by Don Easton
After a quick tour of the lab, Jack and Laura returned to their car.
“Looks like we have someone on the inside,” said Laura. “Connie should be happy with what we know.”
“Except he’s not really on the inside or he would know who Cocktail really is,” said Jack. “We’re going to have to get to Sy somehow. Doesn’t sound like wiretap or surveillance will work.”
“Thinking of doing a UC on Sy?” asked Laura.
“It may be our only option. Get our new friend to introduce us. I’d also like to see where and how far spread this dope is going. Maybe Toxicology could help,” said Jack, picking up his cellphone and calling the RCMP Crime Lab.
“Toxicology … Lucy, it’s Jack Taggart. Sorry, I don’t have much time. Is there something we could use to spike a shipment of crystal meth? Something that wouldn’t be noticed or hurt people, but at the same time show up like a beacon to you if any of it came back for analysis? It would help us figure out where it is being distributed.”
Jack talked for a moment more before smiling and hanging up. He did not realize his decision to chemically tag the drug was about to have a devastating affect on his moral decision to allow the lab to continue operating.
Chapter Fourteen
Connie was mildly pleased when she met with Jack and Laura at their office and learned what their new friend had told them.
“Puts us one step closer,” she said.
“Sy Sloan has a record three pages long,” said Laura, as she slid the criminal record across the desk to Connie. “Includes a dozen drug convictions, several assaults, and possession of restricted weapons.”
“But no charges in the last three years,” noted Connie as she scanned the documents.
“According to OCTF he is one of the more prominent leaders in The Brotherhood,” said Jack. “He’s reached the point where others take the risk for him.”
“That includes his seventeen-year-old half-brother, Tommy,” said Laura. “According to our friend, Tommy is the main meth dealer at Queen Elizabeth Secondary.”
“There has been a steady flow of Crime Stoppers tips coming in regarding teenage dealers at QE,” said Jack. “Uniform have made several arrests, but Tommy has not been caught yet.”
“From what your source says, I’m not optimistic about Sy being caught through surveillance or on a wiretap,” said Connie. “And if Sy isn’t in contact with Cocktail anymore, then what —”
“Sy is still the stepping stone we need to focus on,” interjected Jack. “Looking at his record, he’s not overly intelligent. The reason he is a leader is because he is twice the age of most of the punks.”
“Also twice the size,” said Laura. “OCTF says he’s monstrously huge. He rules by intimidation, not brains.”
“So what do we do?” asked Connie.
“I think Laura and I could get close to him through a UC,” replied Jack. “We could get our new friend to introduce us.”
“He would do that?” asked Connie.
“We wouldn’t exactly give him a choice,” replied Jack.
“Some of the bikers know you,” said Connie. “What if you’re recognized?”
“It is only the prospective bikers who deal face to face with The Brotherhood. The current prospects don’t know us. We’ll change our appearance and names. I’ll introduce myself as ‘Jay.’ If I bump into someone from my past who still doesn’t know my real occupation and calls me Jack, I can say that Jay is short for that.” Jack turned to Laura and said, “How about you? Want me to call you ‘Princess’ or something?”
“Princess!” Laura gave a pretend giggle before her voice became serious and she said, “Knowing the mentality of those in The Brotherhood, I guess Princess would be appropriate.”
“I’ll also contact Drug Section and see if Sammy’s team can help us out on occasion,” said Jack.
“Are you planning on doing a UC right away?” asked Connie.
“Actually, after what happened,” cautioned Laura, while looking at Jack, “they might be a little paranoid that our friend is not on the straight and narrow with them. Introducing new faces right away could raise the alarm.”
“What happened?” asked Connie.
“Apparently someone ripped off some drugs and our friend took some heat over it,” said Jack, noting that Laura gave a slight grimace of self-retribution for making the comment in front of Connie.
“Apparently,” repeated Connie, nodding as if she understood something.
“Let’s give it a week or two and dig up all the background info we can on Sy,” said Jack, then talk to our friend and work out an idea for an introduction.”
“Well, apparently, I guess that is all we can do,” replied Connie.
* * *
Saturday morning came and Rodine made his next delivery to Sy. This time the shipment had been chemically tagged to make it identifiable in any future police seizures.
Jack and Laura each made it home for dinner Saturday night and decided to take Sunday and Monday off. Jack felt optimistic that things were coming together and bought a bottle of wine to enjoy with dinner.
* * *
It was nine o’clock Sunday morning and sixteen-year-old Julie Goodwin’s cereal had gone soggy as she stared down at the bowl. Her mom and dad and twelve-year-old brother, George, had finished their breakfast, but were still at the table making small talk.
Julie knew that in a few minutes they would go off to church and leave her alone. She was too sick to go anywhere. She felt like she was still in a trance. Dark, puffy folds of skin beneath her eyes stood in sharp contrast with the paleness of the rest of her face.
“Are you sure you are going to be okay, dear?” asked her mom.
Julie nodded.
“Yesterday, when you went to … your new friend … Lorraine’s house for dinner, what did you eat?” asked her dad.
“Pizza.”
