05 - She Is The Widow Maker

<< Bring the Pain

The Unbelievable Mr Brownstone

When Angels Cry >>

The dark elves have come back to Earth. They want to find the half-Drow named Alison, and to get to Alison, they need to find James Brownstone. The Oriceran Consul doesn't want the Drow to mess up the fragile relationship between Oriceran and Earth. But he can only warn the obstinate Drow so many times. The professor needs a package picked up in Washington State and returned safely to him. He figures Brownstone is the man to do it. And he wants Shay to do him a favor, with a few zeros attached to the end of the request. With a Drow assassin trying to find James and the LAPD AET trying to find Shay, eventually someone is going to find the right people at the wrong time and there will be hell to pay. Wonder how Brownstone will annoy Shay this time!

Life Goes On

Chapter 01

Laena, a Drow, meets with four other Drow to consider the problem of Alison on Earth. They know her mother is dead, and that her wish might cause greed among humans who would wish to acquire it. They want to retrieve her, bring her to Oriceran ASAP, but a Light Elf advises them that if they try to do it too rapidly, it might cause problems for Oricerans on Earth, and for them as well, as Alison is protected by James Brownstone. They decide to send the Widow Maker after Brownstone. (Drow never listen!)

Alison calls Brownstone with a request to take a summer trip somewhere Brownstone is in his truck, and sees eight Demon Generals coming toward the truck. He ends the call, and gets out to warn them away. They’re after Trey and his Grandmother, and aren’t leaving. Brownstone take most of them down, and the others decide to leave after all, after receiving warnings to not show up again, or they wouldn’t BE leaving!

Chapter 02

Trey thanks Brownstone for handling the Demon Generals. Checked his email, found lots of BBQ notices, and a note from the lawyer about Alison’s adoption. Sgt. Mack asked him to go after a Level One bounty who might turn on someone else, and James asked Trey if he’d like to work for him, and do it. Trey says yes, and Brownstone talks about setting up the Brownstone Agency, and incorporating the gang into it, somehow, like information collection, so none of your boys are doing anything that might get the cops on them. Thinks it would benefit him, the neighborhood and the cops. Tyler, bar owner and pool-betting entrepreneur, meets the Widowmaker, who comes into the Black Sun looking for information about Brownstone. He tells her lies, so she won’t get into trouble, and watches as two cops come into the bar. Have a couple of drinks, and warn one of the customers that they’ll be looking for him in ten minutes.

Business Matters

Chapter 03

Brownstone has an appointment with Douglas Nestor, at his bank, about setting up Brownstone Agency. Nestor is surprised at his rough looks, and shows it. Just wants to set up accounts for the new business. Goes to lawyer to set up business, an S corporation. Lawyer is worries about his rather tenuous grasp on some of the employment regulations. So much for keeping it simple. Between visits to the bank, the police department, city hall, and the lawyer, he’d burned off a few days accomplishing not much of anything other than paying people for the privilege of condescending to him. The lawyer suggested hiring a reputable HR firm to handle the day-to-day work. Given his unique needs, the lawyer narrows the list of reputable HR management firms down to those who have some experience in dealing with the interface of magic and employment law. You just have to pay them and sign things on occasion then.”

Gets a call from Shay, in Australia. She’ll be going into the outback, so don’t expect to hear from her for a few days. Shay might be fighting strange warlocks or monsters in the Australian Outback, but James had been facing the deadliest of foes for the last few days: bankers, bureaucrats, and lawyers.

Chapter 04

The Widow Maker had rented a spacious home in the Hills while she searched for Brownstone. Watching TV, and decides to change her disguise, so draws on her blood to reform her to look like Angelina Jolie, the actress. . Time to harvest and improve Earth…one man at a time. She visited a local bar/dance club, and had many possibilities, but she needed someone unworthy, not just any horny man. Widow Maker grinned and moved forward, shaking her hips and moving with the music as she passed through the crowd and closed on a lone businessman. The wounded male ego was always the easiest to manipulate. It didn’t matter what species the male was. A glint of gold on his finger caught her attention. A married man. That meant her little jaunt wouldn’t be a waste of time. Others might find her methods brutal, but her limited choice of targets spoke to her restraint; an elegant choice that reinforced the importance of honor. All he has to do is honor his vows. He’ll make his own choice. It’ll be his own fault. Chuck decided to go with her, and ended up dead on her bed, a smile on his face, and his throat slashed, his blood empowering her. She then set his body to the in-between world.

