by Don Easton
“Tell that to Vicki.”
Her voice was croaky and he wondered if it was from being up for twenty-four hours or from stress. Probably both. He returned her gaze. “Vicki was a calculated move. She may not have led us to the spot where they’re hiding bodies, but I’m sure we’ll find out where that is soon. We’ve got more info now to help us narrow it down.”
Laura grimaced. “The Lickman Road exit covers a lot of territory.”
“I saw their headlights before I realized it was them. They came from the north side, off a road called Industrial Way. I had a chance to check it out on the map while we were watching Crowe’s place. There are pockets of residential areas that you can get to off Industrial, but most of the property in that area is farmland or for industrial use.”
Laura’s face brightened. “You’re thinking we can find it without making another human sacrifice?”
“Yes, without another human sacrifice.” Good, that cheered her up.
“Great breakfast conversation, you two!” Natasha said, entering the kitchen in her bathrobe. She leaned over and kissed Jack, said hello to Laura, then gave Jack a disapproving look.
“Human sacrifice is more interesting than talking about the weather,” he said, hoping to lighten the moment.
“Not that,” Natasha replied. “The boys will be down soon to go to school. How do I explain to them that you’re drinking beer at this time of the morning?”
“Beer?” Jack raised his glass. “Tell them I made wheat smoothies.”
Natasha smiled. “You’ve always got an answer for everything.” She glanced at Laura. “I bet he never thought to offer you a coffee, right?”
“Actually the beer — uh, wheat smoothies were my idea,” she confessed. “As far as coffee goes, thanks, but no. I plan on getting to sleep soon.”
Jack yawned. “Good plan. We need more than a few hours. Today’s Thursday. Let’s take tomorrow and the weekend off and start up again on Monday. Then we’ll begin by collecting names and doing a grid search, working our way out from where Trapp and Hackman got on the TC.”
Laura nodded. “No argument from me on that idea.”
“Me neither,” Natasha said, opening a cupboard to start packing lunches for the boys. “It’d be nice to get reacquainted with you, Jack. Maybe introduce you to your children.”
Jack ignored the jibe and turned his attention back to Laura. “Something else that might help us would be to see the key rings of two members of the three-three.”
“See if they each have a common key,” Laura responded. “If they do, it could be for wherever they hide the bodies.”
“Exactly. It would narrow down what brand of lock we’re searching for, let alone if it’s a house key or something else.”
“How do you propose to get your hands on their keys? I doubt even our friend could ask for those without a good explanation.”
“Could get uniform to help. Bikers are checked often enough that it wouldn’t arouse suspicion. Maybe detain them briefly and claim there’s an unpaid parking ticket or something. It would be a chance to photograph their keys.” He felt his phone vibrate and looked at the display. “Speaking of our friend,” he said, then answered.
“I went for a walk with Hackman,” Lance said. “Buck seems to be handling things okay. If anything, the guys say it kind of made them feel that Buck really was one of them. That he had a right to belong to the three-three.”
“Did you learn any details?” Jack asked, meeting Laura’s gaze.
“Yup. Buck called Vicki to say he’d bought a house in Abbotsford and that he was thinking of getting out of the club. Told her to keep it secret and invited her out to see his house so they could talk first.”
“Does he have a house out there?”
“Naw, it belongs to a prospect. Darren Jenkins.”
“Never heard of him.”
“He’s with the Eastside chapter. He’s only been prospecting about three weeks.”
“Then I take it that Jenkins wasn’t home when it happened, because he wouldn’t be trusted yet?”
“You’re right. The three-three said they needed to borrow it for a meeting.”
“Guess you could call it a meeting. How did it go down?” Jack asked.
“Buck let her into the house and Hackman and Trapp were hiding inside.”
“What about Bazzoli and Crowe?”
“They covered off the street from outside.”
“Go on.”
“Hackman and Trapp did the dirty work. Once they started in on her, Buck left to drive her wheels back to Vancouver. He’s also going to tell the sister that Vicki slipped out of the country to join Damien.”
“Do you know how they did it?” Jack asked.
“Hackman gave her one to the gut to drop her and then sat on her while Trapp used plastic wrap to finish her off.” Lance paused, but when Jack didn’t respond he added, “Got no idea what they did with the body after that.”
“Stay in touch,” Jack said tersely, then hung up. He saw that Laura’s gaze was still on him. When he spoke, his voice was quiet. Not to hide what he was saying from Natasha, but out of a sombre feeling for what had taken place. “Asphyxiation.” He glanced at Natasha, who was using plastic wrap to cover the boy’s sandwiches, then turned back to Laura and added, “Plastic wrap.”
Laura pushed her half-full glass of beer away. “I’ve had enough. I’m going home.”
Jack understood. He rose to his feet and dumped both their beers down the sink.
Chapter Thirty-Five
On Monday Jack and Laura started gathering information to identify the names of people connected to properties in the areas they were interested in. Some names were gathered through company records and property-tax records. As the week progressed, other names were gathered by driving through areas they’d outlined on a grid map and collecting licence-plate numbers.
