by Kelly Shade
“Congratulations, Blake. You are one smart lady!” Burris clapped. “I started now because the contract I had with a certain somebody expired. This was all I wanted from the beginning, but, unfortunately, I had to work as a hit man for the person who helped me fake my death. I spent years killing people for her . . . but she died last year. I was free.” Burris refilled the glasses again.
“Simple as that, huh?” Jane lifted her eyebrows in amazement. “Funny, isn’t it?” She took a sip. “You started to plan your murders and you were caught after a year. Maybe you had to stay a hitman.” Blake laughed.
“Caught? I don’t see cops here.” Burris laughed too. “I see only a consultant who is alive because I had mercy. I’m sorry it has to end so soon!” Burris pointed a gun at her and loaded it.
Chapter 18
The truest sinner of them all . . .
Jane reached for her weapon, but Burris stood up, got close to her and said, “Give me the gun, Blake! You can kill me now, of course, but you won’t know who your mommy is.”
Jane hesitated for a second, which was enough for Burris to take her gun.
“You know what the problem is?” he started to speak again with a nasty smile. “People are easy to predict, people have weaknesses. Just like you. You think you can read everyone; you are convinced you are the smartest person. You believe nobody can figure you out.”
“What do you know about my mother?” Blake said coldly ignoring the gun pointed at her forehead.
“I know she will be next!” Burris laughed.
The statement he made was the trigger Jane needed. She caught his hand, twisted it, took his weapon, and aimed. Peter looked at her with surprise and smiled again. Jane’s hand was shaking from the anger she was trying to hide; her whole body was starting to fail her. The emotions she had buried began to emerge; every minute of her life was flashing in front of her eyes; she couldn’t control herself anymore.
“Who is she?” she shouted, and she pushed Burris on the couch and pressed the barrel so hard on his forehead that it cut his skin.
“So here is the real Jane,” Burris said arrogantly. He didn’t care that Blake could kill him; he was calm and looked like he was enjoying Jane’s madness. “You won’t kill me, dear.” He took a breath “Dirty blood is running in your veins, but your heart is pure.”
“Save your crappy poetry,” Jane yelled.
“Nasty mind you have but your thoughts are clear . . . innocent,” Burris continued.
Blake narrowed her eyes. She was ready to pull the trigger, to kill a man in cold blood. Her heart was beating like crazy; she breathed in and exhaled slowly. Then Blake looked in Burris’s eyes to remind herself he was a psychopath who deserved what was coming.
Peter smelled her insecurity and used the moment. He punched her in the stomach and Jane fell on the floor . Burris took the gun and threw it aside. Then, while Jane was still on the ground, he cuffed her hands behind her back.
“Now we will have some fun, crazy psycho!” Peter said, breathing fast.
He took a chair, put Jane on it, tied her ankles to the chair legs with zip ties, and went out.
Jane couldn’t understand what happened. Why didn’t she kill him? What was wrong with her? She knew this was the end. Jane didn’t tell anyone about her suspicions that Burris was Rewera. She hadn’t shared where she was going. She was alone.
Burris came back with a fruit knife in his hand and a small suitcase. His lips curved in a smile and when he got close to Jane, she shivered.
“I like it when you are scared.” He caressed her hair. “You are the first one who is better than Julie. I like you even more than her. Independent women turn me on.” He took a few strands of her glossy hair and cut it off to make bangs. Rewera left the silky black hair on the table and began to knit braids. Jane trembled every time his hands touched her face.
“Why are you so disgusted by me? We are the same, Jane Blake!” Rewera finished with the hairstyle and opened the suitcase, which was full of red nail polish bottles and makeup. “I was raised by awful people, just like you. I’m playing with people’s minds, just as you do. But there is one difference.”
“And what is it?” asked Jane and rolled her eyes to simulate boredom.
