Jack Taggart Mysteries 7-Book Bundle

by Easton, Don

  “Where are you going?” cried Pops. “You can’t leave me in here!”

  “I’ll be right back,” said Jack.

  At the back entrance, Jack went up into the kitchen while Laura took Bien and Linh to the car. She placed them in the back seat and got in the front and waited.

  Jack found a tea towel, left the house, and went out into the lane. A minute later, he returned to the basement and scrambled back through the passageway.

  “You called an ambulance ... right?” asked Pops.

  “No,” replied Jack, carefully picking candles up out of the box by their wicks.

  “You have to hurry! I might die!”

  “I’m surprised you haven’t died already,” said Jack calmly, as he walked around the room and set the candles down in various locations.

  “You can’t do this! You will call an ambulance right now!” Pops demanded harshly.

  Jack looked at him blandly and said, “The illusion of power and control ... right to the end. I know about that. I was born into that element. I figured that by now you—”

  “No,” cried Pops. “Please ... don’t torment me like this.”

  “Ah ... now it comes. That’s more the tone I expected. The bully reveals the insecure coward that he really is.”

  “Don’t,” Pops said weakly.

  “Don’t what?”

  “Don’t torture me like this. I’m scared—look ... I’ve wet myself.”

  “So you have,” observed Jack.

  “You see? You’ve won! Please ... call the ambulance now.”

  “Won? I haven’t won anything! This isn’t a game. It isn’t my intention to torture you.”

  “Good,” gasped Pops. “You’ll call now, right?”

  “Wrong. You are like a rabid dog. I take no delight in destroying a rabid dog any more than I would wish a dog to be rabid. I am simply doing it because it is the right thing to do.”

  “You can’t! You’ll go to jail for this. For the rest of your life!”

  “A chance I’m willing to take.”

  Jack dropped the last candle on the floor close to Pops. They both watched as it rolled to a stop.

  Pops looked up. He had a look of bewilderment in his eyes, which increased more so when Jack picked Dúc up off the floor and dropped his body on top of the candle near Pops.

  “What are you doing?” asked Pops.

  “You can hold his hand and take him with you when you die,” replied Jack.

  Pops went to speak, but winced, grabbing his side while watching Jack light the four other candles he had placed. Their meaning became clear when Jack disconnected the propane heater and turned the propane tank on.

  “Turn it off!” sputtered Pops.

  Jack turned off the lights and briefly watched the flicker of the candles before ducking down to leave.

  The sound of the hiss from the escaping gas permeated the entire room.

  “Take me to the hospital,” pleaded Pops.

  “I’m sending you someplace else,” replied Jack. “Say hello to my father for me, when he joins you.”

  Jack got in the car and Laura started it up, drove to the end of the block, and parked. Everyone sat in silence and a minute slowly ticked by.

  The sound of a muffled explosion and the shattering of basement windows caused Laura to glance in the rearview mirror.

  She looked at Jack, who remained staring straight ahead. “Jack?”

  “Take Linh to a suitable payphone,” he said, without turning his head.

  chapter forty

  Connie was back at her office working when she answered the telephone from Jack.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, cheerily.

  “We’re going to pull another all-nighter,” replied Connie. “Going to keep working until we find this bastard. You sound happy?”

  “Got some fantastic news. Linh is okay!”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  “She escaped. Laura and I are with her and Bien at Surrey Memorial right now. She’s traumatized, but is going to be okay.”

  “Jesus Christ! Jack! How—” Connie started crying and couldn’t finish her sentence.

  “She was locked in some dungeon in a basement someplace by a man she only knew as Pops. Tonight some other man came in with Pops and they started fighting. She used the opportunity to escape. I guess the poor kid ran for blocks before she calmed down enough. Later she got some money off a guy and used it to call home in Hanoi.”

  “Who gave her money?”

