic cups in the bathroom with water and
brought it to him.  Corvo groaned in pain as he sat up.  He thanked Michael and
swallowed the pills.

“So what happened?”  Michael
asked.

Corvo proceeded to tell him about
being followed, how they captured one of the drivers and how he was
subsequently shot.

“What did you get out of him?”

“Nothing.”  Corvo sighed.

“Let me talk to him,” Michael
said.

“I'm afraid that won't be
possible,” Corvo answered.

“Do I need to go over your head?” 
Michael tried to pressure him.

“Unless you're good friends with
God, I don't see how that's going to help you,” Corvo said.