A Delicate Matter

by Don Easton

  “Maybe makes you think you should’ve accepted my offer with Buck the other night,” Jack commented. “You’ve destroyed your whole family. Vicki, if she’s lucky, will spend the next ten or fifteen years in jail. Buck will be going to jail. That leaves your daughter, Katie, who’s in rehab. Considering that you’re about to become penniless … well, who knows what’ll happen to her.”

  “Quit trying to screw with my head,” Damien snarled. “I’m demanding a lawyer. Or haven’t you heard of the Charter of Rights?”

  “I’m familiar with it,” Jack replied. “I was simply wondering why the big rush. She tried to shoot me in front of three police witnesses. Do you really think a lawyer will be able to help her? Why not wait until we’re done our search? You’re not being arrested — at least, not today. Come visit her in jail later and bring a lawyer then.”

  “I’m not leaving her to you hyenas,” Damien said angrily. “She needs one now and I’m demanding that she be allowed to exercise her rights and obtain a lawyer immediately.” He looked at Sammy and Benny. “You two are witnesses to what I just said. Write that down in your notebooks.”

  “You should let us put her in touch with a legal-aid lawyer,” Jack said callously. “We’re seizing everything you own. You won’t have money to pay a lawyer.”

  “I’ll borrow the money if I have to,” Damien snarled.

  “Fine — have it your way. Do you have Basil on speed dial?”

  “He’ll have his hands full handling Buck’s case,” Damien replied. “I’ll get someone different for Vicki. I’d like to call Edward Gosling.”

  Wise choice, Jack thought. Gosling was a top-notch lawyer who was respected by police, prosecutors, and judges alike. Unlike Buck’s case, where the admissibility of the evidence could be argued, with Vicki there’d be little doubt of a conviction. Gosling had a reputation for being reasonable and his recommendations for sentencing carried considerable weight. Particularly with a mother who overreacted upon seeing a photo of her deceased daughter smashed. If anyone could gain some measure of sympathy from a judge, he could.

  “Well?” Damien asked. “Can I look up his number on my phone?”

  “No, because our searches are still underway and I don’t trust that you won’t text someone. We’ll look up his number and dial it for you.”

  Jack glanced toward the kitchen and then looked at Sammy and Benny. “You think I was too hard on her?” he asked them.

  Benny shrugged. “Maybe, but then again, it wasn’t me who was shot.”

  “The brass will find out when this goes to trial,” Jack said. “It’s not like I plan on running in and tattling on her.”

  “We’re not saying you are,” Sammy said. “I know the two of you’ve been through a hell of a lot together. She made a mistake. Shit happens. We’re not blaming you … or her.”

  Jack sighed. “I was pretty upset,” he admitted. “Maybe I did overreact a little. I’ll talk to her.” He gave a nod toward Damien. “Look up Gosling’s number and dial it yourself. Keep an eye on him, but at the same time give him space to talk in private.”

  “Will do,” Sammy replied as Jack went to the kitchen.

  Laura remained seated at the kitchen table while Jack slid out a chair to sit beside her.

  “Things aren’t going as I planned,” he whispered.

  “No kidding,” Laura said in a hushed voice. “She was told to shoot you in the stomach, so that if there’d been a flaw in your vest you’d at least still be alive. That bitch put it right over your heart!”

  “Maybe she got so caught up that she overacted,” Jack suggested. “Speaking of which, you gave an academy-award performance out there. I really thought you’d lost it when you punched her in the gut.”

  “That wasn’t acting. I thought you were dead,” Laura said, making no effort to hide her anger. “The plan was for both of us to grab her and wrestle the gun away!”

  “Shh, keep your voice down,” Jack cautioned. “When I was hit, it completely knocked the wind out of me and spun me half-around. You had her instantly, so I thought it’d look more realistic if I did what I did.”

  “Too realistic!” Laura hissed. “I figured the bullet either stopped your heart or pierced the vest.”

