Thanks to Tay for kicking me in the rear and inspiring me to write a new chapter on this story. I promise I'll try not to neglect it again!
Chapter 5
Michael found enough information on Fiona's companion to raise some major red flags. Part of him knew he should report his findings to the Director, but part of him wanted to handle this on his own or with Sam's help. Kelly was dangerous, and he wondered if Fiona realized just who she'd gotten into bed with. He cringed inside and a virtual knife twisted in his gut as he thought that perhaps it wasn't just a figure of speech.
Michael's phone beeped and he picked it up to find a text from Sam. 'At Shady Cove Harbor with Kelly. Will keep u informed.'
Sam was at Shady Cove with Kelly? What? The harbor was at the end of the cross street, and he knew this because he was checking out every one on the island. If this was a big arms deal, Fi would probably have a boat involved at some point, whether it delivered the guns or shipped them away. Maybe both. He turned right and drove toward the harbor, keeping his eyes peeled for Fiona. If she saw his car, everything would be blown and her life might even be in danger.
He parked far enough away from the slip where a cigarette boat was moored. Fiona stood on the dock with Kelly, and… he couldn't believe his eyes… Sam and Elsa. Sam was talking in that animated way of his with hands gesturing and an arm flung out, pointing toward the airport. Fiona squinted at him, looking doubtful, but whatever Sam was saying worked on Kelly. He nodded and said something, his stance easy, and then he extended his hand to Sam. His friend shook the arms dealer's hand as he gave him a dimpled smile, and he and Elsa turned away to leave the harbor.
"See you at eight," Sam said over his shoulder.
"We'll be there," Kelly responded while Fiona stood with her arms crossed, weight on one foot. She was angry. Michael could tell even from where he stood hidden by a large hibiscus bush.
Michael couldn't wait to grab Sam and give him a piece of his mind. Sam walked toward the downtown area with Elsa, hand in hand, as if they were out for an innocent stroll. Michael returned his attention to Fiona and Kelly and watched her body language. She was still angry at Sam's intrusion, but she played her part in whatever plan unfolded with Sam. If the arms thing ever fell through, she could become an actress. Kelly was excited, his smile gleaming as he talked, his body animated. If only he could get closer and hear their conversation.
Seeing that he would get nothing from this, Michael sighed, turned and went back to his car. He didn't expect to find Sam leaning against the shaded side with Elsa standing under the tree.
"Hey Mike, you got my message," Sam said with a smile.
"Yeah. What were you doing back there?" Michael approached him, holding his anger in check. "And how did you figure out where they were?"
"It was dumb luck, I swear, Mike. After reading some of that information, I figured Kelly would be using a boat to transport his goods." He smiled with satisfaction. "Elsa and I decided to try the nearest harbor first, after we finished with her business."
Michael let out a breath. "So what happened? It looked like you were making some kind of deal with Kelly."
"In a manner of speaking, yeah," Sam replied. "Kelly's expecting a shipment of guns to come in tonight on a speedboat, and he was all set to put them onto another boat to take up to Miami where the real deal is going down. Money is changing hands at the marina in Cutler Bay." He paused and added, "There's just one wrinkle in his plan. His boat is out of commission. I offered to fly the guns to the little private landing strip up there and his buyer could meet us there." Sam grinned. "He's working on that, and he said he'd call me if it worked out."
"How on earth did you get in his confidence so fast?" Michael stared at him with disbelief.
"Fiona and I played old friends," Elsa replied with a slick smile. "Well, I did. She was pretty stunned to see us just walk up to them while they were in the middle of a disagreement about the boat."
"I think we need to go someplace where I can get a drink and you two can tell me all about this." Michael moved around the front of the car and opened the driver's side door.
Sam let Elsa into the back and slipped into the passenger seat, still grinning, his face shining with pride at his fiancée. "You should have seen her, Mike. She shocked Fi and just launched into this old friends, how are ya, can't believe you're here shtick. It was beautiful, and completely disarmed both of them." He chuckled.
"This Kelly guy recognized Sam from earlier, but he didn't place me. I was surprised by that, but I just kept up the ruse," Elsa added to Sam's narrative.
Sam continued, telling Michael how he deduced that they were having boat troubles by the collection of tools on the dock and the mechanic who came out from below. The man told Kelly that the boat wouldn't be ready that day. "Kelly almost whipped out his gun and blew the guy's head off right there, Mike." Sam said, shaking his head. "He even had Fi a little scared, I could see it in her eyes." He took a breath and said, "She's having second thoughts about working with this guy. I don't know why she's with him to begin with, but it's pretty obvious she wants out of this arrangement."
"So how are you and Elsa going to help her with that," Michael asked as he pulled into the hotel parking lot.
"Like I said, I offered the plane. We'll put everything in the hold and Elsa, Fi, Kelly and I will fly back to Miami. If he takes the bait. We'll let the CIA take care of things in Miami." He smiled.
