Bodies Out Back

by Nanisi Barrett D'Arnuk

  “Soooo goooood,” she crooned, handing the foil to Ally. “Thank you, Momma.” She kissed Cam again on the cheek.

  “Here.” Cam tossed a second pack to Terry. “No hard feelings.”

  “What about us?” Danny asked.

  “Don’t get greedy. Learn to share.”

  Terry stood holding the foil. Danny took it from her hand. He opened the foil and sniffed up a noseful through the short straw he’d had ready in his pocket. “Here. Try it. She always has the best stuff.” He held the straw out to Terry who took it hesitantly.

  “Yeah, this is good.” Terry piped up, brushing her nose where the small residue of white powder remained. “How much you want for more?”

  Cam thought, Maybe you just blew it—entrapment. The guys on the other end of your wire must be having heart attacks. Your impatience just cost you this bust. Cam took a step toward her. “More what?”

  “You know. More of this. Cocaine.”

  Cam was tired of playing. She wanted to end this before Terry blew this up in all their faces. “How much you got?”

  Bill, Ally, and Danny were busy dividing up the remainder of the packets and Chris was beginning to pout because Terry was getting all Cam’s attention.

  “Fifty?” Terry asked.

  “Make it a hundred and I’ll eight-ball it.”

  Terry looked at her questioningly.

  “Discount. Three for two,” Cam added.

  “Yeah, sure.” Terry fumbled in the purse that hung from her shoulder and finally offered Cam two new fifty-dollar bills. Cam took them and placed three small bags in her hand.

  “Okay, I am police. You’re under arrest. Get on the ground, face down. Put your hands on your head.” Terry suddenly pulled a gun from her bag and held her shield in the other. The coke dropped to the ground. She quickly put the shield into her skirt pocket and held onto the gun with two hands. “Get down on the ground,” she repeated. “On the ground!” Terry’s voice was getting higher and higher. “On the ground!”

  * * * *

  She’d been arrested and sent to prison, all under the covert supervision of the DEA, so she could solve a case there they hadn’t been able to crack. Very few knew the real story and she had been ostracized by many of her old friends and co-workers. After she’d been released from prison, she’d used that cover many times and had solved several cases because of it.

  “You really did that?” Carver asked his eyes wide with amazement.

  Cam nodded. “Look me up on the web. It was never expunged so I’m still legally a felon.”

  “My God!” Carver exclaimed. “Hasn’t that stopped you from doing things or going places?”

  “I work for the government,” Cam said with an ironic smile. “Those that know the truth have the ways and means to circumvent those things. I couldn’t get a passport in my own name while I was on parole, but I could always get one in any other name I wanted from any other country. I did a lot of things and went a lot of places while I was on parole that would have definitely been frowned upon.”

  Chuck laughed. “I guess the government can do what they want regardless of laws.”

  “If I moved to Florida or Virginia or the other states that ban felons from voting, they’d arrange to have me pardoned by the governor. Luckily, that probably won’t happen. And legally I can’t own a gun. Would it put you in a bad spot if I told you I had one? On me?”

  “I’m astounded,” Chuck said. His eyes wider than ever. “Who would have thought anyone would do something like that.”

  “I know. That’s why it works.”

  He took a deep breath. “I can’t ask for your help but anything you could do would be highly appreciated.”

  “That’s all right, Chuck,” she responded. “Seeing I’m already involved in this case, although rather peripherally, I want to see what I can find. I’m between cases now, and there isn’t one coming up immediately, so why not work this?”

  “Well, if you want, we need all the help we can get on this one.”

  “Did you learn any more about them? I mean, like who they hung with, what other things they did. Did they date?”

  Carver chuckled. “There were three boys that hung out together constantly. One of the mothers said they never dated, just hung out with each other. She was afraid all three were gay.”

  Cam smiled. “They were thinking about making money, not about sex.”

  “Yes, quite uncommon for boys their age.”

  “For boys of any age,” Cam said, laughing back at him.

  “Yeah, that’s right. I have a boy that’s twelve and he’s just starting to look at girls. At twelve!”

  Cam laughed. “Wait ‘til he gets to be fourteen!”

  Carver shook his head. “I don’t even want to speculate.”

  “I have two nephews close to that age. They’re driving their mother crazy. The older one’s talking about renting a limo to take his girlfriend to the school prom! A limo! And not even a junior! Imagine what he’ll want for his senior prom!”

  Carver chuckled at the thought.

  “Shoot,” Cam continued with a wide grin. “I was happy my date didn’t take me on his motorcycle!”

  They both laughed.

  “And the third is still missing?”

  “We looked through your property…and nothing. Maybe he got jealous or something.”

  Cam thought about it for a moment.

  “Is there anything strange about this case that I should be looking for?”

  “Unfortunately, no. The kids were killed and left there. All their identification was taken and we never found the car they went there in. Your speculation was probably right. Either they made some bad meth or it was a rival maker. There’s still no trace of the third boy, though, the one that was always with them. He may have been the one who killed them. They could have had a falling out.”

  “Then why did he leave all that meth? It was worth quite a bit.”

