Bodies Out Back

by Nanisi Barrett D'Arnuk

  “What made you come here?”

  “To Magog? It was in another country.”

  “No, to Rosie’s Pub.”

  “It looked good from outside, and I was thirsty,” Cam said.

  “And why’d you ask Ted about the ice?”

  “Just a hunch. I thought I’d take the chance. The first day I was here, a young kid came in looking for someone or something. He looked like a stoner. When Ted said whoever the kid was looking for was probably around, the kid left very, very happy. The rest sort of followed.”

  Morris looked back at Ted. “You’ve got to tell Alan not to come in here again.”

  “Yes, Rosie told me to tell him, but he hasn’t been back in.”

  “You never know who’s in here.” He looked Cam in the eye. “You could have been a narc.”

  Cam laughed. “That’s another used to be. No way it can happen again.”

  Morris studied Cam thoughtfully and then looked around the bar. After a moment, he said, “I may have something to help you. Come on into the back.”

  Cam nodded, downed another mouthful of her drink, and followed him, leaving the glass on the bar.

  They entered an office where the thin woman Cam had seen before was seated at the desk. There was a monitor on the wall that showed what was happening at the bar.

  “So you’re Andrews,” the woman greeted her. “I’m Rosie.” She held her hand out for Cam to shake.

  Darren made a big show of taking his gun out of the holster under his left arm and placing it on the desk.

  Cam stood there, thoughtfully

  “Is that supposed to intimidate me?” she asked.

  “Does it?” he asked.

  Cam shook her head. “No.” This guy was not going to intimidate her.

  “I hope not,” he answered. “But we do understand each other, don’t we?”

  “Optimistically,” she said as she sat in the chair in front of his desk.

  “Do you own a gun?” he asked.

  Cam grinned. “I’m a felon. I’m not supposed to.”

  He looked at her seriously, then repeated, “Do you own a gun?”

  Cam sat back. “Yes,” she said softly.

  “Do you have it with you?”

  Cam nodded. “Always.”

  Darren smiled. “Good,” he said.

  “Ted told me that you’re looking for some stuff,” Rosie said, turning toward Cam.

  “Yes. I had a good source in Maryland but it got busted, so now I have to find my own.”

  “Busted? That’s too bad.”

  “Yes. They were good folk. Someone even tried to say I worked for them. They couldn’t prove anything.”

  “That’s good. Did you?”

  Cam shrugged. “I think everyone wanted to say I was because I slept with one of the delivery people.”

  Rosie chuckled. “I also saw you spent some time in prison in Maryland.”

  “Not the favorite part of my life.”

  “I read there was a whole big scandal there. Wasn’t the warden involved?”

  “No, it was the assistant warden and one of the head guards.”

  “What happened to them?”

  Cam nodded. “Everyone got sent to maximums around the country and got another ten or more.”

  “Then you were lucky.”

  Cam nodded, thoughtfully.

  “What are you looking for?” Darren asked. “Ted said you mentioned ice and molly.”

  “At this point, almost anything. My flavor of choice is coke, but I’m open. It’s been hard getting anything. I had a friend bring me some coke from Montreal, but she doesn’t visit that often and I get tired of driving that far.”

  Darren looked over at Rosie who nodded.

  “Usually, there’s a car in the back alley where you can get something if you’re in a rush, but he’s not here, today. He’s usually here around lunch time for an hour or so. If he’s not in the car, he’s either in the bar or down the street in the coffee shop. I’ll have Ted introduce you or he won’t sell to you.” Darren reached for a piece of paper. “I’m going to give you an address. The guy there is named Preston. He should be able to help you.” He wrote something on the paper and signed his name.

  Cam took it from him when he handed it to her. It read Pres, this is Cameron. She checks out okay. The web address of her arrest record was there, too. There was an address below his signature.

  “Thank you.” She grinned at him. “Now maybe things can get back to normal.”

