Page 66 of Romancing the Rumrunner
“Everything else. I can take you inside the club, show you all the hidden nooks and crannies. His stock of liquor. I know my way around the network of tunnels. I can show you which ones he used.” Jessie took a deep breath. This one was going to hurt. “And I’ve got his files. Including the information that will give you access to the bank account that financed the club.”
Now Jameson was interested. He tried to play it cool, but Jessie knew the man was salivating. He might not be able to turn in the man himself, but if he could deliver all his liquor, his speakeasy,andhis dough? That might just buy Jameson out of trouble.
She’d be sorry to see the money go. She’d squirreled away enough to last for a while after paying off Willie from her own account, but losing the lion’s share of the club’s account that would have meant security for her butcher shop would sting. Worth it though, to buy herself and Tony out of trouble. Can’t run a shop from prison. And Jameson might balk on letting Tony go, but they both knew he couldn’t keep him for long.
“Do we have a deal?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he said, his brow furrowing in concentration. Poor man. Thinking that hard must have given him a headache.
“Playing hard to get, Agent Jameson?”
Jameson scowled at her. “I’m not sure how much this information is worth. We’ve seen the tunnels under your shop, and confiscated the liquor stores already.”
“You only confiscated the ones you know about.”
“There are more?”
Jessie smiled. “Much more.”
Jameson let out a low whistle but still hesitated. Jessie’s smile faded, her patience at an end. Enough was enough. “It’s a good deal and you know it, Jameson.”
He frowned at her, but finally he said, “Fine. You’ve got a deal. Your immunity—”
“And leniency for Tony, if you won’t give him full immunity.”
Jameson’s face puckered like a sour persimmon, but he jerked his head in quick agreement. “Forallthe information you’ve got on the Phoenix. Including his real name.”
Jessie had thought about that. Whether she should give the man a fictitious name or not. In the end, she just couldn’t justify possibly having some poor schmuck with the same name being harassed by the good agent.
“I don’t know his name.”
“You really expect me to believe that?”
Jessie shrugged. “No one knew his name. I called him Phoenix. For all I know thatwashis real name. I’ve heard stranger.”
Jameson shook his head.
“You’ll have plenty of other goodies to turn in, Jameson. Don’t fret.”
“You better deliver.”
“I will. But I want our deal witnessed and in writing before I show you anything.”
“Fine.”
“Well then,” Jessie said, pushing out of her chair. “Meet me at the butcher shop at nine tomorrow morning. And I’d appreciate it if you’d bring the papers with you.”
Jameson nodded and Jessie let herself out of his office, feeling lighter than she had in quite a while, despite what she still had hanging over her head.
Jameson was at the butcher shop, bright and early, with nicely signed legal documents giving Jessie immunity in exchange for her turning over everything she had on the Phoenix. Jameson wasn’t too impressed when Jessie took him down the trapdoor into the cellar. After all, as he said, he’d seen that bit before. Seen the cellar with its now empty shelves. But he hadn’t seen what happened when the farthest shelf was pushed out of the way, opening into a vast chamber that was stocked to the ceiling with barrels of gin.
Jessie didn’t bother to hide her smug smile. This whole mess had been nothing but a miserable pain and it was rather fun knowing how much she’d been able to conceal from the little weasel. Watching Jameson’s mouth drop open was almost enough to make up for everything she was giving up. Almost.
“Your father made all this?”
Jessie shrugged. “Fiddled with it every day of his life, and his father did before him. More than they could ever drink. So it ended up down here until they needed it.”
Jameson became a little less surly after that. Jessie took him down the tunnel that led to her office, where she turned over all the files. Jameson’s eyes lit up like a five-year-old kid on Christmas morning. He didn’t bother going through all the tunnels, though he sent his men to scope them out. He was too eager to get back to his office and show off all his new acquisitions.