Maria Hall, having a moment of free time from her AET duties, reviewed the picture of Shay she had from other activities concerning Brownstone, and she decided to track her down.

Chapter 06

An FBI contact calls Hall, giving her the info that the picture is of a dead woman named Lisa Sellers. She ended up being killed by another hitman. They burned her house to try and cover up the crime.” Hall requests all info re Sellers, and gets it. She’ll take it from there. No, this killer was still alive. She was running around LA helping Brownstone kill people, and Maria would track both their asses down and catch them in the middle of a crime. Even if her department didn’t focus on normal killers, she could use resources related to enhanced threats and their associates. I’ll be able to bring in your floozy killer friend, who is already supposed to be dead, and I’ll bet that pisses you off enough that you do something stupid I can finally grab you for.” Chuck’s friends report him missing to Sgt. Mack, who makes notes, and reassures them he’ll be back in good time. Another good-looking woman comes into Tyler’s bar, looking for Brownstone info, and exits with an Italian Mafia.

DPD Call

Chapter 07

Brownstone gets a call from Sgt. Mack, who had a call from AET who had a call from Detroit AET requesting Brownstone’s help on a Level 5 bounty pick-up. Brownstone will go the next day, so Mack will call DPD and tell them he’s on his way. Mack calls Trey to get a level One for him – a good test case. Name is Jack Conners, a con artist and low-level street hustler. Not known to be all that violent, but you never know if cornered rats will bite.” “Not even a gangster? This’ll be easier than I thought. I can scare this asshole into coming with me.” “This is serious, Trey, even if the guy’s not all that important. If he goes to ground or we lose him it’ll hurt some of our investigations. Just bring him in. If this goes well, we can really ramp up bounties for you.”

Trey goes to a local info broker, and buys Connor’s address. “Conners is there now, but he won’t stay there long. He moves every week, from what I’ve heard.” Trey knocked on the door, and Jack answered. After some persuasion, Jack went with Trey to the Police station, Brownstone’s name having been used a lot during the conversation.

Success

Chapter 08

Brownstone with DPD, getting info from Lieutenant Walsh on Jacob Leesom a necromancer. Zombies? “Not that kind of necromancer, thank God, but he’s nasty in another way. You see, he can switch into new bodies. He can’t just hop instantly—it requires some effort and like a day from what we understand, so you don’t have to worry about him jumping from body to body—but it means we have no idea what Leesom currently looks like. He could be a man or a woman. Elf or human. Young or old. How do you know he’s here?” A police image of a withered husk of a body popped onto a screen in the front of the room. The cracked and dried corpse looked like it might turn to dust at a touch. “This body was found in an empty apartment a few days ago after someone started complaining about the smell. We brought in some specialists to do some testing, and their results, both magical and medical, are consistent with previous tests of Leesom’s victims. This was probably his previous host or whatever you want to call it.” Hijacking another person’s body to wear them like a suit? Leesom had found a way to make necromancy even more disgusting. Anything else I have to know? “Yeah. Because the bodies aren’t technically alive by the time he switches into them, they are hard to kill. Just shooting them in the head or heart won’t work. You have to…” The lieutenant paled and averted his eyes. “You have to remove the head from the body.” “This guy’s a monster. Anything you can do to help us stop him would be appreciated. Yeah, but to be clear, we need the body. All parts of it, including the head. We’re going to have a magic specialist confirm he’s dead. You know, dead-dead. Not just undead.” “Decapitate the fucker, bag ‘im, and bring ‘im in. Understood, Lieutenant.” James had no idea how to proceed. A search of the apartment had turned up nothing, so he called Peyton, and asked if he could help. Peyton said sure, for $5K, and Brownstone agreed. Peyton’s digging had turned up some unusual financial activity associated with the Eternal Shores Funeral Home and an account linked to the apartment. The cops hadn’t looked closely enough. Based on what Peyton had explained, James suspected Leesom had been using the place on and off for years under different names. The rental and occupancy patterns were odd and erratic on the surface, but when cross-referenced with Leesom’s reported activities in other cities they made sense. Brownstone goes inside, and actually talks with/finds Leesom, says. “I wonder what I could do with a body like yours, Brownstone.” Leesom threw the podium at Brownstone and rushed into the back room, ran. Leesom attacks Brownstone, who pulls a machete and decapitates him. Dead for good.