  “Ah, come on. Have a little faith” Jack lifted his sweater to look at the vest again. “I’ve heard these things are guaranteed. If the front panel doesn’t stop the slug, the back panel will.”

  “That’s not funny. You really scared me.”

  “Damien’s response wasn’t funny, either,” Jack said, tugging his sweater down.

  “He didn’t take the bait?”

  “He’s demanding a lawyer immediately. I threw out a reminder of the offer we made the other night to let Buck off, but there was no sign he wanted to make a deal now, either. He’s determined to get Vicki a lawyer.”

  “Guess the pretend butt call worked,” Laura noted. “Maybe it wasn’t necessary to have her shoot you.”

  “Damien will be going over everything that happened bit by bit. If he starts to question the butt call, I think her shooting me will alleviate any suspicion.”

  “Sure hope Basil and Damien will believe we’re not charging Vicki to protect me from getting in trouble.”

  “The good news about that is Damien didn’t call Basil. He wants to hire Ed Gosling. He’s probably on the phone to him now.”

  “Why is that good?”

  “Basil’s loyalty lies with Satans Wrath. If he knew that Vicki turned informant, he’d burn her to the club. Gosling wouldn’t do that. ”

  “And Damien? What if he gets suspicious?”

  “He’s so worried about her — plus he knows you and I are close — that at the end of the day he’ll want to believe we didn’t charge her in order to protect you.”

  “But even with him thinking that both Vicki and Buck are going to jail, he still won’t deal,” Laura said.

  “Maybe that was too much to hope for.”

  “So what now?”

  “I haven’t totally given up hope. Let’s play it out a little longer.”

  “We won’t have much time,” Laura said. “One … maybe two hours by the time she’s taken back to the office and talks to Gosling.”

  “I know, but despite his outward appearance, Damien has to be pretty shook up. Let’s see if we can turn up the heat.”

  “How? We’re already seizing everything he owns. He thinks his wife and son are going to jail. What more can —”

  “Hang on … my phone,” Jack said. “It’s I-POC.” He answered it. “I was about to call you. We’re in. The house is secure and only Damien and Vicki are home, so come on in.”

  “You took longer than I expected,” Dave said. “Any problems?”

  “Not really. Vicki tried to assault me and has been arrested. Benny is taking her back to the office.”

  “She tried to assault you?” Dave said.

  “It’s no big deal. I accidentally broke a picture of their deceased daughter and she became upset. We’re arresting her more to get her out of our hair than anything. Benny will be at the gate in a moment and you can drive through at the same time.”

  “Shooting you is no big deal?” Laura questioned when he hung up.

  “I’ll cover that off by telling Sammy and Benny in front of Damien that I don’t want to embarrass you in front of I-POC with what really happened. I’ll add that I’ll need time to figure out how to word things. Stay here, then I’ll call you in.”

  “Then what?” Laura asked. “How can we turn up the heat more than we have?”

  “I don’t know,” Jack admitted. “We’ll watch him while the search takes place. Maybe if I chat him up, he’ll come around, but you pretend you’re upset—that’ll lay the groundwork for me to change my mind about charging Vicki.”

  “That’ll be easy,” Laura replied.
“After what happened in there, I won’t need to pretend.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Benny left with Vicki in his custody and minutes later, the I-POC team entered. Jack and Laura stayed in the living room ostensibly to keep an eye on Damien while the other investigators began their search. Jack’s attempts to engage Damien in conversation were met with silence.

  Thirty minutes later Jack received a call from Benny. When he hung up, he looked at Damien. “Gosling is talking to Vicki. I’ll let him call you when he’s finished.”

  “Thanks.” Damien appeared to brood for a moment. “Would it be okay if I get dressed? Or are you seizing my clothes, too?”

  Jack ignored the sarcasm, but called out to Sammy to come with him as Damien got dressed. The three of them went upstairs to the bedroom, where a female officer was searching. “Find anything?” Jack asked.