  “Some good Samaritan. She was crying and said she was lost and wanted to call her father. The guy probably didn’t realize where her father lived. He gave her some money and walked away. Linh called and her grandmother answered and gave her the number to Bien’s hotel. He called me and Laura and I grabbed Bien on the way and we picked her up.”

  “Jesus! You should have called me as soon as Bien told you.”

  “I would have, except Bien said she was really freaked out. He was afraid she would take off if anyone else showed up. He told her to hide in some bushes and not move until he got there personally.”

  “I’m on my way over,” said Connie. “We have to get to this phone booth. I’ll call the Dog Master.”

  “Laura will meet you at the main entrance. I’ve got something to do.”

  “What? Where are you going?”

  “I’ll be here, but I’m a little banged up. I broke my wrist.”

  Warning bells sounded in Connie’s head. “Jack?”

  “It’s embarrassing. I was standing on a chair on my balcony cleaning the leaves out of my rain gutter when I took the call from Bien. I was so bloody excited I took a tumble. I’m going in now to get a cast put on. They said I’ll need to wear it for six weeks.”

  An hour passed before medical staff was able to find the time to put a cast on Jack. It covered most of his forearm and the lower half of his hand. He immediately went to the nursing station and found out that Linh had been examined.

  He was told that there was no indication of any sexual abuse or serious physical injuries, apart from some bruising around her ankle. She was being given a sedative and was going to be held overnight for observation.

  Jack was about to head to her room when he heard Laura talking to Connie as they approached the nursing station. He discreetly zipped up his jacket and flipped his collar up to cover the scrapes on his neck.

  “Oh ... did you just get here?” he asked as he turned around and feigned surprise.

  “Been here and back,” said Connie. “Laura took me to the phone booth. The dog lost the scent. How’s she doing? I need to talk to her.”

  “No sexual penetration and no serious physical injuries, but she’s severely traumatized. I don’t think you should talk to her yet. I was just about to head out of here. Maybe you should talk to her in the morning.”

  Connie frowned at Jack. “This can’t wait. Any clue she could give would help. The bastard who did this knows she escaped. He’s liable to do the same.”

  Connie followed Jack and Laura down the hall and entered a room that Linh shared with three other patients.

  Connie saw Bien sitting on the edge of the bed. He was smiling and talking in Vietnamese to Linh as he stroked her hair. Connie did not know any words of Vietnamese, but by the tone, Linh did not sound severely traumatized.

  Her suspicions were confirmed when Linh looked up and said, “Hi, Jack! Hi, Laura!”

  Bien looked at Connie and she saw the mark on the centre of his forehead.

  “How is she?” asked Connie.

  Bien’s face immediately became sombre and his command of the English language seemed to dissipate. “Very scared. No talk to police now.”

  “That’s too bad,” replied Connie, softly. She gave a fake smile, before her face abruptly turned to business. “What happened to your forehead?” she demanded.

  “I fall on bushes.”

  “There seems to be a lot of clumsiness going on around here tonight,”
she said, glancing at Jack.

  “Pretty wet and slippery out,” Jack offered.

  Connie smiled at Linh and moved closer and held her hand. “Hi,” she said. “My name is Connie.”

  Linh glanced at Jack and looked at Connie and wrinkled her face, before turning her head away and starting to cry.

  “She feels more comfortable with us,” said Jack. “Why don’t you leave and Laura and I will talk to her.”

  “That isn’t going to happen,” said Connie. “I want to talk to her alone ... now!”

  “Why? She’s a child. Someone has to—”

  “I’ll allow her father to stay,” said Connie. “You and Laura ... out!”

  Connie waited until Jack and Laura left the room before using her cellphone to call her partner.

  “Get back to that pay phone. I want it dusted and get the coins done as well. Also get the tolls and times for any calls made from it tonight.”

  “What’s up?” her partner asked.

  “I’ll explain later. There’s a gas station across the street. See if they have any security cameras!”

