29
“Hello, Bernadette,” Ace said. “Pull her up boys, check her, make sure she doesn’t have any weapons.”
The boys pulled Bernadette to her feet. It took them seconds to find her axe and knife and paper bag.
Ace was sitting at a desk in the middle of the shop. They’d scavenged a desk and a leather chair from one of the offices. He looked like he owned the place and was about to do an interview.
Leo took the axe, knife, and bag. He walked over to Ace, dropping them before him. He walked back to Bernadette, resuming his grip. His eyed Bernadette and grinned. “Payback’s a bitch,” he muttered.
“Well,” he said, looking at the knife and axe. His thumb ran over the axe blade. “Mighty unfriendly to come with weapons to our meeting.”
Bernadette eyed Ace and surveyed the room. In the outer edges of the light she could see Travis. They had him tied to a chair. Susie sat beside him with a knife balanced on her knee.
“Oh, and look-see here,” Ace said, dumping the paper onto the desk. “Looks like she came with paper money. Seems you’re a liar, little girl.”
Susie let out a loud laugh in the corner. It sent a chill up Bernadette’s spine.
“Yeah, you’re a liar, and you like to meddle in things, don’t you, girl,” Ace said. He lifted up a small tape recorder and punched play. Carl Hoffer’s voice came on, “Okay, kid, leave it to me. I’ll make sure Ace is no longer a problem to your school.”
Bernadette’s heart did a flip and seemed to have lodged in her throat. She fought hard to breathe.
Ace turned to Susie. “Seems our little friend here figured she’d get me on tape offering to sell to her—what do you think, Susie? Strange shit or what?”
“Strange shit, Ace,” Susie said.
“And then she figured she run this tape to Carl Hoffer and get him all riled up, have me taken out. You think you’re a pretty clever girl, don’t you?” Ace said. He rose up from his desk chair. His hair was hanging down from his head in greasy streaks. His arms were shaking.
Bernadette shrugged. There was no need to answer. She fought hard to concentrate on breathing. There could be moments left before her death.
“Well, you figured wrong,” Ace said, slamming his palms on the desk. “We spread the word that Hoffer didn’t want to sell to schools so people would think we weren’t getting along. Fact is, we’re best buddies. You didn’t know that, did you?”
Bernadette shook her head. “Guess not.”
“Ha, I take care of all the schools in the city. You didn’t know that either—did you?”
Bernadette wondered how long this was going to go on. She let herself take in the surroundings, looking for a way out.
“When you came to me, I knew you were lying your little ass off, girl, but I let you do it. You want to know why?”
Bernadette sighed. “Not really, but I know you’re going to tell me.”
“Because we needed a diversion. Tomorrow night we have the biggest crystal meth shipment coming from the coast by truck this town has ever seen. With you and your buddies dead, the cops will be off our back.”
The word buddies made Bernadette’s skin crawl. “What buddies?”
Ace laughed and slammed the desk hard. “Hit the lights.”
The lights came on in the next machine bay. Bernadette gasped as the Town and Country van gleamed in the lights. Three figures sat inside. She could make out Jason, Chad, and Craig.
“Are they dead?” Bernadette asked in a voice that almost didn’t make it past her throat.
“Hell, no, they’s just tied up and gagged,” Ace said. He walked over and banged on the window. “You okay in there, guys? You just hang tight. They’re just the silliest little buggers; they were tailing me last night. Dumb bastards.”
Bernadette could see the whites of Chad’s eyes in the van. He was shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe what they’d gotten into.
“The party’s going to start real soon,” Ace said, turning and smiling at Bernadette.
“Yep, we gonna have some kind of party, Ace,” Susie said.
Bernadette looked at Susie. She had a syringe in her hand.
Ace saw her look. “Know what that is? Pure crystal meth; there’s a lethal dose in there. The cops are going to find your bodies shot up with meth like you’ve been in a hell of a party. Well—some of your bodies,” Ace said as a grin spread over is face.