“Bet it was off,” he commented as he stood up from the table.
“We’ll check on you when we get home,” said her mom, reassuringly.
“I think she’s faking it to get out of going to church,” said George as he walked past and cuffed her lightly on the back of her head.
Normally his action would have provoked an angry retort in their traditional brother-sister feud … but this morning was different. Julie reached out unexpectedly and hugged George and kissed him on the cheek.
“I love you, Georgie,” she whispered, before quickly letting go.
“Don’t you ever do that again!” he protested.
Both parents looked at each other and smiled. Julie was growing up.
Julie waited until they left before getting a notepad and pen. She stared down at the blank pad and thought about the day before. Her new friend, Lorraine, did not turn out to be a friend. She had gone with Lorraine to the house of someone she did not know, although several students she recognized from school were there.
She had one drink. Lorraine said it was a virgin Caesar. She felt embarrassed at Lorraine’s comment and wished she had never confided in her. She could not remember if she drank it all.
The next thing she remembered was staring up at a bedroom ceiling. She could not move or speak. It was as if she was having an out-of-body experience. Several young guys were having sex with her. They were laughing. One said he had to go last because he had a STD.
Lorraine walked her home later. She told her not to do anything stupid and to consider it a rite of passage. Lorraine also handed Julie a small baggie of crystal meth and told her to take some, that it would make her feel better. Julie refused and flung it back at her.
Julie squeezed her eyes shut to block out the memory. It didn’t work and she stared at the blank piece of paper in front of her. Eventually she picked up the pen and began to write. Her tears smeared some of the ink, but it was still legible.
Dear Mom and Dad,
I am really sorry. Please don’t hate me. You two have been the best parents anyone could have. I did something
really stupid. The whole school will know. I could never face going back. I am really sorry. Please forgive me. I love you all.
Chapter Fifteen
On Tuesday afternoon, Jack sat at his desk reading reports about minor meth seizures from across the lower mainland.
Laura glanced up and asked, “Any of the seizures from our friend’s lab?”
Jack shook his head and said, “Personally, I don’t know if that makes me feel good or not.”
“I feel the same way. A relief to know that the stuff we’re allowing isn’t showing up, yet at the same time it makes it difficult to track.”
“Obviously there are a lot of other labs running besides ours,” replied Jack.
“Ours? Oh, man … I guess you’re right,” said Laura. “It’s awful to think of it in that context.”
“If we shut our friend down it won’t make any difference,” said Jack. “If we don’t catch Cocktail they’ll start another lab somewhere else.”
“I know. At least our lab isn’t in the basement of a daycare.”
“I think we better quit referring to it as ours,” said Jack. “Somebody hears that and Internal will be all over us.”
“Again.”
Jack smiled and said, “Yes, ag—”
His telephone interrupted his conversation and he answered. Laura listened closely when she heard Jack talking to Lucy from Toxicology.
“Our first hit,” repeated Jack while looking at Laura and giving her the thumbs-up sign.
“Sixteen-year-old girl by the name of Lorraine Calder,” said Jack, while writing down what he was being told. “The police went to interview her as she was arriving home … she tried to chuck a small baggie from her purse … did it match the stuff we tagged? Who was the arresting officer? Gotcha. Thanks a bunch.”
Jack hung up and called a constable in Surrey. Laura knew by the look on Jack’s face that what he discovered did not make him happy. When he hung up he stared silently at Laura for a moment to collect his thoughts.
“Let me have it,” said Laura solemnly.
“They were investigating the suicide of a sixteen-year-old kid who attended QE by the name of Julie Goodwin,” said Jack. “An honour student whose brains likely made her a bit of an outcast. She became friends with the girl, Lorraine Calder, and spent last Saturday with her. On Sunday, while her parents were at church, she got the key to her father’s gun locker and shot herself. Her parents came home and were reading the suicide note when her younger brother found her body.”
“And it was our dope that Lorraine had in her purse,” Laura reiterated.
Jack nodded. “Lorraine said that Julie Goodwin gave it to her. Lucy talked to the pathologist and said there was an indication Julie may have been sexually assaulted. Also traces of GHB in her body.”
“Date rape,” whispered Laura to herself.
“No sign of meth in Julie’s body. I think Lorraine is a liar.”
“Our friend mentioned that some of the other labs made ecstasy and GHB,” said Laura.
Jack was already dialling his cellphone.
* * *
Rodine walked the three blocks to a small neighbourhood playground. He saw Jack and Laura parked nearby and got in the back seat of their car.
“You guys knew I was over drinkin’ with Sy last night?” asked Rodine. “That’s why you called?”
“Tell us what you found out,” replied Jack, wanting to keep Rodine on edge as to how much they did know of his activities.
“Didn’t find out much,” replied Rodine. “Tommy showed up and was really pissed off. Two of his dealers got busted in the parking lot at school yesterday. Tommy thinks a teacher is ratting them out. Says he has it narrowed down to one of three. They might kill the teacher if they find out.”
“You serious?” asked Laura.
“Damn rights. They’ll kill me, too, if they find out I’m rattin’.”