The Aftermath

Chapter 09

Brownstone brings the corpse to the DPD, and is interviewed live by Cara Lamont.” Do you have any comment on people who think you might occasionally go too far?” “I don’t go too far.” The bounty hunter shrugged. “I go after bounties. If people don’t want me after them, they shouldn’t get bounties on their heads. Leesom was a bounty. I brought him in. Simple as that. I think Detroit PD is putting their lives on the line every day for the people of your city, and Detroit AET isn’t given the funding they need to do their damned jobs. I’m saying you need to give your cops the fucking tools they need.” Look, if the politicians won’t do right by your cops, the people should. Hell, I’ll throw down half my bounty from Leeson as a donation to the Detroit AET to help them out. Walsh responded, I want to thank Mr. Brownstone for his assistance with the apprehension of Jacob Leesom and his generous donation. I consider him a true friend of Detroit police and police officers everywhere.”Cara looked into her camera. “There you have it. A six-figure spontaneous donation by James Brownstone to the Detroit AET and a dangerous criminal off the streets. I know that I, for one, will sleep a little better tonight. This is Cara Lamont with Action First News.” Brownstone goes out for beer with the DPD after the interview.

Mack calls him, tells him Trey’s doing well, three bounties in two days, and compliments him on staying with and supporting his neighborhood, And when he was out with the PDP, two Marine corps Lance corporals came up to buy him a beer for all of the publicity they had received from the Pendleton incident. Recruitment was up all over the country. Walsh admits to having been in the Army, and was almost kicked out for composing too many ribald cadences. See Chapter Nine for several of them.

The New House, the Brownstone Agency

Chapter 10

“Almost finished with the plumbing and electrical work, Mr. Brownstone. Plus, your little surprises need to be completed. The exit to the safe room in the basement is pretty much finished, but we’re waiting on a few specialty parts before we can get the floor-hatch from your daughter’s room into the basement finished. Brownstone had access issues for Alison’s safety hatch. The girl might be able to feel around for the handle, but in an emergency, seconds mattered. He’d asked Zoe if she could recommend anyone to help him with his problem, and she’d put him in contact with a runes witch who would inscribe a few runes Alison could perceive without normal human sight. House will be finished in a week, then ?? Shay?? Alison?? A home with a family. Who would have ever seen that coming?

Trey comes to talk with him. Has two others, Daryl and Isaiah, who have potential. I want to whip the boys into shape—you know, give them real discipline—but now I’m running all over catching bounties. I don’t have the time, and I know you don’t have the time, so I’m trying to figure out what to do.” James pulled out his phone. “That’s not a problem. I think I got someone who can help.” Brownstone met Gunnery Sergeant Hawkins in the Far Shores Bar, a bar close to Pendleton. James asked Hawkins if he knew of anyone “I’ve got a new business venture, ‘the Brownstone Agency.’ A bounty hunting company.” “It’s not a big deal. I don’t have the time to deal with a lot of low-level bounties, so I’m trying to hire people who can. What I need are disciplined men. I need to take them from thinking they are tough to actually being tough.” “Who do you have to work with? “Gangbangers. I’m willing to pay good money for someone who can whip them into proper shape rather than just being thugs. I figured you might know someone who could help me out with that.” “Yeah, I know a guy. Just got out of the Corps. Spent time as both a recruiter and a drill instructor. It’s not like every new recruit we get in the Corps comes from the nicest families. Training is about stripping that shit away and carving a man or woman into something better.”

Business as Usual

Chapter 11

Widow Maker visits with DPD, two cops, to try to gain more info on Brownstone. No go. And they’re loysal to their wives, so nothing there. She’s so angry at the wasted time that she tortures a stray dog, just to cause pain, like she will do to Brownstone when she finds him. Shifts her appearance again. Trey calls Brownstone, tells him he’s going after a Level One near one of his favorite BBQ places. Brownstone decides to join him, then have lunch. Jared has been dealing dust. Might be able to link cops to important supply chain. “I just had to ask the right people and they gave his ass right up. Turns out being a prick isn’t good for business.” Jared shoots Trey through the door (wearing armor, so not dead), and Brownstone bursts in and captures him, allowing Trey to cuff and deliver. Then they swing by the BBQ for lunch.