He walked back to his desk. “You see, we plan to shoot you up with meth and put you in the van and torch it. Leave it down by the river. You know, gangland style. The cops will be scratching their heads for days, trying to figure out how some high school and university students got that way.”
“You’ll never get away with this,” Bernadette said. “Too many people saw us in the tavern last night. They’ll link my murder to you.”
“No, I have this tape you made. I’ve taken my name out and have you asking for some drugs and flashing fake money around. I’ll tell the police that sure, I saw you. You were looking to make a buy, and that’s the last I saw you. They’ll find this tape recorder outside the van, with your body, Bernadette,” Ace said.
He held up another tape recorder. “This one, this is Carl Hoffer’s. He asked me to make a recording of you pleading for your life. He’s a sick bastard. Behind that little guy is one psycho son of a bitch,” Ace said.
An involuntary shudder went through Bernadette’s body. She felt Leo and David tighten their grip.
“I told Carl I’d make sure I investigated your assets before I killed you. You came on pretty strong last night in the tavern. I thought maybe now was a good time to take you up on your offer,” Ace said.
“I never made you any offer.” Bernadette said.
“Oh, I think you said you’d rock my world. Strip her, boys.”
Leo grabbed Bernadette’s parka and pulled it off. David tore her shirt off. Leo reached around to unhook her bra. Bernadette threw an elbow into his face. He fell back. She lunged forward, placing her boot above his knee. She pressed down hard—he screamed in pain, fell to the ground.
David grabbed her left arm. She wheeled—her fingers flew into his eyes. He dropped, blinded to the floor.
“Damn. That’s good shit, Bernadette,” Ace said.
Bernadette looked up to see Ace holding a gun.
“Now, what kind of moves have you got over a bullet?”
Bernadette froze. She’d never had a gun pointed at her. She could dive for the floor or move left or right. The light switch was behind her. Could she get to it before a bullet found her back?
The shop door creaked open. Hernández stepped inside.
“Who the hell are you?” Ace asked.
“I’m this lady’s cab driver. My meter is running, and she owes me money…sorry if I intrude. I’ll leave now…” He started to back up. Bernadette saw he had a gun in his hand.
“Bullshit. Stay where you are,” Ace yelled. He lifted his gun. Hernandez lifted his. Shots rang out. Hernández fell to the floor.
Bernadette hit the main light switch. The place went dark. She crawled along the floor to Hernández.
“Are you okay?” Bernadette asked in a whisper.
“No, I been shot in the belly. Is no too bad. Here, take my knife, my gun is out of bullets.”
Bernadette took the knife. “Did you call the police?”
“Yes, but they say it take time—the roads are bad. I came to see if I could help.”
“Lie still,” Bernadette said. She could feel the wet blood oozing from his bullet wound. She had to deal with Ace before she could help him.
“I’ll be okay.” He whispered, “You go get that sonabitch—he looks like a bad man.”
“He is bad. I intend to kill him,” Bernadette whispered back. She took the knife and crawled along the floor. The light from the outer door shone a path to the desk where Ace had been sitting. Her axe was there. She moved towards it.
A hand grabbed her. She held her breath. She lashed o
ut with the knife. It went into a soft body. A loud ah told her she’d hit something vital. The hand let go.
She reached the desk, grabbed her axe and knife. The lights came on.
Ace stood at the light switch, his gun aimed at Bernadette. “Here we are again. Looks like your cab driver here got a bullet in him. I think I need to do the same to you.”
Bernadette eyed Ace. How far away was he? Six metres, read in her mind. Four spins of her axe. Would he shoot her before she threw it?
“You know, Bernadette, I was going to treat you to some quality time before I killed you. Show you what a real man is. But you’ve put a knife in one my guys and broke Leo’s leg—nah, I think we’ll just advance to the killing part now.”
Bernadette felt the axe handle’s weight. She tested it once behind her back. There was no choice.
One stride forward, and the axe flew overhand. Ace brought up his gun to fire. His shot went wide. The axe didn’t miss. The blade sunk deep into Ace’s chest, splitting his heart in two. He fell backwards.
