Beth looked at him with watery eyes and nodded. A tear ran down her cheek.
He wiped the tear away with his finger.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen. Dave‘s death was unfortunate,” said McGill. “Ian had followed the wreckage over to Gulfstream and somehow got past the guards. He saw Dave examining the area under the forward part of the cabin, the same area where Ian had placed the bomb. Dave pulled some stuff from the kit and started taking samples. When he heard Dave call you, Ian overreacted and killed him. I didn’t know about it until it was too late. That was never part of the plan—none of this was.”
McGill lowered his head.
Jake was making progress, Pat was becoming remorseful but Jake needed a little more time—then heard something move behind him.
“What the hell are you telling them?” Collins said. “They don’t need to know anything.”
Collins shoved Kaplan forward, forcing him to sit beside Jake on the sofa along with Beth. Jake stared at Kaplan.
Kaplan shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, I didn’t figure out about Annie until this morning. That’s why I called.” He looked at the beer bottles. “What’s this?” He motioned with his head. “A little early for drinking, huh, Jake?”
Jake surprised himself when he shot back, “Yeah, well, it beats the hell out of dying.”
Jillian came out of the kitchen and immediately saw Kaplan.
“Gregg,” she ran across the room toward the sofa.
Collins stepped in front of her and said, “Stay away from him.”
“No, let him go. He doesn’t know anything.”
“I caught him sneaking in from the third-floor balcony. He wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t figured out what’s going on?”
Collins pushed Jillian away from the sofa.
McGill yelled, “Dammit, Ian, you just keep making the situation worse. We can’t get away with killing all of them.”
“Yes, we can and we will. We have no choice,” said Collins.
Jillian placed her hands on her hips. “What are you going to do? Plan another accident?”
Collins moved over next to Jillian and McGill, still pointing the gun at the three prisoners sitting on the sofa when a voice called out from behind Ian.
“Drop the weapons, all of you.”
Jake’s face froze. He knew that voice.
CHAPTER 53
Jake looked up from the leather sofa at the man holding a silenced Heckler and Koch USP 45CT pointed at Collins. It was the first time he had gotten a good look at Michael Sullivan. His previous encounters had been in the cover of darkness or from behind, offering no visual clues, only a voice. This was the second time Sullivan had rescued him from Ian.
Sullivan walked into the room behind Collins and McGill and Jillian. “Place the guns on the floor, each of you. Now with your right foot, slowly kick your guns over toward the sofa.”
McGill and Jillian kicked their guns toward the sofa. Collins made no move.
Sullivan placed the silencer close to Collins’ head and said, “Do it now.”
Collins tried to make a move—a move Sullivan had already anticipated. As Collins spun around, the butt of Sullivan’s H & K smashed against his right temple. He fell to the floor unconscious, blood running down the side of his face and around his ear.
Sullivan pointed his gun at McGill and Jillian. “You two, back away from Ian.”
They backed up two steps from where Ian lay. Sullivan kept his gun trained on Ian.
He looked at Jake and motioned. “You, pick up the guns and bring them here. Carefully.”
Jake stood up. He staggered when he moved, a combined result of the loss of blood and the effects of the alcohol. He picked up McGill’s and Jillian’s guns first and handed them over to Sullivan.
He leaned over toward Collins’ gun, stretching his arm out as far as he could to pick up the gun, trying to keep as much distance from the man as possible, just in case.
Jake pointed the gun at Collins. “I should shoot you right now. Save a lot of people a lot of trouble. But then I’d be no better than you, would I? You’re going to jail, pal.”
He took two steps away from Collins and then pointed the gun toward McGill. “So are you.”
Then Jake pointed the gun at Jillian. “And so are you.”
He looked at Sullivan. Jake was looking straight down the barrel of Sullivan’s H&K.
“Don’t be stupid. Give me the gun, Mr. Pendleton,” Sullivan said.
“Why don’t you let me keep it til the cops get here?”
“Give me the gun—now.”
Jake hesitated and then lowered the gun, turned it around and handed it over to Sullivan, butt first.
Sullivan took the gun.
“Okay, move back over to the sofa,” he said.
Jake didn’t move. “You said we’d call the police after they were neutralized. I’d say that’s now.”
“All in due time,” Sullivan said. “Now sit down.”
Jake sat down between Beth and Kaplan.
Kaplan leaned over to Jake. “Hey, sailor, next time you have a gun—use it.”
Jake cut his eyes at Kaplan. “How about next time you mount a rescue attempt, you bring one.”
Sullivan placed the Berettas taken from Jillian and McGill on the table behind him. He held Collins’ Beretta in his left hand and his own H&K in his right hand, both trained toward the occupants of the room.
Sullivan turned his head slightly, then called out, “Room secure.”
Footsteps echoed down the hallway toward the living room. Heavy footsteps,
All eyes from the sofa looked down the long hallway as the silhouette of a tall, thin man in an overcoat came down the hall toward the living room.