Chris Royce

Chapter 12

Brownstone considers developing his own BBQ restaurant, but puts it off to the future. Shay calls, done in Australia (Mahogany Ship) going to Japan on another retrieval. Will be gone another week. Maria Hall goes to Tyler, asks him if he knows woman in picture (Shay). No, but will try to find out. No clue, and it’s pissing me off because not only do I not like being ignorant, I don’t like the idea I can’t fuck over Brownstone when handed an opportunity by a cop, of all people.” Brownstone meets Staff Sergeant Chris Royce, retired, at a BBQ restaurant for interview for Brownstone Agency. I want someone who can handle recruiting new people, training new people, and, fuck, I guess staff management or whatever you want to call it for a lot of guys with a lot of testosterone. I’ve only got one guy working for me now. I need you to instill discipline in new recruits. If I’m gonna grow this company, I can’t have a bunch of thugs going out there and causing trouble. My name’s attached and my rep’s attached, which means it’s my responsibility. You get my men disciplined, able to shoot and hit shit, and throw a punch. Trey and I can help them figure out the investigation part.” Not afraid of gang members, who just need someone to be a symbol. “You’re that fucking symbol, whether you like it or not. Men always need someone to rally around, and you’re the fucking man in charge—and unlike a lot of generals, you can personally kick ass. If you can’t handle a little attention, this isn’t gonna work.” “That offer you sent me in the email still stands? That’s some damned good pay. Very generous.” “Pay for the best, you get the best. Besides, I’m not a stingy guy.”

The Professor's New Item

Chapter 13

Brownstone meets with The Professor, who has a “pick-up” job for him. Another tomb raider has already collected an item for me; a small blue jewel, an ancient and extremely potent Atlantean power crystal. All I need you to do is go to Seattle to pick it up and bring it back to me. The problem is that artifact can’t be flown anywhere. If the artifact is taken too far from the ground, it’ll explode. And the explosion wouldn’t be small. Let’s just say we don’t want it to happen near any populated areas. It’d be inconvenient for the people who live there. And the plants. And all the animals. This isn’t something we need in circulation even among so-called good people. I have my own means of blocking tracking once I receive the artifact. Unfortunately, it can’t be sent directly to the World in Between using any of the artifacts I have access to, but I can at least manage to keep it away from prying eyes and hands. The important thing in the meantime is keeping it away from anyone else.” And the Professor was sober. There was nothing that could ruin your day like learning a magical nuke was sitting in Seattle and could go off if someone wasn’t careful about how they transported it. The Professor will not trade the Bard of filth Competition for this. “Some things are even more important than the safety of the world, James.” The Widow Maker comes into the Leanan Sídhe looking for Brownstone, is directed to Father O’Banion, who was talking to him not ten minutes ago. The Professor has a drink with her, and she knows he will not fall for her bait. But at least she now knows of one place that Brownstone frequents, she will find others.

The Power Crystal

Chapter 14

The Professor calls Brownstone, has one additional item to give him, a suitcase with a DNA lock. “So what’s inside?” “Two artifacts I’ve borrowed from an old friend. Instructions in your email. I’ve set some other things up in Seattle that’ll also be handy, assuming you do what I think you’ll do with these artifacts.” “If you have these anyway, do you really need me to do it?” “Aye. Even in the best scenario this still ends with a lot of people attacking someone, and I know few people better at returning violence than you.” The Professor tells him that “Angie” was looking for him. James arrives in Seattle, finds Henry, who says, “Thanks for agreeing to do this. This shit’s going to be a little too ‘Mad Max’ for me to handle. It’s in there (a suitcase). A lot of people are going to be coming after you for that.” An hour later James pulled into the parking lot of an Ivar’s. A black Porsche pulled up beside his truck and a beautiful young Asian woman in a body-hugging sheath dress and sunglasses stepped out of it. Her bright green-dyed hair contrasted with the color of her car. A huge orange purse hung over her shoulder, and James wondered if she had a gun or three in there. Probably a few grenades. The woman lowered her sunglasses. One eye was blue, the other green. That matched the description of James’ contact, according to the Professor’s email, but that still left the passphrase. James repeated it, to identify himself. “There was an old man from Detroit… . “Need DNA confirmation as well, multi-factor authentication. Now, give me your finger or I walk.” Verified. “I’m Addie Endo. I’ve already received my payment from my primary client, so I can help you per the instructions I’ve already received and agreed to. Even with my help, you’re still going to have a lot of heat on your ass for the next couple of days.” And how is that different from any other week for me? At least my house didn’t get blown up.” “Let’s do this thing!” Now that the retrieval plan was fully in motion, he was going to drive to LA over a two-day period. It’d be a fun little road trip, just with a lot more explosions and bullets. The First assault: Two men strode toward James with knives. James took a plodding step forward, then another. The second man charged and the bounty hunter slammed his free fist (holding the suitcase with the other) into the attacker’s face. He broke the other man’s wrist.

