by Easton, Don
Rellik looked at Silent Sam. At first he was confused by what Damien meant. Then he glanced at Pan-Head’s and Dragon’s red-speckled faces. The answer to who was behind this was as plain as the nose on Silent Sam’s face.
Silent Sam subconsciously put his hand up to his face. It dawned on him why his tape had not felt sticky.
Danny stepped up to the viewer with Jack just in time to see Silent Sam make a dash for the door.
The blast from Rellik’s pistol echoed like a cannon inside the room.
Silent Sam would remain forever silent. “Damn it, Rellik!” said Damien. “You shouldn’t have killed him until we found out who he was working for. Couldn’t you have just capped one in his ass?”
“Sorry, boss. Thought that’s what you meant,” replied Rellik, looking embarrassed.
“Clean it up!” Damien looked at Lance and said, “Come on. We’re out of here.”
Jack heard Danny’s breath coming in pants and saw that his mouth was opened wide, while his eyes stared at the cement wall in front of him.
“What is it?” whispered Jack. “You okay?”
Danny blinked his eyes a couple of times, then said, “We committed murder.”
“What did you think was going to happen? That he’d be asked to leave the club?”
“Jack ... his brains are oozing out onto the floor.” He gave Jack a glazed look and added, “Doesn’t this bother you?”
“Not really. I’m glad this worked. Don’t look at it as killing him. Look at it as saving our friend.”
Danny shook his head and said, “I don’t think I can handle any more of this shit.”
“You’ve handled it before.”
“As I said, I’m still having nightmares. This won’t help.”
“Danny, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize this would bother you that much.”
“Well it sure as hell does!”
“Keep your voice down,” said Jack, glancing quickly at the monitor. He looked at Danny and said, “I couldn’t figure out any other way to pull this off, but I’m done now. Tomorrow I’ll look after the dope. On Thursday I’ll show Damien the evidence. If I hadn’t owed him, he’d be looking at spending the rest of his life in jail for this. The deal between him and me is over.”
“You think Damien will see it that way after what we did?”
“Why not? We seized the dope and have proof of his involvement. It might be considered a little dirty, but...”
“A little dirty?”
“This business is. If I hadn’t owed him, I would have done the same thing, except he would be in cuffs right now.”
“And Silent Sam? How would that have looked in court?”
“If you fly with the crows, expect to get shot at.”
“That’s what you would tell a judge — or a homicide investigator?”
“Guess it would be better if I said ‘Gosh, I just thought they would ask him to resign.’”
chapter fourteen
It was five in the morning when Jack stopped watching the monitor and went to nudge Danny, who was sitting in the car.
“Wake up,” he whispered.
“I was never asleep,” replied Danny.
“That’s right. You weren’t snoring. The janitorial service is packing up next door. We’ll give them a few minutes’ head start, then skedaddle before the owner arrives and sees his busted padlock and comes snooping.”
“The sooner the better.” Danny saw Jack check his BlackBerry and added, “Now what?”
“It’s from our friend. Wants to meet us. Says it’s urgent.”
“Gee, I wonder what he has to tell us,” said Danny sarcastically.
“We better meet him. Could be interesting to hear what Damien had to say.”
“You still want me to follow you out to the farm and give you a ride back after you drop the van off?”
“You bet. It won’t take long. Ben took his loader out yesterday and dug a pit. He already had some brush to burn so it won’t take long to layer it in. Speaking of which, I wonder what I owe him for a barrel of gas?”
“You could just give him a kilo or two as payment.”
Jack ignored the comment and added, “I don’t want to arrive until after Marcie has gone to school. Ben doesn’t want Liz to know either. We may as well meet our friend while we’re waiting.”
“I suppose the notion of having any sleep just never occurs to you.”
“You’re the one complaining about nightmares. Don’t sleep and you won’t have them.”
“I have them when I’m awake too,” replied Danny somewhat sullenly.
Minutes later, Jack had only driven a few blocks away from the storage locker when his BlackBerry alerted him to another message. Jack continued driving but handed his BlackBerry to Danny and said, “That’ll be our friend. Bet he wants to change the meet.”
Danny read the message and smirked.
“What is it?” asked Jack.
“If it’s from our friend, he has pretty strong feelings for you ... but he sure has you pegged right!”
Jack grabbed his BlackBerry back and read the message: Love you, Turkey!
Lance took one look at Jack and Danny and said, “Holy fuck! I can’t believe you did that!”
“Did what?” asked Jack.
“Don’t hand me the bull! I was close enough to Damien to recognize Danny’s voice. I couldn’t believe it!
I was afraid you’d reneged on our deal and were gonna come bustin’ in and arrest us when Damien picked up that key.”
“I don’t renege. Hadn’t expected you to be there. Otherwise we would have had Damien.”
“Fuck, if I’d known what was goin’ on, maybe I wouldn’t have. I was at Damien’s tellin’ him that the deal was done and went without a hitch. All of a sudden we hear Silent Sam screamin’ into the intercom.”
“Any heat in your direction?” asked Danny.