  “True. Also, so far, the only other question we have is that one of the mothers asked if we had found a large gold cross her son always wore. I guess it was about three or four inches in length.”

  “And it wasn’t on my place?”

  “Not that we found. It might be buried deeply somewhere. I think we pretty much scoured your whole place. We took about two inches of dirt from beneath them to analyze, plus some.”

  “Then I’ll see what I can do. Both Jean-René and Michael Gauchet will know what I’m doing, too, so they may be in touch with you from time to time or you can contact them if you find anything that may need my help. You should have Jean-René’s office number and Michael is usually at my house in the evenings and over weekends.”

  “That will be great, Cameron. That’s one of the things we’ve always needed: someone who can work on both sides of the border.”

  Cam grinned at him. “This may turn into a once-in-a-lifetime deal if things go bad, but I’ll be happy to keep doing this for as long as I can.”

  Carver reached out to shake her hand. He nodded thoughtfully. “Thank you.”

  * * * *

  When Cam got back to the house, Michael wasn’t home yet, and it was just before five. Maybe she could catch Maggie at her office.

  She dialed the number which was answered after the second ring.

  “Thomason Psychiatric Center…”

  “Alison? Hi, it’s Cameron,” Cam started. “Is Maggie free?”

  “You caught her just in time. She was getting ready to leave.”

  Cam heard talk in the background and someone say, “I’ll take it in my office,”

  “She’ll be right with you, Cam. How have you been?”

  “Busy as usual,” Cam replied. “You? Is she still working you to death?”

  Alison chuckled. “It’s always busy here. One day is like every other. You should know that. You worked here once.”

  Cam laughed. When she was released from prison, she worked for Maggie to fulfill her probation requirements. That was un
til she was recruited by the local drug family to work for them. To prevent it from interfering with her probation requirements, her probation officer had to be told about the covert situation and Cam’s true identity.

  They were interrupted as Maggie picked her line. Alison said good-bye and disconnected.

  “Hi, Maggie,” Cam said brightly as soon as Maggie answered. “It’s me.” Dr. Margaret Thomason was not only Cam’s friend and a respected psychiatrist but also her control for the government when she was out in the field. Most assignments and information went through Dr. Maggie. Also, Cam was so seldom in one place for very long that it seemed senseless to maintain an apartment somewhere. So, when she was between assignments in Baltimore, she stayed in the second bedroom of Maggie’s condo.

  “Hey!” Maggie exclaimed. “How’s the new house?”

  “I love it. You’ll have to come visit soon. I have two small guest rooms.”

  “I’ll do that when I get a chance,” Maggie promised.

  “How have you been?” Cam asked.

  “Busy. Working. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

  “And Douglas?”

  “He’s fine. We’re going out for dinner tomorrow night. We’re both so busy right now that we hardly have time to see each other.” Douglas was the man Maggie had been seeing for the last several years.

  “I imagine he’s been swamped now that tax season has rolled around.”

  “Totally.” He was an accountant with a major firm in Baltimore. “He barely gets home before ten or eleven and is always too tired to even go out to eat.”

  “Maybe you should make time to relax. The weather’s good. Go out to your bay house for the weekend.”

  “We might do that as soon as the fifteenth rolls by. I think we both need the time away.”

  “Good.”

  Maggie owned a beautiful three-bedroom place overlooking Chesapeake Bay. It was smaller than the house Cam had bought but was beautifully appointed and furnished. The deck, with lounge chairs and a luncheon table on the back side of the house, overlooked the water and was perfect for sunny days. Cam had stayed there when she was first released from prison.

  “And how’s Michael?”

  Cam laughed. “She’s been making the hour and a half commute from Montreal three times a week to be with me.”

  “Well, if that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”

  “Speaking of which, we even discussed getting married someday.”

  “Now that is progress.”

  Cam’s face lit up so brightly she was sure Maggie could see it through the phone.

  “Oh, the reason I called was to find out if Dickie or Craig have said when my next assignment will be?” Richard Deems was her boss at the DEA and Craig Roberson was the head of the CIA.

  “I don’t think they have anything planned for you right now, why?”

  She went on to explain what had been found on her property.

  “Good heavens,” was Maggie’s response. “How do these things always happen to you?”

  “I wish I knew so I could stop them. I must have done something either terribly wrong or extraordinarily right.”

  “Sweetie, I’m not sure either would cause these many things.”

  Cam laughed at that.

  “I’ve been talking with Chuck Carver of the Vermont State Police down in Newport and Jean-René here at the RCMP and I’m not known around here yet, so I was thinking of doing some looking around to help them out. It’ll also keep me in shape.”

  “Really?”

  “I was talking with Chuck and let him in on my situation. We agreed that seeing I’m still a felon, I could probably get into some places that they couldn’t.”

  “Well, if that’s what you want to do, try it,” Maggie agreed. “But be careful. I understand Canadian hospitals are a little different from US ones.”

  Cam laughed. “Oh, come on, Mom. I haven’t fallen off my tricycle in months.” Cam’s assignments were always dangerous and she had many scars to prove it.

  “But there’s always that next bump.”

  They both laughed.

  “Is my case still on the web?”

  “I think so. I’ll have Wendell check it out. Do you want it updated?”