Crystal Continued

Chapter 15

James stops by The Fire Pit (twenty-year history) for a meal, sees a picture of Nadina on the wall. Knows this will be a good place, orders five pounds of the House Special. Mary and Joe take his picture, to put up next to Nadina’s on the wall. Brownstone reminisced about his life and BBQ (See Character: Brownstone on BBQ) They gave him free ribs to take along with him. Soon, James was stopped by an unmarked police car, who had a tip that there were drugs in a truck of his description. Brownstone tackled him, and noticed a wand stuck in his belt. But by this time a real police car was there, who recognized him and asked for his autograph. While signing, James heard a whisper near the scene, and tackled the trooper, as two bolts of lightning struck where they had been standing. James runs for his truck as the trooper fires at the source of the lightning. James fires as well, and the lightning stopped. James ran to the other car, and started pummeling an invisible body. Eventually, and unconscious wizard appeared, whom the police trooper took into custody. Even though it’d increase his travel time, he decided to move off I-5 at least part of the time to follow some of the less trafficked roads. According to his phone, it’d add a decent number of hours and have him in LA next evening instead of the afternoon. Still did not activate the amulet he was wearing (didn’t pull backing off of it).

The Crystal Continued

Chapter 16

In addition to the knife boys and the wizard patrol, James had been attacked by a half-dozen other assholes on his way through Oregon and northern California. Several others had been more creative, such as a man faking a car wreck and trying to steal his truck. James’ plan to avoid I-5 had worked to reduce the number of people around him, but there’d still been a few close calls in addition to the state trooper who’d almost gotten fried. Asks Peyton to put the word out that he’s headed for the Black Sun, in LA. He notices familiar cars following him. Waiting for him to fall asleep? For reinforcements? Gets a phone call from an unknown party, wanting to cut a deal. Offering $250 million for the artifact. James quotes 1 Timothy 6:10, and reinforces that he does not love money to that extent. You want what I got? Come and take it, asshole.” Brownstone pulled off into an abandoned gas station – a good place for a showdown. James got out of his truck, as twelve men (Ten with guns), got out of five cars. They repeated the offer. James started firing, and, along with a grenade, took six of them down. James took one of the two unarmed men down with thrown knives. He Attacked the one unarmed man, ho had pulled a special knife with which to kill him. James reversed the roles, and killed the man with his own knife, which then melted into a puddle. James drove off.

Crystal Delivered, Map of Piri Reis

Chapter 17

Having pulled into a parking area, Brownstone met with Addie Endo, and again had to repeat the passcode and give a DNA sample. They then exchanged suitcases, so that Brownstone had the real crystal, and they both drove off. Shay calls and invites Brownstone to come with her to South America on a retrieval, and the Professor engages him and hopefully Shay to come back to him with the Lost Map of Piri Reis, from southern Chile. Brownstone receives a call from Tyler, whose bar was being demolished by attacks of three people on each other, who wanted to get Brownstone. Tyler called Hall, the Alien Squad, and they came and stopped them, using weapons attuned to magic and energy.

Details

Chapter 18

Shay took Brownstone to Warehouse Five, set it up to kiss Brownstone. Had been researching his amulet, so wants him to bring it to South America with them. Will meet at the airport the next day. Brownstone takes Shay to his house, shows her all of the little extras. She is pleased, and says SHE will decorate Alison’s room! The Widow Maker saw Shay and Brownstone at his house, and marked Shay’s car so that she could track it later. She plans to disguise herself as Shay, and kill James.

