by Easton, Don
“Yes, sir, I had brought that immediately to your attention when it happened.”
“I know, but I sincerely hope Corporal Taggart was not trying to be funny by giving him an alias of Killer Rabbit.”
“No, sir,” replied Rose, not wanting to speculate on Jack’s sense of humour. “It is my understanding that was a nickname given to him by someone else.”
“Now that Taggart is back and you have had better opportunity to debrief him, do you think he could have come up with some alternative measure to subdue him?”
“Sir?” questioned Rose.
“A kick to the groin perhaps? Or even turn and run to give the cover team a chance to handle the situation? Something other than killing the man?”
“Sir,” interjected Dyck, “it is my understanding that Corporal Taggart was standing on slippery rocks along a riverbank. The man who unexpectedly attacked him had far superior training in the martial arts, as well as the military. Corporal Taggart had no opportunity to flee and under the circumstances, I think that trying to fight would have resulted in his own death.”
“And what do the Thai police think?” asked Isaac, looking at Rose.
“The LO in Bangkok says the police have absolutely no issues with the matter, or even what happened subsequent to that in southern Thailand,” replied Rose.
“I noticed you included an English copy of the Bangkok Post, alluding to a boating accident where four men were killed following a party on a beach. They attributed a couple of the deaths to the men not wearing life jackets.”
“They might have lived if they had life jackets on,” noted Rose.
“Are you developing Corporal Taggart’s sense of humour, Staff Sergeant?”
“No, sir.”
“And the article went on to say the fourth man, who was rescued by a nearby boat, subsequently died of injuries from having been sliced with the propeller.”
“That is correct, sir,” replied Rose. “Jack outlined it in his report as well.”
Isaac stared incredulously at Rose. “The authorities didn’t happen to care that it was that nearby boat, being driven by Corporal Taggart, that drove over them to start with?”
“The police credit him with saving the lives of the people on another boat, who would have been otherwise murdered,” replied Rose.
“They sound like a pragmatic bunch over there,” observed Dyck.
Isaac frowned. “Maybe it is because they don’t know Corporal Taggart’s history,” he added gruffly. “I do.”
“Sir, I spoke with the LO at length about this,” said Rose. “He indicates that the Thai police did a thorough investigation, both in the Golden Triangle and in regard to the boating incident. Everything corroborates what Corporal Taggart put in his report.”
“You refer to it as a boating incident as though it was an accident,” said Isaac, slowly shaking his head. “Corporal Taggart goes out on a boat with five criminals and is the only one to come back alive. That is quite the incident. At least his report didn’t say that the deaths were only a coincidence to his presence on board.”
“Sir, he did try to save John Barfoot,” said Rose.
“Yes, and under the circumstances it nearly got him killed,” added Dyck. “He obviously risked his life to do what he did.”
“Please, don’t even think about trying to tell me that you think he deserves a commendation,” said Isaac, dryly.
“Well, uh —”
Isaac stopped Dyck with a wave of his hand and said, “It is one thing after another with him. Nothing ever changes. Everyone he should be arresting turns up dead.”
“Sir,” said Rose, “That is not entirely true.”
“Yes, I know, it was Barfoot’s own stubbornness that got him killed, but he wouldn’t have died if Corporal Taggart hadn’t run him down.”
“I’m not referring to him, sir. I’m talking about Virgil Cruickshank. A serial rapist that Taggart was responsible for having arrested and brought in … alive.”
“What are you trying to do? Give me hope?” said Isaac sarcastically. “Probably a lucky coincidence for Virgil Cruickshank that Corporal Taggart was out of the country at the time.”
“Sir, you know Corporal Taggart,” said Rose. “Do you really believe in coincidences with him?”
Isaac stared at Rose but did not reply.
“It wouldn’t have changed the outcome if he was here,” said Dyck. “He informed me of his plan before he left. Everything went according to his plan. At the moment, I’ve heard defence is already offering to plead Virgil guilty for seven years, but Crown is holding out for thirteen. I expect they’ll meet in the middle and settle on ten.”
“Tell him the best part,” said Rose.
“Yes,” replied Dyck. “Since Corporal Taggart returned, he has managed to pull in a few favours south of the border. Two of Virgil Cruickshank’s drug-smuggling cronies arrested in the U.S. have now been offered reduced sentences in exchange for testimony against him. That, coupled with evidence up here that puts him at the drug drop-off location at the border, has prompted the U.S. to seek his extradition once he completes his sentence up here.”
“Virgil doesn’t know it yet,” said Rose, “but it is expected he will receive about ten years in jail here for the sexual assaults and then be shipped to the U.S., where they say he will be looking at a minimum of twenty years for the drug importation.”
“Thanks to Corporal Taggart, he’ll basically be eligible for old age security by the time he is released,” said Dyck, smugly. “Far from casting suspicions on the man’s performance, I think he should be applauded.”
Isaac eyed Dyck for a moment. “When we first met, I was under the impression that you did not care for Corporal Taggart. Now it would appear that you are trying to protect him.”
“I’m not protecting him,” said Dyck. “Quite frankly I don’t think he has done anything wrong to need protection. The man is a dedicated member of our team. He even allowed us to use his two- and three-year-old sons as part of the undercover scenario.”
“He what?”
“Corporal Taggart has two sons,” said Rose. “Two-year-old Stevey and three-year-old Mikey. They were used to make it look like Constable McCormick was a single mom. It fit in with Virgil Cruickshank’s MO.”
“He put his own children in an undercover scenario at that age!” exclaimed Isaac.
“After ensuring they would be perfectly safe,” said Dyck. “The Emergency Response team had everything well covered, both at the park and in the apartment. His children were never in any danger. Constable McCormick even commented about how bright they were and said they were naturals at ad-libbing their parts.”
“She said they were more comfortable in their role than she was,” smiled Rose.
Why doesn’t that surprise me? thought Isaac. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, before staring quietly at Rose and Dyck for a moment. “Okay, that answers my questions. I won’t take further issue with what we have discussed. You may go.”
After they left, Isaac sat down at his desk.
He already has his two- and three-year-old sons working undercover? Isaac shook his head. God help the poor son of a bitch in my shoes if those kids ever join the force …
Copyright © Don Easton, 2013
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