by Mike Ryan
“And us?”
“We’re gonna have to be at the edge of the property. There are some shrubs at the back that we can take cover in,” she explained.
“I’m not really liking this.”
“Why?”
“Seems too exposed.”
“It’ll be fine.”
“We’ll see.”
Jakarta, Indonesia—It was just about ten o’clock and everyone was in position. Stanton was by the garage guarding the side entrance. Lawson and Cain were taking cover behind some shrubs near the back of the cemetery. They were laying on their stomachs as the shrubs were small and they’d be exposed if the stood up. Cain had his sniper rifle out, targeting the area by the Cross of Sacrifice. A few minutes later they saw a figure emerge, walking in the main entrance through the memorial shelter. He reached the Cross of Sacrifice and sat there, waiting for his partner.
“It’s Gutawa,” Cain said, seeing him clearly through the scope of his rifle.
Gutawa looked very anxious and kept looking around as he waited for Raines to arrive. He got up a few times and walked around the monument, continuing to look for him. As the minutes ticked by, Gutawa seemed like he was contemplating leaving as he walked toward the entrance a few times before circling back to his location, looking at his watch. A half hour elapsed with no sign of Raines.
“Something must be wrong,” Lawson whispered.
“Maybe.”
“He should’ve been here by now.”
“Maybe he’s just being extra cautious,” Cain replied.
“How long should we stay here if he doesn’t show?”
“We’ll stay here as long as Gutawa’s here. As long as he’s expecting him to show then we’re not bailing either.”
The time slowly ticked away, Lawson repeatedly looking at her watch, anxious for her former lover to arrive. It was just about eleven o’clock when Gutawa seemed to have had enough. He started walking toward the exit when Lawson stood up. Everyone seemed to believe that Raines was blowing the meeting off.
“What’re you doing?” Cain asked, trying to grab her leg.
“Let’s see if he knows more,” she replied as she started walking.
“No,” Cain said, flailing at her leg, just touching her heel.
Cain quickly regained his position, putting the entire area within the sights of his scope. He didn’t think it was a good idea for Lawson to expose herself but there wasn’t much else he could do. He figured they could’ve tailed Gutawa to see where he went after that. Gutawa could’ve lead them to more information that would’ve lead to Raines in some capacity. Lawson though figured Gutawa knew what the meeting was about and wanted to question him about it. Gutawa stopped as he noticed a dark figure moving closer to him. He closely watched the person moving in, eagerly waiting to see who it was. He squinted his eyes trying to make out who it was. His eyes opened wider, surprised to see Lawson emerge from the darkness.
“You look surprised,” Lawson stated. “Expecting someone else?”
“Why are you here?”
“Same reason you are.”
Gutawa shrugged his shoulders as if to say he didn’t know why he was there.
“It’s late, it’s dark, and the cemetery closed over five hours ago. I know you’re not here to just walk around,” Lawson told him.
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“I know you were here to meet Raines.”
“I still have nothing to say,” Gutawa said.
“You don’t have to say it. I already know,” Lawson said. “Raines sent you an e-mail asking you to meet him. You agreed and set up the time and place. So here we are.”
Gutawa seemed stunned that she knew the exact details. “How you know all that?”
“We have our ways. You’re not leaving here though until you tell us what we want to know,” she told him.
“I don’t know what he wanted. He said he wanted to meet so I agreed. The purpose of this meeting was unclear to me as well.”
Just as Gutawa let the words out a shot rifled through the crisp night air. He stumbled forward onto Lawson, who struggled to keep him upright, the pair eventually falling to the ground, Gutawa on top of her. Lawson pushed his lifeless body off her and looked down at her blood soaked shirt. She then looked over at Gutawa, who wasn’t moving and appeared to be dead. Cain frantically waved his gun around, desperately trying to find his target. He was unable to do so and turned his focus to Lawson. He looked at her through his scope and noticed she was moving.
“Just stay still,” Cain said through his earpiece.
“I think Gutawa’s dead,” Lawson replied.
“Are you hit?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Just hold on till I get you. I don’t know where the shooter is so I don’t know if he’s got sights on you or not.”
Agent Stanton left his position and came rushing up the steps to get to Lawson. Once he got there he bent down on one knee to check her condition. As he was doing so, another shot rang out, this one ripping through Stanton’s chest. The force of the bullet knocked him back, killing him almost instantly. Cain noticed the flash of the man’s rifle and saw it was coming from just beyond the fence. He took off running, hoping to catch the killer before he had a chance to escape. Once Lawson saw Cain running she quickly got up and ran after him. She wasn’t going to let Cain get too far ahead of her. They heard the sound of a car door shutting, then quickly squealed away, indicating Gutawa’s killer had gotten away. Cain ran to their car, refusing to let their man get away. Lawson was right on his heels and got in the passenger side.
