Black Pawn (Michael Cailen Book 1) Read online

  “There's something I have to tell you. Something I was hoping I wouldn't have to.”

  His face, normally emotionless, now looked conflicted. “The men in that cafe were there for me. They were there to kill me and they weren't going to leave witnesses. When I heard them kill the cashier, I knew I couldn't leave you there. That's why I came back. I didn't let you go because I didn't know how far they would go to make sure there weren't any witnesses. I needed to make sure they weren't going to come after you. Yesterday, I got my answer.”

  His words sunk into her. She feared she knew what was coming next. She didn't want to know. Michael walked to the lockers and pulled out a digital camera. He moved his chair next to her and began showing her photos. She saw two men sitting in a gold Ford Taurus. The passenger was wearing an arm brace. He flipped through the pictures until he came to one with the buildings in the background.

  “Do you recognize where they are?” he asked.

  She looked pale. “That's my street.”

  “Do you remember one of the shooters in the cafe took a hit to the shoulder?” He watched her reaction.

  “Yes.” She felt lightheaded. This couldn't be happening. “Are you saying those are the men that tried to kill you?”

  “Yes, Jessica.”

  She nodded, never taking her eyes off the screen. “And you think they're after me now?” She barely got the words out, afraid of what the answer would be.

  “Yes.”

  As the word left his lips everything seemed to go dark.

  “Jessica! Jessica, wake up,” she heard through the darkness. “Jessica.”

  She opened her eyes. She was on the floor. Michael was cradling her, his hand cupping the side of her neck.

  “You're all right.”

  He pulled her head to his chest and wrapped his arm around her.

  “It's okay.”

  She felt him gently rocking her. It felt like a dream. Her mind started racing with thoughts. She pushed him away.

  “How do you know they were the same men? Maybe it was just a guy who hurt himself playing sports.”

  He looked in her eyes. A mixture of pity and sadness showed on his face. Her life was ruined and it was because of him.

  “There's more.”

  He helped her stand and walk to the futon. He turned the TV to the news. The weather was on. He looked at his watch. 9:05 a.m. He was sure it hadn't been mentioned yet. She sat next to him in a daze listening to how cloudy the sky would be and that there would be a slight chance of rain.

  Coming up next, breaking details in the recent cafe shooting. Stay tuned. Then it broke to commercials.

  Jessica felt herself getting weak again. Her head felt light and the room seemed to be moving even though she was not. They sat silently waiting for the commercials to end.

  Welcome back to Channel 10 Eyewitness News. We have breaking news on the two men arrested on Carter Road. Police have confirmed that the weapons found on the men were used in the cafe shooting and that one of the weapons was responsible for killing Cara Rice. They also believe DNA from one of the men will match DNA found at the cafe. Police tell us the men are not cooperating and they are still looking for two other shooters from the cafe. An anonymous tip led police to the two shooters and they are asking the caller to come forward.

  “You called in the tip?” she asked, staring at the TV.

  “Yes.”

  “There are more of them?”

  He didn't want to answer. There would always be more, a never-ending supply of assassins hunting him. He had to get at who was responsible for all this. With Jessica's life hanging in the balance he was even more determined to do so. “Yes, Jessica. Unfortunately others will take their place.”

  Tears streamed down her face. She didn't want to believe him, but he seemed to be telling the truth. Her mind was a mess. All she could do was cry. He wanted to hold her and try to comfort her, but he didn't think he should touch her.

  Chapter 7

  “Give me one good reason why I shouldn't retire your worthless behind,” Morgan said to Rick. And by “retire” he meant “kill.” In Rick's line of work, you didn't get fired, you got “retired.”

  Rick stood there, afraid to make things worse by opening his mouth. Afraid maybe he wouldn't live to see the rest of his hair fall out.

  “Was the girl your 'possible lead'?” Morgan asked.

  “Yes.”

  Rick looked down as he replied.

  “What exactly did you think they were going to do after he rescued her from that abomination you call an operation? Go back to her place and make out?!” His anger was rising and the vein on his head was starting to protrude again.

  “We thought he would let her go and she might lead us to him.” He cleared his throat, knowing how ridiculous that sounded now.

  Morgan sighed. “Did you find anything in her apartment?”

  “Not yet, but we're still combing through her computers. She's got one heck of an encryption protocol on her drives. Our techs are still trying to get into the main files, let alone any private ones. They said they've never seen anything like it.”

  “Keep trying, though I doubt you'll get anything. What do the police know about our two screw-ups?”

  “Nothing yet. They aren't talking.”

  “They will,” Morgan warned.

  “I know. I've already made arrangements. They'll be taken care of within hours.”

  “Good. What about the girl? Do they know about her?”

  “No. We left no trace she was there. They aren't looking for her. Someone will eventually file a missing persons report. We could try to use that to our advantage,” Rick suggested.

  “I'd rather we find her before then,” Morgan replied, knowing full well it would never happen. Michael had her and that scared him more than the fact that Michael was still alive. She could ruin everything, he thought. It was stupid to put them together in the same place.

  “Keep me posted on your progress, Rick. If you make any.”

