Jack Taggart Mysteries 7-Book Bundle

by Easton, Don

  “Wouldn’t you?” asked Connie.

  “I actually do have a better idea. It’s even legal. Hard as it is for you to believe that,” he added, looking at Connie.

  “I’m all ears ... except for my buns of steel,” replied Connie.

  Jack ignored the comment and said, “It would be nice to hear what the Tran brothers have to say when they’re all put together today.”

  “These guys have been around. Even if we did have a wire, once we put them in a nice quiet cell to listen, they’d clue in.”

  “Not what I had in mind. How about putting someone in the general holding cell at City with them? Do it before Dúc and Cuóng even arrive. Someone who speaks Vietnamese.”

  Connie shook her head and said, “Try and find an operator who speaks Vietnamese ... good luck. I know the City has someone who does, but he works the street and is well known.”

  “We’ve got someone,” said Jack.

  “Yeah? Who?”

  Jack pointed at Bien.

  “You nuts? He’s the father! We can’t do that! They’re liable to kill him, especially if they find a wire.”

  “So we’ll stick some other operator in there for protection. Someone to stay in the background. Bien could gesture when he wants out. I’d do it, but Dúc and Cuóng have both seen me.”

  “Christ, we can’t ask him to do that. Besides, the brass would ...”

  “Bien will want to help. He speaks their language and definitely doesn’t look like a cop. Put him in for a couple of hours and take him out.”

  “The brass would never allow ...”

  “The brass have nothing to lose. Linh does, if we don’t find her.”

  Connie took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before saying, “They won’t trust him. He’s a stranger.”

  “I’ll give him a quick course on UC. I’ve got a story he can give that will make them want to be his friend.”

  “That would have to be some story. These guys will be pissed off. We took their money and their girls. They won’t be in the mood for making new friends.”

  Jack smiled. The steam had gone out of Connie’s protest. It was no longer about not doing it. It was about how to do it.

  “We use that to our advantage,” said Jack. “Bien can say he got off the plane from Hanoi today and was arrested when the hotel taxi-van delivered him from the airport to the hotel lobby. He can say a nice young Vietnamese woman was also on the plane ... and just happened to be going to the same hotel where she got busted for bringing in heroin. All he has to do is wink and say, of course I never met the lady ... and she really doesn’t know me. Dúc will think Bien is a watcher.”

  “A watcher?” asked Connie.

  “That happens regularly,” explained Laura. “Someone who is on the plane with the mule to make sure they’re not arrested and turned into informants before completing the delivery. The mules often don’t know who is watching them, although the list of possibilities narrows once they leave the airport. Same goes for the police, if they are watching.”

  “With Dúc’s background, he’ll know all this,” said Jack. “It will make sense to him. Usually there isn’t enough evidence to charge the watcher ... but making them sit in cells to sweat for a while wouldn’t be unusual. With Dúc having his girls taken away, it will really help.”

  “Help? How? He’ll be pissed off!”

  “That’s just half the story I’ll get Bien to say,” said Jack.

  “Then he will say that a lot of nice young women smuggle drugs into Vancouver. That will really bait the hook. Especially when he implies that the same girl never gets used twice.”

  “Perfect!” said Laura.

  “It’ll work,” added Jack. “Trust me.”

  “Bait the hook?” asked Connie. “Explain this, will ya? I work homicide cases, not dope.”

  Laura smiled and said, “Dúc is bound to ask what happens to the women after they make the delivery. When Bien shrugs and says, who cares? Dúc will jump on the opportunity to try and get them for the parlours!”

  “Exactly,” said Jack. “They’ll treat Bien like gold—at least they won’t hurt him.”

  Connie didn’t reply as she silently ran the scenario through her brain.

  “It might be a new angle to try and get to Dúc if everything else fails,” said Laura. “We could later get Bien to introduce a real UC operator to Dúc at a later date.”

  “We all know what happened to Hang,” said Jack. “Let’s hope that it is not a later date.”

