The Cain Conspiracy (13 page)

“And how do you propose to do that?”

“How would you feel about going to Indonesia?” she asked.

Cain looked at her like she was crazy. He wasn’t sure he bought what she was saying about the agency needing to find Raines as much as it was driving her insane that she didn’t know what happened to him. Cain and Lawson talked for another hour about the situation and about how they’d present it to Sanders. Lawson offered to let Cain stay the night if he wanted, sleeping on the couch, but he wanted to get back to his place and relax. She drove him home, getting to his apartment about seven o’clock. Lawson told Cain she’d let him know what Sanders said if she asked him about Indonesia.

He walked into his apartment, looked around for Heather, and shouted her name. He walked around from room to room, seeing how the place looked. The bed was made and the rooms were clean, almost like she hadn’t even been there. He walked over to the desk and he noticed the PC was on. He awakened it from the sleep mode and looked at the website that popped up. A couple tabs were on there, both job related sites. Cain then walked into the kitchen and noticed a couple plates in the sink. He looked in the refrigerator to see what there was to eat and pulled out some lunch meat, making himself a turkey sandwich. He sat down on the couch to eat and put the TV on, flipping channels until he came across a Yankees game. With almost every pitch thrown he wondered where Heather was. He assumed she would’ve been there when he got home. He hoped she didn’t go back to her apartment or meet up with someone. An hour passed by when he heard some rattling just outside the door. It sounded like someone was fumbling with keys. Cain went to the kitchen drawer and opened it, putting his hand on the handle of his Glock, just in case it was an unwanted visitor. The door handle jiggled before opening, Heather walking in, a couple of bags in each hand. Cain took his hand off the gun and closed the drawer. She stopped and almost screamed when she saw Cain standing there, holding her hand over her heart and sighing like she almost had a heart attack.

“You almost scared me,” she told him.

“Almost?”

Heather continued walking into the living room, putting the bags down on the table.

“OK. Maybe a little bit. What are you doing here?”

“Umm, I’m pretty sure I live here,” Cain sarcastically replied.

“Obviously. I mean, I didn’t expect you back so late at night.”

“Well, I got back a few hours ago. I had to go over a few things first about Honduras.”

“Oh. Was it a good trip?” Heather asked, not quite knowing how to ask about it.

“Had its good moments and bad.”

“Oh. Anything you wanna talk about?”

“No,” he responded, shaking his head. “Did you have fun while I was gone?”

“Oh yeah. Loads and loads.”

“What’d you do?”

“Spent most of the time job hunting. When I got bored of that fun stuff, I did other exciting things, you know, like eating and sleeping.”

“Sounds like a great time,” Cain said.

“Oh. It was. It was.”

“Whatcha got in those bags?”

“Oh, I went shopping,” she happily replied, smiling. “I’ve got two interviews tomorrow so I wanted to get some new outfits for them.”

“Good for you. What jobs are they?”

“One is for an entry level marketing position. And the other is for a payroll specialist at a payroll company.”

“Nice. I hope you get one of them.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I’m sure you’ll do great.”

“I don’t know. I’m a little nervous.”

“Just go in there prepared and show your stuff,” he told her.

“Well, I’m used to showing my stuff, but I’m not sure that’s what they have in mind,” she kidded.

Cain laughed, then reassured her that she’d be fine. Heather wanted to try the outfits on and asked him if he could tell her how she looked in them. In truth, she’d already tried them on in the store before she bought them and knew how they looked, but she wanted to get his opinion on them. Plus, she hoped it’d get Cain more interested in her. She went into the bedroom and changed into a blue skirt outfit that wasn’t as revealing as most of the things in her wardrobe. After Cain gave her good reviews she then changed into a tighter fitting suit outfit, complete with black high heels. Cain looked her up and down, pleased with the view, and told her how good she looked.

“If you interview as good as you look then you’ll get the job hands down,” Cain said.

“Thanks,” she replied, smiling ear to ear.

