A form coalesced from the shadows and stepped out, holding a gun centered on her chest.
“Hello, Agent Cannon. Time to put our challenge to the test.”
Jane gave a slow smile. “Casimir Bednarek. Rook. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Chapter 55
“You killed my cousin.”
She had been waiting for this moment forever. Jane continued to lean against the wall. Casimir wouldn’t make her death easy with a simple bullet. He’d want it to hurt.
“Me? No. I fought him, yes. But someone else shot him. He and I had knives, not guns. I heard that August Kaminski sent someone to shoot him.”
“Liar.”
“Why would I lie? I did my best to lure you to me. You came because you know I’m smart enough to offer a proper challenge. Victor wanted that too, and I indulged him. Even though he used a child as a shield.”
Casmir sighed and lowered the gun, but he’d shoot her if she moved. “My cousin liked to kill. Always did. He murdered his own parents. They were not good people, but he took joy in ending them. As he ended my parents. Also, not good people. For so long, it’s just been him and me.”
“You look tired.” Not a lie, he did. “Why don’t you turn yourself in? Victor’s gone. And supposedly, so is August Kaminski.”
He snorted. “You believe the lies?”
“Not really. No.”
“Good. Don’t. A bomb will not take out August Kaminski.”
“Can you answer something for me? I thought you worked for August. You were his number one guy. Why did you turn against him?”
“He turned against me. Againstus.” Casimir tapped his chest with his gun. “We had a common objective. To finally take out the oligarchies ruining the world. To give back to the people. You wouldn’t understand, you Americans who have everything. But I grew up with nothing. So did August until he made something of himself. We had a common ground. A plan to balance the scales.”
“So what happened?”
He watched her carefully. When she only straightened up but didn’t move from the door, he answered, “August changed. I don’t know why. His ideals became all about material things. About power, women, cars. Not the greater good.”
“But Casimir, if you were for the greater good, why let your cousin kill innocent families?”
“Innocent? Please.”
“Okay, maybe the parents were guilty of some crimes. But the kids? Your brother chopped off a boy’s feet. A girl’s tongue. He cut a woman into square pieces of flesh and bone.”
Casimir shrugged. “Sacrifices have to be made, Agent Cannon. My cousin needed to bleed others to remain operational. So I gave him toys to play with. He broke them, as he does—did.” His eyes turned bleak. “Then he focused, and we prospered.”
She tucked her hands behind her back, against her waistband.You’re safe, Casimir, relax.“What was on those drives that he stole?”
Casimir grinned. “Ah, now that is a very good question. The Collective. They have many secrets. The ones who refused to stick to our grand vision, the original vision August had? Those I let Victor kill. But August wouldn’t be persuaded. So we took the secrets. We have much use for them.”
“What secrets?”
“Blackmail. Buried treasure. Drugs and vices you can’t imagine. The wealthy think they are above it all. They are not. And now they know.”
“What about the Scotts? That I can’t figure out. You didn’t have Victor kill them.”
He scowled. “There were reasons.”
“Is that why you killed Louis Miller?”
“What?” His smile creeped her out. She’d always thought Victor the psychotic member of the duo, but perhaps Casimir had his own share of psychopathy. “Ididn’t kill him. Didn’t you see the notebook left for you? He named his killer—August Kaminski.”