  “Think Bien could keep his cool if they talk about Hang or Linh?” asked Connie.

  Jack stared at Connie and said, “If he ever wants to see Linh alive, he’ll have to keep his cool.”

  “Hell of a thing to ask a father to do.”

  “I know ... but it’s him or nobody.”

  Pops’s mouth flopped open and he quickly turned up the dial on his car radio as he drove home from work. The news about the police raids on the massage parlours was brief, but it was enough to tell him that the Trans had been arrested.

  He gripped the steering wheel with both hands and looked in the rearview mirror. He found he was holding his breath and exhaled, before subconsciously taking short, shallow breaths.

  He took an extra few minutes to drive around his neighbourhood, looking for any sign of the police before slowly heading up his driveway. He watched his rearview mirror closely as he followed the driveway past the side of his house and to the garage attached to the rear. He pushed the automatic garage door release on his sun visor and pulled inside.

  He sat in his car for a moment, conscious of his hands still grasping the slippery steering wheel. His armpits felt sticky and damp. He hated being afraid.

  The idea that anyone could arrest me for doing what I do in my own house is unbelievable! This is my house! I have the right to do what I want!

  Linh heard the passage door open and the sound of Pops grunting with something. His head came into view and he stood up. She saw that he had reeled in a garden hose. He looked at her without speaking and departed, only to reappear a moment later.

  This time he had something different in his hand.

  Linh shrunk back on her mattress as Pops slowly walked toward her, slapping a baseball bat in his hand with each step.

  chapter thirty-two

  Bien followed Jack’s instructions carefully. Once he was placed in the holding cell, he went and stood by himself. It didn’t take long for Thao and Húu to approach him and ask what he was in jail for.

  Bien carefully gave the story that Jack told him to give. Stopping, as Jack suggested, at the point where he was arrested when he arrived at the hotel. The rest of the story was to be saved for when Dúc arrived.

  Thao and Húu were amiable, but eventually started talking about their own problems and explained to Bien that they were businessmen who owned massage parlours. They said they were somehow swept up in a police raid. Evidently, it would appear that some of the girls who worked for them may have been doing something illegal behind their backs.

  The sound of the cell door opening caught everyone’s attention.

  “Our brother!” exclaimed Thao. “And Cuóng!”

  Thao and Húu rushed to meet Dúc and Cuóng as they were placed in the holding cell. Bien quietly walked up behind them.

  “They found my money,” said Dúc, angrily in Vietnamese. “Years of work. Now half of it gone!”

  Half of it? thought Bien. Important to tell Jack. Important to remember exactly who said what ...

  “And the girls ... gone!” yelled Dúc, flicking his fingers for emphasis. He saw Bien and lowered his voice and said, “Who is this?”

  Thao took him aside and whispered in his ear while Bien watched nervously. Dúc nodded before approaching Bien and introducing himself.

  In the next few minutes, Bien found himself answering a barrage of questions from Dúc about his flight over. Hanoi ... the old quarter. Shops and stores.

  Dúc was polite and explained that
his curiosity was because he was originally from Hanoi. It would be natural that they would know many of the same places. His memory was also bad, and Bien had to remind him of the names of several streets.

  Bien was not fooled. Jack had warned him to expect questions. For Bien, it was easier than he imagined. All he had to do was tell the truth about the city he lived in.

  “About your problems now?” asked Dúc.“Do you have a lawyer?”

  Bien shook his head. Time now for the second part of Jack’s story. “I don’t need one. I will not be here long. The young woman who was arrested ... she does not know me. I know many young women,” he smiled, “but they do not know me.”

  Dúc nodded, but his brain was active. “On a plane ... if you travel often ... perhaps in time they might think they know you?”

  Bien forced another smile and said, “It is my understanding that such women are only used once. The police might become suspicious if they fly too often.”

  “What do you think would happen to such women after they arrive in Canada?” asked Dúc.