Bernadette ran to Ace, stood over his body with her knife. She was ready to cut his throat if he went for his gun. There were no signs of life. She kicked the gun away.
She turned and walked over to Susie. “Drop the knife, Susie.”
Susie had her knife at Travis’s throat, “I’ll slit his throat if you try to take my knife.”
Bernadette stopped one metre away from Susie. “I don’t need to take your knife. “You see what I did to Ace with my axe. I’m better with a knife—I can plant this in your forehead from this distance. You drop the knife and back away from Travis, our you’ll be in matching body bag with Ace.”
Susie stared at Ace on the floor. She dropped the knife and sobbed.
Bernadette approached Travis, jumped on his lap, and showered him with kisses.
“You want to tell me what this is all about?” Travis asked. His tone was harsh—he was in shock.
“I’m so sorry,” Bernadette said. “I didn’t mean to involve you in this. I was trying to get Ace in trouble with his gang. It backfired.” She jumped up from his lap and cut his ropes off. “I made up a story your wrestling team were helping me move drugs…sorry, it all went wrong.”
Sirens sounded, first distant, then closer. Car doors slammed outside, multiple footsteps sounded, until police burst into the room.
Detective Kruger and Officer Myers, gun raised, surveyed the room, transfixed by the scene. Bernadette was covered in blood, wearing jeans and a black lace bra. A young man sat in a chair with Susie bawling nearby.
Four bodies lay on the floor. Ace had an axe protruding from his chest. From blood pooling around him, he looked like a candidate for dead at scene.
Bernadette looked at Myers. “The man by the door, he’s the cab driver that brought me. He’s been shot. This guy on the floor has a stab wound in the stomach. There are three men in the van. They’re okay, just tied up.”
Myers motioned for an officer to bring in the EMS team and walked over to Bernadette. “I’m sure there’s a long explanation for all this.”
Bernadette pushed the hair from her eyes, looked at Myers, and sighed.
30
The next forty-eight hours felt like they’d never end. Detectives and Crown Prosecutors interviewed her for hours on end. The questions seemed endless.
“When did you enter the building?” Kruger asked.
“Why did you bring the axe and the knife?” A thin-faced Crown Prosecutor constantly sniffed as Bernadette gave her answers. His name was Boggle, and he reminded Bernadette of a beagle.
“Why didn’t you call police right away?” a large-faced lady Crown Prosecutor asked. She took down meticulous notes and kept brushing away a mountain of hair as she did.
After two days, Officer Myers walked into the room. “You’re free to go, Bernadette.”
“I’m not going to prison for killing Ace?” she asked incredulously.
“Nope, not for killing Ace, or for stabbing David Feschuck, or breaking Leo Jone’s leg. You’ve been cleared on all possible charges. Travis and the cab driver’s testimony helped, but the tape Ace made while he was intending to kill you was pretty much the deciding factor,” Myers said. “Oh, and having the police make the biggest drug bust in our city’s history, and arrest Carl Hoffer and his entire gang—what can I say, you live a charmed life, girl.”
Bernadette got up from the chair. Time seemed to have stood still while she was being questioned at police headquarters. She was weary, hadn’t slept much, and had eaten sandwiches from the police vending machine.
“Your aunt, cousins, and friends are outside waiting for you. You think you can stay out of trouble until we get you relocated?”
“Relocated? What for?” Bernadette asked, standing by the table in the interview room.
“Don’t forget, your life is still in danger from the Cardinal boys. You don’t think since you’ve missed such a close call, you’ll be this lucky again, do you?”
Bernadette almost sat down again. She shook her head and stood upright. “Not going to happen. I faced down Ace, I’m not going to back down from Tommy and his idiot cousins.”
“You can’t kill them with an axe, Bernadette. We let this slide on a one-off basis. You do it again, you got a pattern…”
“No, nothing like that. But I’ll need your help—I promise it will be entirely legal,” Bernadette said.
The lights were dim as Tommy Cardinal pushed open the door of the Mr. Fixit shop. Peter and Stephen were behind him.
