Ghost Pursuit (CIA Ghost Series Book 2)

by Mike Ryan

  She finally made it to the address Davis gave her, taking her twenty one minutes to get there. Parker got out of the car and a panic started settling in. The car wasn’t there. She turned in every direction, but the car wasn’t there. She was breathing heavily, concerned that she’d been lied to and Turner wouldn’t be there. She started walking down the street, looking into every parked car she came across. She still came up with nothing. She looked at her watch, only having a few minutes left. She crossed the street and started doing the same to the cars on that side. She left no car unchecked though it was taking her farther away from the apartment location.

  Parker put her hands on her hips and started shaking her head, unsure what else she could do. She turned completely around, looking for any type of sign that Turner was in the area. She looked at her watch again. Three minutes to go before Davis’ proposed bomb would go off. She looked down the street again toward the studio apartment where she’d left her car. She noticed a black car pull up a couple spots behind where she’d parked. It looked similar to the car that pulled up at the farmhouse. She started walking in that direction just in case that was it. A second later a man hopped out of the driver side and bolted around the back of the car. That was all Parker needed to be sure that was the car she was looking for. She began running down the street as fast as she could. She wasn’t interested in the driver or where he went. As long as she got to Turner in time she’d be happy. As she got closer she couldn’t really see anything but an outline of a person in the passenger seat of the car. The windows were tinted so it was tough to make out an actual face. She knew it had to be him though. She finally made it down to where the car was parked across from her. Just as she was about to cross the street, the car suddenly exploded, rattling the neighborhood. The impact of the blast knocked Parker off her feet, throwing her into the brick building behind her. A nearby bystander came running over to her to check on her.

  “Are you OK, miss?” the man asked, helping Parker to her feet.

  “Uhh…yeah. Yeah. I’m OK,” she answered, still a little stunned and shaken.

  Parker stood up and straightened herself out and looked at the remnants of the damaged car. She looked at her watch. There was still a minute left. Davis exploded the bomb early. He never had any intention of letting her save Turner. Parker put her hands on her head and ran her fingers through her hair as she looked on in horror at all the carnage in the street. The scene was overwhelming. She stumbled back against the wall and slid down to the concrete, putting her head in her hands as she started crying.

  “Miss, ambulances are on the way,” the bystander told her.

  “I’m fine. I don’t need an ambulance,” she protested.

  “You could have concussion or broken bones. Best to just stay put so you can get checked out.”

  Parker heard police and ambulance sirens getting closer by the second. As much as she didn’t want to move and just wanted to curl up and disappear, she knew she had to leave. If she was pinpointed as being near the blast the police would likely want to talk to her and paramedics would want to check her out for injuries. She got back to her feet and started walking away, just moments before the first responders arrived. Though she knew it would be better if she got away as quickly as possible, she walked away at a normal pace, part of her not caring if someone did recognize her and point her out to the police. As she walked, everything around her went hazy, not even recognizing people and buildings as she passed them by. Thoughts and memories of Turner kept going through her mind. She couldn’t help but start thinking that she was to blame for his death. If he’d never met her he’d still be alive. A few minutes later her phone started ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw it was Burnett. Parker knew she must’ve heard about the blast by now. She hit the ignore button and put it back in her pocket. After ten minutes of walking she finally looked around to see where she was. The hotel was a long way from there. She noticed a couple of cabs roll by but somehow walking seemed more appropriate for the mood she was in. Plenty of time for reflecting on what she’d just lost.

  Chapter 9

  Once Parker got back to her hotel room she immediately found the bed and planted her head face down on the pillow. Any tears that hadn’t been shed on the walk back were freely falling now. Burnett tried calling again but Parker still chose not to pick up. She made an agreement with Burnett but as far as Parker was concerned at that moment, it was close to being ripped up. She had no desire to continue her current duties in any capacity. Davis had won. He’d beaten her. Her boyfriend was gone and her partner was dead. She didn’t care what else Davis had in mind or where he was going. Revenge hadn’t even crept into her mind in the slightest. All she felt like doing was finding a bottle of alcohol and getting lost in it, burying the night away.

  After a half hour of crying uncontrollably, Parker sat up and wiped her face. She ordered a bottle of rum to be sent up to her room and turned on the TV. She put on a local news station. The lead story was the two explosions that had rocked the city. Authorities were still piecing together what happened but they did confirm that there were a couple of casualties. A few minutes later the bottle of rum arrived and Parker wasted no time in getting to know it better. She sat down and indulged herself while continuing to watch the news, ignoring all the phone calls she was getting. She didn’t even bother looking to see who was calling anymore and tossed the phone on the bed. A couple of the calls were from numbers she didn’t recognize but she just assumed it was Burnett trying to get through. She didn’t want to talk to anyone. She didn’t want anyone trying to cheer her up. She didn’t want to go back to work. And she didn’t want anyone trying to convince her everything would be OK.

