Black Pawn (Michael Cailen Book 1) Read Free

reprieve.  He would be
lucky if he didn't end up dead instead of Michael,
    The angry man sat at his desk, trying to calm his breathing
and regain his composure.  He ran his hands over his bald head and then down
his weary face.  He couldn't believe something so perfect went so wrong.  He
knew he should have handled it himself.  To hell with deniability.
     
    THE POLICE found nothing while combing through the
wreckage at the cafe.  They had no idea what had taken place there.  It was
riddled with bullets.  There was blood everywhere, but aside from the cashier
there were no other bodies. There were no traces that anyone else had been
there, except for the pools of blood from other apparent victims or
perpetrators. DNA on the blood would turn up nothing.  The security footage of
the cafe had mysteriously disappeared, along with Jessica's personal effects. 
There was no evidence she was even there.  The police were left scratching
their heads as to what happened.  Gang violence?

Chapter 3
    Back in the makeshift apartment/warehouse, Jessica had
stopped crying.  Get yourself together, she told herself. You need to
figure out how to escape.   Her eyes slowly panned the room looking for
anything that could be a way out or aid in her escape.  The windows were too
high; they were just below the rooftop.  She would never get up there, and if
she did, she would probably hurt herself falling on the other side.  There
wasn't much there she could use, just a few kitchen knives by the sink.  She
thought if she could grab one, she might be able to surprise her captor.  She
got the impression though that he could easily disarm her if she tried that. 
This man had combat experience, she thought.  Maybe ex-military.
    As her eyes kept searching the room, she hadn't noticed
Michael was watching her.  He could see the determined look on her face and
knew she would try to escape.  He knew he would have no choice but to restrain
her.  He wasn't happy about it.  He didn't like terrorizing women, but it was
for her own good, he reminded himself.
    “I know what you're thinking.” His voice shattered the
silence.
    Her eyes darted to where he was sitting and she realized he
had been watching her.  The calm determination she was just feeling was now
being taken over by fear, as she wondered what he was going to do.
    “If you try to escape, two things will happen.  Well, three
things.  One, you will fail. Two, I will handcuff you to that pipe behind you. 
Three, I will be very unhappy.” 
    His demeanor never changed.  His voice was calm.  His face
showed no emotion.  She wondered, if escaping would make him unhappy, then what
was he feeling now?
    “I want to go home,” she pleaded.
    “I know.”  He turned away.
    After several minutes of silence, she came up with a plan.
“I'm hungry.”   She hoped maybe he didn't have food and that he would have to
leave to get some.
    “I can cook you some eggs.”
    “I want Chinese.” She tried to think of something he
wouldn't have.
    “You're pretty demanding.”
    “It's the least you can do,” she spoke with an air of
contempt.
    Michael sighed.  “Fine.  You're staying here though. The
door locks from the outside and there's no other way out.  Don't do anything
stupid,” he warned.
    “I won't,” she lied.
    He grabbed his jacket and walked out the door.  She heard
him lock it from the outside.  She followed the sound of his footsteps and the
truck door shutting.  The truck started and she listened as it drove away.
    The window was her only hope now.  She moved the table over
to the wall underneath one of the windows.  She put one of the chairs on the
table and gingerly climbed up the precarious ladder she just made.  She was
just barely able to reach the edge of the window. She prayed it would open.  It
didn't.  It was jammed shut.  She repeated this process under another window,
then another.  Crawling through broken glass would be a last resort.  She