  “He buys his wife expensive jewellery,” she replied. “Diamond bracelets, pendants, earrings. Definitely worth seizing.”

  “It’s all just stuff,” Damien said, then defiantly, “I couldn’t care less if you take it.”

  Jack asked the policewoman for a few minutes of privacy while Damien dressed. She obliged and closed the door behind her.

  “My pants and shirt are in the closet and socks are in the dresser,” Damien said.

  “Any weapons in the room?” Jack asked.

  Damien let out a snort. “Yeah, I’ve got a jackknife in my top dresser drawer, but despite its name, it isn’t meant for you. Other than that, I’ve got a gun locker in the panic room — but everything there’s legally stored.”

  “Too bad Vicki didn’t do the same with her gun,” Jack commented.

  A flash of pain crossed Damien’s face. “Ever since the Colombians grabbed her that time, well … Enough of that. Can I get my clothes?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Fantastic bedroom,” Sammy said as Damien gathered his clothes. “Great view of the mountains and the ocean. You won’t be seeing that from your cell.”

  Damien was not about to give in to his emotions. “Like I said before, it’s all just stuff.” He took off his housecoat and sat on the edge of the bed in his underwear to put on his socks.

  Jack saw five teddy bears lined up on the dresser. Two larger ones on each end and three smaller ones in the middle. Two of the smaller ones wore skirts and a blouse, while the third was dressed in pants and a T-shirt. Of the larger teddy bears on each end, one was dressed to represent the mother and the other the father. He remembered what Vicki said to Damien in the living room. Oh, Papa Bear, what’ve I done?

  Jack gestured to the teddy bears. “Your family, Damien?”

  “I gave one to Vicki each time one of our kids was born,” Damien explained.

  “Which one is this?” Jack asked, pointing to one in the centre.

  “That represents Katie.”

  “Your youngest, who’s in rehab. May as well put her face down,” Jack said, toppling it over.

  Damien winced.

  Jack’s finger lingered over the head of the next teddy bear. “Which would make this one Sarah … but she’s dead.” He toppled it over. “Besides you, I guess that leaves Mama Bear and Buck.” Jack picked them both up and tossed them onto the bed. “You believe in omens, Damien?”

  “What’re you talking about?”

  Jack took the jackknife out of the dresser and opened the blade, then tossed it onto the bed between the two teddy bears. “Pick up the knife, Damien.”

  “I’m not touching it,” he said, standing up to distance himself from the knife. “You’ll shoot me.”

  “No, that’s not why I told you to pick it up.” Jack gestured to the dresser. “The ones on the dresser are done for, but think of all the people with mental health problems who’re in jail. Some will be seeking attention and I’m sure Vicki and Buck, because of who they are, will stand out as celebrities. I want you to stab one of the ones on the bed. Just for fun, see if it turns out to be an uncanny prediction for which one might get shanked in jail. Then again, maybe you’ll want to do a clean sweep of your whole family and stab them both.”

  Damien looked at the two teddy bears lying face down on the dresser, then at the two on the bed with the knife between them.

  “You’re in charge of their fate,” Jack said. “Figuratively speaking, the knife is still in your hands. This is your last chance. Once they’re incarcerated, who knows who’ll be holding it? Go ahead.” He paused, then, “Are you going to stab them?”

  Damien sucked in a lungful of air — then a pitiful moan erupted from the big man’s throat. His legs wobbled and he sat down hard on the bed. Tears seeped from the corners of his eyes.

  Sammy gave Jack a surprised look.

  “Step out in the hall for a minute, will you, Sammy?” Jack asked.

  Sammy nodded, then left the room and quietly closed the door behind him.

  Damien looked at Jack. “I’m such a rotten fuck. My family … Vicki … she’s never deserved what I’ve done to her.” He shook his head in remorse. “I don’t understand.”

  “Understand what?”

