The Orphan
Copyright© 2025 by A Well Traveled Man
Chapter 1
When Michael Forte was born, he was left on the steps of St. Thomas Orphanage in Chicago, Illinois. Sister Anna found him and fell in love with him. Since Michael didn’t have a name, she named him after Michael the Archangel and chose Forte, meaning strong, for his last name. Michael was a gifted child and had read all the books in the orphanage by age six. His photographic memory helped him retain and organize information.
Michael knew he was different from the other children because of the things he could do. When he turned five, Michael could read other people’s minds. When he turned six, he could move objects with his mind. Then the big one happened when he turned seven. He found out he could teleport short distances. He could also influence Sister Anna, the Mother Superior, and the staff to forget or do him favors.
He didn’t use the influence gift often and practiced his gifts in private or away from the orphanage. Michael feared what might happen to him if his gifts were known, so he kept them a secret. The prime time for adoption was between the ages of 4 and 10. Michael had dark skin like a Hispanic and was taller than the other children, hindering his adoption.
Michael also sabotaged several adoptions because the people wanted him for the wrong reasons. Caucasian kids were adopted quickly, leaving the other minority kids to wait longer periods or grow up in the orphanage. Sister Anna tried to get Michael into a Catholic school, but it was full. So, she called a friend and got Michael into a private school. He advanced past his peers and studied high school courses in the fourth grade.
The private school wore uniforms, so Michael wore used clothes donated by students’ parents when they were outgrown. He advanced in math, computer science, languages, and martial arts. He chose martial arts because it didn’t require staying after school. Sister Anna set him up with private lessons at school during the study period. Soon, Michael was maintaining the school computer system and the students’ laptops and tablets. That allowed him to practice his hacking skills as students routinely forgot their passwords.
Michael knew where everyone was, both at the orphanage and at the school. He also had a powerful, persuasive ability, almost like hypnosis. Michael didn’t use that skill very often, but it was helpful getting out of trouble. When he was late getting back from work, school, or roaming around, he would tell a Sister or the Mother Superior to ignore his tardiness, and they would forget it.
Sister Anna arranged for Michael to work at a mortgage company that contributed to the orphanage. Unknown to anyone, the mob owned the company to launder money. Michael started cleaning the office at the end of the day. When the owner, Mr. Bruni, discovered Michael had excellent computer skills, he had Michael transfer all the paper files onto the computer. Mr. Bruni gave Michael money to buy clothes suitable for the office. Michael’s job expanded to updating their accounting and computer systems.
When Michael turned fifteen, he had already graduated from high school. The school allowed him to enroll in an online college and do the work on the school computer. They wanted him to continue maintaining their computer system and the students’ and staff’s laptops. They helped Michael apply for a scholarship, so there wasn’t any additional cost for his education.
Mr. Bruni trusted Michael and told him to deduct a 15% handling fee from all payments. The fee wasn’t to be entered into the computer but put on a separate USB drive. One day, Michael arrived at work and heard an argument in Mr. Bruni’s office. He saw two men in suits arguing with Mr. Bruni about missing money. Michael used the company phone Mr. Bruni gave him to video the argument. The men threatened Mr. Bruni and pulled out their guns.
They demanded that he open the safe, and Mr. Bruni pulled out his gun, and everyone started firing their weapons. When the gunfire stopped, Michael hid in the supply closet, and the men left. One was wounded, and he found Mr. Bruni dead. Knowing the combination, Michael opened the safe and found a duffel bag of cash and stacks of money, along with two books on the shelf. He put the money and two books in his backpack, grabbed the duffel bag, and left after wiping down everything he touched in the office.
Returning to St. Thomas Orphanage, he went to the storage shed. Michael put the contents of his backpack in a box and hid it with the duffel bag. Then he found Sister Anna and told her what had happened at the mortgage company. He didn’t tell her about emptying the safe or recording the event. She told Michael that the police and the bad men would soon find out he worked there. He would be the prime suspect because he was an orphan.
Sister Anna told Michael he needed to leave town immediately for his safety. She asked how much money he had, and Michael said he had saved over $1200. Sister Anna said she would make some phone calls and told him to pack his clothes. Michael went to the storage room where the donations were kept and found two duffel bags. Then he went to the storage shed and got the duffel bag and box. Returning to his room, he emptied the box into a duffel bag and put his clothing on top. Michael put the smaller duffel bag into the larger one and added more of his belongings, including his laptop.
Early the next morning, Sister Anna took Michael to the bus depot. She handed Michael an envelope and told him to buy a ticket to Phoenix, Arizona, call the number in the envelope, and book a cheap motel for the night. Kerrie Kratos is a childhood friend of mine, and she will help you disappear. Sister Anna hugged Michael goodbye, crying, and left.
Michael went to the ticket counter, purchased the ticket, and told the clerk to forget him being there. Then he asked about the video surveillance system, and she said it’s recorded on CDs and changed every twelve hours. Michael told her to remove the CD and give it to him. When she did, Michael told her to wait an hour and put a new one in the recorder. If anyone asks, say Detective Jones took it for a murder investigation.
