Jack Taggart Mysteries 7-Book Bundle

by Easton, Don

  “No, I want to —” The sound of more horns convinced Jack to quickly squeeze into the back seat. “What are your names?” he asked.

  “Hi, I’m Steven Thomas —”

  “And I’m Kelly McMahon,” said the young woman excitedly. “Who are we following?”

  “We? Okay … Steven, keep going straight.”

  “If I have to run a red light, will you pay my ticket?” he asked.

  “Only if I tell you to do it. Hang on. I need to speak to my partner.”

  “Jack!” said Laura. “What the heck is going on? He went past me going the other way. I don’t think I can get turned around in this traffic in time to catch him. Sounds like you grabbed someone’s car?”

  “He bought a new sports car. Says it runs great. Why is he driving a red Taurus?” Jack peered out the back window and saw Laura cutting into the centre lane as she looked for an opening to turn around.

  “The red car ahead that just made a left turn?” asked Steven.

  “What? Yeah, that one,” said Jack. “See if you can follow him, but drive carefully. It’s not worth anybody getting hurt.”

  “Must be worth something for you to do this,” said Steven.

  “Laura, he turned northbound on Burrard,” said Jack.

  “So why is he driving this car instead of his other one?” asked Kelly.

  “His other one is much fancier. Stands out,” said Jack.

  “So he’s doing something he shouldn’t be and doesn’t want to get noticed,” said Steven.

  “Uh … exactly. Do you mind telling me what it is you two do for a living?”

  “I work for an online advertising agency in Victoria,” said Steven. “It’s called Neverblue.”

  “I’m with London Drugs,” replied Kelly. “Why?”

  “Steven seems rather astute when it comes to bad guys.”

  Jack caught Steven’s smile in the rear-view mirror. “My dad is a retired RCMP officer,” he said. “I’ve heard a few things.”

  Jack smiled back and said, “Good. Do you know the city well?”

  “Vancouver? No way,” said Steven, shaking his head. “We’ve been lost for an hour driving around.”

  “Wonderful,” muttered Jack.

  “It’s my fault,” said Kelly. “We are supposed to meet my dad but I’ve only been to his new house a couple of times. We’re completely lost.”

  “Pull this off and I’ll buy you a tank of gas and lead you there personally,” said Jack. “I would only ask that you don’t mention any of the details about this to anyone.”

  “I understand. We won’t,” replied Steven.

  “Is he really dangerous?” asked Kelly.

  “Yes, but right now I think he might only be meeting somebody. All I want to do is find out who. He knows my face. Same goes for my partner, so we can’t let him see us.”

  Fifteen minutes later they found themselves in the heart of downtown Vancouver, with Laura still stuck in traffic and trailing two blocks behind. Steven’s ability to quickly grasp surveillance was surprisingly good. Soon he made a habit of always allowing one or two cars between them for cover, but weighed it with the option of when to speed up to make the same traffic light as Goldie when needed.

  “Your dad would be proud,” said Jack, hunched low in the back while peering out between the two front seats.

  “Thanks. Is it okay if I tell him?”

  “Yeah —”

  “He’s stopping!” said Kelly. “There, right in the entrance to that alley!”

  Jack peered out the window as they drove past the alley and saw Goldie getting out of the car.

  “You going to follow him on foot?” asked Steven.

  “Can’t risk him seeing me,” replied Jack. “But this was a great help. He’s bound to be meeting someone in a building close by. This helps us narrow it down.”

  “Yeah, to what? About ten thousand people,” said Steven, looking up at the skyscrapers around them.

  Jack peeked out the rear window and saw a familiar glimpse of Goldie’s moss-green windbreaker in the crowd as he came their way.

  “He doesn’t know me,” said Kelly, opening the door and leaping out.

  “Wait, I don’t —” Jack knew Goldie would be coming past them within seconds. “Okay, but public places only. Under no circumstances go anywhere unless there are lots of people.”