  Damien made no effort to wipe the tears from his face. “Why I’m the way I am.” He breathed heavily. “What’s wrong with me that I’d allow this to happen to my family?”

  “The thing is, you don’t have to let it happen to your family,” Jack replied. “It’s not too late to save Vicki and Buck. You, yes — them no. I could still put a stop to it.” He waited a beat. “Providing I had something to show for it, of course.”

  Damien’s eyes searched Jack’s face. He appeared to be trying to gain control of his emotions. “You couldn’t stop it now. It’s too late.”

  “Like I told you before, with Buck I can make it look like I didn’t have the grounds to go on King’s property and take the video. Without that, there’d be no evidence.”

  “Buck yes. But Vicki? She tried to kill you — in front of witnesses.”

  “Yeah, in front of witnesses. I would’ve thought you’d have taught her better than that,” Jack said facetiously.

  “Her name’s on corporate documents in Cummings’s office, too,” Damien admitted.

  “I’m sure you could take the heat for that,” Jack replied. “Maybe make a deal with the prosecution. Regardless, that’s nothing in comparison to the trouble she’s in now. The important thing is that formal charges haven’t been laid yet. The only witnesses to her trying to kill me are people I trust.”

  “You really think they’d keep their yaps shut?”

  “If I told them to, yes.”

  “Oh, God.” Damien wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, then mumbled, “I don’t know what she was thinking.”

  “The point is moot unless you can give me something,” Jack said coldly.

  Damien looked at him. “She’s the mother of my kids,” he said earnestly. “She’s not a killer.”

  Jack tapped his sweater over his heart. “You might have a tough time convincing a jury of that. If we’re going to play Let’s Make a Deal, you’ll need to bring something better to the table than someone shooting a cop.”

  Damien stared briefly at Jack, then his face hardened. “Something better — like severing a coke connection to Europe. That’s what you’re after, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, but not without the bodies behind it — and I’m not talking about the idiots at the bottom end.”

  Damien stared at Jack for a few seconds. “Yeah, all right. I’ll give you what you want — our European connection.”

  “And the bodies to go along with it?”

  “Four full-patch from our club and several high-level Europeans to boot. That, along with a metric ton of coke should be enough to satisfy you.”

  “Possibly,” Jack said.

  “Possibly?” Damien sounded contemptuous.

  “My
bosses would have to know,” Jack replied. “If it were simply in exchange for letting Buck go, I know they’d go for it. But Vicki’s matter will be viewed as more serious. What she did wasn’t accidental. You might want to consider sweetening the pot as much as you can before I speak to them.”

  Damien shook his head. “If I give you more, then the club would figure it out. I’d rather risk they go to jail than what might happen to them if the finger got pointed in my direction.”

  “To them? You mean you,” Jack stated.

  “I don’t care about myself,” Damien replied. “We’re under new management. I’ve a feeling that the new guy is … well, more vindictive than I’d be.”

  “You’re talking about Pure E.”

  Damien nodded. “So what I’m offering is what you get.”

  “Hopefully the brass will go for it.”

  “Go for it? You’re full of crap,” Damien growled.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You won’t even tell them about Vicki. You’ll lay it all on Buck. Now that you’ve cooled off, you’re hoping to save Secord her job.”

  “Maybe.”

  “So don’t give me any bullshit about having to check with your bosses about Vicki. Do we have a deal or not?”

  “Will I have the bodies in jail and dope in the locker before the weekend’s over?”

  Damien grimaced. “It’ll be another five or six days before the players are in position for you to do that.”

  “I can hold off that long.” Jack nodded. “There’s one other thing I want to find out about.”

  “I told you, I’m not giving anything else up,” Damien said firmly.

  “This isn’t about your club. At least, not directly. I’d like to know the details about any grow-ops that were ripped off within the last year or two.”

  “You interested in that homicide that took place on Bowen Island?” Damien asked. “Considering the bust in Dallas, you obviously know we had investment interests in it.”

  “I-HIT asked for my help,” Jack said.