Pt. 13

Michael winced slightly as the silenced round skidded across his check to imbedded itself on the wall behind him. Beside him, Peter yanked his gun from its holster, aiming at the still smiling figure in front of him.

"Drop your weapon!" Peter yelled.

"Shall I drop this weapon, Michael?" Miriam asked, her tone light and conversational.

"No." he replied calmly, reaching up to wipe the blood trickling down his face with one hand. "That won't be necessary."

"Not necessary?" Peter replied, astounded. "The woman tried to kill you!"

"If she had wanted me dead, she would not have announced her presence first. She would have simply shot me from the door."

"Quite right." Miriam agreed cheerfully. "I was only saying hello to an old friend. Now, put the gun away Detective before your reporter friend starts asking questions neither of us is prepared to answer." She tucked her own weapon into her waistband and bowed to Caine. "So sorry for this disruption Mr. Caine. I hadn't expected Michael to catch up with me quite this fast."

"You know one another well." Caine responded, keeping a concerned eye on his volatile son.

"Too well." Miriam sighed. "Michael is here to take me back."

"Back where?" Peter asked, frowning at the scene before him. He stepped back from the man beside him, keeping his gun in hand.

"None of your concern." Miriam responded. "Michael, the "Doctor" is in full killing mode and I will stop him this time and nothing you can say will stop me."

"Miriam…"Michael began. "We must talk. Alone."

"Not another word, mon amie. It's too late to stop this anyway. Our friend has made his last couple of captures and is ready to complete his final transaction before going in to hiding again. But I think we can convince him to step out of the shadows just one more time, just long enough for us to put him out of his misery for good this time."

"Us?" Michael asked somberly.

"You owe me, my love. And we both know I always get what is owed to me, one way or another." Miriam's voice became icy. Her eyes were reminded Caine of obsidian, cold and hard. The morning light lit her pale face, giving it an almost ethereal glow.

"You are sure he has begun the process of moving on to his next identity." Michael responded, wondering if he dared risk moving his hands. He had opened a signal to Burkhoff when he had entered the dojo, expecting that the priest would have information that could be used to trace his errant friend. By now, Burkhoff would have alerted Operations to his situation and Section would have a team moving in for clean-up.

Caine moved around Michael's still figure and stood beside Peter. "Put your weapon away, Peter. It is not needed." He laid a gentle yet firm hand on his son's arm.

Kermit chose that still charged moment to make his entrance, coming through the same back door that Miriam had chosen. "Did I miss something?" he asked sarcastically.

"Not much. Call the reporter in. Detective, you'll give the woman a profile of our killer. One that is, to say the least, less than flattering. If I'm right, he should be in the perfect state of frenzy to take offense at your words and decide to teach you a lesson. Then, he'll be mine." Miriam walked to Michael's side and pressed a piece of cloth to his cut face. "That's going to leave a scar."

"Does that please you, ma belle?" he asked somberly.

"Yes. Nothing should be too perfect. Not even people." She gently tapped the man on the chin. "Not to worry. When this is over, you can cancel me or take me home or whatever it pleases you to do. Our employer's won't hold it against you." She moved to look out of the dojo's windows, scanning the street with a practiced eye. "Oh, and I wouldn't count on back-up on this one. Just a hunch, mind you, but I'm betting that our employers are going to leave us both hanging on this one."

"Just who…"Peter began before Kermit stopped him.

"Kid, there are some things your better off not knowing."

"If this man is as practiced in the art of death as you believe," Caine asked quietly, "will he not know Peter is setting a trap for him?"

"I'm counting on that." Miriam replied soberly.

The interview with Sandra Mason took only twenty minutes. Peter, despite his protests, agreed to the plan though he suspected that Miriam had left out some of its details. He watched the dark-haired woman and her enigmatic companion as they stood in the shadows of the studio, talking quietly. "I'd give real money to know what they're saying." He mused aloud.

Kermit shook his head with a frown. "No you wouldn't. Like I said, some things your better off not knowing."

Miriam watched as the proceedings took place across the room. "If she puts this out as a special bulletin, I think we can expect our boy to make his move tonight."

"Miriam, why are you doing this?" Michael asked, wondering why Burkhoff was not feeding him intelligence on the situation. He knew that communications link was still active as he could hear faint static coming from his almost invisible earpiece. Yet he had not heard a word from the young computer specialist since before Miriam's dramatic entrance.

"Because he's a monster and deserves to be destroyed?" she replied half-heartedly.

"That is a response I would expect from Nikita, not from you. You don't care what he does so long as he doesn't do it to you."

"I'm hurt." She replied with a pout. "And here I thought you liked me."

"I know you." Michael watched the interview with growing concern. "What is going on here? What is your true assignment?"

Miriam turned and quickly reached for his face. Michael caught her wrist before she could touch him and pushed her away. "Turn off your comm.-link." Miriam commanded, staring unblinkingly into his eyes. "You won't need it for a while."

Michael considered her statement then did as she requested. "Now will you tell me what is happening?"

"Our boy is playing both sides against the middle." Miriam replied, watching Caine and Kermit as they stood almost motionless in the opposite corner, also watching the interview. "He's become a liability."

"If that is true, why did Operations send me to retrieve you?"

"Neither Operations nor George much cares one way or another about this madman. But someone does. Someone higher up in the Section hierarchy wants him available. That's who has been protecting him all these years. So I've been given the job of making sure this particular weapon is neutralized before it can be used on either your boss or mine. This is a power play, my friend, nothing more. One less pawn on the board for someone to use against us."

Michael thought about her response for a moment. It explained some of the ambiguity in his orders. But not everything. "Who gave you your orders?" he asked.

"Does it matter?" she sighed. "We don't ask questions, Michael, we merely follow orders. Just like you did when you set up Jurgen." She turned and motioned to the men to follow her. "Looks like our interview is over. Let's get ready for step two."