“I’m true to myself. I know who I am and I’m proud of it. No matter what the society says. Right or wrong. I enjoy being me. And you are ashamed of the murderous thoughts you have. You couldn’t kill me, Blake, and I’m a monster. You talk a lot, but in reality, you are weak.” Rewera went behind her and tore her shirt. “Let’s have fun now, shall we?”
Jane felt the cold blade of the fruit knife on her skin. It was as if Rewera was rehearsing for the actual writing. Blake felt the knife forming letters on her back. Burris recited his poem pompously:
“Dirty blood in a heart so pure,
nasty mind to the evil endured,
a lonely angel without a soul
you are the truest sinner of them all!”
“Yeah, it is perfect for you!” he added.
“Do you know your poetry sucks?” Jane said and laughed.
“Because of that, I’ll kill you without telling you who your mommy is,” he said irritably “As punishment!”
“Your poetry is enough punishment for me!” she said sarcastically.
Burris ignored her. Blake felt a deep cut into her skin. The pain made her close her eyes. Warm jets of blood started to roll down her back. The first letter was ready. Rewera started with the second one. Jane realized how long the short poem was in fact. She had to feel every letter of the ridiculous verse. The third letter was done, then the fourth, and her eyes were full of tears, but she didn’t let them flow. She wouldn’t let Rewera see the pain she felt; she wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. Fifth letter: Now she had the word “dirty” engraved on her shoulder.
Jane’s head was exploding with different thoughts, but a specific one rose to the surface. “Why I didn’t say a proper goodbye?” Jane wondered, and her eyes flooded with tears again. Blake knew she didn’t have much time. She knew when Rewera finished with the poem he would stick a blade through her heart. There was no point in fighting. She was tied up and the blood she lost made her feel dizzy and weak. It was the end. Blake closed her eyes tightly, and her life started to project like a movie. Now she didn’t feel the pain; now she felt happy remembering the greatest moments she’d had. She couldn’t hear anything; she was in her dream castle far, far away from here.
“Jane!”
Blake heard Ryan shouting. It is a dream, she thought.
“Jane!”
Now someone was shaking her. Jane opened her eyes. Ryan was standing in front of her. His hands were on her shoulders, shaking her.
“What happened?” Jane looked around and saw Rewera on the ground. “Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Untie me.” Blake blinked and took a deep breath. Then she turned to Rewera again and saw that his hands were cuffed. “I’m fine.”
“Yeah, right!” Ryan cut the zip ties and unlocked the handcuffs.
Jane stood up. Her legs were shaking, but with great effort, she stopped them. Rewera moved, and Ryan pointed his gun at him.
“The others will be here any minute now,” Gray informed her. He was paler than ever.
“Oh, my God!” he said the moment he saw Jane’s back.
“It’s nothing,” Blake said and searched for the weapon Rewera threw away earlier. She spotted it and went to get it. Then she went back to Rewera and tried to wake him up.
“Sit down. You lost enough blood! Wait for the others,” Ryan said with a worried expression.
“I have to know!” Jane succeeded in waking the murderer. Rewera looked at her with blurry eyes.
“Who is she? Tell me now!” Blake shouted. “Or you are dead!”
“Never,” said Rewera with a nasty smile. “I told you that you are weak. You won’t kill me!”
Jane stood up, aimed and shot straight to his heart.
Then again and again. Rewera was gone.
“What the hell?” Ryan looked at her with horror.
Jane ignored him. She kneeled and removed Rewera’s handcuffs.
“He tried to kill you. I had no choice. Understood?” she said coldly.
“What the fuck, Jane?” Ryan was stunned.
“Or you can send me to jail.” Jane stood in front of Ryan and stared into his eyes. “Which one is it going to be?”
“He tried to kill me. You had no choice.” Gray repeated with fear.
“Good!” said Jane firmly.
The rest of the team burst through the door. Jane and Ryan explained what happened. Hunt wanted to send Blake to the hospital, but she refused. Instead Gray bandaged the cuts on her back. Then, Conner ordered forensics to remove the body and CSU was ordered to gather evidence. The team took Jane to her home. She needed to rest. The case was finally closed.