The Widow Maker, The Map

Chapter 19

The Widow Maker has tracked Shay to her 2-story brownstone, sneaking into her home and disabling any magical protection Shay had set up. She finds a single hair in a brush in the bathroom, and clones herself to Shay’s likeness. Shay and Brownstone in Chile, making their way through tunnels to a main room. Piri Reis produced maps that were way too accurate for his time. Lost continents, etc. There are a few journal fragments that discuss him using some sort of ‘collective dream’ to help him map, based on dealing with people in certain key points.” So you’re saying it’s his map, but someone else here made it after talking to him in a dream?” The tunnel widened into a vast stone chamber with three more equally spaced exits. A pile of rocks all but blocked one of the exits, and the partially caved-in ceiling provided their original source, the floor covered and stacked with bones. Shay pointed to an elaborate geometric pattern carved above one of the exits. “That’s where we need to go.” The pair made their way down another narrow tunnel that opened into an even larger chamber. Small jagged holes covered the walls and ceiling but the stone floor was unmarked. A stone obelisk rose from the center of the room, with complex geometric patterns covering it from top to bottom. They spun in a circular pattern that directed the observer to a golden plate inside a hole in the center of the monument. Etched silver lines covered the plate. “Okay, just one last little bit and we can grab this shit and get out of here. It’ll take a minute or two to complete the ritual to remove it from the obelisk, though.” A bright yellow glow surrounded the plate and illuminated the chamber. Shay kept chanting and the glow grew brighter. Shay stopped chanting and the glow faded. The tomb raider took a deep breath and snatched the plate from the obelisk. She shoved it into her backpack. Fuzzy, jointed legs covered half the ceiling, connected to spiders with glistening fangs. James didn’t give a shit about spiders normally, but these bastards were the size of pit bulls. A spider leapt from above and James planted a .45 bullet in its head, splattering it into pieces. The body crashed to the ground. James emptied his clip into the nearest spiders, but for everyone he sent to spider hell two more poured out of holes. The thuds of spiders hitting the ground echoed in the chamber, but a writhing, crawling mass of fangs and legs continued to follow them like a wave of death, eager to add their bones to the collection. James pulled a C-4, set it on timer, threw it and ran. The tunnel exploded and collapsed, burying the spiders.

Amulet Runes, History

Chapter 20

The Widow Maker tests her Shay/disguise in the bar. It fooled the bartender completely. Shay and Brownstone go to a small dig in Argentina, where Shay shows him glyphs that match the ones on his amulet. She has found the all over the world, but in different patterns in different locations. I collected all the data from the different locations and tried to figure out if there were any associations between the symbols and something about the location. The Japan trip finally helped the pieces of the puzzles slide into place. It is the locations themselves. Using algorithms to process seasonal variations along with the longitude and latitude of the different places, and putting that together with the symbols, I think I found out what they are trying to tell people. From what I can tell, these symbols are kind of an astronomical arrow. I think they point to the star system you’re from. “I figured it had to be in the star system Zeta Reticuli.” “Once I got going, though, the arrow wasn’t indicating that system at all. It’s somewhere in that general vicinity, but I still need to collect more information before I can narrow it down. It’s a big fucking galaxy. “I’m about the last person to be giving advice to people about their past, but I think you need closure or some shit, and if I can help provide that I will. Maybe you can’t go back. Maybe the planet got blown up by some space dragon, but it’ll feel good to know.” Brownstone asks Shay about her past life, and offers to eliminate whatever it is she’s running from. Your fucking life is more important than money.” Shay’s eyes widened. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” “Yeah, but it’s your choice. Let’s end the cartel (The Nuevo Gulf Cartel). Who gives a shit if it solves all your problems? It’ll take care of at least some of them.” Shay and Brownstone go after the cartel. Will have to kill more people than they did when they eliminated the Harriken. James checked the bounty list for any bounties on the leaders. None. They had manipulated the system. Shay’s checks on the dark web had revealed that the higher-ups of the cartel were having a huge meeting at a private resort—some sort of celebration of their recent successes (over 500 people). Peyton comes to tell Shay that the AES is looking for her, Brownstone tells him to keep it a secret.