“What about Stanton?” Cain asked.
“I think he’s dead.”
Cain pushed the pedal to the floor to gain speed on the fleeing suspect. He could hear the squealing of the brakes so he could tell which direction the car was traveling. The two cars zoomed through the Jakarta streets in a short pursuit that felt like it lasted a while, but actually only took about five minutes. The car Cain and Lawson was following ended the chase prematurely as once they reached a bridge that overlooked the Ciliwung River. The car just stopped and turned completely around to face the oncoming car. Cain stopped the car about forty feet in front of the other car as they waited for the occupant to make a move.
“What’s he doing?” Lawson asked.
“I don’t know. You stay down,” Cain said as he pulled out his Glock, turning off the safety.
The pair sat there staring at the other car, struggling to see who was inside. A few seconds later the other car door opened, though the occupant still sat in his seat. Cain opened his door also, mimicking the other driver.
“You have your gun on you?” Cain asked.
“Yeah.”
“Get it out.”
Lawson took out her gun, wondering what Cain had in mind. She usually carried a gun but seldom had any use for it. The only things she ever shot at were targets on the firing range.
“If something happens to me do whatever it takes,” Cain told her.
“What?” Lawson asked, surprised to hear him talking in that manner.
“I don’t know what this guy’s plans are, but if I don’t make it, protect yourself.”
Lawson checked her gun and got it ready, anxious and nervous about what was about to happen. Suddenly the other driver got out, revealing himself.
“Raines,” Lawson exclaimed.
“Yep.”
“You knew it all the time?”
“I assumed so. Who else would it be?”
“Why would he shoot his own contact? He helped him disappear.”
“Maybe because he found out that he talked to us. Besides, now that we know he’s alive he’s got no more use for Gutawa,” Cain stated.
“What’s he doing?” Lawson asked.
Raines emerged from the car and just stood in front of it, gun in his hand, relaxed at his side. Cain and Lawson also got out, though Cain gave his partner a disapproving look, not wanting her to
exit the vehicle. It was too late to argue as Cain wasn’t about to take his eyes off of Raines and give him an advantage.
“It seemed as though I wasn’t going to outrun you,” Raines shouted. “So stopping to face you seemed to be the proper course of action.”
“You know this has to end,” Cain replied.
“Does it? Why?”
“You just know it does.”
“Yes, as Sanders has ordered,” Raines said. “I’ve got no quarrel with you Cain. We can both go our separate ways now.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not? If I wanted you dead I would’ve killed you in Honduras. And you know I could’ve. As for you, Shelly, I could’ve killed you in the cemetery just as easily as the others if I so desired. But my feelings for you wouldn’t let me do that. I couldn’t do that.”
“Don’t talk to me about your feelings for me,” Lawson screamed. “You used me.”
“I did. I apologize for that,” Raines told her. “But that doesn’t mean my feelings for you weren’t true because they were. Nothing I did or have done changes that.”
“What is it you want?” Cain asked.
“For us to go our separate ways. You go back to New York and I’ll once again disappear,” Raines offered.
“Too much has happened for us to let that happen. You’ve killed some of our agents,” Lawson said.
“Come on Shelly, you’re much brighter than that. To just accept what you’ve been told. Especially by those that perpetuate the lies. I killed those who attempted to kill me, in self defense,” Raines responded. “Tell me Cain, have you yet figured out the lies that you’ve been told?”
“What lies?” Cain asked.
“To which there are too numerous to respond. In time you will figure them out as I have. I assume that you will. The facts will at some point not come together the same as they used to. The memory will come back to you and reveal the things that you’ve lost. You will realize that things are not as they seem. That what you’ve been told is not necessarily true. One day something will just seem out of place and create a domino effect in which all the pieces fall down, revealing your true self. I hope you get to that place…as I have.”
“What are talking about?”
“I wish I could tell you. But I’m afraid our time here is up,” Raines said, raising his arms in an attacking stance. “We’ve created quite a stir and the police will be here shortly.”
Raines pointed his gun at the pair, which prompted Cain and Lawson to do the same. Raines slowly started moving away from his car and toward the edge of the bridge. Cain started circling around him as Lawson stayed in her position. Raines continued backpedaling till his back hit the bridge and he had no where else to go.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you in our next life,” Raines said.
