That’s affirmative.
We’ve removed the bodies. I ran into a couple of suspects, but they backed off her place. I think they’re watching it, though. I’ve got them under surveillance. We’re going to set up shop in a couple of places.
There’s no doubt they were making a grab for her. Whose are they, Top?
Not the ones we were looking for. Someone else is in this mix. Kane got the information from Sergeant Major Griffen that Madigan had a heart attack and is in the hospital. That explains the low profile here. They don’t want to tip off Doomsday to where they’re keeping the guns or to the fact that Madigan is indisposed. He probably gave them some story about a delay. We should have a little time to set up here and watch the warehouse and keep Jaimie safe as well.
A heart attack? Javier asked.
Yeah, a little convenient.
It could happen, Javier pointed out. Stranger things had.
The problem with the address? Jaimie being here? Madigan having a heart attack before he can get the guns into Doomsday’s hands? Those conveniences just keep piling up, Mack said. Watch her and don’t trust anyone.
I never do, Javier responded as he made his way up to the second story.
If Mack thought they were all being manipulated, the chances were great that they had been. Mack rarely was wrong when he got a strong enough hunch to say it out loud.
On the second story, two more boxes were opened that hadn’t been earlier, which meant Jaimie had been upset after they left and had worked rather than gone to bed.
He added a few charges to slow down any unwanted guests and made his way to Jaimie’s living quarters. The aroma of coffee hit him immediately.
Javier grinned at her. “I forgot you make the best coffee on the planet.”
The upper story had a few dim night-lights glowing; he didn’t want shadows across the windows giving away their positions, but she hadn’t turned on any bright lights. Jaimie turned around and leaned one hip against her counter. His stomach knotted. Here it came. Damn it. He had hoped Mack would get this, not him.
“I haven’t seen any of you in two years and within minutes of seeing you, I’ve got trouble on my doorstep, haven’t I, Javier?”
He tried an angelic grin. It worked on most women, but she knew him. She didn’t smile back and her eyes flickered. Oh, yeah. She was upset. “I like to think we arrived just in the nick of time to save the damsel in distress.”
She sat on the counter and swung her legs. “Just how much danger is there, Javier?”
He winked. “None now that I’m here. We’ll just stay away from the windows.
You do have an escape route up here, right?” He couldn’t imagine a planner like Jaimie not incorporating a secret escape or two.
She nodded curtly. “Don’t be cute with me, Javier.” She narrowed her eyes and looked at him closer. “Come here.”
He took a step back, wary of that expression on her face. He’d seen it before on a woman and it never boded well. “I’m just hanging out with you, Jaimie.”
“Really? Then why is there blood on your sleeve?” She wrinkled her nose. “I smell fresh blood.”
The woman had always had sharp eyes. And an even keener sense of smell. Javier shrugged. “All in the line of duty. You had a couple of rats sniffing around your back door, babe. I just took care of them for you, is all.”
She shook her head, jumped from the counter and turned her back on him to busy herself with the coffee. He noted her hands shook. “I’m not doing this again, Javier.
You can’t let Mack drag me back in.” She didn’t add cream or sugar, handing the aromatic liquid to him just the way he liked it. “I can’t go back to that life. This is my home now. I’ve established myself in business here and I have a chance to succeed.”
“Mack would want you to succeed,” Javier pointed out, going straight to the heart of the matter. “He’d never do anything to jeopardize you.”
She looked away from him again, her mouth trembling before she managed to bite down hard. He was good at details, better than most, and although Jaimie was adept at covering her emotions, he knew her too well. He took a sip of coffee and savored the great taste.
“Mack and I don’t work together,” she said. “You’re my brother, Javier. It ought to matter that I don’t want to see him.”
“He’s my brother too, and you’re killing him with this separation, Jaimie.”
“He walked out on us. None of you seem to understand that.”