“You remember Alaric Savela? The guy who tried to kill me,” Jane said when she woke up. The entire team spent the night at her place.
“Yeah, he is dead. They attacked him in prison,” Ian added.
“Well, I hypnotized the guy. After your interrogation, I sneaked into the room. He told me his boss’s name and address.”
Nick and Ian exchanged puzzled looks. They were the only ones who were kept in the dark. Blake told the entire story from the beginning. After the near-death experience she had, Jane was even more determined to find her roots. With Ryan’s help, Blake explained most of the story.
“And you are telling us now?” Valdez and Nick asked together.
“This doesn’t matter, Ian. If you wanna help us, please listen!” Ryan said firmly.
Ian and Nick nodded.
“There is one more thing.” Jane took a deep breath. “I stole DNA, and we found his file. Also, we found he is . . .” Blake didn’t want to share this, but she had to. “Michael Morse is my biological grandfather.”
Connor, Nick and Ian were stunned. Only Ryan and Barbara had this information. Hunt’s face became red.
“So you just made a relative DNA test without a reason?” Nick said sarcastically.
“No, I saw some similarities between us. It was a hunch. That’s why I asked Barbara to make it.” Jane sighed.
“Bradley knew too . . . Perfect!” Nick continued with sarcasm.
Jane ignored him. Ryan decided to join in.
“We went to Chicago. In Jane’s adopted family‘s papers we found a money transfer document with the name of the orphanage – Crystal Tree Orphan Home.” Gray looked for Jane approval and after she nodded, he continued. “There was also another name, Dimitria Grigorovich, the person who received the money. It looked like a donation, but we knew this money was for Jane. They bought her.”
“Damn!” Ian glanced at Jane with compassion.
“Anyway, Ryan and I went to the orphanage, and the cleaner told us the location of Dimitria. She now lives in Santa Clarita. We traced her, and we know the exact address,” Jane finished the story.
There was a heated argument about the facts, and Ryan and Jane kept Michael Morse name and almost everything connected to him to themselves. No one was happy with Blake and Gray, but all of them wanted to nail Michael Morse.
Ryan confirmed the address of Dimitria Grigorovich and everyone went to visit her.
They arrived at a lovely one-story house in a nice neighborhood. Jane made her way to the door and rang the bell. A sixty-something-year-old woman opened the door. Dimitria had sharp facial features, a negative vibe, short dark hair, small dark brown eyes and a plump figure.
“How can I help you?” she said icily with a robust East-European accent.
Hunt, Valdez, Lee, Gray and Blake showed their badges. Dimitria had a scared expression on her face for a moment and then immediately changed her tone to a soft one and invited them in.
“Welcome! How can I help you, officers?”
Her home looked like it was stuck in the 80s. There were all kinds of objects from the socialist time in Europe. They looked like garbage, but Jane knew their real worth. As an ex-con artist, Blake knew how to separate cheap from expensive-looking stuff. The furniture also was old. Her house was small, and if you were not an expert, you would think she just didn’t have enough money to buy modern furniture. After this development, Jane knew the woman was a pro working with dangerous people with connections.
“My name is Jane Blake,” said Blake, trying to control her negative emotions. “We are here to ask you few questions about Michael Morse and Lilia Jordan.”
Dimities darkish skin became pale. She sat on the red couch in her kitchen.
“I don’t know these people,” she lied.
“Drop the act, Mrs. Grigorovich,” Hunt said coldly. “We have the transfer Lilia Jordan made to you.”
“I was helping her adopt a child. There were expenses she had to cover,” she said with a trembling voice.
This wasn’t an ordinary interrogation. The whole process of this investigation was off the books. There was no reason for them to act like it was an assigned case. Blake went to Dimitria and leaned forward with hands on the couch and face to face with Grigorovich.