The Mexican Cartel

Chapter 22

Brownstone calls the hotel (Hotel Azul), and warns the head of the Cartel that Brownstone and a friend are coming for him. “Looks like they are clearing out everyone but the cartel douchebags.” “That means we can go forward with our plan.” “Yeah. Can probably hit them in less than an hour. Maybe half an hour.” He’d concentrate on killing the tattooed motherfuckers with guns now setting up around the area. “We want these assholes on edge. They’ll make more mistakes that way.” He grinned. “You might have more experience as a killer, but I have more experience taking down large groups of fuckwads at once.” James moved over to the dozen drones parked to the side of the trailer and inspected the explosives strapped to each. Even with his bounty-hunting reputation, bringing in such large amounts of boom toys would have proven difficult, so they’d relied on Shay’s smuggling skills. . “And you’re sure you managed to get everything set up last night?” “Yeah. “They don’t empty any of the main trash bins until noon, so all my surprises should still be there, and since they didn’t evacuate the place before your call, I’m guessing no one found anything and all the other ones I slipped around the resort are still there.” There were no surveillance drones up around the hotel. Shay thought it strange. “Six trucks with heavy machine guns just rolled in. They look military, but it doesn’t look like soldiers driving them. Looks like cartel douches, from what I can see.” Brownstone sent a message to the local police. Brownstone is fighting the Nuevo Gulf Cartel. Stay away. Drones take out the six trucks and machine guns. Then missive explosions demolished many area of the hotel, followed but more explosions followed. James throws more grenades, completing the destruction of the guns/trucks outside. James walked up to the Hotel, firing and eliminating any remaining fighters. They fired back, but the amulet protected him. Shay continued her sniper fire from a distance. Three more trucks pulled up in the parking area. Shay destroyed them with RPG fire. Brownstone continues to the inside of the hotel, killing as he goes. The amulet continues to whisper. Grenades took care of groups inside. Stair-welll doors opened, and hordes of cartel enforcers poured out, firing. Brownstone continued killing them with grenades and guns. Shay pulls up in a truck, with news. “We’ve been killing a lot of guys, but not the top guys. The fucking pussies are running. I spotted four trucks booking out the back. It’s the fucking cartel leadership. It’s the big boys. I spotted the head of the cartel in the passenger seat of one of the trucks and one of the top lieutenants in another. I think the assholes must have been spooked by your threat call. They distracted us with the peons while they ran. Three trucks glinted in the distance. “We need to get them before they hit the city. They caught up, and James fired an RPG in front of them, forcing all three trucks to crash, leaving not one man alive. At the rental agency, while returning the trucks, Shay tells Brownstone, Peyton sent me a text. It turns out that not everyone important was at the resort.” She frowned. “Two of the top guys are still on the loose. They’re in Europe. ” “Look, thanks for your help during the big show, but it’s better this way. Closure and all that shit. You need to get back to LA and start getting your house set up before someone blows it up again.”If he wanted to help her, the best thing he could do was clean up the AET mess before she returned.

Shay's Clone

Chapter 23

At the Bar, looking for the Professor, Brownstone learns that someone is impersonating Shay. Father O’Banion talks to James about bawdy limericks. They have to be about SEX!, not just cursing. So they work on more limericks for the competition. Several hours later, Shay approaches Brownstone, who knows it’s not Shay, and calls Peyton to call AET to come pick up Shay in an hour in Lincoln Park. Let them have her twin! Maria Hall is delighted!! And they’ll bring the magic deflectors, as well. “We’re going to try and capture this suspect, but she should be considered armed and extremely dangerous. We have every reason to believe she is an enhanced threat. Officer safety should be prioritized over capture. This suspect has been linked to multiple homicides on the East Coast and is believed to be a professional hitman. Don’t expect remorse or restraint. If she so much as blinks at you the wrong way, take her ass down. Am I clear?” Brownstone entices Widow Maker into the park, and onto a park bench, to wait for him while he got a surprise out of the car. Hall brings in the AET, Widow Maker fight back, and Hall says, Light this bitch up!”