Raines fired a couple rounds in Cain’s direction before quickly taking a shot at Lawson. All his shots missed as the bullets whizzed by Cain and the shot at Lawson grazed off the ground. Cain quickly regained his composure after dodging the bullets and fired at Raines. His shot hit his mark as Raines grimaced before the blow knocked him over the concrete railing. Cain and Lawson rushed over to the railing to see where Raines fell but couldn’t quite see him in the water. Not only was it dark, but the Ciliwung River was a very dirty, polluted river. Sometimes it was hard to see what was in it during the daytime. Cain put his hand on the railing as he kept looking and felt something. He pulled his hand up to see what it was and rubbed his fingers together before wiping the blood off on his pants.
“You think he’s dead?” Lawson asked.
“I dunno but we gotta move,” Cain replied, pushing her back to the car. “Stay here and we’ll get some onlookers before you know it.”
They drove back to the cemetery in the hopes of cleaning up the scene. In the event police were already there they’d keep on driving. Luckily they had not yet arrived and Cain reached into the glove box for a spare gun.
“What are you doing?” Lawson wondered.
“Fixing the mess.”
Cain put the gun by Gutawa’s hand and dragged Stanton’s body a little to give the impression that they shot each other. He wanted to make it appear that there were no other people there and make it an open and shut case. He quickly finished his work and ran back to the car, driving back to the hotel with Lawson. Once inside their room Lawson called Sanders with an update.
“We cornered Raines on a bridge,” Lawson told him.
“And?”
“Cain shot him.”
“Is he dead?” Sanders hopefully asked.
“I think so.”
“You think?”
“The shot made him fall over the bridge and into the river,” Lawson answered.
“Did you see his body?”
“No. But there was blood all over the railing.”
“Hmm. I’ll put our sources to work to confirm it. If he’s shot and bleeding he’ll have to hit a doctor somewhere along the way if he’s alive.”
“You think he’s alive?”
“Until his body is found we will go under the assumption that he is alive,” Sanders said.
“Yes, sir.”
“You two have done some good work on this. I want you two to stay there for a few more days to see what you can find out. If his body is found it’ll be all over the news.”
Lawson told Cain about the instructions Sanders left for them. She could see something was wrong with him. He had this look on him that indicated something was troubling him.
“What is it?” she asked.
“It just doesn’t seem right.”
“What doesn’t?”
“Raines is an expert shot. He fired three rounds and didn’t hit either one of us,” Cain replied.
“Well, he was in a hurry.”
“I don’t think that was it.”
“You think he missed on purpose?” Lawson incredulously asked.
“Maybe.”
“Why would he do that?”
“You saw the result. He disappeared again,” Cain stated.
“You’re assuming he’s not dead. So you think he staged that to disappear again?”
“Possibly. He realized he wasn’t going to lose us so he set the stage at the bridge.”
“That’s quite a risk to take. If that’s true then what would make him think you wouldn’t kill him?”
“Maybe he thought it was a risk worth taking.”
“No, I don’t buy it. He’s dead,” Lawson said.
Cain continued to sit there silently, looking over to the wall. Lawson could tell something else was on his mind.
“What else?” she asked.
“I was just thinking about what else he was saying on the bridge. About all the lies.”
“You don’t seriously believe any of what he was saying, do you?”
“Why not?”
“He was just talking to divert our attention. Hoping to get the jump on us,” Lawson said.
“I didn’t get that impression.”
“Trust me. I know him better than you.”
“You didn’t know him well enough to know he was playing you,” Cain said, hoping not to offend her.
“You’re right. But I do know him better than you.”
“OK.”
“Trust me. He knew this was the end and was just spewing crap out of his mouth trying to buy a few extra minutes to figure out his escape. We finally got him and put an end to it. This was the end,” Lawson told him.
“Could be. But, somehow, I doubt this is the end.”
Please Look For The Following Titles In The Cain Series:
The Cain Conspiracy
The Cain Deception
The Cain Directive
The Cain Redemption
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mike Ryan resides in the suburbs of a major city in Pennsylvania. He lives there with his wife, three children, and three dogs
Mike encourages reader interaction and responds to all
personal messages. If you liked this book please consider leaving a review on the site you bought it from. Reviews can really help with others in making a purchase that are not familiar with Mike’s work. You may visit and connect with Mike at various locations on the web:
Web: http://[email protected]
E-mail: [email protected]
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Please Look For The Following Titles In The Cain Series:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
