by Don Easton
“Good,” replied Jack. “I think Sy will be dropping by in a few days with a prospect to see how Sammy is progressing.”
“How long before they expect their first shipment?” asked Connie.
“One week,” replied Jack. “I’m hoping to meet Cocktail long before then.”
“He didn’t show his face today,” noted Connie.
“With Sammy running a lab, Sy is even more comfortable with us. He already indicated that he would like me to be a silent partner. I’ll push that angle and demand to meet Cocktail. It only makes sense that I should meet him if I’m going to be Sy’s partner.”
“Providing this girl on the phone doesn’t kill you first,” said Connie, as she opened up the door to the monitor room.
As soon as Jack and Laura entered the room a young woman with teary eyes took off her headphones and said, “I’m really sorry. I should have been more on top of things over someone trying to set you up. I was backlogged and didn’t get around —”
“It’s okay,” replied Jack. “Not your fault. Everyone is short of manpower these days. Let me listen to who tried to set us up.”
“Got some other news for you, too,” said Connie, while waiting for the monitor to find and replay the conversations. “Satans Wrath searched your apartment this morning. They found the identification.”
“Perfect,” said Jack. “Love it when a plan comes together. Did you notify Anti-Corruption?”
“Already done. Someone checked your aliases on CPIC and saw the fake criminal record.”
“Someone?” asked Laura. “You mean we still don’t know who the dirty narc is?”
Connie smiled and said, “I talked with your husband. He said it gave them the lead they needed. They had six possibilities. Today, your aliases were checked using an access code belonging to the secretary in Drug Section.”
“The secretary?” asked Jack.
“Wasn’t her. She was gone on her lunch break when it happened. Elvis said only two of their suspects were working day shift and one was in court. They’ve finally figured it out.”
“Who?” asked Laura. “I used to work in that section.”
“Me, too,” echoed Jack.
“Constable Mark Cabot,” replied Connie.
“I know him,” replied Laura. “Very annoying type. Would start to drool any time a woman came close to him.”
“His dad is a Member of Parliament,” said Jack.
“I know, Elvis told me,” said Connie. “His application to join had been rejected, but someone pulled some strings.”
“Typical,” replied Jack. “I’d better give Elvis a call. Make sure he knows they still can’t bust him because it would identify our informant.”
“Elvis is on top of the situation. Their plan is to have him transferred to a small detachment up north where he can’t do as much harm.”
“Too bad our pretend war on drugs didn’t allow us to execute spies,” replied Jack.
“I agree with you there,” replied Connie.
“Speaking of spies,” said the monitor, “Listen to this.”
After the two conversations were played, Connie looked at Jack and asked, “Who is she?”
Jack furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head.
“She said you came on to her?” noted Connie. “At the party at Roach and Bagger’s house. You’ve got to know who she is.”
“Her name is on the tip of my tongue,” said Jack. “After what happened this morning, I’m too rattled to remember. The house was packed with people that night. I do remember some kid of about sixteen making a pass at me.”
“How about you, Laura?” asked Connie.
Laura shrugged and gestured with her hands to indicate she was at a loss.
“Sweet sixteen sure doesn’t apply to this little darling,” said Connie. “I thought this would be a piece of cake for you. How many people could have known about this morning?”
“We asked Sy the same question. Turns out he was at a party last night with a bunch of his people. Celebrating their short stay in jail over the incident at Weasel’s house. These guys aren’t the brightest. They talk a lot.”
“You can tell by her voice that she’s young,” said Connie. “Sy is bound to figure out who it is.”
“Possible,” admitted Jack.
“Which means we’ve got a girl out there that we need to identify and protect,” replied Connie.
“This isn’t the type of girl who will listen to you,” said Jack. “She will tell you to fuck off and all you will have accomplished is to heat everyone up.”
“I’m sure you’re right, but we still have to follow policy. It would look bad if we knew and didn’t at least try to help her.”
“We are so close,” said Jack. “A couple of days is all we need and we’ll find out who Cocktail is. Once that happens, Laura and I will fade away and you can warn the girl.”
“Fade away! If this kid stays on the scene you could both disappear for good.” Connie paused as she thought about the situation further and said, “Matter of fact, it’s too dangerous. I’m going to talk to my boss. I think we should pull the plug. If we keep tabs on Sy, sooner or later he’ll take us to Cocktail. I don’t want to risk your lives any further.”
“I appreciate your concern,” replied Jack, “but you can’t count on Sy leading you to Cocktail.”
“Why? He could have today.”
“Could have … but didn’t. Something stinks. Maybe the war is causing Satans Wrath to pull back a bit. Cocktail is a valuable commodity. They may decide to keep him back for protection.”
“It’s you, Laura, and Sammy who need protection.”
“We’re too close to back off.”
“We are close and I owe that to you two, but after this morning — things have gotten way out of hand. I’m sure if we put round-the-clock surveillance on Sy he’ll lead us to him.”
“Unless your surveillance is burned and they kill Sy to sever the connection. They did it last time. Not to mention the fact that I’ve bailed Sy out a couple of times. He may not survive. If he ends up dead, where do you go from there?”
“That’s just it. You talk like you’re only worried about Sy getting whacked. With someone in Sy’s gang feeding information to his enemies, other gangs shooting each other … things are too dangerous. A dead priest is one thing. Don’t put me in the spot of having to investigate the murder of you and Laura, too.”
“So how would you try and find her?” asked Laura.
“Don’t think we have a lot of choice. If you two can’t come up with her name, I’ll go over the list of names we collected from the people who went to the party at Roach and Bagger’s place. Start hammering on doors and shaking people until we figure out who she is. Her voice is distinctive enough. I’ll recognize her if I talk to her.”
“That will heat everyone up,” said Jack. “Satans Wrath will sever Cocktail’s relationship with Sy and anyone else in his gang. Even if they don’t, contacting her will make it extremely dangerous for Laura and me. Satans Wrath will suspect us no matter how you do it. I know Damien. The man isn’t stupid.”
“Which is why you can’t continue the UC,” said Connie. “It will be too dangerous.”
Jack looked at Laura, who shrugged her shoulders in response.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t really have a choice,” said Connie. “We have to find this kid and talk to her parents.”
“Okay,” replied Jack, “but don’t go hammering on doors yet. Give Laura and me a chance to review our undercover notes. As I said, her name is on the tip of my tongue.”
“I really would have thought that between the two of you, one of you would know something to help identify her,” said Connie suspiciously. She looked at Laura and asked, “Laura? Is there anything?”
Laura eyed Jack a little longer before turning to Connie and saying, “I can’t think of anything at the moment. Let us review our notes. Maybe something will twig.”
Connie stared a Laura with
out speaking.
Laura did her best to appear innocent, but saw the harsh look on Connie’s face. She knows I’m lying …
“I may have even written her name down,” said Jack. He glanced at his watch and said, “It’s six o’clock. Give us half-an-hour and I’ll call you.”
* * *
Connie waited until she was alone with Dallas and returning to their office, before saying, “Don’t count on Jack or Laura finding something in their notes to identify the girl. I think they wanted time out to talk in private.”
“Can you blame them?” asked Dallas. “You’re asking them to save some kid who’s trying to kill them. