Black Pawn (Michael Cailen Book 1) (44 page)

They approached a black GMC Yukon
with dark tinted windows.  Another man dressed in a suit was standing guard
outside it.  He was older than Corvo with salt and pepper hair and brown eyes. 
He had a few extra pounds on him but still looked like he could hold his own.

Corvo turned to her when he
reached the truck.  “I know your real name isn't Jessica Graham.”  The
penetrating gaze from his intense blue eyes reminded her of the look she would
get from Michael when he knew she was hiding something.

“What makes you say that?” she
asked.

“I pulled your file after Jasmine
asked me to pick you up.  I know a cover ID when I see one.”

“I really don't know what you're
talking about,”  she replied.

She was a terrible liar and Corvo
could tell right away that wasn't the case.  Overlooking her untruthfulness, he
smiled, then gestured to his partner, introducing him as Special Agent Mark
Preston.

Preston opened the back door for
Jessica.  She slid into the seat and he shut the door.  Corvo got in the
driver's seat while Preston slipped in the passenger's.

“Have you found out anything more
on the guy who attacked me?” Jessica asked.

“No,” Preston answered her. 
“We're going to have you work with our sketch artist and maybe we will be able
to ID him.”

She nodded and looked out the
window.  “What branch of the military did you serve, Lance?” she asked after a
few minutes.

“Marines.  How did you know?”

“Just the way you carry yourself. 
You remind me of my husband.”

Corvo grinned.  “Where did he
serve?”

“He was a SEAL.”  It was just one
of the things Michael had done in the military but she wasn't about to tell his
life's story.

“Nice.” Corvo seemed impressed.

“You missed our turn,” Preston
interrupted.

“I know,” Corvo replied.  “Don't
turn around, but I think we're being followed.”

Jessica had to fight the urge to
look out the back window.

Preston looked in the side
mirror.  “Black Camry?”

“Yeah, and a red Civic.  I think
they're tag teaming us.”

Jessica's heart started racing. 
She had been thinking she was finally safe but now felt more vulnerable than
ever.  If there were two vehicles following them that would mean Ben wasn't
working alone.  How many others were involved and what were they after?  Her
mind raced and she wished Michael was there.

“What are you thinking?”  Preston
asked.

“I have an idea.”  Thirty seconds
passed and Corvo hadn't elaborated any further.

“Which would be?” Preston spoke
up.

“We're going to get off the main
roads.  One of them will have to follow along but both won't be able to without
being too obvious.”  Corvo was intently focused on the road and keeping tabs on
all the cars around him in case more were following.

“And then?” Preston was getting
impatient.

“I'll tell you when we get there.”

Preston frowned and turned his
attention back to the road, not thrilled about being kept in the dark.  They
soon found themselves on a deserted road out in the middle of nowhere.  There
was about a foot of grass on the side of the road followed by dense forest. 
The black Camry was still behind them but at a distance.  Corvo asked to switch
seats with Preston.  They managed to pull it off without swerving all over the
road.  They were coming up on a sharp curve.  Corvo told Preston to floor it
until the Camry was out of sight, then he was to slow enough for him to jump
out.  After Corvo was clear he was to continue driving a little further down
the road before pulling off.

“What are you gonna do?” Jessica
asked as Preston stomped on the gas.

Corvo cocked his gun and put it
back in his shoulder holster.  “I'm going to find out who this guy is.”

The Camry was soon completely out
of sight.  Preston hit the brakes and when he got down to around twenty five
miles an hour, Corvo bailed out.  Preston hit the gas again and continued at a
normal speed for another quarter of a mile then stopped, putting his hazards
on.

Corvo waited in the woods for the
Camry to pass by.  It slowed and came to a stop when it spotted the Yukon
parked with its lights flashing.  The driver seemed uncertain of how to
proceed.  He was straining to see what was going on with the truck when his
door flung open.

“Freeze!  FBI.”

Before he could even react, Corvo
was dragging him from the vehicle at gunpoint.  Once Preston saw Corvo he
turned the truck around and went to assist him in apprehending the suspect. 
The man didn't resist.  Short and partially bald, he looked like he had been
around the block a few times.  They cuffed him and put him in the back. 
Jessica moved to the front so Corvo could sit in the back with the captive. 
They started driving back to the FBI office keeping an eye out for the red
Honda Civic.  It never made an appearance.

The man in back refused to speak. 
Corvo tried to question him, but he didn't say a word.  Corvo gave up and faced
forward to watch the road.  They were closing in on the city when the prisoner
was suddenly no longer handcuffed.  He took Corvo by surprise and lunged for
his weapon.  He shot Corvo in the chest and then quickly aimed it at Preston's
head.  As if unharmed by the gunshot, Corvo kicked him just before he pulled
the trigger and the bullet flew through the roof instead.  Corvo's bulletproof
vest had saved his life, but didn't spare him from having the wind knocked out
of him.  He gasped for air as a life-and-death struggle ensued in the backseat
of the Yukon.

Preston slammed on the brakes and
hurried to assist his partner who was struggling for his weapon.  Jessica
bolted from the truck and hid behind a nearby tree hoping not to get hit with
one of the stray bullets that were being fired sporadically.  She let herself
glance every so often to see what was happening.  Corvo and Preston were
grappling with their violent prisoner, trying to restrain him.  They were able
to finally subdue him and cuffed him once again.

Preston kept the man pinned to the
ground with his knee in his back while Corvo called for reinforcements. 
Jessica came back towards them as he paced and talked on the phone.  There was
a bullet hole in his shirt, yet no blood.  He hung up the phone and looked at
her.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he
tried to catch his breath.

