Jameson (In the Company of Snipers #22) - Irish Winters Page 0,89
But the blowback from that burning tavern brought the unmistakable aroma of charred flesh with it.
“Anyone know how many people were in the tavern?” Alex asked his TEAM, his vision tearing from the dense gray clouds billowing his way.
“All Pops’ boys I imagine,” Mel groused where he lay. “That’s how I’d clean house if I were Lucy. Invite them in for drinks. Tell ’em a bunch of lies. Get ’em drunk, then step outside and blow ’em to hell. All of ’em. All at once. Make it look like an accident.”
Alex stared down at the old man he never, ever knew. Aghast, and damned ashamed that they shared the same blood.
“First responders are in transit,” Eric reported, dragging Alex back to the present fiasco. “They’ll be here soon.”
“Good. Where’s the damned bomber?”
“Not sure yet. Got my eye on some guy in black inside the warehouse. Just inside, left of the door. He’s armed. Two pistols. Tactical vest. One short-stock rifle. Thought he was one of ours at first, but he’s not.”
“Harley’s already on him.”
“Yup. Same guy I’m watching,” Harley added.
“Anyone else?” Alex demanded to know.
“Not as far as I can—”
“Yes, Boss! Lucy Delaney’s on the second level.” That was Jameson. “I heard high heels on wooden stairs just before the explosion. She’s somewhere upfront, over the warehouse doors. I can’t see. Can someone tell me if there’s a window up there? Maybe a vent she can see through? She’s the one who fired that MAC 10.”
Now how the hell did he know all that?
“Good call,” Alex told his newest agent. “There’s a five foot long louvered vent near the peak of the warehouse roof. You sure you heard heels? Not something else?” There was no way Alex could’ve deciphered the sound of high heels in this chaos.
“Heels, Boss. Stilettos. Just like she wore back at the hotel and farmhouse.”
Okay then. Alex believed. Jameson might be every bit as good as Walker had said.
MAC 10s, aka Military Armament Corporation, model number tens, were machine guns, similar to Uzis. Both were, generally speaking, illegal in the States, and subject to specific NFA rules, aka National Firearms Act. Them being here made perfect sense. MAC 10s were the weapon of choice that, until yesterday, Pops had been pushing on the black market. They were also why Tucker Chase had an agent inside Delaney’s gang. One of his psychics, not Vladimir Morozov.
“Guys,” Alex muttered, pissed at himself for his lack of full disclosure. “Tuck’s got a man inside. Don’t know who, but he might be who you’re both tracking. Are you certain Lucy Delaney’s up top, Jameson? I don’t want to take out Tucker’s man.”
“Yes, Boss. Positive. She wears enough rose-scented perfume to gag a pig.”
“And you can smell that? From out here? Through all this smoke?”
“No, not anymore. But before the explosion, yes,” Jameson explained. “Guess it’s a gift.”
Alex shook his head as his sweet wife’s words came back to him. Kelsey always said when one door closed, another opened. Guess Jameson was the winning prize behind this particular door.
“Yup, that’s her,” Mel breathed, his eyes closed and a silly smile on his face. “Always thought she was better than everyone else. Entitled, you know? Rich little bitch. Loved roses.”
“Who blew the damned tavern?” Alex muttered.
“She did,” Mel answered. “Lucy’s a nasty, spiteful little thing. Spoiled rotten. Greedy as shit but smart as sin, and she’s good with Semtex. You ought to see what she can do with C4.”
“You know her?” Alex had to ask. Could things get any more bizarre?
“Sure. She’s your younger cousin. Pops is my older brother. Always hated the fucker.”
Alex couldn’t believe what his ears were hearing. “My cousin?! Gramps had two sons? I have an uncle? When were you going to tell me that?”
“Never,” Mel replied as he folded his hands and interlocked his fingers over his belly. “The less you and your mother knew about my brother and me and his illegal crap, the better.”
“Son of a bitch! Did Gramps know he was running guns?”
Mel turned and stared into Alex’s face, icy cold blues drilling into blues just as hard and just as frigid. “Why do you think he kicked me out? Told me to never come back? He knew. He sure as hell knew.”
Suddenly, there wasn’t enough air in the world. Alex sat back on his ass, his equilibrium blown to hell with all these revelations, and no longer sure who was the bigger liar in the family. He didn’t have time for his family bullshit.