  Over the next half hour, Linh slowly divulged bits and pieces of what she knew from the time she left Vietnam. At times, she trembled as she recalled certain details of her captivity and her fear of the unknown, the impending red-circle day that Pops taunted her with. She cried when she pointed to a jacket on a nearby chair and explained that it had belonged to Hang.

  Connie was gentle and slowly pulled the information from her. Linh’s eyes still held a look of innocence and it took all of Connie’s professionalism to keep from breaking down and hugging her.

  “Now tell me about tonight,” said Connie. “I understand that there were two men?”

  Linh’s eyes immediately darted toward Bien and she said, “Yes, the man who drove me to Pops’s house came in with Pops. He is Vietnamese, but I do not know his name. He had a knife, but was bleeding, here,” she said, touching her chin.”

  “Who had a knife? Pops or—”

  “No, Vietnamese man had the knife. He was very hate, hate at Mister Pops.”

  “Angry,” said Bien.

  Connie looked at Bien and said, “Let her speak please. If I don’t understand, then I’ll ask you. Okay, sweetie, what happened then?”

  “My name is Linh,” she said.

  Bien quickly spoke in Vietnamese and Connie heard the word sweetie.

  “Okay,” said Linh. She flashed a quick smile at Connie and said, “I am Sweetie.” Her face became sombre as she recited how the Vietnamese man made Pops release her. She said the man made Pops take off all his clothes.”

  “Why?” asked Connie.

  “I do not know. I think he very hate at Mister Pops and want to ...” she paused and asked Bien a question in Vietnamese.

  “Punish,” said Bien.

  “Yes, that word,” said Linh. “For what he do to me. Mister Pops take off his clothes but try to grab knife. They fight and I run away.”

  “Can you tell me what the house looked like? Were there any numbers on the house or did you see any signs?”

  “Very dark. I run long time. I don’t remember.”

  Connie continued the questioning. With everything up until tonight, Linh had answered her questions without hesitation. Every question after that caused Linh to glance at her father before and after each answer.

  Connie stopped to take an incoming call on her cellphone.

  “Have you heard?” her partner asked.

  “Heard what? I’m still at the hospital talking to Linh.”

  “An explosion went off in the basement of some house tonight. Neighbours called it in and the fire crews are at the scene.”

  “I’m busy, get someone else to—”

  “Uniform just called in the plate of a car parked in an alley behind the place. It’s registered to Dúc at the Orient Pleasure!”

  Connie arrived at the scene and let Bien and Linh out of the back seat of her car as Jack and Laura arrived in their own car behind her.

  Most of the fire trucks were leaving and those that remained were wrapping up their hoses. The lower half of the outside of the house was scorched above the basement windows, but the rest of the house appeared to be okay.

  “Linh?” asked Connie, “Can you remember if this is the house that—”

  Linh started crying and buried her face in Bien’s chest. Her body shook uncontrollably and Bien hugged her. Connie had no doubt that her trauma was genuine.

  Connie’s partner ran up and said, “Two bodies were found in a hidden room off the basement. That’s where the explosion and fire originated from. A half-sized door leading to the room was blown off by the explosion.”

  “What caused it?” asked Connie, while staring at Jack.

  “Someone disconnected a propane tank that was hooked to a heater in the room. Gas must have run a long time to cause this big of a mess.”

  “Is one of the victims Dúc?” asked Connie, conscious that Jack now matched her stare.

  “Don’t know yet. One guy is small and fits the description, but they’re badly burned. The other guy is a big fellow. He was naked and is shackled by a chain around his ankle. Also has a knife sticking out of his ribs.”

  Connie’s thoughts were interrupted when Bien said something excitedly in Vietnamese. She saw him point up in the sky. The moon had just appeared and shone through a break in the clouds.

  Linh turned around and looked up. She quit trembling as she held her father’s hand.

  Connie saw Jack staring stone-faced up at the moon.