  “Yes sir.” Rick quickly left Morgan's office. He didn't really think they would “retire” him, at least not right now. But if he didn't do something to make up for his mistakes they wouldn't hesitate in the future.

  As Rick left the office, Morgan picked up his phone and dialed a number. “Yes. It's me ... I have a job for you ... Yes, a woman ... Pay is the usual ... I'll get you the details.” He hung up the phone.

  Morgan sat in his chair, staring at the file on his desk. He opened it, pulling out a picture of a pretty brunette. He shook his head. Such a pity. He put the picture back in the file, straightened the papers, and closed it. The name on the file was Jessica Nickoli.

  Chapter 8

  Jessica's sobs had turned to quiet tears as she tried to absorb everything Michael had just told her. She suddenly sat up straight. Something dawned on her. “How did you know where I lived?”

  “You talk in your sleep,” he replied casually.

  She looked at him with suspicion. “What do you mean I talk in my sleep?”

  “You were pretty out of it from the Vicodin and when I asked you a few questions, you answered me,” he lied. There was no way he was going to ever reveal to her that he had drugged her. He already felt terrible enough for what he had done to her.

  She furrowed her brow, not sure she believed him. His expression though, was calm and reassuring, and she was pretty out of it.

  “Did you go inside?”

  He nodded. “I did.”

  “Did you look through my stuff?” she asked, wondering how much of her privacy had been invaded.

  “I just glanced around. I didn't want to stay long.” He didn't want to tell her that her computers were gone or that it looked like her place had been searched. Nothing they could do about it now anyway.

  She wasn't thrilled that he had gone into her apartment without her permission, but she supposed it didn't hurt anything.

  “Why are they after you?” she asked.

  He to
ok a deep breath and released it. He didn't want to tell her, but she deserved to know why her life was ruined.

  “About four years ago, I was on leave along with one of my combat buddies. His name was Shaun. He was going to China to visit some of his relatives. His parents lived in the states and he was born and raised here, but he had an aunt, uncle, grandparents and a few nieces and nephews who still lived in China in a tiny village out in the middle of nowhere. 'Would be like camping', he said. China can be very beautiful when you get away from the city. And I speak Mandarin, so I opted to join him. They lived a simple life and that was often refreshing coming off a stressful mission. No phones, alarm clocks, TV.

  We had three weeks leave and planned on spending most of it there. We had been there a week and a half and had gotten to know just about everyone in the village, which was about a hundred people. They all wanted to meet the giant American,” he chuckled.

  Then his face got somber. He took a deep breath and stared at the floor.

  “It was barely light. The sun was just starting to rise. Shaun and I woke to terrified screams. We didn't know what was happening. We ran toward the screams and saw a group of men using swords and knives just killing people. We heard screams behind us. They were coming at the village from all directions.

  We split up. They weren't expecting any resistance. They probably had no idea that two highly trained elite soldiers were staying there. They were easy to pick off. We took the last guy alive. We wanted answers. It took a little work, but we got him to talk.” Michael's voice was unnervingly calm as he described the horrific events.

  “He wasn't told why they had to kill these people, he was just hired to do it. We asked who he was working for and he said he was hired by an American. He thought the man was maybe CIA. After we were sure he had nothing more to tell us, we killed him too. What we didn't know was that there was apparently someone watching over the operation. He must have snapped pictures of me and Shaun and identified us later.

  Shaun and I both agreed it wasn't safe to stay there. We packed up his family and anyone else that was willing to leave and we headed for the city. Some refused to leave. We couldn't force them. The ones who stayed were never seen again. Shaun stayed with his family to find a safe place for them to resettle. I flew back to the states. When I got home, there was someone waiting for me. He tried to kill me, but didn't succeed. After a persuasive interrogation, he told me he worked for the CIA, but wouldn't tell me anything else. I'm not sure he knew anything else. At that point I knew something big was going on, though I didn't know what. Shaun and his family were in danger. If they could ID me then they would've ID-ed him as well. I contacted him in China and told him to disappear, just before I did. I've been trying to figure out what's going on ever since. Shaun is in hiding with his family and will be until I can settle this mess.” He breathed a heavy sigh as if he were relieved to get it all out.

  Jessica sat stunned. “So it's the CIA that's after us?”

  “Someone in the CIA, at least. I'm hoping it's a rogue division and not an officially sanctioned operation. If someone's gone rogue, then there's hope of stopping it. If it's officially sanctioned, then we're dead.”

  “So you were in the military before all this? What branch?”

  “The one you don't talk about,” he answered. “I joined the military when I was eighteen. I was very good and got bumped around between Special Forces, SEALS and the Green Berets, which is virtually unheard of. I even did some work for the CIA a few times. I finally got recruited for a special black ops unit. Had been doing that for six years before I had to disappear.”

  Great, she's been held captive by a man that killed for a living. She started pondering what her life would be like now, on the run living in places like this.

  Michael had been studying her reaction. She looked shocked, then curious, and now he was seeing despair. She turned away from him and started to cry.

  “Jessica.” He wanted to find the words that would comfort her, but they eluded him. What could he say? There was no way he could make this better for her. He looked at her as she tried to cry quietly. The sight of her tore at his heart. She was innocent in all this. And now her life was never going to be the same.

