The Cain Redemption (The Cain Series Book 4)

by Mike Ryan

  “So we basically got a whole lot of nothing,” Cain stated.

  “That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.”

  “Why don’t you try going over some of this stuff and see if you can come up with anything,” Lawson mentioned. “Maybe you can find something we overlooked.”

  “I doubt that’ll do any good. You’re much better with computers than I am. I doubt I can find something you didn’t.”

  “Still, doesn’t hurt to have an extra pair of eyes to double check.”

  “OK,” Cain said. “I guess I’ll take a crack at it.”

  Cain did his best to come up with something that the others couldn’t, looking at both the computer and the documents, but ultimately he came up empty just as the others did. They spent the better part of the day re-checking all the information they had in front of them but it didn’t do them any good. Without any credible leads to follow up on, Conlin directed them to come back to New York the following day. Conlin sent a private jet to the Netherlands to fly them back home.

  “Getting another private jet?” Cain asked. “We must’ve done a good job or something.”

  “Well, he’s still a little concerned about the air pressure and your head. Don’t want it exploding or anything,” Lawson joked.

  “Ha ha.”

  “He just wants to make sure you’re in a controllable situation while flying. Harder to do that in a commercial plane.”

  “I just flew several times in a helicopter and nobody said a word.”

  Lawson shrugged, not having a good response. They boarded the jet the following morning and had a nice, dull, uneventful ride back to New York arriving in the afternoon. A car was waiting for them to take them back to The Center once they got off the jet. The laptop and documents they’d taken were handed over to other analysts as they took a crack at trying to uncover a lead they could work with. Cain texted Heather that he was back but had to take care of a few things before coming home. Lawson went into a debriefing meeting while Cain and Raines both went to the hospital wing. They wanted to make sure Raines had no lingering effects from being taken prisoner and Cain had to get his head scanned once more to make sure the clot hadn’t gotten any bigger. He still hadn’t told Heather about it and wasn’t sure he was going to. Raines got cleared pretty quickly and was given a clean bill of health. Cain’s results came back and his clot was still there but it had decreased slightly in size. Doctors were not worried about it, and with medication, thought that it’d wind up going away on its own within a month or two. He spent almost two hours in the hospital and after getting released, checked in with Lawson to see if he was needed for anything. Lawson told him he had the rest of the day off and to go spend time with his girlfriend and come back the next day.

  Heather had a nice dinner ready for Cain by the time he got back home. She had a sexy dress on and was waiting to smother him with kisses. Once Cain walked through the door, not only did he smell something good in the kitchen, immediately noticed candles lit on the table and the lights were not as bright.

  “What’s all this?” Cain asked with a smile.

  “Oh, just a little something special for the man in my life,” Heather replied, rushing over to hug and kiss him.

  “Did something exciting happen that we’re celebrating?”

  “Why yes there is. My super handsome boyfriend just came back after a little trip and I’m just really happy and excited that he’s back so I decided to do a little something special for him.”

  “Wow. He’s an extremely lucky guy.”

  “He certainly is,” she smiled, kissing him.

  “You look ridiculously beautiful,” he told her, looking her up and down.

  “Aww. I thought you’d never notice.”

  “I hope you haven’t been looking like that while I was gone. Driving all the other men in this city crazy,” Cain said, kissing her.

  “Well, you know, just a couple,” she teased.

  “Not that I’d blame them for looking.”

  “No, actually I’ve made sure I was looking so ugly and frumpy, and wearing like oversized pajamas every day, that way I could transform into a beautiful looking princess just for you when you got back,” she said, with some passionate kissing.

  “Well whatever you’re doing is working.”

  “Should I go back to ugly and frumpy?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “As much as I’d like to stay in your arms all night, I gotta get dinner out of the oven,” Heather told him, slipping out of his arms and going into the kitchen.

  “Do you want me to do anything or get anything?” Cain asked.

  “No, no, no. I’ve got everything,” she happily said, bringing their plates of food in. “Sit down.”

  Cain sat down as Heather rushed back into the kitchen to bring out their drinks. She brought them in and put them on the table and then sat down across from her boyfriend. Cain stared at her for a minute, unable to take his eyes off the glowing beauty that was in front of him.

  “What?” Heather asked, noticing his stare.

  “I’m just…you just mesmerize me.”

  A huge smile overtook Heather’s face. She just wanted to wow him when he got back and show him how much she loved him. It seemed like her plan was working.

  “You look so happy,” Cain noted.

  “I am happy. You’re here.”

  “You’re so beautiful. I’m so lucky to have you. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Well, I guess we both know what I’d do. We kind of went down that road once already, didn’t we?”

  “Well, we’ll never have to find out for sure or do that ever again, will we?”