  Bien shrugged his shoulders and said, “It is my understanding that they are paid to come here. Once that is finished, who cares?”

  Bien saw the gleam come to Dúc’s eyes. “My fellow countryman, we should get to know each other better. My lawyer has told me that my brothers and I will no doubt be released on these nuisance charges tomorrow morning. If you do not have any plans, we could all meet for lunch and celebrate with a more appeasing type of food than is served in here.”

  “Perhaps,” said Bien, not knowing if Jack would allow this.

  “May I suggest a restaurant called the Sacred Phoenix? It has both Asian and Western food. Say, around one o’clock?”

  “I will try to make it. I have many important calls to make, but I will try.”

  Thao, Húu, and Cuóng listened patiently to Dúc and Bien as they spoke, but finally Thao could wait no longer. He grabbed Dúc by the arm.

  “This situation that we are in ... could it be because of Petya and Styp’?” Thao asked.

  “Why would you think that?” asked Dúc.

  “Because of the two girls,” replied Thao.

  Bien stared intently with his mouth hanging open, afraid his heartbeat would drown out the words he was hearing. Petya ... Styp’ ... it is the names we seek!

  “It has nothing to do with them,” said Dúc.“This is just a matter of prostitution. It is the Vancouver police who are behind this. Surrey is only a coincidence. The RCMP is only helping the Vancouver police.”

  Surrey? wondered Bien. A third man who was also arrested? Petya, Styp’, and Surrey ... all important names to remember for Jack.

  “It was stupid of them,” said Thao. “I still do not understand why they did that. We would have paid them more money if they had let us keep them.”

  “Thao is right,” said Húu. “Why did you drive the girls to that place for Peter and Styp’? There is much demand for them in our business. Men pay much money.”

  “That is what they wanted,” shrugged Dúc.

  Bien looked at the big man watching him from the back of the cell. Peter ... Styp’ ... they have Linh!

  Bien scratched his throat and the big man started yelling for the guard, saying he wanted to speak to his lawyer.

  The guard arrived and told the big man he would have to wait. Bien was being released first.

  Bien was led into an office where Jack, Laura, and Connie waited.

  “I have the names,” said Bien excitedly. “Write them down! Quick! The two men who have taken my daughters.”

  Connie grabbed her pen and notebook.

  “Their names are Petya and Styp’!”

  “Shit,” said Connie, putting her pen away.

  “There is maybe a third man,” said Bien. “His name is Surrey!” Bien looked at the three forlorn faces looking back at him. “What is wrong? Do you not know these men?”

  Jack cleared his throat and said, “Petya, or Peter as it is called in English, is a Russian we have been referring to as Moustache Pete. His partner is Styopa. They are the two men Laura and I followed to Hanoi.”

  “They have Linh! Arrest them now! Search their houses!”

  “They share an apartment together. It is not a house. They do not have Linh.”

  “Then it is the man called Surrey! Do you know him?”

  “Surrey is a city near Vancouver. It is where Hang was found. It is not a person.” Jack saw the tears fill Bien’s eyes. “Tell us what you heard,” he asked softly.

  “Thao spoke with Dúc when he arrived. He asked him if they might be in jail because of Peter and Styp’ over the two girls. I am sure it is Hang and Linh they talk about!”

  “Please ... tell us the rest,” said Jack.

  “Dúc said it had nothing to do with them. He said it is only because of prostitution. He said the Vancouver police are behind it. He said Surrey is only a coincidence.”

  “Did he say what kind of coincidence?” asked Connie.

  “No. Thao said it was stupid of Peter and Styp’. He said he did not understand why they did that. He said they would have paid them more money for my daughters.”

  “He said they were sisters?” asked Jack.

  “No ... he said girls ... but I know he is talking about my daughters. Then Húu asked Dúc why he drove the girls to that place for Peter and Styp’. Dúc said it was because that is what they wanted.”

  “What place?” asked Connie.

  “Now I do not know,” cried Bien. “I believed he meant to one of the homes of the three names I told you.”