  She flashed a pretty smile back at Jack and said, “I’ll be careful. This is so cool,” she added, closing the door.

  “What do you want me to do?” asked Steven.

  “Keep circling the block. Does Kelly have a cellphone?”

  “Yes, we both do.”

  Goldie walked briskly down the sidewalk toward them as Steven sat parked in traffic. Jack saw Kelly appear to be intently examining the front display window of a jewellery store as Goldie walked past her in a throng of people. Jack laid down on the back seat out of sight.

  “Dangerous sign,” said Jack, watching Steven’s nervous face as he stared straight ahead, afraid to be seen by Goldie in case he’d be caught looking at him.

  “Dangerous sign?” repeated Steven, nervously, risking a glance at the back of Goldie’s head as he passed by on the sidewalk.

  “Yeah, I think Kelly is looking at wedding rings.”

  Steven’s smile matched Jack’s.

  Minutes later, Goldie disappeared around the next corner with Kelly following discreetly.

  “We’re stuck,” said Steven in frustration, gesturing at the traffic. “Maybe I should phone her?”

  “Hang tough,” replied Jack. “I know it’s not easy, but the sound of a cellphone could attract attention and get her noticed. She already has a disadvantage in that category.”

  “How’s that?”

  “She’s too damned cute. Guys will remember her. What’s her ethnic background?”

  “Irish.”

  Jack chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Inside joke. Basically this bad guy won’t like the Irish when I’m done with him.”

  Steven had only managed to make one circuit around the block when they saw Kelly standing near where she had been let out.

  “The tallest building around the corner,” she said breathlessly. “He went to the forty-seventh floor. It is the very top. He told the receptionist that his name was Mister Golden … or something like that. He said he had an appointment with Mister Lee. That name I’m certain of.”

  “You went with him in the elevator,” said Jack, frowning.

  “There were lots of people. There are different elevators for the first thirty floors. Although it was just him and me when we got to the top. I had to get out with him, there was no place left.”

  “Did he look at you a little strangely when he realized you didn’t belong there?” asked Jack.

  “The name of the company behind the reception desk is Intrinsic Global Investments. While he was waiting to see Mister Lee, I asked the receptionist if they had any secretarial positions open. She said they didn’t. I don’t think he paid much attention to me. Then I left.”

  Jack grinned. “If either of you decide to become police officers, I’ll be your reference.”

  “Law enforcement was one of two occupations my dad said he never wanted me to go into,” said Steven.

  “You never told me that,” said Kelly. “What was the other?”

  “To become a defence lawyer,” said Jack and Steven in unison. Both men chuckled.

  “Do you want to know what Mister Lee looks like?” asked Kelly.

  “You saw him?”

  “He came out as the elevator door was closing. He’s easy to identify. Asian, mid fifties, probably. He was wearing a navy blue suit, red tie, has a bald head, and a diamond stud in his left earlobe.”

  “Excellent,” smiled Jack.

  “Oh, yeah, and he is really short and small. If it wasn’t for how he was dressed and his bald head, you would think he was just a kid.”

  Steven and Kelly both saw th
e startled reaction on Jack’s face. He immediately used his cellphone to speak to Laura.

  “Just found a match for the footprint in the park,” he said quietly.

  23

  On Wednesday afternoon, Jack and Laura met with Rose to update her on the investigation.

  “I’m certain it’s the man they call The Enabler,” said Jack. “His name is Kang Lee. He is originally from Seoul, South Korea, and is currently in Canada under a work permit as the president of a financial consulting company called Intrinsic Global Investments. He rents a two-bedroom penthouse overlooking English Bay in the west end and drives a new Mercedes-Benz SL500 leased to the company.”

  “Must be doing extremely well as a financial consultant,” said Rose. “I knew I entered the wrong profession.”

  “CC confirmed that a picture of his shoe print matches exactly the size of the print they found at the murder scene,” said Laura.