“Previously you mentioned other labs were making ecstasy and GHB,” said Jack. “Any idea at all where the labs could be or who the cooks are?”
“No, but Cocktail would be the one who arranged their training on how to make it.”
“We want you to introduce us to Sy,” said Jack.
“I can’t! He’d kill me!”
“Laura and I work on an Intelligence Unit and rarely go to court. We would never do anything to bring heat down on you. If arrests were ever made over anything you were involved in, we would not do it without your permission.”
“Really?”
“Really. I want you to tell Sy that you’ve met someone who you think is connected to the Irish mafia. Tell him we moved here from back east.”
“Irish mafia … fuck, that would impress him. Sy is always watching those old Godfather movies. He even talks like Marlon Brando half the time.”
“Tell him we move stolen property in a big way and say you think we have connections in the trucking and shipping industries.”
“Why not say you’re into dope instead?” asked Rodine curiously.
“To protect you. With the bikers hanging a beating on you, they may be a little paranoid if all of a sudden you have new friends wanting to buy dope. We also don’t want to come across as competition. I’m five years older than Sy. I want him to to look up to us and not be treating us like a couple of underlings. I want him impressed enough to start confiding or bragging to us.”
“How do I say I know you?”
“Tell him you met us a year ago at a really nice restaurant. Say you think we are silent partners in the place and like to party hearty and have lots of cash to throw around.”
“What restaurant?”
“Have you been to any classy ones?”
“Yeah … maybe … a year ago for my girlfriend’s birthday … let me think.”
“Tell Sy you’ve partied with us often,” said Laura. “Introduce Jack as Jay and me as Princess.”
“You know,” said Rodine, starting to warm up to the idea, “there is an empty apartment in Sy’s building that he is looking to fill. Maybe I could tell him that you are interested as a scam to meet him. You wouldn’t really have to rent it, but it might be a way for you to invite him to party with you. He likes his booze.”
“Perfect,” said Jack. “Is the apartment on Sy’s floor?”
“Like next door?” asked Laura hopefully.
“No, it’s directly above him. The problem is the building isn’t very soundproof. Sy gets really pissed off if someone disturbs his sleep. He would prefer to rent it to an old person, like a grandparent of one of his guys. He was doing that, but the old fart croaked last week.”
“Tell him you think we are planning on using it to store stuff and won’t really be living in it all that much.”
“That might work. When should I do it?”
“Immediately, before he rents it to someone else,” replied Jack. “Talk to him and give us a call. I’d like to meet him tonight.”
After Rodine left the car, Laura said, “Tonight is really pushing it. Not much time to get the UC plan approved.”
“Let Connie do the paperwork on that. We don’t have time if we want to save a teacher from being murdered.”
Chapter Sixteen
Morris Bloomquist had arrived at his apartment and was opening a Chinese food takeout container when the intercom buzzer sounded. He was tired and glared at the intercom speaker on the wall in a subconscious desire for his look to silence it. However, his glare did not have the same success as it did on his staff at Queen Elizabeth, where he was the principal.
Jack identified himself and the buzzer beeped to let him and Laura inside.
“Morris Bloomquist?” asked Jack, while he and Laura showed their badges at the apartment door.
“Mister Bloomquist,” he replied. “Did you come to tell me my ex is dead?”
“No,” replied Jack, puzzled. More so, when he saw a flash of disappointment cross Bloomquist’s face.
“Our apologies,” replied Jack. “It can’t wait.”
“You’ve interrupted my dinner. I trust you don’t mind if I eat it while it is still warm. You may sit if you like.”
Jack and Laura sat down and Jack said, “There are two reasons we did not come to the school. First, we both work undercover and would prefer to keep our identities secret.”
“Good God!” said Bloomquist while manoeuvering a fork full of noodles into his mouth. “You both appear to be in your mid-thirties and you’re telling me you are working undercover on children?”
“Our targets could be the parents of some of these children,” replied Jack. “The other reason we are here is out of concern for a teacher. There may be a degree of urgency to this.”
“What teacher? Why?”
“We don’t know which teacher. That is why we came to you. Crime Stoppers has received several tips over the last year concerning students at your school who have been trafficking in drugs. Several arrests have been made.”
“And you are going to accuse me of not maintaining control over the students,” said Bloomquist harshly, while plucking a wayward noodle from his lips and sucking it back inside his mouth.
“Not at all,” said Laura quickly.
“We are concerned that some of the people involved in drug distribution at your school are beginning to figure out who is talking and are planning to respond with extreme violence,” said Jack.
“The person phoning Crime Stoppers … male or female?” asked Bloomquist.
“Crime Stoppers didn’t say,” replied Jack. “They are very protective about maintaining the confidentiality of the system. It has to be someone the students trust enough to confide in. Could you give us the names of teachers who are popular with the students?”
“Lyle Ryker comes to mind,” said Bloomquist. “He was very active with the students over the tsunami in Thailand a couple of years ago. They raised a considerable amount of food, clothing, and money.”
Bloomquist paused to slurp another mouthful of noodles. Jack didn’t mind. It gave him time to write in his notebook.