  “Jessica,” he said again as he touched her shoulder and turned her to him. He grabbed her arms and pulled her to his chest. Her restrained cries turned to wails in his arms. She couldn't hold back and as she wept in his arms, he felt helpless.

  Jessica finally calmed, melting into Michael's embrace. His strong arms wrapped around her made her feel safe. Her body relaxed and her breathing returned to normal.

  As he held her he thought to himself how good it felt to have contact with another human being. He had lived alone, in the shadows for more than three years. No friends, no women even. He couldn't be close to anyone without putting their life at risk. Things were different with Jessica. She was safer the closer she was to him. He could protect her. He wanted to protect her. He needed to protect her.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  She nodded her head against his chest.

  “Do you want to go out or do you want me to bring you something?”

  “Can I go with you to pick it up?”

  “Yeah.” He rubbed her back. “Maybe we can buy you some clothes while we're out.”

  “Okay. But I'm not going in any stores looking like this,” she warned.

  He couldn't stop the smile that crept across his face. Typical woman, he thought.

  Her sprained ankle made putting her shoes on unappealing. She managed though. It hurt, but not nearly as much as two days ago.

  As she limped out to the truck, Michael resisted the urge to carry her. His clothes were absurdly huge on her, but he still thought she looked amazing. Even with her hair a mess from her swim and her eyes red and swollen.

  JESSICA LOOKED quietly out the window at the passing scenery. She'd been locked in that warehouse for almost three days. It felt good to be outside. It was cloudy, but every so often the sun peeked out. Michael kept glancing at her to make sure she was all right. He knew she would have a hard time adjusting.

  “You think it could be a sanctioned operation?” Her words broke the silence.

  “I don't know.”

  “You worked black ops. Does the government really run around slaughtering innocent people?”

  “They never asked me to,” he shrugged. “My feeling tells me it's a rogue operation. Someone is using the CIA for their own purposes. But there's always a chance I could be wrong.”

  “I hope you're not,” she said as she stared out the window.

  He looked at her. “Me too.”

  After picking up some sandwiches, Michael drove to a nearby park where they could have their lunch. He parked away from the other cars and they sat in the truck quietly eating. Jessica watched children playing in the playground, mothers walking behind strollers. A couple was cuddling on one of the benches. Another family was sitting on a blanket having a picnic. It was peaceful and she felt relaxed.

  “You have any kids?” she asked.

  The question took him a little off guard.

  “No. Never had time for a family.”

  “Hmph.” The playing children held her attention.

  “What about you? You got a boyfriend?” He already knew the answer, but she didn't know that.

  “No.” She took another bite.

  “How come?” he asked, hoping to solve that mystery.

  “I don't know. I don't trust them.”

  “You don't trust men. Why?” He took another bite of his sandwich.

  She pursed her lips. “Bad experiences.”

  “Like what?” he asked, unfazed by her vague answers.

  “I don't know. Maybe I just have bad taste in men.” She stopped eating and stared out the window at the playing children.

  “Give me an example.” He stopped eating, his gaze intently fixed on her.

  She looked down. “My last boyfriend didn't
like something I said. I ended up in the hospital with two broken ribs and a fractured cheekbone.” She said it without emotion, like she had blocked out all the feelings surrounding that event.

  His expression turned serious, but his eyes never left her. “I'm sorry.”

  “Well.” She looked out her window. “I should have seen it. I'm familiar with the type.”

  Michael continued surveying her; she seemed lost in her thoughts.

  “My boyfriend before that was a pathological liar,” she continued. “And I do mean pathological. Everything he told me was a lie. Everything. Even stole from me. It took me a long time to trust again after him and then that blew up in my face.

  The one before that broke up with me because I wouldn't dress like a slut. He always wanted me to wear tight-fitting and revealing clothes. Told me to do my hair a certain way, what to eat. It was like I was a Barbie doll to him. I didn't see it though. I was nineteen and I thought I loved him. I thought he loved me. I was stupid. One day he told me he didn't love me and that he never would. I thought he was just scared and that he would come back to me. But then he started dating a girl who did dress like a slut. She wore her hair the way he wanted. And I even found out through mutual friends that he paid for her to have a boob job. He was never interested in me. Just my body.”

  This time, a tear came to her face which she quickly wiped away. She cleared her throat and took another bite of her sandwich, pushing away the feelings that were creeping up on her. It was becoming clearer to Michael why she didn't have a boyfriend.

  “Not all of us are like that,” he said, still watching her.

  “I know.” She turned to him and forced a smile. Only the men interested in me, she thought.

  They finished eating, and Michael started up the truck. “There's a little clothing shop nearby. I can pick you up a few things so you have something that fits and we can go shopping for more another time.”

  “Sounds good to me.” She'd be glad to wear some clothes that fit. She had to hold up his sweats when she walked or they would fall down.

  THEY PULLED into a parking lot littered with trash and Jessica stared at the uninviting building with barred windows and doors. A few people loitered outside. They looked like people she wouldn't want to meet, ever.