Chapter 26

Opening her arms and legs to full stretch, the extra material of her wingsuit caught the breeze and Mich began to drift away from the building. By closing and arm or leg slightly she had some directional control, and was soon heading for the nearby marina.

She didn't want to land in the water, but the traffic around here was busy, if she was able to get on the opposite side, it would take a while for the police to catch up with her, and she would be able to disappear.

H had run down the stairs calling for a helicopter, he was annoyed to hear that the only one in the air had been called to follow a suspect in a robbery and was miles away. The second helicopter was on the ground and it would take a few minutes before it was airborne, by then the assassin would be long gone… He had to try and follow her from the ground.

Guessing the direction she was moving in from where she had jumped and wind direction, H found himself heading for the marina. Flicking the switch to put on the sirens, he kept an eye on the road while scanning the sky as much as he could.

Mich could hear the siren and smiled, glancing down and slightly behind, she couldn't help but see the Hummer in pursuit. H would not give up that easily. Sighing, she knew that one day she would have to tell him about what had happened, but hopefully by then it would no longer matter.

She was descending slowly, and needed to gain a little more height if she were to clear the marina, when she spotted the pier opposite. She might just be able to make it.

H swore, he was on the wrong side of the marina, calling for back-up, he made a note of where she landed. Jumping back into the Hummer, her drove as quickly as he could to that point, but to no avail. The traffic was hell at this time in the morning.

A patrol car was on scene when he arrived, but the uniformed officers had not found anything, or anyone to witness the assassin landing. H sat down on a nearby bench, he couldn't help but smile. Whoever she was, she was good; he couldn't help but admire that. He really wanted to catch her, but had the feeling he never would.

Climbing back into the Hummer, he headed for the lab. On the way he received a call from Clarkson, who told him that he had found out some more information.

&&&

Mich was safely out of the area, making her way back to her SUV. The wingsuit conveniently packed down into a carryall, her Mauser broken down into its separate components. Jumping into her car, she turned on the CD player and put in one of her favourite discs and was soon on her way out of town, heading back to the barn.

&&&

Horatio sighed, with the death of Judge Ratner, Ryan had gone to collect the warrant for this evenings operation from another judge – one who was quite happy to support the FBI and CSI Branches in their work. Glancing up he saw Clarkson heading for his office.

"Morning Horatio, I hear you nearly caught our assassin this morning…"

H shook his head. "Not even close Paul… She's damn smart." The two men had become good friends through the investigation and as a result communication had improved between the two departments.

Clarkson sat down, a serious look on his face, "I found out why our Agency friends want her caught."

H sat back in his chair "Don't tell me she's a rogue agent…."

"No, quite the opposite… One of the best that MI5 has to offer, but the Agency doesn't know who she is any more than we do."

H was confused. How could they not know? Wasn't the operation theirs?

Clarkson went on to explain that the CIA had asked for an agent – because they did not know which of their own they could use. Agency personnel had been quickly identified by the drug Cartels and killed. "The operation is being run by our British friends… CIA just know that she's here, and working… However, when she's finished, she's going to disappear into society, MI5 have accepted her resignation, this is her last job…"

H grimaced, "But CIA want to keep her on the books…"

Clarkson nodded, "She wants out, but they're hoping we'll find her first. So they can use her later – if necessary…"

H shook his head, in recent years, the Agency had received a lot of bad press and less people liked the idea of being a 'spy'. The result – the agency now had less agents in the field – and most of those were in the Middle East. Giving them less to work with at home.

"The Brits have an excellent record of keeping things quiet… 'Top Secret' means exactly what it says… When she's done – it'll be as if she was never here…"

H nodded. The British Secret Service was second to none when it came to keeping an operation quiet, and if the operation was being run by them…. H swore.

Clarkson gave him a mystifying look "What's wrong Horatio?"

Looking across the table, H hesitated. "I need to check something out, but I think I know where our assassin got her information… I'll get back to you."