The bright light behind him from the kitchen obscured recognition until he entered the living room and the light from the lamps revealed the man’s identity.
CHAPTER 54
Jake saw a shocked expression cross their faces. McGill and Jillian looked like they had seen a ghost. Jake didn’t recognize the well-dressed man but realized he must be looking at Laurence O’Rourke.
McGill was the first to speak. “O’Rourke! How did you—”
“You bastard.” Jillian said. “All those months of work, planning and organizing. You’re supposed to be dead,”
“And I would be if it hadn’t been for Michael here,” O’Rourke said gently. “He is the one you should thank for my being alive.”
McGill and Jillian looked at Sullivan.
“How could you know?” Jillian asked.
Collins started moving on the floor. Sullivan pointed toward Collins with his H&K. “That was easy. Ian tipped me off.”
“What?” McGill and Jillian said at the same time.
“No. Ian wouldn’t do that,” said McGill. “He wouldn’t betray us like that, not over something as important to us as this.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about Ian,” Sullivan said.
“I’ve known Ian all of my life,” McGill replied. “Even though we haven’t been close since we were teenagers, he wouldn’t betray us. He’s like a brother to me.”
O’Rourke said, “Ironic you should phrase it like that. Ian couldn’t just stand by and let his brother be killed—to be blown up.”
“You’re his brother?” Jillian asked O’Rourke.
Sullivan interrupted, “No, Ian’s my half-brother. We share the same father. We didn’t meet until we were in our twenties. We were both in the IRA. Our father introduced us after he made his peace with Ian.”
“That’s a lie. Ian’s father died when he was a child,” McGill said.
“No, his father left them. He left them for my mother and a different life. His father’s death was just a lie Ian’s mother concocted so Ian would never go looking for him,” Sullivan said. “Ian knew I worked for O’Rourke and knew what you had planned, so he tipped me off.”
“You switched in Longview, didn’t you?” Jake stood from the sofa.
Kaplan stood next to him and said, “This the dead guy?”
Sullivan raised his gun and pointed it towards them.
O’Rourke looked at Jake. “Very good, Mister … uh …”
“Jake Pendleton.”
“Right, Mr. Pendleton. NTSB investigator working for Mr. McGill here, I believe. You’re very good. How did you come to that conclusion?”
“Too many witnesses saw you get on the plane in Dallas, yet you’re here. Therefore your pilot’s story about the cabin door warning light and the precautionary landing in Longview was just a ruse so you could get off the airplane. You must have switched with someone, a double or look-alike or something ... someone who was the same size and shape as you. Someone you were willing to sacrifice. He died in the crash, along with everybody else.”
Jake’s voice held contempt for the man who willingly let innocent people die.
O’Rourke’s face showed no emotion. “A regrettable loss—but one that could not have been avoided. You see, now I am officially dead, so no one will come looking for me. I have made a lucrative deal that will allow me financial security for my very long life. So now I’ll just disappear to a place far away. But first, I’m going to expose the truth to the entire world.
“The New Northern Ireland Assembly is a sham, a farce. The IRA lied, Sinn Fein lied, the Ulster Defense Association lied, the British … they all lied and I have proof. You aren’t the only ones who wanted me dead, there are many others.”
He laughed. “I’m going to take them all down. I’m going to expose them for what they really are. And it will be easier now … because I’m dead, so no one will be looking for me.”
Jillian spat at O’Rourke. “You’re a British spy. Your betrayal has cost too many lives.”
Collins raised his head slowly, pushed himself up with his hands and knees attempting to stand when Sullivan put his foot on Collins’ back and pushed him back to the floor.
“Not so fast, Ian, you’re safer on the floor. Just stay there and keep your hands out flat on the floor where I can see them.”
Jillian kicked at Collins. “You pig. You betrayed us.”
Collins mumbled from the floor, “I needed O’Rourke alive, for now anyway. He has information I need, information I will get. Then I will kill him, slow and painful. I will do to him what he did to me.”
O’Rourke laughed, “Oh yes, the Ridge of Two Demons. A place you will never see, I’m afraid.”
“Don’t overestimate your momentary upper hand,” Collins scoffed. “This situation will change and when it does, I will take great pleasure in killing you.”
“Haven’t you been paying attention? I’m already dead. So, I would say the odds are not in your favor right now, Mr. Collins … or do you prefer Shamrock? You see, Michael’s allegiance is still with me and if he has to choose between letting you get to me or killing you—well, I’m afraid you lose.”
“He’s right, Ian,” Sullivan said. “My allegiance is with Laurence. You saved my life by warning me about the bomb and for that, I am grateful. But make no mistake, I will not let you kill Laurence, just like I wouldn’t let you kill Mr. Pendleton here. Half-brother or not, you will die if you make one more move in that direction. I knew you must have been up to something when you warned me. We’ve never been like brothers and we were never going to be, so there was something else. I didn’t have to dig deep to figure out what you had planned.”