  Cain thought about telling her about the clot in his head but decided against it. At least for a couple of hours. She’d obviously spent a lot of time trying to make a special night for them with dinner and getting dressed up for him. He didn’t want to ruin it by making her worry about him. Especially since he thought it was a minor thing. They both avoided talking about his work throughout the entire dinner. He was never real anxious to talk about it though he knew the questions were going to come at some point. Though Heather wanted to know how things went for him while he was away, she didn’t want it to be the main focus between them. He was home and fine and that was the main thing for her. She didn’t want to seem like she was constantly nagging on him or think she was worrying too much. Once they finished dinner they cleaned up the table and put the dishes in the sink.

  “Hey,” Cain said, grabbing Heather around her waist. “Did you really think I was gonna be able to go through the whole night without touching you like this with how good you look?”

  “Well I was hoping not,” she said, putting her arms around his neck.

  “You know, I feel underdressed with you looking like that.”

  “A few more minutes of this and you’re really gonna feel underdressed,” she teased.

  “So I should keep this up?” he asked, kissing her some more.

  “Oh yes,” she whispered. “You know the best part of dressing up and feeling sexy is when your boyfriend takes it off you.”

  Cain picked Heather up, his arms wrapped around her waist, her legs wrapping around his back, as he carried her into the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed as they continued making love and they began taking each other’s clothes off. After a few hours of lovemaking, they got dressed and went into the living room, cuddling on the couch as they watched TV. As he held her in his arms, Cain thought about finally telling her about the clot in his head. As much as he didn’t feel it was a big deal, he could’ve just not said anything realizing that it was probably going away and she’d never know anything about it. But he didn’t want to keep secrets from her, no matter how big or small, or how trivial it may have seemed. He thought she had a right to know if their relationship was going to work.

  “I’m a little surprised you didn’t ask anything about my trip,” Cain started off.

  “It’s not really that important. Y
ou’re home, everything’s fine, that’s what’s really important.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Nothing happened, right?”

  Cain didn’t answer right away, trying to think of the right way to tell her. The fact he didn’t talk immediately, Heather automatically thought something was wrong. She broke from his grasp, sitting up to talk to him.

  “Nothing happened, right?” she asked again.

  “Umm…well…”

  “Oh my God. What happened?”

  “Well on the plane ride I got a little dizzy and threw up,” Cain revealed to her.

  “You were OK though?”

  “Yeah. Just the altitude I guess.”

  “OK. Is that it?”

  “Umm…”

  “What else?”

  “Well, uhh, I got into a little trouble and got hit in the head a few times and passed out.”

  “Oh my God!” she exclaimed, putting her hands over her mouth.

  “I was taken to a hospital and checked out.”

  “And nothing was wrong?” Heather asked, sensing there was more to it.

  “They discovered I had a small blood clot in my head.”

  Heather’s mouth fell open and Cain could already tell there were a thousand bad thoughts going through her mind. He gently took her hands to try and calm her.

  “You need to relax. Everything’s fine,” he calmly stated. “I had another scan when I got back earlier today. The clot is already smaller and they believe it’s going to go away on its own.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Well, all I can do is go on what they tell me. The doctor in France and the doctor here both said the same thing. It’s relatively small, and with medicine, it should disappear on its own.”

  “Why do you make me worry so much about you?” Heather sighed.

  Cain smiled at her. “I’m just that kind of guy I guess.

  Cain pulled her closer to him and passionately kissed her.

  “It’s nothing to worry about. I just figured I should tell you cause I thought you’d have a right to know. Not because there’s something to worry about.”

  “Well I’m glad you did,” she told him.

  “You’re sure? You’re not gonna worry more?”

  “I’m always gonna worry about you. That’s not gonna change. But it’s not just cause of your head and what you’ve been through with that. It’s also because of what you do and I worry about you not coming home. And it’s partly because I’m a girl and that’s what girlfriends who are in love do…we worry about those we care about.”

  “You know I’d be lost without you?”

  “I know,” Heather smiled before giving him a kiss.

  “I was thinking…maybe we should get a dog.”

  “A dog? Why?”

  “Why not? You like dogs, right?”

  “Of course I do. Just wondering why you think we should get one now.”

  “Well…I think it’d be fun to have one. And I think it’d be good for you,” Cain said.

  “Good for me? How?”

  “Well, when I’m gone, you’d still have some company. I mean, he’s not gonna talk back to you or anything, but he’d help keep you busy.”

  “And help not to worry about you so much?” Heather asked.

  Cain shrugged. “Just an idea.”

  “You know I’ve always wanted one.”

  “Maybe we should look at some breeds and see which one we’d like.”

  Heather raised an eyebrow and smiled. She seemed happy and pleased with the idea. “Yeah. Yeah, I think that might be a good idea.”