Their initial search focused on areas close to the road where Jack had first seen them. When none of the names they obtained could be connected with the bikers, they expanded their search area and kept looking.
Late Friday morning Jack received a call from Lance. The biker sounded all business as usual. “Wanted to let you know that Pure E is going to be gone for a few weeks. He’s flying to Montreal tomorrow to chat with the boys.”
“About anything in particular?”
“Wants to see if they’re making any headway figuring out who blabbed about the 120 keys of coke you took two weeks ago. Also wants to stop in at his old stomping grounds to visit some buddies and take care of some personal business.”
“Winnipeg?”
“Yup. He’s scheduled to return first of December.”
Jack saw Rose in the doorway waiting to speak to him. “I have to go. Let me know when he’s back.”
“Yeah. I figure you want to keep track of him for that big picture of yours.”
More like he is the big picture. Jack hung up and looked at Rose.
“Mortimer wants to see you and me at four this afternoon,” she stated.
“What am I? Chopped liver?” Laura grumbled.
“At least it gives me time to put on my suit and tie,” Jack said. He’d shaved since last week’s homeless persona.
“Any idea what it’s about?” Laura asked.
“I was hoping you two could tell me.”
“No idea,” Jack said.
“What exactly have you been up to?” Rose asked.
Jack waved Rose over and gestured at the documentation on their desks. “Trying to find out what they did with Damien’s body. I-HIT searched the area around Sumas Mountain without results, so Laura and I decided to search elsewhere. See if we could find some other biker connection out in that vicinity.”
“Where do you start? There’s a lot of biker connections out there. Satans Wrath have got their puppet club in P
ort Coquitlam, they’ve got —”
“Satans Wrath wouldn’t trust the Gypsy Devils for something like this,” Jack said. “They even lied to their own club about his murder.”
“They made the Gypsy Devils torture and murder one of their own, along with his brother and sister-in-law,” Rose noted.
“Yes, but they wanted those bodies to be found. They even set the barn on fire to make sure we did. Killing their own is different. That’s not something they’d want others to know about.”
“I see.” Rose examined a couple of the documents on their desks. “You’ve gone to a lot of work. Why’d you pick this area?”
“It’s not too far past Sumas Mountain and is mostly rural. I thought it’d be a good place to start.”
Rose appeared to ponder his reply, then said, “Mortimer, 4:00 p.m. Don’t forget.”
Assistant Commissioner Mortimer gestured for Rose and Jack to take seats in front of his desk. He then stared at them long enough to make them feel uncomfortable, before smiling and rubbing his hands together. “Do you recall when we first met?”
“About a month and half ago,” Rose replied, sounding puzzled.
“Second of October, to be precise,” Jack said. “I attended the site of a triple murder that morning, then at noon an informant of mine was murdered.”
“Yes, you thought he was murdered.” Mortimer looked snidely amused. “And what did I tell you in that regard?”
“You expressed your doubt,” Jack replied.
“Yes … and you were so adamant I was wrong.” Mortimer paused. “I brought you both in to let you know that I wasn’t wrong.” He sat back and folded his arms across his chest.
“Sir?” Rose eventually asked.
Mortimer leaned forward, placing his palms on the outer reaches of his desk while focusing on Jack. His snide look had been replaced by a cold stare.
Okay, jerk-off, you look like a fat toad getting ready to hop. Get on with it.
“I was given a report from the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit this morning. They picked up a wiretap conversation in a car last weekend between a drug dealer and some biker from Satans Wrath.”
“Did CFSEU tell you which biker?” Jack asked.
Mortimer appeared irritated at the question. “They mentioned Black Bird.”
“I’m not sure, but I think that belongs to a biker by the name of Nick Crowe,” Jack said. He glanced at Rose who glared at him. What’s that for?
“His name doesn’t matter,” Mortimer said with a hint of exasperation. “What matters is what was said.” He paused, perhaps waiting to be prodded for the information. When he was greeted by silence, he continued, “The biker told the dealer that they snuck Vicki Damien out of the country last week.” Mortimer stared at Jack, apparently waiting for the message to sink in. He then clasped his hands together and sat back. “You obviously know what that means.”
Sure, it means the bikers knew the car was bugged.
“Vicki went to join her husband,” Mortimer stated matter-of-factly. “They wouldn’t have bothered to smuggle her out unless he’d requested it.” He then pointed his finger at Jack for effect. “You wasted I don’t know how much manpower and taxpayer dollars by sending I-HIT off on a wild goose chase.”
“I’m sorry,” Jack said. “I obviously made a huge mistake.”
“There was also some mention that she had to double-cross the police to stall for time.”
Rose gave Jack a sideways glance. “Double-cross the police?” she questioned.
“No doubt that was referring to when she told Corporal Taggart about some of her husband’s money laundering,” Mortimer said smugly. He looked at Jack. “Obviously there were way more accounts you didn’t discover.” After a moment he added, “This is exactly the reason I warned you not to come off half-cocked and jumping to conclusions.”