Lance gave Jack a glance and said, “No, you took care of that with Silent Sam. Rellik put one through his head-bone.”
“Yeah, we saw,” said Jack.
“You had it videoed?”
“Of course.”
“Fuckin’ Damien and a murder on film and you let ’im off all because of me! I never would have believed it!”
Danny gave Jack a sideways glance as Jack looked at Lance and said, “A deal is a deal. I was just fulfilling what I promised.”
“Man! If I ever had a doubt about trustin’ ya, it’s gone now.” Lance paused for a moment, then added, “Just remind me to never get on your bad side. I don’t want to end up like Silent Sam.”
“We just have to catch Damien again. Next time without you being so close to the action.”
“I’d tell ya that it’s impossible to nail him, but I said that before and was wrong.”
“What did Damien have to say about it later?” asked Danny.
“He’s hot. I’ve never seen his face that red. The pulse in his temple was just a-jumpin’. I only got about three blocks away from the locker when he told me to pull over so we could go for a walk and talk. He was really pissed at me for havin’ a striker that screwed us.”
“How pissed?” asked Jack.
“Well ... not bad, cuz it wasn’t me who sponsored him into the club. It was Petro. As far as the stash being ripped, Damien is more pissed off at himself. It was his idea to have things go the way they did.” Lance looked at Jack and added, “Well, not the way they did, but the way they were supposed to. You know, with puttin’ the stash in a locker and then splittin’ it an’ sendin’ it out the next day.”
“So now what?” asked Jack. “What about the next ship?”
“That’s already left Colombia and should arrive in about ten days. I expect things will be done a little different then.”
“Damien won’t be stashing it all in the same spot,” suggested Danny.
“I’m not so sure Damien will even be involved. He’s worried. He knows he fucked up bad.”
“How so?” asked Jack.
“This was the biggest single deal the club has ever done. Usually we try and keep stuff like this separated, you know, so not everyone can be connected. But this was so fuckin’ big that every chapter in Canada had to chip in. There are gonna be a lot of pissed off people. Damien figures he might lose his position over this. Maybe even get the boot altogether.”
“Who do you think would replace him?” asked Jack.
“A guy from Quebec we call The Toad. He’s been here often in the last few weeks meeting with Damien.”
“Ugly?” asked Danny.
Lance chuckled, then said, “That too, but the name came from his younger days, before he joined the club. From his not-so-secret ingredient in makin’ the special brand of acid that he was selling.”
“You figure he could replace Damien?” asked Jack.
“He was runner-up last year.”
“I think I saw him that day,” said Jack. “Ugly, with a heavy French accent. Short and scrawny. Not what you expect for a biker.”
“That’s him. But he has other assets. He’s intellectual, sneaky, vicious, not much of a conscience. Sometimes makes for a wicked combination.”
When the meeting was over, Danny waited until Lance had left before turning to Jack and saying, “Looks like you just replaced Damien with a sociopath to run the biggest organized crime family in Canada. Is this what you call progress?”
Jack sighed and said, “Consequences are not always so easy to predict.” It was what Natasha had said to him. At the time he’d thought it had made him feel better. Now it just feels lame.
“Yeah, I guess,” replied Danny. “Sorry, didn’t mean to sound like I was upset. I’m just really tired.”
Me too. Tired of screwing up.
Damien sat at his kitchen table and closed his eyes as Vicki massaged the back of his neck and shoulders.
“What is it, Papa Bear?” she asked.
Damien gently reached for her hand and guided her around to sit on his lap. He glanced at the kitchen clock.
“You want to go out for dinner? Just the two of us?” suggested Vicki.
Damien shook his head. It had been forty-two hours since he had walked into the storage locker and discovered they had a traitor. A lot had happened. A lot that Vicki did not know about. He heard the muffled sound of the entertainment centre coming from another room. Briefly, he wondered what Buck, Sarah, and Kate would think of their dad when they found out. Would it change their image of him?
He whispered in Vicki’s ear, “I’m finished. Out. Maybe a couple of months ... but then I’ll be gone.”
“What are you talking about?”
Damien put his finger to his lips to tell Vicki to lower her voice, and then whispered, “I screwed up. Cost the club millions. We’re going to have to sell off some of our assets to pay back what I lost.”
Vicki’s eyes revealed her concern. “How? What happened?” she whispered back.
“Business. We had a traitor. Got ripped. My fault.”
“Everybody makes mistakes. Don’t —”
“Not like this. I’ve already been replaced. In the next couple of weeks The Toad will oversee ... will get a good opportunity to enhance his status. After that, a new election.”
“You can beat that guy! You have before.”
Damien shook his head. “Not this time. I won’t even bother to run. It’s time to retire. This is a sign. I’ve been a target too long. Up until now we’ve been lucky.”
“Oh, Papa Bear,” said Vicki, giving him a hug. “You’re tired. I know you haven’t slept in two or three days. Maybe if you rest...”
“Yeah, maybe,” replied Damien, while checking an incoming message on his BlackBerry. He expected it to be Rellik, who had also gone without sleep in the last forty-two hours. It wasn’t. He recognized the sender and knew it was urgent. He was directed to take a short walk away from his house.