  “You know enough to keep that to yourself,” Rosie said ominously.

  “Of course. I’ve learned a lot.”

  “Good luck, then.”

  “Thanks.” Cam got up and walked back out to the bar.

  When she had left, Darren turned to Rosie.

  “What do you think?”

  “She seems okay. Make a mistake and fucked her life up. I’ll still have the boys watch her for a while.”

  Chapter 10

  Once she was in her car, she took out her phone and dialed Michael. The call went right to Michael’s voice mail as Cam knew it would. Michael would be teaching right now.

  “Honey, I got a lead. I’ve been sent to what I think is a dealer’s house.” She left the address. “I’ll report it to Jean-René as soon as I learn something. See you tonight. Je t’aime.”

  She sat back in the car and thought about today.

  Yes. Good. Rosie’s Pub had turned out to be the source she needed. She wrote all she could remember that had happened along with the address in a notebook in her glove compartment. Now: to get some evidence.

  She checked her city map and put the car in gear. The address was across town.

  It turned out to be a single-family house on the edge of town. It was a two-story little place like all the others on this street. There was nothing to draw attention to it.

  She parked her car, walked up the front walk, and pressed the doorbell. In a few minutes, the main door was opened.

  “Yes?” a tall, thin man asked through the screen.

  “Are you Preston?” Cam asked.

  “Most of the time,” he muttered, still leery about a stranger at his door.

  “I’m supposed to give you this.” She held up the note that Darren had signed. Preston opened the screen door a crack and Cam slipped the letter through to him. He read it thoroughly then looked up and down the street. When he was sure there was no one else on the block, he opened the screen, stepped back, and said, “Come on in.”

  He closed the door behind her as she walked in. It was a comfortable middle-class house. The furniture wasn’t new, but the place looked clean.

  “What do you need?” he asked.

  “What do you have?” Cam asked.

  “Almost everything,” he told her. She noticed that he still hadn’t cracked a smile.

  “Coke?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  “Ice?”

  “Got that, too.” He told her. “Come with me.”

  He led her through the house and down a flight of stairs. At the bottom was a large room. Another young man was in the basement. He was weighing and packaging a white powder.

  “Neil, this is Cameron. Darren sent her over.”

  Neil reached out to shake hands with her. “What can we get you today?” he asked.

  “Three grams of coke and a gram of ice?”

  “Coming right up,” he said. He carefully placed a plastic crate upside down over all his paraphernalia before he walked over to a cabinet that was filled with little plastic bags. He took three from one shelf and one from another. He walked back and handed them to Cam.

  “We can settle the cost upstairs,” Preston told her.

  Cam looked at Neil. “Nice meeting you. I’ll probably be back.”

  “Whenever you need something,” he said, nodding his head in acknowledgement.

  Preston guided her back upstairs where she paid him for the drugs and he showed her out, closing the door behind her. />
  * * * *

  When she’d gotten home, she went into the laundry room and placed her drugs and notes in an old coffee can which she placed near the end of the top shelf of her sliding shelved wall.

  Cam called Jean-René later that evening. When Jean-René answered she told him, “I found a lot today.”

  He was surprised. “Really? Already?”

  She told him about Darren and Rose at Rosie’s Pub and about Preston and Neil at the house where she bought the drugs.

  “But hold off on busting them until I get a chance to find out who else is involved,” she told him.

  “That’s wonderful, eh? I won’t bust them until you think you know everyone.”

  “Thank you, Jean-René. There was so much stuff there that I have the feeling this is bigger than you thought.”

  “And none of the others seemed to have anything?”

  “I couldn’t see anything at the sandwich shop, and the tobacco store owner was talkative but I’ll have to go back there a few more times to gain his trust. Rosie’s Pub and Le Crash are right out there with everything. Le Crash is mainly young kids, all under thirty, most closer to twenty. I think when we dry out the big guys, that will dry up by itself. Rosie’s Pub is golden. I’ll have more info on that in a few days. Now that I have Preston’s house, I think we got a handle on this. I’m still trying to find out who cooks the meth. That may be the hardest.”