"When is he planning on leaving," Michael asked. "If it's soon, I'll never get there in time to meet you when you land."
"If he calls me, I'll tell him we can't take off until nine. That should give you enough time to make it there if you leave now." Sam glanced at his watch. "More than enough time for you to get a team together."
Michael stared at Elsa and Sam standing in the parking lot with him, weighing his options. He didn't like how the two seemed to hijack his plans, not that he had anything concrete in mind anyway. He was flying with only one target in sight, and that was Fiona. He didn't know anything about Kelly, other than that he and the woman Michael loved were acquainted back in Ireland, he was more volatile than a vial of nitroglycerine, and Fi was afraid of him. All he could see was her and not how to get her out of this mess she'd jumped into, but Sam found a way.
"I still wanna know the details. How is this going to work," Michael asked.
"Let's get an early dinner and talk," Sam suggested as he turned toward an open air cafe with Elsa beside him.
"Sure. Then I'll check out and get home," Michael said, a faraway tone to his voice.
Even Elsa looked at him in concern. She slipped her hand around Sam's arm and watched Michael walk ahead by several steps. Whispering, she said, "Do you think he's going to make it to Miami on his own? I'm worried about him, Sam."
"He'll be fine, baby," Sam replied in a soft voice. "Once he gets his questions answered and wraps his head around what we're planning, he'll be fine."
"We should have brought your friend Jesse along," Elsa said. "Maybe I should ride with Michael and help keep him focused."
Sam turned his full attention to her. "Seriously? You would do that?"
Elsa nodded. "He's your best friend, and he helped save your life. It's the least I can do. Granted, you wouldn't have been in danger if it weren't for him, but that's not the point." She sighed. "For you, I will do this."
Sam kissed her, a brief press of lips saying so much as his hand cradled her cheek. "Thank you, sweetheart."
"Besides, I know you're worried about me flying with that powder keg Kelly on the same plane." She threw him a cocked smile. "Just be careful."
"You know it." Sam smiled. He pulled out a chair for her and she sat, and he settled in beside her.
After they ordered, Michael asked, "Anyone care to tell me what you've got up your sleeves on this one?"
"It's really simple, Mike," Sam answered as he sat back in his chair nursing an iced tea. He was too close to flight time to be drinking anything with alcohol. "We'll load the cargo onto the plane, Kelly, Fi, and I, and I'll fly it and them to Miami. By the time we arrive, you and your team of agents should be at the airstrip in Cutler Bay to take him."
"And Fi walks," Michael said.
"That's up to you, Mikey. How do you wanna play this? At the very least, she's probably looking at being an accessory."
Michael winced. "That would be more jail time."
"Yeah. Not likin' that scenario at all." Sam pulled on his drink. "If we can get Fi to roll over on him before the authorities even get involved, maybe she can come out of this a lot better. You know how good she is at improvising. All it would take is the right words to get her to play."
Michael nodded. "Think you can do that, Sam? Convince her to turn on Kelly?"
Sam held out his hands and gave Michael a wounded look. "Come on, Mike. Think who you're talking to. Don't worry, I know Fi well enough. I don't think it'll take much to get her to, uh, switch allegiances."
"Thank you, Sam. I'm sure Fi will be grateful too, once we get her safely away from him." Michael looked around, scanning the landscape. His food arrived, and he asked the server, "Can I get this to go?"
Her eyebrow rose, but she said, "Certainly, Sir." She took the plate away and soon returned with his sandwich in a styrofoam container.
"Thanks." Michael rose, pulled out a few bills and dropped them onto the table. "I'm going to take off now, get an even better head start."
"Be careful. You know how that road is to Miami," Sam urged him.
"I will." Michael smiled, then his face turned sober. "I just don't want to be seen with you anymore in case Kelly's around. He might get suspicious."
"True enough."
Michael pushed the sunglasses up onto his nose and asked, "By the way, how did you convince Kelly to trust you to help him? He saw you with me."
"Yeah, and I told him you were a major jerk and well, I said enough to make him think I'd crossed over to the dark side, Mikey. Fi was actually kind of helpful that way. I don't know if she was just looking to defuse Kelly or if she has an idea for taking him down..." Sam shrugged. "Beats me."
"Well, thanks anyway, turncoat," Michael spouted as he gave Sam a grin and turned away. "I'll see you all in Cutler Bay."
"You watch, Mike, this'll be one of the easiest catches we've ever made."
After Michael left the table, Elsa requested that the server box up her meal as well. She grabbed it and said, "I'm off to intercept Michael. See you later, Sammy." She kissed his cheek.
"You take care of him, Elsa. Keep him on track if he starts zoning out. Not something I'd expect from him, but you saw it, he's like a blind man wandering around without Fi."