Cecil Hinds knew his work well. He was a member of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia. CFSEU was an independent police agency set up by the government to fight organized crime. It was composed of police officers from various agencies. In the last two days there had been a flurry of activity through coded messages being transmitted in and out of Damien’s estate.
Hinds decided to cruise through the neighbour-hood and record various licence plates parked within a few blocks of the estate. The more cautious criminals would sometimes park and walk the remainder in an effort to avoid identification. This evening, he was rewarded for his efforts when he saw Damien walking away from his house.
Hinds manoeuvred his car a block behind Damien and watched through binoculars. He knew that it wasn’t a casual after-dinner stroll. Damien walked fast and his physique implied that he was not on a fitness program. Damien was also being extra observant. Something is definitely up.
Hinds reached for his radio to call for support. He knew that Damien’s experience eliminated the chance of being able to follow him with only one car without being detected.
The response Hinds received indicated help would arrive in twenty-five minutes. Not soon enough, thought Hinds, as an SUV pulled alongside Damien and he quickly got in.
Hinds watched as the SUV drove past him. He knew he had been lucky. The driver hadn’t seen him, which was good, because Hinds recognized him. It was Jack Taggart. What the hell is he doing with Damien?
Hinds recalled reading a memo a couple of weeks earlier from the RCMP Anti-Corruption Unit requesting notification of police contact with Satans Wrath. Jack, you son of a bitch, what are you up to? Following you by myself is out of the question.
chapter fifteen
“What’s up?” growled Damien, as soon as Jack picked him up.
“Got something to show you. I’ve rented a motel room,” replied Jack.
“What is it?”
“Has to wait until we get there. You’ll see. Trust me.”
“Trust you? That’s a good one.”
The rest of the drive was made in silence, with the exception of Damien’s grumblings that Jack could have rented a room a little closer to Vancouver, rather than halfway to Chilliwack.
When they entered the motel room, Jack tossed an attaché case onto a small table near the window. Damien quickly walked through the unit to ensure they were alone and then took a seat at the table.
Jack pulled the other chair out and spun it around backwards before sitting down with his arms resting on the back of the chair as he faced Damien.
“Well? Get on with it,” said Damien. “I’m a busy guy. What’s this about?”
Jack stared briefly at Damien and then said, “It’s about how I no longer owe you a favour.”
Damien leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “I’m listening. How did you reach that conclusion?”
“I’ve just saved you from going to jail. Even here in B.C., I figure you still would have received a long enough sentence that Buck, Sarah, and Kate would all have graduated before you got out.”
Damien let out a grunt, then sneered and said, “Bullshit. I haven’t done anything to go to jail for.”
“I’m not bullshitting you, so please do me a favour and don’t bullshit me. I find it insulting.”
Damien paused and the sneer disappeared from his face. “Okay. What evidence do you think you have?”
Jack stared intently at Damien. He felt his body tense, ready to fight. “I have a lot of evidence,” he said tersely. “In fact, if I was to weigh it, I would say it was about two kilos short of a metric tonne!”
Damien stared back in disbelief. “It was you?” he uttered.
Jack nodded and pointed to his attaché case and said, “Go ahead, open it. You can watch it on video — including the murder of Silent Sam.”
“So this is how you pay back a favour?” said Damien, rising to his feet and shoving the attaché case off the table like it was poisonous. “You cost me my position in the club!” he roared.
Jack remained seate
d. Keeping his voice even he said, “I would have done the same thing if I hadn’t owed you a favour. The difference is that someday you won’t be looking at pictures of your grandchildren from a jail cell.”
Damien stared down at Jack. His breath came in pants and it took him a moment to regain his composure. He then bent down to pick up the case and Jack quickly stood and backed away.
“I’m not going to hit you with the fucking thing,” said Damien, sitting back down in the chair.
Damien was quiet for a moment and Jack readied himself for a fight. He discovered that Damien was more cerebral. A wry smile appeared on his face and he said, “You’ve got me. Checkmate. I concede your ... point.”
Jack slid his chair a little farther back and then sat down.
Damien stared at him and said, “I never thought it would end like this. A bullet in the back from an Indo maybe, but not from your side. I underestimated you. Wish I had Bishop’s murder on film.”
“I only have one copy of Silent Sam’s,” replied Jack, gesturing to the attaché case. “After we watch it, you can destroy it. Then we’re going for a ride where you can see that something else is destroyed.”
The drive to the farm was made in silence. Jack parked on an access road and used his flashlight to navigate through a short stretch of bush and into a field that was being cleared to make pasture.
Damien looked down into the pit, where 998 kilos of cocaine had already been slashed open and mixed into a pile of brush. The smell of gas permeated the air as the last of it glubbed out of a barrel that Jack rolled along the top of the pit.
The men watched in silence as the flames crackled and roared to a great height. Then Jack handed Damien a set of keys and said, “These belong to you. An Econoline van that I’ve got parked nearby in the driveway of an abandoned farmhouse. You can drive yourself back to the city.”
Damien accepted the keys and said, “I guess one good thing came out of all this.”
