At that moment, the captain’s voice erupted on the short-wave. Severall left what he was doing and picked up the handset to give him the change in plan.
“Who are you and what were you doing at the plant?” yelled Kirigin. Levon’s mouth opened but nothing came out. Robbie answered for him.
“We’re brothers. We just wanted to see if there was anything worth taking. We thought we could get away with it because of the storm. But when we saw it was locked, we figured it was too much trouble.”
Kirigin whirled on him. “Then why did you come back?”
“When the rain started, we needed a place to crash. We figured if the gate was locked, no one was there. We don’t have the money for a motel. So we were going to park at the gate and, you know, maybe try and get inside one of the buildings. But when we went back, the gate was open.”
“Then we got scared,” said Levon, emboldened by Robbie’s glib story telling.
“We knew we were trespassing,” said Robbie.
“So we left,” said Levon.
Kirigin turned to Cartwright’s men.
“Where did you find them?”
“On a logging road, the other side of the Watson Bridge.”
“We didn’t mean any harm,” insisted Robbie. “We were on our way to Rupert to see if we could crash at a cousin’s place. But the weather’s so bad, we figured we should pull over and wait it out.”
“But then the car was chasing us, and we knew we were in trouble,” said Levon. He was shaking with fear. Unbidden, he raised his right arm and rested it protectively against his jacket. Kirigin didn’t miss the movement.
“Protecting something?” He grabbed the front of Levon’s jacket and unzipped it, exposing the inside right pocket. Robbie watched horrified as Levon tried to stop him. Kirigin grabbed his arm and pulled out the tablet.
“What’s the password?”
Levon, frozen in fear, was once again speechless.
Lightening quick, Kirigin slapped him. He fell backward, nearly knocking Robbie over.
“The password. Give it to me now!”
“Don’t hurt him! Please don’t hurt him! The password is mothertree. One word.”
“Take them to the other room and tie them up. Get their wallets.” The men did as instructed, using lengths of nylon rope they found on a peg near the back door to tightly bind their hands and feet. They returned to the main room. One of them dropped the brothers’ wallets on the table, identifying a brown one as belonging to the tablet’s owner and the black leather wallet as belonging to the other guy.
“Maybe we should have them dispose of these two?” Severall suggested from the stove. He’d finished with the captain and returned to the stove to load it. The fire, now fed, began to hiss and crackle.
“Cartwright needs them to help unload.” To the men: “Go to this address.” He wrote the address on a slip of paper and handed it to one of them. “Plans have changed. The exchange is happening at a friend of Cartwright’s. A private dock. Cartwright will be there soon. He’ll tell you what needs doing.”
The two left the cabin.
In the back room, Levon looked at Robbie. “You don’t have to protect me Robbie,” he whispered.
“Yes, I do!” Robbie whispered back. “If anything happens to us, Grandma will know what we’re doing,” he whispered.
“You can’t ever tell her. You know that! You have to promise me!” Levon was trying to speak quietly, but the thought of his Grandma knowing about the redz made him anxious and his voice rose.
“Shut up both of you!” Kirigin yelled. He turned on Levon’s tablet using the password Robbie had given. The home screen displayed two icons: REDZ and AERIE. “Stupid fucking games,” he muttered, tossing the tablet onto the table. He was interrupted by the short-wave radio crackling to life.
“Kirigin. You there?” It was Captain Donaldson.
Kirigin moved quickly to the radio along the wall.
“Here.”
“The women are loaded, and the lifeboats are in the water heading to shore.”
“How far to the meeting point?”
“The boats should make the shore in twenty to thirty minutes. It’s hard to say exactly; the wind is against them.”
“Any sign of the Search and Rescue helicopter?”
“No. They’re gone. What about my bonus?”
“Fuck! Are you deaf? I already told you! Once I have the all clear, I’ll transfer the money to your account.” Kirigin ended the call amid the captain’s protestations and walked back to the kitchen table. His SAT phone was flashing: a message from Sullivan.
The cop and his wife have been located
“Finally!” Kirigin was jubilant. “They found the fucking cop!”
“I told you Sullivan would get it done,” said Severall from the stove where he was hanging his coat. Vancouver is progressing as planned. The sergeant and his wife will soon be taken care of. That just leaves Toronto and the east coast operations, but we can check their progress at that end once we’re on the plane.
“But they’re not dead yet.”
Severall let it go. It was useless to argue. He watched the steady drip of water from his coat sizzle on the stove’s hot surface.
“When are we leaving? The women are going to be loaded soon, and I don’t want to stay in this hell hole any longer than we have to.”
“Soon.” Kirigin glanced at the overcoat. “Jonas must have a warm sweater or jacket that you can use.”
Several wrinkled his nose. “I suppose. I’ll have a look.” He headed to the bedroom.
The SAT phone flashed again. Kirigin picked it up. It was Cartwright.
“What?”
“The first lifeboat is coming into shore now.”
“Don’t call me again until it’s done.”
Chapter 21
The redz drove slowly by the entrance to the Skeena plant. Sleet was coming down hard now, and the wipers were burdened with the slush.