Blake said, “Listen to me very carefully. I am Caroline Thompson. I know Morse is my biological grandfather. Start talking. I waited for this twenty years. Guess what I’m ready to do to you if you lie to me one more time!”
Ryan and Hunt were holding Ian who was about to stop Jane. Nick was enjoying the show and helping a little bit with his threatening appearance. He displayed the scariest look, he could manage.
“You are police; you can’t talk to me like this!” Grigorovich defended herself.
“She just did. And I’m her boss by the way,” Hunt said with an arrogant smile.
“You know if you don’t cooperate, we have to find out where you got the money to buy all this stuff,” Nick joined.
“The old junk I have?” Dimitria tried to lie.
“The old junk is quite expensive. You think we don’t know what they’re selling at the auctions? How stupid do you think we are?” Jane spoke quietly, which was her way of being scary. “But if you tell us some useful information, we may close our eyes and forget about you.”
“Okay, okay.” Grigorovich didn’t want them to dig in her financials. “Twenty-seven years ago Morse came to me with a baby in his arms and said I should get rid of her. He paid me for the favor. Another person, Lilia Jordan, was searching for a baby girl for her daughter. She wanted the fast procedure, and she wanted a kid without any chance of meeting her parents again. Lilia wanted it clean, so I gave you to her.” Dimitria nodded at Jane. “Lilia paid, and I brought you in the Crystal Tree Orphanage. We had to make it look legal, so we forced the documents. After a few months we were sure no one was looking for you. Lilia and I met at a park. I was holding you, and I made the delivery. No one else knew.”
Jane stood up again, bit her lip and spoke. “Now the whole truth, Dimitria!”
“That’s it, I swear!” Grigorovich lied again.
Jane went to the end of the room and removed a painting from the wall. A big safe appeared.
“Think again!” Jane shouted.
“You can’t make me open my safe!” Dimitria yelled back.
“We won’t. I can open it for you. Let’s see.” Jane placed her ear on the safe, knocked few times and continued. “Twenty seconds. Wanna see how I do it?”
“No, no, no!” Grigorovich stood up with her hands outstretched.
Jane turned to her ready to listen.
“It wasn’t just you. Michael Morse had working girls. If a girl got pregnant and it was too late for an abortion, he would send the kids to me. I had to find nice families for them. But he was more gentle when he talked about you. He made me give you to Lilia Jordan. I had a boy for her, but he insisted you should be in a good family. And the Jordan’s . . .”
“The Jordan’s? What about the Thompsons? Let me tell you this; they may look like a good family, but th
ey are not! Lilia is a fucking manipulative bitch. Theodore is a drunk who enjoys beating women and children. Diane is a confused child in the body of a woman who can’t take care of herself, and the rest of them . . . the same crap! Zackary was the only good person, and he had no power to stop them from torturing me and destroying my life! ” Jane became furious every time someone said these people were nice. Blake saw the looks her team gave her, so she breathed out and spoke more quietly “So Michael Morse knew Lilia Jordan?”
“They weren’t friends, but they knew each other. They were exchanging favors over the years.” Said Dimitria with a horrified expression.
“What kind of favors?” asked Hunt.
“I don’t know, maybe because she was a doctor? I don’t know!” Dimitria almost choked. “Once I overheard something about an Irvine home, but that was it. After Lilia took you, they stopped working together.”
Jane had what she needed. She gestured to the team to get out. Everyone followed her. Only Ryan stopped to say, “Don’t leave town!” Nick and Ian were very confused. They didn’t know about Jane’s situation as Ryan and Connor did.
They went back to the station. Jane asked Ryan to check Dimitria’s finances. Blake couldn’t let Grigorovich get away with what she had done all through these years. Dimitria had to pay.
While Ryan was digging into Grigorovich’s life, Jane and the rest of the team were exploring a map of the Irvine area. They had to find the location of the women Michael Morse was keeping. It was a long shot, and maybe he changed his safe house, but they had to try. There were two warehouses which were suitable for this kind of activity.
