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.”