  “Then, I appreciate your help. I can’t believe you found all that in two and a half weeks.”

  “But everyone knows that you and your team are Mounties. I’m a convicted felon. It’s still on the internet.”

  “You have an unbelievable cover, Cam. Your superiors must be proud of you.”

  “Well, they give me a lot of work. Thanks.” There was a short good-bye and the lines went dead.

  Cam looked around her house. If Jean-René was home, Michael was probably on her way, too. She thought of the things she should be doing, but…well, she had already done enough for the day. Maybe a few extra hours sleep would help. Maybe, but if Michael was on her way home…

  * * * *

  That Thursday, Cam went back to Le Crash. She had the feeling that Laurie knew more than she was saying. The way her eyes had lit up when they were talking about an overdose warned Cam that there was more underneath that child-like exterior.

  Thursday was a little louder and there were more people there than on that first Monday. The parking lot was even more active than it had been earlier. When she walked in the door, she was bombarded by the loud music and as she approached the bar, she had to sidestep a few times to avoid bumping into kids who were happily moving around without looking where they were going.

  There were a couple of empty stools, but people were moving around them rather quickly.

  “A Sam Adams ale?” Cam heard before she had a chance to sit down at the bar. She looked up and saw Laurie waving at her.

  As she slid into a seat, an open bottle of Sam Adams was placed in front of her.

  “You remembered.” Cam smiled at her.

  “Of course. I always remember the interesting customers,” Laurie said with a huge smile.

  “Because we tip more?” Cam said with a chuckle.

  “Not only that.” Laurie gave her a wink as she went to serve someone else.

  Cam brought the bottle of ale to her mouth as she turned to look at the customers. This crowd wasn’t that much older, but it looked like they at least had more money. They seemed better dressed but were still young; much younger than she was.

  “Glad you came back,” Cam heard behind her. She turned to face Laurie.

  “Me, too. This is a good crowd.”

  “Yes, Thursday nights are the best. Most of this crowd goes to Le Bord on Fridays and the crowd here on Saturdays is out of control. There are fights outside almost every week.”

  “Thanks for the warning,” Cam said to her.

  “You look like you could hold your own in a fight,” Laurie said, a sly smile on her face.

  “Maybe too well,” was Cam’s reply.

  “Then you’ve been in many fights?”

  “Haven’t we all, one way or another?”

  Laurie broke out laughing. Then, a young man leaned over the bar beside Cam. “Hey Laurie,” he said, “Got three more Lites?”

  “Coming right up.” She turned, grabbed the bottles of Bud Lite, and handed them to him. She marked something on a paper near the cash register.

  “Is it always this busy on Thursdays?”

  “Always,” Laurie answered. “But we work shorter hours because it’s so hectic. The tips are better, so it doesn’t make a difference.”

  “That’s lucky.”

  “Sure. I get off in a half hour and I’ve already made what I usually do on a full night at the beginning of the week.”

  “That’s good, then.”

  “If you stick around for a while, we could go somewhere else at eleven o’clock.” Laurie peered at her hopefully.

  “I’d love to, but not tonight,” Cam said.

  Laurie’s face fell. “Another night, then?” she asked.

  “We’ll see.”

  “I might be able to get something for you,” Laurie said optimistically.

  Cam smiled at her. Is this what I’m looking for? And could it open other doors for me? She had the feeling that if Laurie could get “something,” she was a person Cam was searching for. It might be worth it, but not on a Thursday night. Because she had the weekend free, Michael was always ready to stay in and play on Thursday nights.

  “That’s great,” Cam replied. “I’ll be back another night.”

  * * * *

  Laurie walked slowly into her house that night. She had a frown on her face.

  “What’s wrong with you?” her roommate asked.