“Yeah.  Are you?”  she pointed to
the hole in his shirt.

“I'll live.”  He looked back at
the man that had, a moment ago, shot him.  “You just tried to kill two federal
agents.  You'll never see the light of day again.  What do you have to say
now?”  he asked patronizingly.

“If I had known you were wearing a
vest, I would have aimed for your head,” the man coldly retorted.

“Well, it sucks to be you.”  Corvo
started unbuttoning his shirt.  He looked back at Jessica.  “You sure you're
okay?”

“I'm fine,” she assured him.

Corvo removed his shirt and the
bullet proof vest that had saved his life.  A giant red welt was visible over
his heart.  There was no doubt it was painful.  He left the vest off but put
his shirt back on.  A few minutes later another black Yukon rolled up and
parked next to them.  Three FBI agents emerged to take control of the
prisoner.  He was put in the backseat with an agent on each side.  Preston
instructed them to keep a close eye on him.  They tried to call an ambulance
for Corvo, but he wouldn't allow it.  His only thought was to get back to the
office where Jessica would be safe and they could interrogate the man following
her.  The agents with the prisoner took the lead while Corvo and Preston
followed behind.

“I think he broke a rib,”  Corvo complained
as he gingerly touched his chest.

“You should be in a hospital,” 
Preston reprimanded him.

“They can't do anything for me
even if it is,” he reasoned.

Preston shook his head.

“You were more than a Marine.” 
Jessica spoke from the back.  “You were in Special Forces.”

“Why do you think that?” he asked.

“The way you handled yourself. 
Especially after getting shot in the chest at point blank range.  Most people
would have been too stunned to react.” 

Corvo didn't say anything. 

“So were you?”

“Maybe.”

“I'll take that as a yes,” she
concluded.  Corvo didn't say anything more.  She let the subject go.

ONCE THEY
arrived at the local FBI office, Jessica was whisked
inside to safety while the prisoner was carted off to an interrogation room. 
Jessica was sitting alone in Corvo's private office when the door opened and
Jinx walked in.

“Jinx!”  She jumped up and hugged
her.

Jinx was petite with an exotic
look that was hard to place.  With brown hair and chocolate brown eyes, she
looked like she could be Latin, Italian or Dominican, with a bit of Asian mixed
in somewhere.  She was abandoned as an infant and had never known her real
parents, so her true ethnicity remained a mystery.  Her adoptive parents were
good to her though, and she never felt like she missed out on much growing up.

“I'm so glad you're safe,” Jinx
responded while hugging her back.  “Have you heard from Michael?”

“No.” She frowned.  “We had to
ditch our phones.”  She looked at her watch.  “He should be getting on his
plane soon though.”

“His flight was delayed,” Jinx
informed her.

“You spoke to him?”  Jessica asked
surprised.

“No, I just checked on his
flight.  It's been delayed two hours.”

“Wonderful,” Jessica remarked
sarcastically.

“I'm sorry.”

Jessica sat back down in the chair
with a distressed look on her face.  “This is all way too familiar.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” 
Jinx sympathized.  “Not many people have to go through what you went through
once, let alone twice.”

She was referring to what happened
two years ago.  A corrupt CIA agent and an entire Russian mafia had been after
her because of a flash drive that a friend sent her.  Unbeknownst to her, it
contained damaging evidence against the CIA agent and a drug smuggling
operation tied to the Russians.  Michael also had been on the run from them
because of something he witnessed.  He and Jessica met during a botched
assassination attempt against the two of them.  He had saved her life, but she
had to disappear.  She was forced to leave her home, friends and her job.  Her
whole life was turned upside down.  Now, here she was again, being chased by a
ghost, for a reason she didn't know.

“I just wish Michael was here.” 
She leaned her head against her hands and stared at the floor.

“I know,”  Jinx sighed.

Corvo walked in the room.  He
greeted Jinx, then turned his attention to Jessica.  “How are you holding up?”

“Fine.  Did you find out
anything?”

“He's not talking.  Not right now
anyway.”  He paused, wondering if she really was fine.  She seemed too calm for
the situation.  “We're going to put you up in a hotel tonight.  Agent Preston
is working on it right now.   It should be all set within the hour.  We'll be
staying with you for protection.”

She nodded but didn't say
anything.

“Are you sure you're okay?” he
asked again, concerned.

She looked at him and smiled
warmly.  “This isn't my first rodeo.”

The bewildered look on his face
made it apparent he wasn't expecting that response.  He turned to Jinx, who
just shrugged, though she clearly knew more than him.  More curious than ever,
he was about to ask what had happened when suddenly there was a lot of
commotion outside his door.  Someone was hollering down the hall and footsteps
went pounding past.  He left to investigate what was going on.  Down the hall,
the door to the interrogation room was open.  Agents were standing around
outside it.  He ran to the room fearing the prisoner had escaped.  When he got
to the door, he could see that was not the case.  The prisoner had not escaped,
he was dead.

“What happened?!” Corvo exclaimed.

“Not sure,” someone answered. 
“They're looking over the surveillance tape now but it looks like cyanide
poisoning.”

Corvo ran to the security office. 
Preston was already there watching the security footage.  Preston could be seen
leaving the interrogation room after an unsuccessful attempt at questioning the
subject.  Now alone, the man reached for something under his sleeve.  He put it
in his mouth, started convulsing seconds later and then went limp.

“We searched him!” Corvo yelled at
the screen.  He winced as excruciating pain shot through his chest from the
outburst.  More and more he was feeling the effects of a close range gunshot
against a bulletproof vest, not to mention a broken rib.  He took a minute to
calm himself down.  “Where did that come from?”  He looked at Preston, who
didn't have an answer for him.