O’Rourke smiled. “You two went to a lot of trouble to plan my death. Your mistake was getting mixed up with Ian. He is a ruthless killer. He has no loyalties. Did you think he was renewing his old friendship? No, he was just using you. And you were going to take the fall. I know why Ian was part of this but what I don’t understand is your involvement.”
McGill said, “A café bombing in Claudy. Both my parents were killed. You planted that bomb. I was only five years old. I had to move in with my aunt and uncle and my cousin Jillian in Londonderry.”
Jake watched Jillian dab away her tears away with her shirt sleeve. She stepped toward Kaplan and reached for his hand.
Kaplan pulled away from her, stepping closer to Jake.
McGill continued, “Then you broke out of the Maze. You stayed in a cellar in Londonderry. That was our house.” He pointed at Jillian and back at himself.
“You beat up my best friend.” McGill gestured toward Ian lying on the floor.
“Then you raped my aunt, Jillian’s mother. Ian saw everything. He watched you raping her and heard her as she pleaded for you to stop.”
Jillian dropped to the floor, sobbing.
Beth started to cry.
McGill kneeled down and put his arm around Jillian. He glared at O’Rourke, “Then Jillian’s father was gunned down on Halloween night in Greysteel as retaliation for a bombing you ordered. All along you were a spy for the British Secret Service.”
O’Rourke lowered the gun to his side, looked over at Sullivan and then glanced down at McGill. “The Troubles claimed the lives of hundreds of Irish men and women. Your parents were only two of them. It was war, survival.”
O’Rourke looked at Ian. “You, I should have remembered you— the hair and the eyes. I never put the pieces together. You were so young and foolish. You had some idealistic image of what could be accomplished. It was rather naive.”
O’Rourke’s eyes moved to Jillian. “Your mother… I remember your mother. I remember her well. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. The most beautiful woman I think I have ever seen. I had been in the Maze for a long time, locked up like an animal. I hadn’t seen a woman for months, much less touched one.”
O’Rourke paused. Jake could tell he was studying Jillian. Jillian’s mascara had streaked down her cheeks below her puffy eyes.
“You know, you look like her.” O’Rourke said. “The red hair, soft white skin, tiny freckles, brilliant green eyes—your mother’s eyes. As I recall, you were just a skinny little lass. Now you’ve become a most desirable woman.”
Jillian’s body flushed with rage. Her body trembled. She sat on the floor and glared at Laurence O’Rourke and screamed, “I hope you rot in hell.”
“Shut up.” O’Rourke turned to Sullivan, “Michael—kill them. Start with her.” He pointed to Jillian with his pistol. “Kill them all.” He swept the barrel across the room.
CHAPTER 55
Kaplan watched as Jillian lunged toward O’Rourke, both fists clenched tight.
Before O’Rourke could raise his gun, Michael Sullivan had fired his H&K .45 caliber at Jillian, hitting her chest dead center.
Blood soaked through her blouse. Her body fell backward toward the sofa, crashing onto the coffee table and landing right in front of him.
Her lifeless green eyes still open stared up at him. Blood ran from her chest onto the table, down one of the table legs and onto the polished wood floor.
Kaplan dropped to his knees and grabbed a handful of her hair, “Annie ... no ... Annie.” He looked at Sullivan. “You bastard, I’ll kill you for this.”
Collins made a hard sweep with his legs, knocking Sullivan’s legs out from under him. Sullivan fell to his left, and the H&K and the Beretta tumbled into the middle of the room. Both guns landed out of reach of Collins or Sullivan—but right in front of McGill, Jake, and Kaplan.
Sullivan retreated on hands and knees behind a large leather chair and crawled toward the table where he had earlier placed the other two Berettas—next to where O’Rourke stood. Sullivan grabbed O’Rourke’s pants leg and motioned for him to get down out of the line of fire. He grabbed one of the Berettas, spun around, then raised himself above the leather chair back.
Kaplan had let go of Annie and dove over the coffee table, grabbing the H&K. He tucked and rolled over to his right. He rolled into a kneeling firing position and fired a shot at Collins.
The bullet from the H&K hit Collins in the left shoulder just above his armpit. Collins clutched his left shoulder as he fell over.
* * * At the s
ame time Kaplan moved, Jake and McGill both dove for the Beretta. Jake beat him to the gun. He raised it and pointed the barrel toward McGill.
“Don’t move, Pat,” he yelled. “This has got to end.” McGill stepped back away from him.
Then Jake heard two quick popping sounds.
He watched as McGill fell back against the front door, blood gurgled from his chest. McGill slid down the door, falling to a sitting position as his legs failed him. A smeared trail of blood followed him down the door. Sunlight beamed through two bullet holes in the front door.
The Savannah Project (Jake Pendleton series) Page 20