  “What did you do? Mug him and steal his shoe?”

  Laura smiled and said, “There are several levels of underground parking in his office tower. The bottom two levels are public parking, but the other levels are reserved spaces for different companies in the building. We went there this morning before Lee arrived. His spot, closest to the elevators, is reserved in his name.”

  “And?”

  “And I smeared a film of dirty engine oil beside where he parks,” said Jack. “He stepped in it as soon as he got out of his car.”

  “After that we placed a ruler beside his print and took a picture,” said Laura.

  “Too bad he didn’t fall on his ass,” said Rose. “How about Drug Section? Are they on board with us?”

  “Drug Section is using what we gave them to prepare a wiretap application on Goldie. They hope to have it before a judge next week. In the meantime, they’re going to start doing surveillance on him. Strictly periodic. They don’t want to risk burning anything at this stage.”

  “And Integrated Proceeds of Crime?” asked Rose.

  “I-POC came on board yesterday to follow the money trail. At the moment, they have only done a cursory examination. As they said, for them to track everyone that Lee’s company is connected with will be a nightmare. They obtained last month’s phone tolls and said there were thousands of calls worldwide.”

  “And that doesn’t include Internet,” added Laura.

  “What reputation does the company have?” asked Rose.

  “So far, they look legitimate,” said Laura. “I-POC has made some discreet inquiries. The company has invested wisely into a lot of reputable companies, often at the opportune time. They have made a lot of shareholders wealthy.”

  “Are poppies listed as one of their commodities they promote for investment?” asked Rose facetiously.

  “Nothing that obvious, I’m afraid,” replied Jack, “but I am sure we’ll find out they are tied in with shipping, air, train, and who knows what else. It is still too soon to tell. It will take months, or more likely years, for I-POC to get a basic knowledge of who’s who and who’s connected to whom.”

  “Perfect company to launder money and have the connections to ship anything they want worldwide,” said Laura.

  “If Lee is the president of a company like Intrinsic Global,” said Rose, “then who is his boss? The one he calls The Shaman? Logic would dictate that it would have to be someone who is either a silent partner, or —”

  “Or, as big as Intrinsic Global is,” said Jack, “it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps one company of many controlled by The Shaman.”

  “Jesus,” muttered Rose, as she realized the potential scope of the empire.

  “Scary to think about,” said Laura.

  “So buying a ton of heroin from these guys is definitely a possibility,” said Rose.

  “I figured it would be once Goldie started telling me that they controlled the Asian market,” said Jack. “I thought I better sound big if I was to get an introduction up the ladder. Guess it wasn’t big enough.”

  “What you said is too big already,” replied Rose. “There’s no way the Force could even come up with a flash roll that big, or if they could, they would never risk losing it. How the hell will you work your way around that without proving you have the cash?”

  “I’m going to demand that I see a lot of their operation before spending. Starting from the ground up and taking it as far as I can.”

  “Sort of like checking out a company before buying into it,” said Laura.

  “Doesn’t sound like they’ll ever let you see the corporate boardroom, though,” said Rose.

  “Not yet,” replied Jack, “but once we get the ball rolling, and with what we already know about Lee and his company, maybe we’ll figure it out without personal introductions.”

  “But so far, all this is simply speculation,” said Rose. “From what you say, everything we know about Intrinsic Global is legitimate. You’re basing all this on one meeting between Lee and Goldie.”

  “And the size of Lee’s feet,” said Laura.

  “Goldie loves his car almost as much as he loves himself,” said Jack. “It doesn’t make sense that he would borrow a car, which incidentally belongs to his bartender, to go and meet someone like Lee. It was planned. They wanted to know what my response would be to joining the company. Goldie was being a good little messenger boy by running back and telling him my answer.”

  “Okay,” said Rose, “let’s say you’re right. I know your instincts for what you do are finely tuned. But it begs the question, if you are right, then what was someone of Lee’s stature doing in a park at night with Goldie and some other guy while one of them is taking potshots at a homeless person?”