Widow Maker Battle

Chapter 24

The fight with the Widow Maker. Lots of magic, lots of violence. Widow Maker dead after it’s all over, killed by Maria Hall. Sgt, Mack knocked on the front door. Level Six bounty killed in Lincoln Park yesterday. Lieutenant Hall, she’s happy. Super-damn happy, and that’s creeping me out. Because the only thing that makes her happy lately is doing something to you.” The real question was if the mysterious highly-powered Fake Shay would be convincing enough for AET. Hall shows up at Brownstones with an Orb of Truth, (Lie-detector magic), which she uses to question Brownstone. James did not know the woman, had met her in a bar the other night, woman wanted to go to park, etc. Brownstone offers, “I’m sorry to hear that. I know you don’t believe it, but when it comes to AET versus criminals I’m always rooting for the AET.” And the Orb remained clear. “I’m thinking, Brownstone, that someone hired a premium-grade assassin to finish your ass off. A woman who was already supposed to be dead, so no one even knew to watch for her. You’re lucky the AET stopped her. Otherwise, she’d probably be using your skull as a drinking cup now.”

Trey, Shay, and Brownstone

Chapter 25

Brownstone visited by Trey. Business going well. Trey thinks he should have done it long ago. Talk about Royce. “You ain’t seen Royce do his thing yet, have you? Let me tell you, that guy’s the real fucking deal.” Trey laughed. “He’s gonna put my homies into the ground with the way he’s running them down. Glad I never joined the fucking military. If they’re all like him, it makes thug life look like bullshit in comparison.” “He’s not always gonna be an asshole. He has to break them down to build them up, and all that shit.” Trey and Royce were better suited than he was to change the gang members into bounty hunters. James could offer them the opportunity, but they had to seize it. Trey talks to Brownstone about the Cartel action, asking him why. I was just trying to help a friend out.”

“They fucked with someone I care about, so I needed to make them not a problem. They are now not a problem.” That’s some big-time shit, James—even more than the Harriken. They were saying on the news, that shit might help Mexico.” Brownstone compliments Trey. You’re doing great. I didn’t know how this would work, but it’s better than I could have ever imagined, and that’s because I didn’t have to sit there and change your fucking diaper from the beginning. Thanks for not being a stupid piece of shit.” “No, you’ve got it all wrong.” Trey saluted. “Thank you, James. For once, my Nana not only loves me, she’s proud of me.” Shay comes to his house, with a bag full of stuff for him. Peyton had told her about the impersonator, and Shay complimented him on using the AET to take her out. Besides, no one died, so don’t beat yourself up over a few cops getting hurt. It’s their choice.” “And It’s kind of weird.” “Weird?” “You have to understand that I didn’t use to worry about shit other than the job. I didn’t worry about myself and my life. I didn’t really have goals. I just kind of existed. But now everything’s different. Not like I’m gonna go around screaming my name at the top of my lungs, but without the Nuevo Gulf Cartel there’s no one from my old life looking to kill me. It makes me think a lot more about my future. The cartel pushed me over the edge, but I was already teetering. I didn’t want to end up bleeding out in my kitchen. You see, a conversation started inside me the day I decided to stop being a killer, but I don’t think I finished it until this Europe trip. I’ve finished that long and hard conversation with myself, and I’ve realized some shit. Important shit about myself and who I am. What I realized is that the old person is gone. The killer. Only Shay Carson, tomb raider, remains.” They talked about all of the little clues that Brownstone had noticed about Shay, that she didn’t know about. No, you’re definitely fucking clueless about a lot of shit, which is why I was so annoyed with you when we first met, and I’ve seen you get confused by other shit. I don’t know if it’s an alien thing or a growing up in orphanage thing or an eating too much barbeque thing, but your mind works in strange ways sometimes.” James picked up the bag. “What’s in here? 440 nylon, probably holding a few things, but no guns or knives. I haven’t heard the clink.” Shay smiled. “Yeah, it’s not much. It’s a toothbrush and a few other things like that.” “A toothbrush?” “See, you really are clueless. Yeah, a toothbrush for when I stay the night. And just so you know, James, my toothbrush will be on the right. She sashayed over to him with her hands on her hips. “Now, one other thing. I’m tired of waiting.” She grabbed the back of his neck. “And it’s time to stick my tongue so far down your throat it’ll curl your toes.”