Chapter 38
“Explain please,” Jane said calmly, while inside her stomach roiled. Bad enough that Matthew had been incommunicado for a few days. But hearing that her uncle knew more about her case than she did served both to annoy and worry her.
Raine continued eating, watching them with wide eyes. Her gaze shifted back and forth from Jane to Chris, tracking their verbal volleys like a fan at a tennis match.
“August Kaminski is bad news. You already knew that. I’ve had dealings with his people. Let me tell you, they were damn good at what they did. Though they lost more than they won, they managed to come out on top of Team Ten a few times.”
“No kidding.” Raine looked impressed.
He nodded. “When we first went head-to-head, I had no idea Kaminski was involved.”
“He’s good at keeping under the radar,” Jane acknowledged. “So it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense that he’s been so bold in the States.”
“Leaving his name behind in a dead man’s notebook makes no sense. I agree. Unless he’s having problems in-house.” Chris shook his head. “And then we have the Bednareks.”
“Who are they?”
“Well, you might know one of them as Rook.”
“Ah, yes. Rook.” Finally. Answers.
“He is—or was—August Kaminski’s right-hand man.
Rook’s cousin, Victor, is a psychotic bully who kills with brutal efficiency.
Women, children, disabled, wounded. He doesn’t care.
He loves torturing and always leaves behind a mess.
” Her uncle grimaced. “What he once did to a pregnant woman in Kiev… He’s not human. ”
“We met.”
He grimaced. “I know you did. I also know you’re still alive. That’s my girl.”
“Hey, I’m still alive too,” Raine whined then winked at Jane. “Maybe I should take a run at him.”
The fact that their uncle didn’t immediately shoot Raine down had both Jane and Raine regarding him warily.
“You’re on standby,” he told Raine. “In case your cousin needs you.”
“But I’m—”
“Busy on something I’m not supposed to know about. Yeah. I know what you’re up to.”
“You do not.” Raine sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. “You just act like you know everything.”
“Damon Stuart.”
She gaped at him. “No way. Was it Malcolm? No, Hal. Hal’s spying on me.”
Chris simply looked at her, his expression bland.
“Whatever.” Raine flushed.
He turned back to Jane. “Now that we’ve again cemented the fact that I know everything and always will,” he aimed at Raine, “listen up. Kaminski’s one of the most dangerous men I’ve ever encountered. And I’ve met a lot of criminals in my day.”
“You mentioned the Bednareks.” Jane wanted him back on track. “You knew who Rook was and you never told me?”
“I just learned the Bednareks are involved or I’d have told you before. Lionel and I have been talking, and we pieced together Victor’s identity from your picture. If he’s around, his cousin is as well. Casimir Bednarek is bad news.”
“How so?”
“Let me backtrack a bit. August Kaminski has assets that make our family look tame. He’s a rational guy, not prone to outbursts, and impossible to predict.
I could actually respect his work ethic if he wasn’t a homicidal narcissist out to crush everyone who doesn’t fit into whatever he considers his worldview. ”
“Smart and psychotic,” Raine said and munched on her salad. “Sounds like a potential Team Ten recruit.”
“Funny.” Chris glanced at Raine. “And speaking of recruits, I’m still waiting for you to come to your senses and come work for me.” Before she could protest, he turned back to Jane. “But seriously, I want you to be extremely careful at all times. I know you think I nag you—”
“Just a little.” Jane snorted.
“—about security, but killers are one thing. August Kaminski is danger on a different level. Victor Bednarek is a psycho killer. Casimir, his cousin, has a genius IQ and has apparently been steering August around the law and through masterful coups for years. That’s who you’re dealing with.”
“A killer and a genius. Great.” Jane sighed.
Her uncle continued, “But the good news is it seems like August is on the outs with the Bednareks. The organization has problems. At the same time, that’s not good for law enforcement. I can only imagine the chaos that’s coming.”
“What do you think will happen?” Jane genuinely wanted to know.
“I think August and the Bednareks will go to war, with many casualties. Being a cop or a Fed won’t matter. I also think Kaminski’s got people on the inside already. People who can get to Lionel.”
Neither of them had forgotten the shootout at Lionel Gambol’s house.
Chris added, “Kaminski won’t take any move on him lightly, no matter who it’s from. He’ll pull the trigger on everything. Meaning, inspect your car before coming and going. You get me?”
“Yes, yes.” His worry started to grate. “Uncle Chris, I hate to break it to you. But I deal with danger all the time. Heck, we just got shot at in Lionel’s kitchen.”
Raine perked up. “You did? I didn’t hear that.” She glared at their uncle. “And you’re on my case to be careful? I haven’t been shot at in months.”
“Keep up the attitude and you might need to duck a few bullets tonight,” he growled back.
She waved his anger away. “Yeah, right. You’re a knife man. Now if Joe was here, then I’d worry.”
Jane silently agreed. Joe could shoot the wings off a butterfly from two miles away with lackluster equipment. Her uncle was much better at throwing a knife.
Jane said in his defense, “Well, Uncle Chris could always fillet you.”
“Yeah. Look at how he cut his own meat.”
They stared at their uncle’s half-eaten steak. He’d been so keen to offer unsolicited advice he’d neglected his food.
“Laugh it up you two. I don’t know why I bother.” He started eating again, not one to ignore good food.
Jane sympathized. To a point. It couldn’t be easy having raised two little girls to become warriors. But he had, and he needed to realize they could handle what came at them.
And that they were smart enough to ask for help when needed.
She told him that.
“I know. I can’t help worrying,” he grumbled and pointed his knife at Raine. “This one is still on my last nerve. Working investigations without a plan of attack. You want to find out who killed your guy, get a network and start beating the streets.”
“Great advice, Uncle Chris.”
“I see you rolling your eyes, girl.”
“Ha. You’re getting so old it’s a wonder you can see anything without those glasses you hide in your pocket.”
Their uncle blustered, obviously discomfited that Raine had called him on his need for the pair of reading glasses he only used when no one was watching.
Jane finally took pity on him. “Don’t worry. You still see better than most people half your age.”
He glared at her. “I’m not done with you either.”
Raine chuckled. “He’s so easy.”
“Too easy,” Jane agreed and laughed, trying to ignore the crawling unease at what she’d learned over dinner.
When she went home an hour later, she did as suggested—ordered—by her uncle, making sure to be cautious when she left her car and approached her apartment. She took her time locking up and making sure everything was secure as well.
No one bothered her, but she remained on alert, nonetheless.
She wanted to look over the file TS Cooper had sent before bed. But when she tried, she had a problem accessing due to some weird formatting issue. Since she found herself yawning, tired from all the stress of her day, she decided to see tech support in the morning to deal with it.
Jane had enough on her plate, especially now that she had three big time villains to watch out for.
Well, three main bad guys plus their evil henchmen. Who knew how many associates the Bednareks and August Kaminski had on the payroll?
After cleaning up, she slid into bed and checked her phone again before setting the alarm.
Matthew hadn’t called or texted.
That unease she’d felt earlier continued to grow.
It was a long time before she fell asleep.