Smoked (The Invincibles 5)

She shook her head. “Not from you.”

“If you’ll excuse us,” I said to the others in the room as I led her down the hallway and back into the bedroom. She sat on the edge of the bed and rested both her hands on top of the box.

“I feel as though it holds the secret of life or something.” She laughed. “Am I being too dramatic?”

I put my hand on top of hers. “Whatever is inside, is something your mother wanted you to have.”

“But, Byrne. Why did he want it?”

“You heard him say that you’re just like your father. Maybe you’ll find what he meant.”

“He did say that, didn’t he?”

“Go ahead, Siren. Open it.”

* * *

“Oh my God,” she gasped, taking the contents out of the first envelope. “Guerin wasn’t investigating the drug gangs as much as she was IMI.” I waited as she continued reading. She gasped again and handed the paper to me, pointing at a name on the page. “Brendan O’Connor. That’s my father.”

I read what she had. “This says that your dad was part of the task force investigating corruption in Irish Military Intelligence.”

“They had proof,” she said, reading what was in the second envelope. “Guerin was working on an exposé at the time of her death. Several members of that task force were also killed that same week.” Siren kept reading and then looked up at me. “But not all. According to this, there were other agents who went unidentified. Three are named here.”

“That’s what Byrne was after. Tying up loose ends.”

Siren shook her head. “It’s been twenty-six years. Why haven’t they come forward?”

I skimmed that page when she handed it to me. I recognized one of the names—Pierre Martin, Collete and Emelie’s father. “Because they’re dead.”

“If that’s the case, why did Byrne want to get his hands on this?”

“Because he had no way of knowing whether anyone else was identified.”

Siren and I slowly went through the contents of the box. There was nothing contained within it that pointed to Byrne, Antonov, or Kim working together or with the disgraced and imprisoned former CIA director.

It would be a blow to Cope when I informed Doc Butler of such. However, I knew the guy well enough to know there was no way he’d let this matter drop, and neither would Doc. We owed it to the agents who’d lost their lives protecting ours, to avenge their deaths by holding those responsible, accountable.

“What’s that?” I asked when Siren pulled out a smaller envelope. Inside was a single folded piece of paper, and what was on it had been handwritten.

“My dearest Aileen,” Siren began. “That was my mother’s name.” As she continued reading, tears fell from her eyes. “He loved her so much.” Siren brushed away her tears and laughed. “Even though, most of the time, he wanted to wring her neck.” She looked up at me. “Where have I heard that before?”

I watched the expressions on her face change as she continued to read, in awe. Not just of her beauty, but of her bravery and resilience, her tenacity, and her strength.

“His mother’s name was Siobhan.”

“Your grandmother.”

“My grandmother.”

Epilogue

Smoke

“What do you think?” I asked as I watched Siren read through the two proposals she’d received.

?

??I’ve never worked with Doc Butler or anyone from the K19 team,” she said.