They talked a little more about the jobs, Cain helping her to prepare for the interviews by asking her some questions. She knew the basics about each company and wrote down questions and some possible answers to them.

“Still nervous?” Cain asked.

“Yeah, but excited too. I feel like this is the beginning of a new chapter in my life. I feel good about moving on. But it’s always scary when something new comes along.”

“Yeah. You’ll do great though,” he said, putting his arm around her.

Heather hoped he’d take it further than that brief hug but was disappointed when he didn’t make any other moves.

“Well, I guess I should get to bed. The first interview’s at nine.”

“When’s the second one?” Cain asked.

“Noon.”

“Maybe when you’re done we could meet somewhere for lunch if you want?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

They decided on a restaurant and agreed to meet at one, figuring Heather would be done her interview by then. She then walked into the bedroom and brought out a pillow, placing it on the couch.

“What’re you doing?” Cain asked.

“Going to bed.”

“No, no, no. Get back in there,” he said, pointing to the bedroom.

“What? I’m not sleeping in your bed.”

At least not by herself, she thought. She wouldn’t have minded sleeping in there with him, but she didn’t want to take it on her own.

“Where’d you sleep while I was gone?”

“In your bed,” she replied.

“Then there you go.”

“But you’re back now and I’m not gonna take your bed away from you.”

“Heather, I was in the military, I’m used to not sleeping in beds. I could sleep in the bathtub if I had to.”

Heather tried resisting one more time, but Cain wouldn’t let her say no.

“Besides, you have a big day tomorrow, you need to get a good, comfortable sleep. You can’t be scrunched up on the couch all night,” he told her. “Take the bed. Get a good night’s sleep.”

She finally relented, knowing she wasn’t going to win the fight. She really wanted to give him a kiss and hug goodnight but wanted to give him space since he obviously was taking things slow. In the middle of the night Cain started tossing and turning in his sleep while he was dreaming. He saw himself back in the army, in an old, abandoned building. It appeared that he was in some desolate town, very sunny with high winds, dust and dirt kicking up and swirling everywhere. He was in an upstairs window with a sniper rifle waiting for his victim to walk into his crosshairs. A man in a suit walked into his path but for some reason his face was blurry. He couldn’t make out who the man was. The man stuck out, his suit seeming like odd attire for the kind of place they were in. Cain lined the man up for an easy shot, slowly pulling the trigger on his rifle. A shot rang out. The bullet moved at a snails pace. Cain could see it traveling through the air, almost like a movie slowing the frame down. Once the bullet got close to its intended target it sped up like it was in fast forward, hitting the man square in the forehead, the bullet lodging into his head. The man instantly dropped to his knees before falling onto the ground, face down. Like he was transported, Cain was suddenly standing over the man’s dead body. He knelt down to see who the man was and turned him over. It was him. He shot himself in the head. Cain suddenly woke up startled, screaming, almost jumping off the couch. He sat there, elbows on his knees, head down, sweat pouring off his body. Heather woke up once she heard Cain scream and stood in the doorway to the living room where she saw him sitting there. He was still sweating and heavily sighing. She ran to the couch and sat next to him, putting her arms around him, and then put his head on her shoulder as she stroked his head to relax him.

“It’s OK,” she whispered.

She was concerned because he was still breathing heavy and he was sweating like he just spent three hours at the gym. She thought of calling the doctor but decided to give him a few more minutes to calm down. He didn’t seem like he was in pain, just startled.

“Are you OK?”

“Yeah,” he replied.

“What happened?”

“I just had a dream.”

“What was it about?” she asked, still clutching on to him.

“I was back in the military. A sniper,” he told her, his breathing starting to slow down. “And I shot someone in the head and killed him.”

“It was just a dream.”

“No. I went to check on him and when I turned him over and saw who it was…it was me. I killed myself.”

“Shh. It’s OK,” she said.