“The gate’s locked,” said Dave.
“If someone was here, they’re gone now,” said Bill.
Dave pulled over and hopped out to check the gate area. Rosie pulled in behind them, then joined Dave at the gate.
“I see lots of tire marks,” said Dave.
“And two sets are deep,” said Rosie. “Probably heavy trucks.”
“I’m afraid so. If I were going to guess, I’d say when they left, everyone went that way.” He pointed south.
“They’re gone and they’ve got the girls!”
He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Look at me, Rosie. We’re gonna find them.”
“Oh, come on, Dave!” she wailed. “We have no idea where they took them!”
Bill had gotten out of the car and stood beside Rosie’s van. He couldn’t hear every word, but he certainly got the gist of it. He yelled across the road.
“Come on you two. Let’s get out of the rain.” They quickly joined him and the three got into the van.
Bill spoke first. “So, the trucks have been and gone.” Dave nodded his head.
“We’re too late,” said Rosie. Dejected she opened her laptop and checked AERIE for messages.
“There’s two new ones from Levon. The first one warns us not to come here! Guys from here are after them! Oh no!”
“Shit,” said Dave.
“There’s another one,” said Dave, who was reading over her shoulder. “The scum found them!”
“Do they say where are they?” demanded Bill, one hand on the door handle.
“I think I know where they are,” said Dave. “Follow me.”
Bill and Dave ran to his car and jumped in. He started it up and pulled onto the highway, Rosie right behind him. Dave took it fast as he could but had to slow to a crawl on the narrow bridge. He continued to drive slowly as he came off it, ready for the abrupt bend in the road that, as a local, he was all too familiar with. He found the side road Robbie had
taken earlier and turned down it, Rosie right behind me. A few meters in, his headlights picked up Robbie’s parked and empty car just ahead. He continued until he was beside it and stopped. Rosie pulled up behind them.
Dave and Bill jumped out of their car, ran back to the van, and hopped in the side door.
“Maybe they’ve been captured,” said Dave.
“Maybe they took them back to the plant,” suggested one of Rosie’s people.
“The entrance to the plant is gated and locked,” said Bill. “I don’t think they took them there. If they have them.”
“If they have them, they’re going to kill them!” Rosie’s voice shook with fear.
“Rosie, please don’t go there!” said Bill. “We don’t know that for sure.”
“Maybe they got away,” said one of her buddies.
“They might have got away.” Bill tried, but his voice was not hopeful.
“We would’ve seen them if they were on the highway,” said Dave.
“Okay. Let’s put ourselves in their shoes, said Rosie. “Wikem sends a message that they’re in trouble. Which means he knows they’re in trouble. He wouldn’t know that unless he saw something. Or someone.”
“Like another car,” said one of her buddies. “Blocking the exit of the road they were on.”
“You’re right,” said Bill. “He was sitting right here when he sent that message. Because being here was no longer safe. I think they’ve taken them. We need to alert the police but how do we do that without blowing our cover?”
“I’ll use my burner,” said Rosie. She tried to get cell service but was unsuccessful. “No service.”
“One of us could go to the police,” suggested Bill.
“You’re kidding right. We’re not doing that!” Dave was adamant. “It could jeopardize the redz. Levon and Robbie would agree with me.”
“I would never jeopardize the redz! I have been in many police stations in my time. Believe me. I know how to handle myself in a police station. I’ve been fighting for our rights for fifty years and you learn a thing or to.”
Nobody argued with Bill. He’d seen plenty: when meetings to discuss land rights were held in secret and it meant jail time if you were caught attending one; when you couldn’t leave your reserve without a pass; or go to a white hospital if you are sick or dying.
“If we get close to a cell tower, I might be able to get a signal,” said Rosie.
“It’s worth a try,” said Bill. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 22
Levon and Robbie were on the floor in the back room of Cartwright’s cabin, their hands and feet bound with nylon rope.
“Levon,” Robbie whispered. “Will he be able to get into the AERIE IRC?”
“No,” he whispered back. “I closed the access window. Everything is password protected. Anyway, I heard him say they’re all games.”
“Did you close protonmail?”
“I always do. It’s not on the home screen and it’s password protected.”
“Shh. Someone’s coming.” The brothers fell silent as Severall entered the room. They watched him as he headed to a small wardrobe and rifled through it, then made his way to a beat-up chest of drawers and did the same. He left the room with several articles of clothing under his arm.
“He seemed in a hurry.”
“Yeah. Maybe they’re getting ready to leave,” whispered Robbie. Turn over and come close. I’ll try to untie your hands.”
Their hands were tied behind them. Both brothers rolled over and quietly shimmied toward each other until their bound hands were touching. Robbie felt for the double knot that secured Levon’s hands. He shifted position until the knot was below his fingers and got to work. It was awkward and slow going but after a few minutes he was rewarded when one of the knots started to loosen. Finally he was through the first knot; he started to tease apart the one beneath it.
