Chapter thirteen,
Michael lay on his bed, he wanted to sleep, he really did. Only he was not going to be able to until he cleared the air with Sam. He heard a car engine start and sat up. He gasped at the pain that radiated from his shoulder, but did his best to ignore it. Getting to his feet he moved as fast as he could to the door.
Sam and Fiona had just got into Sam's car, as Sam started the engine Michael came out on to the stairs. "We need to talk." Michael shouted down to them.
Sam switched off the engine and the pair of them looked up at him. Michael offering to talk, to share information was almost unheard off. As he walked back into the loft they jumped out of the car and hurried back up the stairs.
He sat down on the bed waiting for them both to return. Once they were both inside and the door shut, he gave a sigh and tried to move his injured arm into a comfortable position. Sam checked the fridge and slammed the door shut in disgust when he realized the was no beer. So he lent against the work top a bottle of water in his hand. Fiona sat down in the chair next to the bed. Both of them waiting to hear what Michael had to say.
"They've started to decipher Simon's bible." He told them. "He had a name for me, the person who burnt me. Turns out I know her." He turned his head and stared at Sam. "So do you, she used to be Chloe Brenner, remember her Sam?"
Sam's eyes had gone wide. "No." He had been leaning against the work bench which Michael used as a kitchen counter. Now he sat down on one of the chairs. "No Mike you've gotta be wrong. She's got her own company. She -"
Michael cut him off. "She was Vaughn's handler. That's what Ottoman believes and I've got to get her to tell me where they are holding Simon."
"Mike, I saw her earlier this year. I went up to Langley I thought someone might be able to tell me where you were being held. I got nowhere. She tried to help me, got me a meeting with her husband. But he couldn't help."
"Ottoman has photo's of you with her, coming out of a hotel, he thinks you've been sleeping with her. Passing her information."
"Is that what this is about? Do you think I would betray you like that?" Sam was hurt and angry. Did Michael really think that he had been selling him out for the last four years.
"I don't think you're working with her." Michael spoke softly. Fiona had moved to sit next to him. "But Ottoman does. And if I mess up getting her to do what he wants, it will probably come down on you."
Fiona put her hand on his knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. "So you won't mess up." She told him.
He placed his hand over hers, but he stared at Sam. "You should leave while you can."
"No." Sam had no intention of running away.
"No?" Michael repeated.
"No." Sam confirmed. "If you fail to do what they want. What do you think they'll do to you? Especially if I've runaway. Not going to happen brother. You're just going to have to come up with a plan that will work."
Michael stared at him hardly able to credit what he heard. "A plan that will work?" He echoed Sam's words.
"You got it Mikey." Sam grinned.
"O-k" He did have a plan. He still had the one idea that would either get them a bit of Leverage or get them killed. "We need to find out as much as we can about Ottoman."
"I thought we decided that was a bad idea." Sam had really hoped Michael had forgotten that plan. As far as he was concerned that was a last ditch desperate move. He didn't think they were there yet.
"The tracker failed yeah. But if we can at least dig up some intel on him, it might make him back off." Michael was beginning to really want some payback on Ottoman.
"Or it might make him torture you to death instead." Fiona commented. Michael gave her a dirty look in response.
"We'll get the plans for the building they took me to last time. Set up cameras to cover the exits. Once I can ID Ottoman one of you can follow him, find out where he lives and we'll go from there depending on the intel."
"I don't like this plan Mike." Sam told him. "You can't take them on that way. They found the tracker, they'll notice surveillance equipment. Forget Ottoman and do the job."
"Sam's right." Fiona added. "We should be finding out all about this woman. Working out where you're going to be able to grab her."
Michael looked from one to the other noting the steely look in their eyes. "Ok we'll leave Ottoman alone for now. They're going to let me know where she's staying once she arrives in town. We need to find some place to hold her if she doesn't want to co-operate."
Both Fiona and Sam visibly relaxed at the new plan. They just needed to find a deserted property and make it secure.
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A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. I have a back injury which has started to play up and the pain meds I have to take mess up my concentration. I'll try and do some more over the weekend depending on how I get on. Thank you to everyone who reviews my story, and those who have marked it as a favourite also those who just like to read it . I appreciate all of you and definitely plan on finish this story in the next week or so.