  Parker was on her fourth glass when she thought she heard the door handle jiggling around. She looked back at it but didn’t see it moving. She thought it might’ve been the alcohol starting to take its toll. She turned her attention back to the TV momentarily but her concentration was interrupted again by another sound at the door. Maybe it was just paranoia, the alcohol, or a combination of both, but she decided she should check it out. Parker got up and grabbed her gun and started for the door. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the handle moving. She quickly moved behind the door figuring whoever it was seemed determined to get in. In her current state, she wasn’t in the greatest fighting condition, but it’d have to do. A few seconds later, the door slightly opened. Whoever it was, was making sure no one was in there. The door kept opening a little farther, inch by inch. Finally a figure emerged. It was a larger man and Parker was ready for him. She unleashed a kick to the man’s midsection, stunning him for a second. She tried to nail him with another kick but the man blocked it.

  “Hey, hey, hey,” the man yelled, blocking several kicks.

  Parker was pushed back and finally looked at her intruder’s face. A stunned look overtook her, not believing what she was seeing. She rushed over to him.

  “Cole,” she shouted, giving him as big a hug as she could muster.

  Tears started filling up her eyes again as she allowed herself a moment of joy. Cole was a little taken aback at first at the greeting, looking a little confused. He patted her on the back and was able to peel her off him after a couple of minutes.

  “I thought you were gone,” Parker told him, sniffling.

  “Gone where?” Cole asked, not making a big deal of anything.

  “I thought you were in the house that exploded.”

  “Oh. Yeah, that. Child’s play.”

  “What happened? How’d you get out?”

  “Amateurs. Everybody’d gotten out except Favreau. I was able to get loose just before the bomb went off. Those idiots couldn’t have tied up a third grader. Got out just in time.”

  “They said there was a casualty. I thought it was you.”

  “You really thought I’d go down that easy?” he asked nonchalantly. “Been in plenty of jams worse than that.”

  “Who’d they find then?”

&nb
sp; “Favreau. She wasn’t quite as lucky as I was.”

  “I thought you were drugged and knocked out,” Parker said.

  “Only briefly. I’ve been drugged and had so much crap used on me that I’m immune to most of it by now.”

  “What’s with the sneaking in here?”

  “Wasn’t sure what happened to you,” Cole explained. “I think my phone blew up with the explosion. Couldn’t find it. Tried calling you from a store phone before I got here but you didn’t answer. Since I didn’t know what happened to you I didn’t wanna take the risk of knocking in case someone else was here.”

  “Sorry. I just assumed it was Burnett that kept calling me.”

  “Why?”

  “I just assumed she was checking in with everything,” she stated.

  “So why are you trying to avoid her?” Cole asked, sensing something else was wrong. “What’s going on? Did you find Turner?”

  Parker looked down at the ground, unable to tell Cole what happened. She scratched her arms as she delayed talking.

  “Alex,” Cole said, grabbing her arm to get her attention. “Where’s Turner?”

  Parker still couldn’t bring herself to say the words and instead buried herself into Cole’s arms and started crying again. Cole could only assume the worst as he couldn’t think of anything else that would have her as upset as she was.

  “I tried but I couldn’t save him,” she cried, the words barely getting heard over her cries. “I was too late.”

  “Shhh,” Cole told her. He held her close to comfort her, putting one hand on her back and his other hand on the back of her head to try and calm her down. “Just let it go. Don’t try to hold back.”

  They stood there for a few minutes with Cole trying to console his partner. It would’ve felt very unnatural for Cole if it had been anyone else but her. He felt as bad for her as he’d ever felt for anyone before. After he’d gotten her calmed down a little he got her to talk about what happened. Though it was difficult for her she was able to muster an explanation of what happened. She recounted all the steps she’d taken.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t go for you first,” she apologized.

  “Ehh. Don’t even worry about it. I’d have done the same thing in your shoes. Civilians first. Then boyfriends. Other agents are further down the list,” he joked. She didn’t laugh and he could tell she was still reeling from the events. “Besides, I’m a trained operative. I’m supposed to be able to get out of situations like that. If not, those are the risks I take. You made the right decision.”

  “Still wasn’t enough.”

  “We’ll get Davis. There isn’t a place on this Earth he can hide anymore.”

  “I don’t even care anymore,” she said, grabbing her glass and taking a sip.

  “That’s not gonna bring him back you know. It’s not even gonna make you feel better,” Cole warned.

  “I know. But maybe it’ll help me forget.”

  “There’s nothing in the world that’ll help you do that.”

  Cole walked over to the table and picked up the bottle, putting the cap back on. Parker was too tired and drained of energy to fight him on it. He went back over to her and helped her up and walked her to the bed.

  “What you need is just to lay down and rest for a little while,” he told her.

  Cole wasn’t usually the worrying kind but he was about Parker. She agreed that rest was probably her best option outside of drinking and Cole wasn’t going to allow that any further. He tucked her in and told her he’d be there when she got up. Parker was out within five minutes. As soon as she fell asleep Cole grabbed the computer and buzzed for Burnett.

  “Cole! Thank heavens,” Burnett greeted. “I haven’t been able to get much information about what happened. I’ve got reports of a couple of victims and feared the worst for you.”