“Someone’s coming,” Levon hissed. Robbie quickly shifted to a neutral position away from Levon. They listened as footsteps crossed to the back door. It opened. There was a blast of cold air and the fury of the storm roared into the cabin.
“Shut the fucking door.” The back door closed, and hasty footsteps returned to the main room at the front of the cabin.
“We need to leave now! The storm’s gotten a lot worse.”
“We’ll leave as soon as the women are loaded.”
“If we wait any longer, we won’t get out of here. Ice is forming everywhere. I insist that we leave immediately.”
“All right, Eric. We’ll go now. Help me pack up!”
Robbie and Levon quickly rolled back into position and Robbie got back to work. He managed to loosen the second knot, then tugged at the rope wound around Levon’s wrists. Feeling the rope go slack, Levon quickly pulled his hands free. He turned to face Robbie and got to work on the rope that bound him. He had a much easier time of it and managed to free Robbie’s hands quickly. The brothers quietly pulled themselves into a seating position and got to work on their bound feet. Levon freed himself first and got to his feet. He looked around, but there were no windows in this room. He eased himself along the wall to the doorway and stole a glance around it. He could see the back door. He looked back at Robbie, now on his feet. He joined Levon at the doorway.
“Let’s get out of here,” whispered Levon.
Robbie put a restraining hand on Levon’s arm. “Not yet,” he whispered. “I think they can see the back door from where they are and one of them has a gun. Wait till they leave.”
“Levon pulled his hat snugly over his ears, turned his collar up and checked for his gloves. Robbie spotted a short length of two by four leaning against the opposite wall. Checking that the coast was clear, he crossed the short distance and grabbed it, then moved into position behind the door, Levon right beside him. They waited in the shadows.
Chapter 23
The shortwave on the copter crackled; Brandeis’ voice filled the cabin.
“Desocarras?”
“Here. There’s been recent activity around two of the lifeboats on Harvest. I think they’re getting them ready to launch. We moved out to the middle of the strait, close to Tanu. Harvest thinks we’re searching for a missing boat. Have you spotted the trucks?”
“No. We just arrived at Tyee, the last cut-off to Highway 16, just west of Haysport. How close is Harvest to the shore?”
“They’ve pulled out to about half a nautical mile. They’re either bringing the women to shore or they’re planning to transfer them to other boats. But I don’t think they’ll risk a boat transfer. Not with the sleet.”
“Get your pilot to make a quick pass now and see what’s up with the lifeboats.”
“Roger that,” said Jim. He increased the throttle and headed toward Harvest. “The ship should be under us any minute now.” The eerie glow from the searchlights bounced off the sleet pouring from the skies. A bright band of red on the stern of the ship caught the light.
“Swing us by the port side,” said Alex.
“Roger that.” Jim swung out and away from the ship in an arc, ending in a pass alongside. The front lifeboat was gone and so was the one amidships.
“Inspector, two lifeboats are in the water,” said Alex.
“How long ago?”
“In the last ten minutes.”
“Let’s get the bastards!” yelled Brandeis. “We’ll cover the coast road from the highway cut-off going west to Mowitch Point, which is just past Haysport. You cover the shoreline from your present position east to Mowitch Point. The ERT teams can cover the south stretch of Skeena Drive. Keep coms open.”
“Copy that,” said Alex.
Jim banked right hard and swung away from the ship toward the shoreline.
Chapter 24
“CityTel put a tower here,” said Dave as he pulled into the parking lot at the Highliner Inn.
Rosie tried for service. “Cell service is still down. What do we do now?”
“Drop me half a block from the detachment office,” said Bill. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“They won’t listen,” said Dave.
“They will if I tell them I know about a boatload of women that are being trafficked.”
“They must know about the women on the ship by now,” said Rosie.
“What about Levon and Robbie? We have to do something.” Bill was upset and he was losing it.
“Levon’s sure that Desocarras hasn’t told anyone about the protonmail account he set up for him.”
“I could give a shit about the sergeant,” sneered Bill. “He’s the one wants to work with whitey.”
“The sergeant won’t be the only one who’s compromised,” said Dave quietly. “So will the rest of us.”
“What if I tell them wikem’s my grandson and he was acting alone.”
“It won’t matter how you frame it,” said Rosie. “They’ll want to know what you know. And they’ll want to know how you know. They’ll want to know all about wikem—especially his real identity. The bottom line is, if we don’t know who has taken our brothers, and we don’t have any idea where they took them, we have nothing to give the cops.”
“When did women get to be so smart?” muttered Bill.
“It would be different if we could get a message directly to Desocarras,” said Dave.
“Yeah,” said Rosie.
“But that’s not gonna happen,” said Dave. “Only wikem can do that.”
Chapter 25
Brandeis’ voice, hollow and distant on the short-wave, bounced around the copter cabin. He was communicating with one of the ERT team leaders, but there was too much static at the other end and Alex couldn’t make out what the guy was saying. Jim had covered the coast to Mowitch Point with no sign of the lifeboats.
“Head back,” said Alex. “Pull out a little over the water this time, just far enough that we still have the coast in view.”
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