Narrowing his eyes, Clarkson thought for a few minutes. "You don't think…" Standing up, he turned to leave, but paused, "If you can get a message to our assassin, tell her to keep her head down. I wouldn't want the Agency to get her. They'll never let go, even if she has resigned from MI5."

H nodded. In that respect, he and Clarkson were completely in agreement, first he needed some answers, but how to get them? Then he remembered the British girl that he and Eric had found the day before… At least he had a reason to call Scotland Yard.

&&&&

Calleigh sighed… The bullet was a .308, the most common of rifle rounds and once again, she knew it would be hard to chase down. Knowing how the assassin worked, she had no doubt that she would not find another bullet from the same rifle on the database to link any cases together.

&&

Dan Cooper was stunned at the information he received… The judge's computer was full of dates, names and other relevant information; it had just trebled the Bureau's workload. Showing Ryan some of the things he had found, he started to block information together.

Ryan couldn't believe it. The judge was not only working with Ramon Cruz, but also several other Cartels, the amount of money he was earning was enough to help a small third world country out of debt. No wonder he could afford to have his mistresses live in the best parts of town.

"You know what Ryan. If you catch this assassin, put her on our Christmas card list will you, with what we have here, she's given us new leads on I don't know how many dead cases." Ryan nodded. The more he and the rest of the team saw, the more they wished they wouldn't find out who she was.

He was currently looking through some news reports from the UK that he had printed off at home the night before. About 5 years before, a Japanese diplomat had been kidnapped by some crazy environmental group – threatening to kill him if Japan didn't stop killing whales.

The paper revealed that he had been rescued by a lone agent, who had somehow managed to infiltrate the group. In a statement given to the media, the diplomat revealed that he had given the agent a thank you gift. A pair of Samurai swords that had been in his family for generations…

&&&

Horatio was on the phone. He had just managed to get through to Derek Foster at the third time of trying. Telling him about the young girl, Foster thanked him for the information and assured H that he would try and find out who her family were, and let them know.

H paused a moment to collect his thoughts, taking a deep breath, he cautiously asked the question, "Superintendent… May I ask you something…? How closely does your department work with MI5?"

Derek Foster hesitated. He knew that Mich only had one name left on her list after a message he had received only a short time ago, but what to tell the Lieutenant… Derek knew that Horatio would not have asked unless he had a reason. "We occasionally pass on information that we receive, but apart from that, we work very little together."

"Would you have passed on information from a mutual acquaintance?" H was careful not to mention Franks by name; he knew he was on an unsecured line. As Foster gave the affirmative answer, H couldn't help dropping his head, there was one more question he had to ask…

"Is she involved Derek?"

Foster paused… For the Lieutenant to ask, he must have found something out, and if he knew, the Agency could find out. He had to prevent that from happening… "I'm afraid that I can't help you there Lieutenant, but one thing I will say is thank you."

H was confused, until Foster finished his sentence. "Thank you for being there for her Lieutenant, she needed someone to balance her out after what she went through and still needs the support. That's part of the reason why she resigned." With that, Foster cut the line, leaving H deep in thought.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ramon smiled… The shipment had come right in on time and his people were quickly working to offload the cargo before moving it to one of his storehouses for safekeeping. Above all Ramon was a business man, he knew that if he flooded the streets with the high quality drugs that came in, the price would drop, so he deliberately kept the crack stored safely away – releasing a little at a time.

The result was a good profit – and a regular clientele, his 'salesmen' had a steady supply, and never let anyone down. The removal of a few of his people had not really affected business, but Law Enforcement had. They had found leads on some of his people and they were now behind bars, restricting the movement of his product around the state.

&&

Horatio and Clarkson moved slowly along the dock, trying to stay out of sight. Nearby, Eric and Ryan were also moving in, while, at the other end of the pier, Clarkson's men were hidden. SWAT had brought in their small quiet marine craft and was also approaching the vessel which stood tied up alongside.

Horatio smiled. Ramon had just stepped into the light, and the CSI Lieutenant could pick him out easily… "I want Cruz alive, if possible." Clarkson nodded, and would look the other way if Horatio got a little 'personal' with Ramon. He had seen Mich's injuries after Tim Slater had been ordered to beat her up.