  “I was able to get away just before the bomb went off. Lost my phone in the explosion. Called in as soon as I could.”

  “Have you heard from Parker? I’ve been trying her phone constantly but I haven’t been able to get a hold of her.”

  “Yes ma’am. She’s here.”

  “Why hasn’t she been taking my calls? Is she all right?” Burnett asked.

  “She’s fine. She will be I think. I just put her to bed for a little while so she could rest. It’s been a tough day for her.”

  “Are you sure she’s OK?”

  “I hope so. It’s uhh…it’s Turner. I believe he was one of the victims in the explosions,” Cole answered. “She couldn’t get to him in time.”

  Burnett simply nodded, looking sad. “I’m sorry to hear that. He was showing some real promise.”

  “She just needs some rest.”

  “Regardless of the circumstances, however horrific they may be, I’m still going to need you two to get back on Davis as quickly as possible before we lose him again.”

  “I don’t think Alex is in any position to do anything else today,” Cole told her.

  “I understand. Try to get her up and around and improve her spirits. I’d like to have you both back on the move by the end of tomorrow.”

  “Understood. Alex said something about Davis going to the airport. Have anything on that?”

  “We’re still looking into the airport security footage. I will let you know of our findings.”

  “Roger that.”

  Cole logged off the computer and sat back. He looked at Parker and felt bad for what she was going through. He knew how much it meant to her that she was finding a life after this and how big a piece Turner was of it. He knew after she woke up and sobered up that there were two ways she could go. She could use his death as fuel to keep on fighting and find Davis. It could ignite a spark for her to go back to the ruthless, aggressive person that she once was. Or she could wake up depressed and despondent and think her new life is over. If she woke up like that, he knew it’d be tough to convince her to keep on going. Since he’d have to wait a while for the answer, he figured he’d do some computer work. He checked flight records to see if there were any matches for when Davis said he was leaving. Though he wasn’t able to find anything, it didn’t mean he wasn’t there. He could’ve just used an alias that they weren’t aware of yet. Nothing he checked yielded any new information.

  After a couple hours Cole eventually moved to a more comfortable chair in the corner of the room. He watched TV before drifting off to sleep. Parker started stirring around in her bed about two in the morning. She grabbed her head hoping that the pain would subside. Once she fully woke up she went to her bag and got some aspirin. She noticed Cole sleeping in the chair and thought a shower might help her increasingly annoying headache. She started washing her body and her images of Turner’s face crept into her mind. She didn’t even bother trying to fight the tears from coming. Parker leaned her back against the wall and slid down until she sat down on the tile floor. She lifted her knees up to her chest and buried her head in her arms as the water splattered against her. After a few minutes she was able to get herself together and finished showering. She got dressed and as she was putting her clothes back in her bag she noticed the picture of her and Turner at the beach. She let out a slight smile as she thought about that day.

  Parker turned her computer on, not really knowing what she was going to do on it. She browsed a few internet news sites before finally clicking on Amazon’s website. She noticed the instant video of Star Wars and downloaded it to her account. She started to watch it, thinking of Turner, and how it was his favorite movie. Somehow, watching it made her feel somewhat closer to him even though he was gone.

  It was just after six o’clock and Cole finally woke up, probably from the noise of the movie, just as the Death Star was being blown up. He saw Parker watching a movie on her computer and walked over to her. He recognized it and looked at her a little funny. Cole thought it was strange that she was watching Star Wars at that time.

  “Umm…what’re you doing?” Cole wondered.

  “Watching a mov
ie. Why?”

  “No reason. Just wondering.”

  “It’s Star Wars,” she told him.

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “Want me to play it back from the beginning?” Parker offered.

  “No thanks. I’ve seen it before.”

  “I never did. Well, not until I met Ryan. It was his favorite movie.”

  “Oh,” Cole said, now understanding.

  “You know they made a couple more of these after this one,” she stated.

  “So I’ve heard. You know if you really wanna get into all this nerd stuff, they made three more that came before this one. Prequels.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. Stick to the original three first though. Those are the classics. The other three are just OK.”

  “Wouldn’t it be great if we could just use the Force on people?” Parker asked.

  “Sure would make our job a lot easier.”

  Cole was starting to worry about her mental state. This wasn’t the Alex Parker he was used to. She seemed more relaxed and carefree for some reason. Since the movie was near the end Cole didn’t see a need to rush her through it. But as soon as the ending credits rolled he was anxious to try and get her back to work.

  “Now that that’s over can we get back to work please?” Cole asked.

  “I’m done,” she simply replied.

  “With what? What does that mean?”

  “It means I’m done. I’m out. I’m not going back to work.”

  “Alex,” Cole stated, like a parent who’s about to scold their child.

  “What? There’s nothing left for me. I don’t have it in me anymore.”

  “Nothing left for you? What about the man who’s made your life Hell? He just killed your boyfriend. He almost killed me. Don’t you think he deserves a little payback for that?”

  “He’s won, Cole. He’s always a step ahead of us. I don’t even care about revenge. What good would it do? It won’t bring Ryan back,” Parker dejectedly said, shrugging her shoulders.