Jack hung his head. “Sir, you’ve no idea how embarrassed I feel.” That you’re in command, that is. “I truly don’t know what to say.”
“Well, the important thing is that the truth has been established.” Mortimer gave a consoling smile. “We all make mistakes.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Let’s look at it as water under the bridge. I trust you’ve moved on to more important issues.”
“Sir?”
“For instance,” Mortimer elaborated, “have you enrolled in French lessons yet?”
“I was too late to sign up for adult courses this fall, but plan to start in the winter classes.”
Mortimer’s smile seemed genuine. “Excellent. Where will you be taking classes?”
“Simon Fraser.”
“I’ve a daughter living at home who’s going to SFU. She’s taking criminology.” Mortimer smiled, perhaps thinking about his daughter, then his face became serious as he refocused on Jack. “I’m glad you’ve accepted my guidance. I believe you have the potential to make a fine police officer someday.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“You both may leave.”
I’ll find Vicki’s body and when I do, how will you respond if I bring her in, face still wrapped in plastic, and lay her on your desk? Ah, probably a bad idea …
“It’s my fault. I should’ve spoken….” Rose hissed as they headed down the hallway.
“Pardon?” Jack answered. Damn it, here it comes. She clued in about our search.
“Vicki’s dead! Don’t deny it!”
“Of course she is. I never said she wasn’t.”
“Nick Crowe is with the three-three.”
“Yes.”
“You made it sound like you hardly knew him. You were trying to deceive me!”
“I said that for Mortimer’s benefit so he wouldn’t think I was still involved with bikers. No full-patch member of Satans Wrath would be dumb enough to mouth off to someone outside the club about smuggling Vicki out of the country — but it would’ve been fruitless to tell Mortimer that.”
Rose still didn’t appear to be satisfied. “The bikers obviously knew the car was bugged, so I think she did disappear last week because it would match the story.”
“Probably.”
“When exactly did you and Laura start searching the area you’re looking at to find Damien’s body?”
“This Monday.” Jack frowned. “What’re you getting at?”
“You know damn well what I’m getting at! It’s a hell of a coincidence that Vicki disappears at the same time you decide to search a certain area.”
Jack took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “Okay, it was no coincidence.”
“I didn’t think so!”
“You know I had to take action.” Jack’s tone echoed his bitterness. “Pure E threatened my family. He needs to be stopped … without risk to my family.”
“Yes, but we’re talking about Vicki.”
“She was a secondary target. She set Damien up to be murdered.”
“Yes, but it was mentioned that she double-crossed the police. I don’t believe that was in regards to Damien’s money-laundering. Too much money was involved for that. You did something.”
“Yes, I did. I leaked word to the bikers that she was going to testify against them.”
“Christ,” Rose muttered.
“I did it hoping to find out where they hide bodies.” Jack saw Rose staring at him. Okay, part of it was to avenge what she did.
“That was something I should’ve been informed about,” Rose stated firmly.
“I am informing you.”
“Only after the fact and because you know I clued in.”
“Okay, but either way, she deserved what she got. She shouldn’t have ratted out Damien. You play with the bull, you get the horns.”
“You should’ve talked to me about it first.”
“What would that have accomplished, other
than risking your neck on the chopping block if we were found out?”
“Or risking that I wouldn’t have approved.”
“Yes, that, too,” Jack admitted.
“Except I know you’d have done it regardless, which leads me to conclude the real reason is that you really were trying to protect me.” When Jack didn’t respond she continued, “Don’t! I’m a big girl. I can handle the heat.”
“Not the heat Mortimer would generate. You’re worth protecting. I don’t want to risk all of us getting tossed out on our asses.” Jack waited a beat. “I think you have the potential to make a fine police officer someday. Let’s not ruin that.”
Rose wasn’t amused. “That asshole. I couldn’t believe he said that. I almost lost it in there.”
“Don’t. His days are numbered. He won’t last long.”
“You’re thinking he’ll either screw up and Ottawa will notice or that the stress will get to him.” Rose shook her head in doubt. “The problem is he’s insulated himself enough not to take the blame for his screw-ups. As far as stress goes, I doubt he cares enough about anything to feel stress.”
“Stress” will be an understatement once I’m done with him.
“So about Vicki … do you know the details? Have you talked to your informant?”
“Yes. Crowe and Hackman from the three-three killed her last Thursday afternoon at a prospect’s home in Abbotsford. They held her down and used plastic wrap to asphyxiate her.”
Rose winced.
“Laura and I tried to do surveillance to see where they’d take her body, but lost them.”
“In the area you’re searching,” Rose concluded.
“Yes.”
“If you do find it, I suggest you use Crime Stoppers to alert I-HIT.”
“I don’t know,” Jack replied. “I’d love to rub Mortimer’s face in it myself.”
Rose looked startled. “Forget that! In the past you skidded by on things that could’ve been a coincidence. With Mortimer you can’t even pretend to be doing real police work.”
“I was only joking, but thanks for trying to protect me.”
“I’m your boss. It’s my job to protect you. Not the other way around.”