  “Take it easy,” said Jack. “What you have done has helped us.”

  “I did not do this right!” shouted Bien. “I should have asked questions!”

  “No,” replied Jack. “I told you not to ask any questions. That would be very, very dangerous for Linh.”

  Bien grabbed Jack’s sleeve and said, “But now we know that Dúc and those two Russians know where they are. You can find them easy now.” His eyes flashed and he added, “I would like to be there when they talk!”

  Jack closed his eyes while briefly massaging his temple with one hand.

  “What is it, Jack?” asked Bien. “Why are you still sitting here? Linh is in great danger!”

  “It is not that easy,” explained Connie. “We know that they do not have Linh. If we question them about it, then they will tell whoever has her to kill her and hide her body.”

  “You do not ask them politely!” yelled Bien. “You are the police! You make them talk! Do not let them talk to anyone until Linh is safe. You must act now!”

  “I’m sorry, Bien,” said Connie. “It does not work that way in Canada.”

  Jack looked at Bien and thought, I’m sorry, buddy, there was a day I would have glady beaten the information out of them. I just can’t. Please understand, I have someone I love in my life now. I have to do the right thing.

  “It has to work that way!” said Bien. “It is my daughter’s life! She is a child!”

  Jack looked at Bien and sighed. Why do I feel so much shame and hate myself if what I am doing is the right thing? “Bien ... no,” said Jack. “You said that Húu told Dúc that he should not have driven the girls to that place.”

  “Yes, that is right.”

  “‘That place’ ... does not mean that Linh is still there. It could have been a temporary drop-off place. Neither Dúc nor the Russians may know exactly where she is. Even if they were made to confess ... they may not know where Linh is now. Whoever has Linh might hear about it and kill her.”

  “Then what will you do?” asked Bien.

  “You have given us a good lead,” said Jack. “We can now focus our attention on Dúc and the two Russians.”

  “It sounds like whoever has her is known to both Dúc and the Russians,” said Connie. “We have phone records. I will work on it tonight with many investigators. If there is a common denominator, we will find out.”

  “Is there anything else
they said?” asked Laura.

  “There is only one more thing,” said Bien, bitterly. “Dúc mentioned that you only found half his money.”

  Connie glanced at Jack and Laura and said, “I’ve already got Proceeds of Crime looking at his financial transactions.”

  Jack nodded and looked at Bien and asked, “Did you tell Dúc about using lots of different girls to smuggle heroin?”

  “Yes, I told him,” replied Bien. “He did not ... what do you call it? Steal the bait.”

  “Bien, believe me,” said Jack. “We will find her. You’ve got my word on that.”

  Bien nodded as he silently committed one other piece of information to memory.

  The Sacred Phoenix at one o’clock.

  chapter thirty-three

  Linh tried to ignore the sound of the bat slapping against Pops’s hand as she got to her feet. Until now, she had remained defiant ... angry at the man she knew had killed her sister.

  Pops had been wickedly controlling. A slice of bread ... perhaps allowing her to temporarily have an article of clothing to lord his power over her. But he had not caused any physically lasting pain. With the exception of her fighting with him and being slapped and punched when he first chained her up and tore off her clothes, she had not yet suffered much physical torture.

  There were times when he would urinate on her, but he seemed to take more joy with marking an X on the calendar each day, while verbally tormenting her about the box that was out of her reach and what she might expect on the red-circle day.

  Linh had refused to show any interest in the calendar or the box ... at least when Pops was in the room.

  Tonight, something is different about his face. He does not look as evil—he looks ... afraid! The bat ... the hose ... because I do not play his game, he is going to kill me!

  “Please, Mister Pops,” said Linh, pointing at the calendar. “I must know. Tomorrow is the first red-circle day. Please tell me! What is in that box?”

  Pops stopped and stood staring at her. He was panting, as if he had just been using the exercise equipment that Linh had seen in the basement when she first arrived.