  “Sure. Maybe you could say I was suspected of trafficking but it was never proven, or that I was friends with members of the Alexander Cartel that was busted there on the east coast.”

  “That’s a good idea. Do you know what Sergeant Carver and Jean-René want you to do?” Maggie asked.

  “Jean-René has a short list of places that seem to have drug connections. His folk can’t get anything, it’s very well shielded. I’m not known there, and with my felony record I may be able to find out something. If the kids that were found here were making meth, there’s a good chance that there was some rivals around who wanted their market. Maybe I could find that.”

  “Good heavens, Cam. You could have your throat slit, too.”

  “I’ll be careful. Once I get known as a druggie, I can probably learn a lot here.”

  Maggie took a deep breath. “Please remember what happened the last time you had to use meth on an assignment.”

  “How can I forget?” Cam had inadvertently sniffed meth while working one case. She immediately became violent and almost killed someone. She also couldn’t get her body, especially her hands, to warm up. It took Maggie almost two days to get her back to normal.

  All right,” she finally said. “Keep in touch with Jean-René and let me know if you need anything.”

  “I will, Maggie. I don’t intend to let this go on long. It should only take a few weeks. I want to get some info to give to Jean-René and maybe get a lead on the murderers.”

  “Good luck.”

  “Thanks.”

  Chapter 7

  Jean-René, his family, and Guy showed up midmorning on Saturday.

  “Did you get all the stuff?” Guy asked.

  “All you told me I needed,” Cam answered.

  “All right, show me how far your property goes.”

  Cam had the maps and papers ready. “I haven’t had it officially surveyed but I’m pretty sure I can tell where the boundary is.”

  They walked across the road and looked at her land.

  “According to this map, the big stream is halfway through the property.”

  Jean-René immediately went back to the road and stepped across the land until he came to the stream. Then he walked the same number of steps to the west.

  “I may be off a few yards, but I think this is it. Look at the area.” He pointed to a place on the topographical map and the aerial photo and compared them. “These trees and the path look like this here.” He pointed to the trees around them.

  “Yes, it does. I guess we can use it as a point to start from. Do you think we should back-up a few feet?” Cam wasn’t sure where to place the fence.

  “Actually,” Guy said as he backed up a few steps, “If we put it back here, those trees would make a good wall.” There were stands of trees that no vehicle could get through on both sides of the road. “What do you think?”

  “Yes. It looks good to me,” Cam decided.

  “I think that’s where it should be, eh,” agreed Jean-René. When Cam and Guy both nodded, Jean-René took charge. “Let’s get the posts out here. I think we can get this done in a few hours.”

  Jean-René, Guy, and Jean-René’s teenaged son Jean-Claude went back to the garage where Cam had left the poles, bags of cement, the chain-link, and tools needed for the fence.

  “I remembered to buy a wheelbarrow. You won’t have to carry it all out there.”

  The men sighed, nodded, and hefted or loaded what they could.

  It took them several trips to get most of the poles and tools out to where they were putting the fence.

  Cam and Michael left the guys to work and went inside with Theresa and her daughter.

  “I knew Mrs. Whitburn. They went to L’Eglise de Sainte Marie in Magog.
We went there from time to time, too. Such a nice lady. I was sad when I heard she had passed,” Teresa told them. “I imagine they left good appliances and utensils. I can’t imagine her keeping a dirty house.”

  “Yes, the things they left were wonderful. I love the cookware she had,” Michael added, “Most of it is La Creuset, so it will never wear out. Cameron doesn’t know the treasures she has.”

  “I imagine I’ll find out someday,” Cam said with a grin.

  “Oui. I will teach you, cherie.”

  “Ah, the cooking expert, because she took classes two or three semesters at university,” Teresa joked.

  “But she’s very, very good,” Cam added, standing up for Michael.

  “In the kitchen, too?” Teresa kidded.

  “Oui. Dans la cuisine, trop,” Michael stated proudly.

  They all laughed.

  “It looks like you have good storage space in the kitchen,” Teresa noticed.

  “You can’t imagine! Look in here!” Cam opened the door that led to the laundry room behind the east wall of the kitchen. She pulled the shelving wall out to show Teresa.

  “Incroyable,” Teresa observed. “There’s enough room here to store food for an entire winter. This is a real northerner’s home.”

  “Yes. And we don’t need to have appliances that we only use once in a while hanging around in the kitchen,” Michael added.

  “Yes, this house has just about everything. Come in here.” Cam led the way back into the living room. There was what looked like a painting hung on the northern wall. She swung the picture out into the room. Behind it were vents where heat from the fireplace could be directed into that bedroom.

  “The other bedroom back there has its own heat duct that leads from the fireplace, too. But…” Cam beckoned for them to follow her. “There’s a small fireplace here in the bathroom that will send heat right across the hall to this last bedroom.”

  “Then you don’t have to rely on oil or electric.” Teresa looked at the space between the bath and bedroom.

  “No.” They walked back into the living room. Cam took a step back and pointed to the upper wall. “And those drapes can be opened to allow the heat to get up into that bedroom, too.”

  “There’s only one bedroom up there?