He left the ticket counter smiling and got a hot dog, chips, and a bottle of water for breakfast. Thirty minutes later, the bus departed the terminal, and Michael was sure he had covered his tracks. He was sure the police would investigate Mr. Bruni’s death. But he had never been fingerprinted, so there was no way to prove the fingerprints found in the office were his.
The school had photos of him when he first attended, but Michael avoided getting his picture taken for class photos. He was so advanced that he wasn’t part of the class anyway, and it wasn’t like his family wanted a yearbook or his graduation picture. The police would figure Mr. Bruni’s death was tied to organized crime and report it that way. But the mob would want their money, and they were the ones to worry about.
They arrived in Phoenix, Arizona, after 30 hours, 1800 miles, and six stops. Michael found a clean, cheap motel two blocks from the bus station and paid cash for a two-day stay. He told the manager to ignore him and his movements and went to his room. Michael unpacked a few belongings and hid his duffel bags under the dresser. It was attached to the floor, but a gentle lift raised one side. He grabbed his backpack and $10k in cash and went shopping.
The Goodwill store was a mile away, and he bought two pairs of jeans, four shirts, a pair of tennis shoes, socks, and underwear. The socks and underwear were new in their packages, and the rest were in like-new condition. He also picked up a matching set of rolling luggage. Next, he went to a restaurant for lunch. He asked the busboy if he knew where to get papers for work in Spanish. Jose, the busboy, said yes for $25 and agreed to meet behind the restaurant at 5 p.m. Michael bought a pay-as-you-go phone at a convenience store and returned to the motel.
At 5 p.m., they met behind the restaurant, and Michael followed Jose six blocks into an alley. Jose knocked on the garage side door, and a man opened it. Jose introduced Michael to Mr. Brown, and he asked Michael what he wanted. They agreed to $ 1,500 for a driver’s license, a Social Security card, and a birth certificate. Mr. Brown took Michael’s picture, and they waited for him to do his magic.
Then the sales pitch started, and Mr. Brown offered that for an additional $500, his new ID would pass a security check. For an extra $1,000, it would come with a complete background. Michael gave his okay and asked for the name, Anthony Conti. Mr. Brown got to work on the documents, and Michael gave Jose $25 and told him they had never met. When the documents were done, Michael read Mr. Brown’s mind, and his work was worth the price.
Michael paid Mr. Brown and told him to erase everything he did and forget about him. He returned to the motel and called the phone number Sister Anna had given him. A young lady answered, and she asked who was calling. Michael told her his name, and she said her name was Kerri Kratos. She asked Michael to meet her at the Sky Harbor Airport private terminal at 7 a.m. tomorrow. Michael agreed, and they said goodbye. He went to a nearby restaurant and had dinner.
When he returned to his motel room, he found a man searching it. Michael said, “Freeze,” and the man didn’t move. He worked the man over like a heavy bag during martial arts practice. The man fell unconscious to the floor, and Michael searched him. His wallet said he was a PI named Clive Pollard. Clive had a bag with entry tools, including lock picks and an electronic keycard hack. He had a silenced Glock 9mm, keys, and a cell phone.
Michael carried Clive to his SUV and drove around the back of the restaurant. He dumped Clive into the dumpster and parked his SUV three blocks away. Michael searched the SUV and found a duffel bag with duct tape, tie wraps, a hood, and a small bag with drugs and syringes. He also found a laptop under the front seat. Michael wiped down the areas he touched, left the keys in the ignition, took the duffel bag and laptop, and returned to his motel room.
He thought about how Clive found him, and he pulled out the duffel bag of money. He said shit, finding a tracker at the bottom of the bag. Michael flushed the tracker and hacked into the laptop. Michael saw Antonio Benelli’s email to Carl, hiring him to find Michael Forte. He checked Carl’s cell phone, and luckily, he hadn’t reported to Antonio Benelli yet. Michael crushed Carl’s cell phone and turned off the GPS locator on the laptop, then went to bed and crashed.
Early the next morning, Michael put the contents of the duffel bags into the suitcases and added his clothes. He also folded the duffel bags and put them in the suitcases. After his shower, Michael put on his new Goodwill jeans, shirt, and tennis shoes and walked to a nearby restaurant. He ate breakfast and then called a cab to the airport. Michael waited in the lobby of the private terminal and wondered what was in store for him.
Then a plane arrived, parked outside the terminal, and a young woman exited the plane. She entered the lobby, Michael stood up, and introductions were exchanged. Kerri said, “My, you’re a tall, handsome young man,” and told Michael to get his luggage. They went to the plane and put his luggage in the rear. When they got in, Michael told Kerri he had never flown before. She started the twin engines, and Michael asked if parachutes were available.
Kerri laughed and told Michael she was a good pilot. They taxied to the runway and waited for clearance. When approved, Kerri moved the plane onto the runway and took off. Michael said, “Wow, that was a rush,” and they laughed. During the flight, Kerri asked Michael about his education and hobbies. She was shocked that he had already graduated from high school and was nearing his bachelor’s degree in computer programming.
She asked if he spoke any foreign languages, and Michael said French, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese. Kerri asked how he learned so many, and Michael said that at the private school he attended, there were international students, so he had to learn to communicate with them. She said Anna told her you were smart, but this goes beyond that statement. Michael told her he kept it a secret to avoid causing problems at the orphanage.