05 - She Is The Widow Maker

Series - The Unbelievable Mr Brownstone

Chapter One Life Goes On 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 Two 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.

Chapter Three Business Matters 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 Four The Widow Makerhad 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.

Chapters Five, Six 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.

Chapter Seven DPD Call 7 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.

Chapter Eight Success 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.

Chapter Nine The Aftermath 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.

Chapter Ten The New House, the Brownstone Agency “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.”

Chapter Eleven Business as Usual 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.

Chapter Twelve Chris Royce 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.”

Chapter Thirteen The Professor's New Item 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. 

Chapter Fourteen The Power Crystal 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.

Chapter Fifteen Crystal Continued 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).

Chapter Sixteen The Crystal Continued 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.

Chapter Seventeen Crystal Delivered, Map of Piri Reis 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.

Chapter Eighteen Details 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.