  “I don’t know,” replied Jack. “Goldie is being promoted to the Enabler position. Maybe they were impressing upon him that they aren’t afraid to murder someone.”

  “The ‘you better stay in line or look what will happen’ approach?” said Rose.

  “Something like that. Goldie told me they are going to make him take a polygraph as part of his promotion. These guys are professional.”

  “And what if they decide to put you on the polygraph?” asked Rose. “Think you can lie your way out of that? You may be top-notch at lying to criminals, but it’s a different story once you are tied to a bullshit detector with a professional interrogator scrutinizing your every verbal and physical response. Responses you can’t control. Forget trying to drug yourself or doing self-hypnosis. These guys know their stuff.”

  “I know,” replied Jack. “When Goldie told me that was what they were going to do to him, my insides cringed thinking about it. The thing is, Goldie has been protected in his heroin importation by these people for years. It is only with him about to learn who is really in charge that he is facing this test. With all the resources we have going for us, I would hope we can discover who The Shaman is long before they decide to slap me on the machine.”

  “So you and Laura will continue to play things along as you have and see what happens?”

  “Exactly. Once we get a wire on Goldie, things may open up a little more. Maybe catch him talking to Lee.”

  “You might get lucky with a wire but I would be surprised. I think catching Lee will be a huge problem,” said Rose. “Your boss, for all intents and purposes, will be Goldie. They’re not going to let you climb the corporate ladder any farther than you already have.”

  “Then we have to get rid of Goldie,” said Jack. “Convince the company to have me replace him.”

  “How? If you arrest him on a drug beef, then you’re burned and I bet that Lee, as paranoid as this organization is, will drop him like a hot potato. With the millions that are involved, there is no way that Goldie is going to roll on anyone for the sake of spending a few months in jail.”

  “I know,” replied Jack.

  “And if you try and charge him with murder … well, you heard what will happen because you took the garbage bag, let alone trying to convince anyone of a motive. Even at best, he only drove t
he victim there after telling his guys it was a prank.”

  “Goldie is the one who had him kidnapped,” said Jack, tersely. “He is as much to blame as whoever pulled the trigger. And as far as it being a prank goes, that’s a crock!”

  “Of course it’s a crock, but you and I have been around the block a few times. Defence don’t usually pick jurors they think are worldly. A lot of judges are also pretty naive.”

  “So he walks away from a murder rap because I stole a goddamned garbage bag!” said Jack, bitterly.

  “That’s justice,” said Rose.

  “Is it?” asked Jack.

  Rose gave a weak smile and shrugged her shoulders.

  “Yeah, I don’t think that is justice, either,” said Jack.

  Laura reflected upon Jack’s comment. “That” is justice? Oh, man, he’s got something else in mind …

  She was right.

  24

  Later that evening, Jack and Laura returned the wave from Purvis, who was standing behind the bar as they took a seat in a booth. A new waitress served them, and a few minutes later, Goldie joined their table.

  “We’ve only dropped in to ask you something,” said Jack.

  “Tomorrow is your real birthday,” said Laura. “How would you like to come out with us on our boat, the Blue Gator, and have dinner while the crew tours us around Vancouver Harbour?”

  “That would be absolutely fab!” replied Goldie.

  “Perhaps come over to our apartment for a drink first,” said Jack, “then you could follow us to the marina.”

  “Bring a date, if you like,” said Laura.

  “This is really something. I’m absolutely thrilled,” Goldie said, beaming with delight. “I’ll bring Candy. She was at my party last Saturday. Perhaps you met her?”

  “I did,” replied Laura. “Very pretty girl.”

  “One rule I must insist upon,” said Jack. “No drugs onboard the Blue Gator. We travel into the U.S. too often to risk some customs dog finding a trace of anything and having my boat seized. Understood?”

  Goldie smiled and replied, “I don’t do drugs, anyway.”