  Laura was also looking up ... and trembling.

  chapter forty-one

  Two days after the explosion, Randy and Connie were summoned into Isaac’s office.

  “Staff Otto ... Corporal Crane, have a seat,” said Isaac, gesturing to the two overstuffed leather chairs in front of his desk.

  Isaac waited until they were both seated and said, “So ... Staff? What can you tell me about this ... dead pervert in a secret room out in Surrey?”

  “Connie is the lead officer,” replied Randy. “She is the best one to fill you in on the details.”

  “Go ahead,” said Isaac, while glancing down at the picture on his desk.

  “The pervert went by the name of Pops,” said Connie. “His real name is Henry Grossman-Warrick.”

  “I’ve read the initial report,” said Isaac. “Pops will suffice.”

  “Thank you, sir.” said Connie. “As you know, Pops did not have a criminal record but he fit the profile we were looking for in other ways, including a history of cruelty to animals. He was never charged because he was under twelve years old. Later in life, he married and had two daughters, but his wife left him about ten years ago and took the daughters when they reached puberty. She admitted to us now that she left because he was sexually abusing his daughters. Unfortunately, she never reported it. The daughters, either. It gave him free rein to continue.”

  “Pops decided to get his own girls and step up the abuse,” said Randy.

  “As far as Hang’s murder goes,” continued Connie, “we know that she died using an implement from that room. There was a toilet in the room with the tank lid strapped down by metal straps. We found a broken metal rod in the bottom of the tank, along with an old toilet handle. The rod was part of the lever apparatus used to lift the plunger in the tank. Hang broke it off and used it to gouge open her wrists.”

  “For what she was going through, I’m sure suicide seemed like the only option.”

  “We think she may have done it to save her sister,” said Randy.

  “To save her sister?” asked Isaac.

  “Yes, sir,” said Connie. “We interviewed a person by the name of Tommy, who worked for Dúc. Tommy picked up Hang and the others when they first arrived off the boat. He said Hang was obsessed with watching CSI on television.”

  “I’m familiar with the show,” said Isaac.

  “Because of the show, she was really impressed with how smart the
American police were. She said they were like scientists and was afraid they would catch her and send her back to Vietnam. Tommy said he laughed and told her that not all the police were like that. He told her the scientists only worked on dead people.”

  Isaac briefly tilted his head back and closed his eyes as the true reason for Hang’s action was realized. He sighed, before leaning forward and asking, “So what do you surmise happened the night Linh escaped?”

  “From what Linh told us, it would appear that Dúc parked in the alley behind Pops’s house. An altercation took place because we found traces of Dúc’s blood in his car, as well as his bloody handprint on the rear door to the house. He died of a broken neck, but had received a superficial wound under his chin first.”

  “Did you find the pervert’s fingerprints in the car as well?”

  “No,” Connie replied. She glanced at Randy and added, “The passenger side of the car was clean. No prints at all.”

  “None?” asked Isaac.

  “Almost as if it had been wiped down,” replied Connie.

  “Was it?” asked Isaac.

  “I don’t know, sir. That was just an observation. Maybe he hadn’t had a passenger since he last cleaned his car.”

  Or was Taggart his passenger? wondered Isaac.

  “A theory is, if we go by what Linh told us,” said Connie, “Dúc chained Pops to the floor and then disconnected the propane tank and went around the room lighting candles. The propane would sink to the floor so he would have had plenty of time to leave before the gas reached the height of the candles. His body was next to Pops and we found a complete candle under his body. He may have gotten too close to Pops, who grabbed him. Dúc may have stabbed him, but Pops was a big man and a body builder. He could still have snapped Dúc’s neck before he died.”

  “Did he die from the knife wound or the fire and the explosion?”

  “That is inconclusive. The autopsy indicates only minute quantities of soot in his lungs. He may have been on his last breath.”

  “Hell of a way to die,” said Randy. “Being chained there with a knife stuck in your liver and watching the candles flicker while the gas fills the room.”