Elsa nodded and blinked at the emotion welling up tears in her eyes. "I'll do what I can. You be careful flying that psycho back to the mainland." She kissed him one more time before hurrying to catch Michael before he left the hotel.
He sure didn't waste time. Elsa entered the lobby and saw Michael heading for the front desk. She sidled up to him as he signed the receipt to check out, and she said, "Sam asked me to go with you. He's worried about me flying with Fiona and Kelly. So..." She bit her bottom lip, hating herself for telling half truths. "Do you mind if I ride with you?"
He glanced at her sideways. "Sam is worried about you. After some of the spunk I've seen from you, I have to wonder about that."
"He's protective. Like you are of Fiona." She looked him right in the eye when she said it, knowing he couldn't refute that statement.
Michael nodded in agreement. "He's right. I don't like Fi being up in the air with that guy. Sam either, to tell you the truth. But I agree you're much safer on the ground with me, so yeah, let's go." He smiled and guided her toward the door.
The sun was in the west preparing to take its course into sunset. In four hours it would be almost dark, he and his team would have perfect cover, and Thomas Kelly would be in the Agency's hands. They'd been wanting to get him for years. While his capture didn't help Michael's mission, it would go a long way toward bringing Fiona back to him. If she realized the lengths that he would go to in order to save her, maybe she would understand why he did what to her seemed like a major betrayal.
He threw his luggage into the trunk, let Elsa into the car, and drove away from the hotel. As he turned left onto the main street, he saw Sam alone picking up the check. That was the second time, which was a rarity.
Michael cleared his throat and asked, "So, um, Elsa, I hope you don't mind me asking this, but... how does Sam manage to buy dinners lately?" Dear God, I hope she isn't giving him an allowance. I thought they were beyond that.
Elsa smiled and replied, "Since you've been gone, Sam has taken a few odd one-man jobs. He made a nice chunk of change last week when he and I went to Virginia to discuss a possible merger with a smaller hotel there. They were having security issues, and Sam looked into it. Within a few days he had it all worked out and they implemented his recommendations." Her smile widened. "He received a sizable check from the man. We never did come to an agreement on the hotel, but now the guy has fewer security problems and he's filling up beds again."
"So Sam cost you a deal."
"Yes, he did." She smirked. "But the way he did it, I began to understand what it was like for him working with you and Fiona. I admired his panache." Elsa laughed. "However, I told him he's not going on any more of my acquisition trips."
Michael's mouth tipped up into a smile as he chuckled. "We've all got our strengths." The smile faded and he looked wistful in the shadows, his head backlit by the fading sun. "Together, our weaknesses never mattered. We were all strong as a team." He fell silent.
"I'm sorry, Michael. I didn't want to bring up anything that would upset you," Elsa said. She searched his face and saw the sadness in his. She knew he hated working for the CIA. He looked like a slave chained to heavy iron shackles that had no key. "Maybe this bust will help you get your freedom sooner."
His gaze slid to hers, the expression on his face one of supreme doubt. "That would be nice, but I won't put too much hope in it. They'll be done with me when they're done with me. I just wish that Fi could wait."
"That's a tall order," Elsa warned. "It was bad enough waiting for Sam when you all took off and I never knew if I would see him alive again or not. You don't know how heartbreaking it is to wait alone with that fear dangling over your head every day. I tried to live a normal life, but without Sam there, every waking moment felt like I was walking on a minefield. At night, the only way I could go to sleep was to hug his pillow, and now and then I'd splash some of his cologne on it so I wouldn't forget how he smelled." She stopped herself before she lost control of her emotions. Taking a few breaths to calm herself, she said, "I'm sure Fiona has been going through something very similar, Michael. For your information, a woman in love will do that."
"You really think she still loves me after everything I've put her through?" He glanced at her.
Elsa nodded. "The way she eyeballed you when we came upon her in the street, and then when Sam and I found her and Kelly at the docks, I could see it. She loves you, Michael. I don't know what this man did to bewitch her into helping him, but when he's gone and the spell is broken, she'll be ready for you. And if you don't take some time to explain everything and get her to trust that you're coming home again, you're the biggest idiot I've ever known."
He nodded, a slow, languid movement of his head. "You don't have to lecture me, Elsa. I know what I'm going to do and if I have to go rogue for a couple days, I'm going to do it anyway." He turned to her with an impish smile. "I just might need Sam to fly us away somewhere, but I'll make it happen."
Laughing, Elsa assured him. "I think if you gave him the word, Sam would push you two onto the plane himself and take off without asking you where you were going."
Michael felt a weight fall from his shoulders. Elsa put voice to the things that he was thinking. The Agency had been working him to near exhaustion lately, and the least they could do after this big bust was to give him a little time off. If he had to grab it without permission, he didn't care. The only thing that mattered to him was restoring Fiona's trust and regaining her love. For that, he would risk his future.