“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 onmycase 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 hadthreebig 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.