“You sure this is where Gus said she’d be?” Peter asked in a halting voice. He hated the dark, wished he’d remembered his flashlight.
“Yeah,” Stephen said, “someone phoned Gus at the reservation store and said Bernadette hung out here. She’s supposed to be here tonight.”
A light came on in the middle of the shop, Bernadette’s face illuminated in its glow. “I hear you boys been looking for me.” She was sitting at a desk with her feet up.
“Ha, there you are, bitch. You tired of running? Decided you want to do all us before we beat you into the ground?” Tommy asked. He was excited. He had a length of chain in his hands and a large knife.
“I heard a rumor from back home. Someone said you were going to deal with me; you wanted to kill me?”
“You got it, Bernadette,” Stephen said. “Tommy here’s got some chain and a knife, and I got a big axe, and Peter, as dumb as he is, we made him bring a tarp to bundle up your body before we bury you.”
“You didn’t come to scare me, Stephen? You’re fixing to kill me?” Bernadette asked.
Tommy let out a loud laugh. “Hell yeah, Bernadette, my cousin got it right. We mean to rape you then kill you. This is your last night of hell before we bury you where no one will ever find you.”
“Okay, just wanted to get it straight. Lights, please, officers?”
The overhead lights came on. Two police officers with guns raised yelled at Tommy, Peter, and Stephen to raise their hands in the air. Another two officers came through the door behind them. They pushed them to the floor, handcuffed them, and read them their rights.
Peter screamed, “I’m innocent. I didn’t want to be in on this—they made me. You have to let me go.”
Tommy turned his head where he lay on the floor in handcuffs. “You’re a loser, Peter. Be a warrior.”
“Warriors don’t kill women, Tommy,” Bernadette said, staring over the desk at the three boys being taken down. “Weak men kill women, don’t you know that? Warriors protect women.”
Officer Myers came over the desk, sat on it, and watched the takedown. “I know you said these kids were stupid, Bernadette, but I didn’t think they were that stupid.”
Bernadette got up from the desk. “What can I say? They really should have stayed in school.”
31
Bernadette was changing into her gi at the dojo when Officer Myers walked into the room. They hugged. “I haven’t seen you in four months,” Bernadette said.<
br />
“I’ve been away on special training. How are you? I hear you’re testing today for your orange belt,” Myers said.
“Yeah, I’m pretty excited. I hope I get it.”
Myer’s smiled. “I know you’ll pass. How’s school?”
“Almost finished. I did my final exam in math today.”
Myers pulled her gi out of her gym bag and began to change. “So, what does the future hold for Bernadette Callahan? Travel to Europe or Asia? Then to university with some track team?”
Bernadette tied her gi with her yellow belt. “No, track is out for me. My leg injury won’t let me train as hard as I want.”
“What’s your plan?”
“Police studies at college.”
Myers stopped dropped her gym bag. “You? Police studies?”
Bernadette laughed. “Yes, me, why not me?”
Myer’s smiled. “I thought police work would be the farthest thing from your mind. Are you planning on joining the city force? I’d be happy to help you.”
“No, I’ve already checked out the RCMP.”
“Them, really? You know they’re very military. It’s six months training in Regina. You’ll be marching your ass off most of the time. You think you’ll look good in the Stetson and red outfit?”
Bernadette chuckled. “You know, my grandmother said she dream I was standing in front of a red flag, wearing red. I think the RCMP is where I’m meant to be.”
“What about Travis? What’s he say regarding your choice?”
“Oh, he’s long gone.”
“Really, I thought you two were an item.”
“I don’t think he liked seeing me taking on three guys at Mr. Fixit. I’m not sure he saw me as the warrior princess type.”
“It’s okay, he’s got the white knight syndrome. You know, always wanting to save the damsel. You’re just not fragile enough for him.”
“I guess not.”
“Well, Bernadette, get out there and kick some ass.”
Black Wolf Rising (Prequel to the Bernadette Callahan Mystery Series) Page 15