  “I met a fabulous woman. Tonight was the second time she came into the bar,” Laurie explained. “I’d sure like to get to know her better.”

  “Then ask her out,” Billy suggested.

  “I did, but she said not tonight.”

  “Well, at least she didn’t say no,” the other roommate said. “Did you at least get her name?” He laughed.

  “Yes,” she said, looking at him as if he were crazy. “Her name’s Cameron and she up here from the States.”

  “Cameron? She’s thin, with dark hair? I think we’ve sold to her. Rosy sent her over, I think.”

  “You have? That’s good! I wanted to buy some for her, but I wasn’t sure. She’s older than everyone at the bar and I didn’t want to make Preston mad.”

  “No, she’s the real thing.” Neil looked at her with a question in his eyes. “She might be too much for you,” he said. “You’d better be careful.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She has a prison record. It’s online if you want to read it. I’ll get the URL for you.”

  “Really?”

  “You’ve got yourself an ex-con.” Neil and Billy found that funny.

  “Oh, my God!” Laurie gasped. “Then she must know a whole lot!”

  “Just remember that, if you’re still interested,” Neil said. “Be careful. She’s not like the other girls around here.”

  Laurie nodded, thoughtfully.

  “Good. The other girls around here are so boring. I knew there was something about her.”

  “She is hot-looking,” Neil said.

  “I know!”

  Chapter 11

  Monday, of the next week, Cam went to Preston’s again. There were two other men and a young woman there. The young woman was Laurie from Le Crash.

  “Hi, Cam,” she greeted her. “I see you found this place,” she said with a smile.

  “Yes, at just the right time.”

  “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t tell you.”

  “That’s okay. I understand. It wasn’t your place to tell me.”

  “You’ve bought here before?”

  “Yes, I was in last week.”

  Cam ac
knowledged the two men who were there, but they weren’t introduced. Laurie and one of the guys, a blond, appeared to know Neil quite well. The other man seemed stoned out of his mind.

  “What’cha want today?” Neil asked Cam.

  “A couple bags of coke. That was good stuff last time.”

  “Did you get what we had last week?” the blond guy asked.

  “Yes. It was good quality,” Cam answered. We? Was this guy involved here, too?

  “This new distributor has much purer stuff. You came in on a good day.”

  Everyone nodded their agreement. Neil opened the closet and returned with two small packages.

  “Got come good crack rocks, too, this week,” Neil said.

  “Really? Can I get a pack of that, too?” Cam asked.

  Neil turned and retrieved another bag from his closet.

  “No ice today?” he asked.

  “No, I only do ice on special occasions. I’m alone this week.”

  “Are you sure? He made a really good batch this weekend.” Neil was pushing to sell the meth.

  “Yes,” Laurie added, “I did some yesterday and it was really smooth. You gotta try it. You won’t be disappointed.”

  “Well,” Cam said as she smiled at her and Neil, “do you have mollies?”

  “Sorry,” Neil said. “He hasn’t made mollies yet, but we have bath salts.”

  “Then I guess that will have to do. Just one package?” Cam let out a quick chuckle.

  “Very good choice.” He turned and got another package from different shelf in the cabinet. He handed it to Cam. She placed it all in her shoulder bag.

  “Pay Preston upstairs,” Neil informed her. He wrote what she had taken on a small sheet of paper and handed it to her.

  “Of course,” she muttered.

  “Come into the club tonight and I’ll buy you an ale,” Laurie said. Her face had a big smile.

  “Are you working tonight?” Cam asked.

  “For a while,” was Laurie’s answer. “I’m getting off early tonight unless it gets crowded. I finish at eleven.”

  “Then I’ll be there before eleven.”

  The first guy patted Laurie on the shoulder and they exchanged smiles.

  Cam grinned to herself. This could be a trap but now that she knew Laurie was a user, it may lead to some additional information. “See you this evening.”