At a given signal, Clarkson released his men; the CSI's were there mainly to lend their support in numbers… The Bureau had fewer men these days. Within minutes, all hell was let loose as gunfire echoed around the dock.

Horatio carefully looked around picking out individual targets, bringing Ramon's people down. Eric and Ryan followed suit. Although the Law Enforcement team had fewer men, they did have the element of surprise, and it was not long before everything was over. Clarkson was happy. This drug bust would go down in history, though no-one would know that it had come about through the work of a lone assassin.

Looking around, Horatio swore, there was no sign of Ramon. Grabbing the next man who walked past, he demanded to know where Cruz was. The man laughed in his face… "He's gone Lieutenant… Straight out the door…"

Running through the shed, Horatio found the rear entrance; it hadn't been noticed on the way in. Furious with himself, he punched the door, venting his anger before opening his cell.

"Hi Mich… Yeah, I'm ok…. Listen, Ramon got away… Look after yourself… I'll see you tomorrow."

Putting down her phone, Mich smiled. Horatio was angry, but she was pleased. She would not have been able to finish her job if Ramon had been caught Now all she had to do was wait.

&&&&

Horatio was tired. He had been up most of the night questioning the men that had been on the dock, all of them had previous convictions for something or other, and being involved with Ramon's little enterprise would not do them any favours.

Eric and Ryan were going through the drug evidence with two of Clarkson's men, cataloguing it all. It was going to take a long time, taking a break, the four of them talked about the situation behind the drug bust – and all came to the same conclusion. The assassin deserved a medal, not to be caught.

&&&&&&&&

Frank was following up on a lead obtained from the men that had been caught. With Calleigh on site to help with collection of evidence, he and his uniforms apprehended six men – and thousands of kilo's of crack cocaine.

&&&

Ramon was feeling the squeeze. The only place he could hide was his father's house, but that would not last long. He had been spotted at the scene of the bust and had no doubt that his prints would be found… Then that Dn red-headed Lieutenant would come after him and he would have no where to run. Unless he got there first.

It didn't take him long to make up his mind. If he was going down, he would take the Lieutenant with him, and the easiest way to do that would be to hit him where it hurt the most.

&&&&

Mich walked through the huge house to the study, where she knew William would be. She had left Kyra playing with his youngest daughter – from his fourth wife, there was only a year between them in age.

Knocking on the door, she walked in slowly, it would be a bad enough shock to the man that she was here – they usually spoke over the phone. William Franks looked up, seeing Mich, he became concerned, "Why are you here? We agreed never to meet… For Kyra's safety."

Mich sighed, "It's Kyra's safety that I'm worried about…" She quickly explained the situation to him and asked that he look after Kyra – at least for the time being.

"William, there is also the possibility that I may have to leave Miami. If that happens, we have to come to a decision. Either you will never see Kyra and I again, or I will have to leave Kyra with you, to ensure her future and she has to believe that I will never return."

Franks turned pale, "Mich the only way to do that is to tell Kyra that you…" his voice tailed off as Mich nodded her head…

"If it's the only way, that's what we will have to do… Kyra's future is what is important."

"Michelle, what are you involved in…"

She shook her head, "You don't want to know William, for your own safety. Just be assured, it will be over within the week."

Franks shook his head, but accepted her words. "Then I hope that I will see you again, and that it will be to take Kyra home…"

Mich smiled and left as quietly as she came. There was only one person left who she needed to speak to, but would he understand why she had not said anything before? Probably not… she admitted to herself, blinking the tears away from her eyes.

William Franks was no fool and understood what was about to happen. Mich was obviously assisting with an operation that had come about because of information that Robert had given to the British security services. He admired her a great deal, but that didn't stop him from being worried about her. However, there was one person who he could trust to help…

Putting his hand on his phone, he thought for a few minutes, before picking up the handset and dialling a number, "Miami Dade PD…? Yes… put me through to Lieutenant Caine please…"