Heather continued holding him until he stopped sweating and his breathing returned to a normal level. About twenty minutes later Cain fell back asleep, in her arms, as she leaned back on the sofa. So much for getting a good night’s sleep in bed, she thought to herself. She really didn’t mind though as holding him was exactly what she was craving. If she lost an hour or so of sleep it wasn’t a big deal. She’d rather have made sure he was OK first. She hoped he didn’t have any more episodes for the night, not worrying about her sleep, but genuinely concerned for his well being. She fell asleep a short time later, content to still be holding him.

Cain woke up a few hours later, free from any further dreams, and looked toward the light shining in through the window. He looked at the clock, which just turned seven. He picked his head up off Heather’s shoulder and looked her. She looked so peaceful laying there. She really was a beautiful woman, he thought. Cain was appreciative of her looking after him and taking care of him, especially after his latest episode. The alarm clock in the bedroom went off, Cain going in to stop it, then waking Heather up. She was one of those naturally beautiful women who looked great with no makeup or even with her hair messed up.

“Hey,” she said. “How you feeling?”

“I’m OK.”

“Good. You scared me a little last night.”

“I scared myself,” Cain responded. “Thank you, though, for sitting with me and all. I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. That’s what friends are for, right?”

“I heard the alarm go off so I figured you wanted to get up now.”

“Oh, yeah. Thanks. I have to get a shower. I probably look like crap,” she said, her hand going through her hair.

“I don’t think it’s possible for you to look anything other than beautiful,” he complimented.

A huge smile overcame Heather’s face, the compliment making her blush.

“Why are you blushing?” Cain asked.

“I dunno,” she said, still smiling, looking away. “I’m used to fake compliments. You know, people who say something just because they think it’ll get them somewhere.”

“Maybe that’s what I’m doing.”

“No, it’s not. I can tell. You say things because you mean them. It’s genuine coming from you. That’s a refreshing change.”

Heather went in to take a shower, hoping someone would join her, though she knew it wouldn’t happen. She was right as Cain started making breakfast. He wanted to show her another sign of appreciation for what she’d done for him. It was nothing special, just pancakes, but he hoped she’d like it. He put the food on the table as she got out of the shower and changed. Once she came out, she saw breakfast waiting on the table for her.

“Aww. You’re so sweet,” she remarked, genuinely touched.

“Nothing fancy, but at least it’s not burnt.”

“No, it’s great. Thank you,” she said, kissing him on the cheek.

“Just my way of saying thank you for last night, and before,” he told her.

“Well, it’s not necessary, but it’s really nice of you.”

They sat down and ate, talking some more about the interviews she was about to go on. Once they were done she finished getting ready and left by eight, wanting to get there in plenty of time.

Cain figured to pass the time by reading the news on the internet.

Specter Project Center—Ed Sanders was walking into his office when his secretary rushed in behind him before he even had a chance to sit down.

“Sir, there was someone looking at agents files last night,” his secretary stated.

“Whose?”

“Eric Raines.”

“Who was looking at it?”

“Shelly Lawson,” she replied, looking at her paper, handing it to him.

Sanders sighed, disappointment covering his face, as he wondered what exactly she was looking for.

“Is Shelly in her office?” Sanders asked.

“I believe she is,” his secretary responded. “I’ll double check for you, sir.”

“Please do. If she is, will you please ask her to come in here?”

“I will.”

“Thank you.”

The secretary went to Lawson’s office to find her. Lawson was just getting off the phone as her visitor walked in.

“Mr. Sanders would like to see you.”

“OK. I’ll be right there.”

As Lawson walked to Sanders office she wondered what he wanted to talk about. She thought about whether she should tell him about Cain finding Raines in Honduras, whether she should just keep it to herself for a while, or whether she should send Cain to Indonesia without telling Sanders. If she did and Sanders eventually found out she was withholding information from him it could jeopardize her standing. She always tried to stay above board with everything. Lawson walked into Sanders office, his eyes focused directly on her. She could tell he knew something. She could just see it in his face.