  The following morning, Cain made breakfast for his lovely girlfriend, having it ready by the time she woke up.

  “What’s this?” Heather happily asked.

  “Just figured I’d make breakfast for you. Return the favor since you made dinner.”

  “Well aren’t you sweet. Very thoughtful. Better not let this get out. People might think you’re a bit of a pushover,” she teased.

  Cain laughed. “Yeah. They might take advantage of my sensitive nature. It’s nothing extravagant. Only pancakes.”

  “It’s not what it is, it’s the thought that counts,” she said, giving him a quick kiss. “And I love you for it.”

  Cain cleared his throat before saying what he knew she wouldn’t want to hear. “I’m gonna have to go into work for a little bit.”

  “What?” Heather asked, clearly disappointed, and not even trying to hide it. “I thought maybe we’d be able to spend the whole day together.”

  “I don’t think I’ll be gone that long. Shelly wants me to come down and brainstorm a little bit. We still have one more person to find.”

  “OK,” she sighed. “I’ll just wait here for you like the patient, loving, understanding, girlfriend that I am,” she playfully replied.

  Cain laughed and leaned over to kiss her. “And I love you for that.”

  “Maybe I’ll do some research on different dog breeds while you’re gone.”

  “That’s a good idea.”

  “Maybe by the time you get back I’ll have it narrowed down for you,” she said.

  “Why don’t you get a list of your top five and we’ll go from there?”

  “I can do that.”

  Cain then left and went down to The Center where he was called in for a brief meeting with Lawson, Raines, and Director Conlin. They each took a seat in the meeting room as Conlin began the session.

  “I wanted to have this meeting with you guys because you’re the point people for this. You guys are responsible for Booth, Proulx, and Collins. It wouldn’t have happened without you. You’re to be congratulated for your speed and quality of your work. It’s unprecedented how well you’ve completed your missions. You deserve more accolades than I’m capable of throwing out at you right now,” Conlin told them.

  “Thank you sir,” Lawson replied.

  Cain and Raines just nodded their heads in acknowledgment.

  “But that being said, it’s still not over. We have one man left,” Conlin continued.

  “What’s the status of the stuff we brought back?” Lawson wondered. “Has it been analyzed?”

  “I’ve had ten analysts going over it all with a fine tooth comb since you got back. They worked all through the night. They came up with nothing,” he revealed. “Not a single piece of evidence in any of the documents or his laptop that connects him to Sanders in any way. Doesn’t even look like they’ve communicated since they hit the road. At least, not in a way that we can understand.”

  “So what now?” Lawson asked.

  “I want you three to figure out where Sanders is. I don’t care what it takes but he is not getting away and vanishing into thin air. He used this office for his own personal gain. That’s not acceptable and we’re not going to let him get away with it.”

  “Without a lead how are we supposed to figure out where he is?”

  “That’s what you guys get the big money for,” Conlin bluntly stated. “Find him. Today. Any questions?” he asked, looking around the room.

  Lawson and Raines shook their head while Cain just kept staring at the table.

  “Keep me updated,” Conlin told them as he exited the room.

  “I guess we need to find him soon, huh?” Cain cracked.

  “Talk about the impossible task,” Lawson responded. “Let’s head back to my office and come up with something.”

  The three of them went back to Lawson’s office as they started to brainstorm and throw some ideas out at each other.

  “I have a feeling this is going to be a long day,” Raines stated.

  “Even longer night probably,” Cain replied.

  Several hours of bantering back and forth produced no results. They tried going on the computer to track Sanders down, but that too was done to no avail. Lawson went and grabbed some sandwiches for them as they worked through lunch. Having full stomachs didn’t help much as they ran out of ideas. They had no idea where Sanders was and
didn’t know how they could find him. It seemed as if he’d successfully disappeared. There wasn’t a trace of him anywhere. Conlin eventually called to get a status update.

  “So where do we stand?” the director asked.

  “Well, uhh, you know, we’re still working on it,” Lawson stumbled.

  “So in other words you got nothing so far.”

  “Well, uhh, so far we don’t have much. But we’re still digging and we’ll crack something sooner or later.”

  “I’d prefer sooner.”

  “Yeah…well…umm…we’ll umm…we’ll keep going.”

  “Don’t stop till you get something.”

  “We will do that. Yes. We certainly will.”

  Lawson hung up the phone and immediately threw her head in her hand as she leaned on the desk.

  “Seems like that went well,” Cain joked.

  “Yeah. About as well as a….I don’t what,” Lawson replied. “But it wasn’t good!”

  “So I gathered.”

  They continued for several more hours, feeling like they were beating their heads against the wall, while still coming up with nothing. They worked right through dinner without getting anything, eager to find something, anything.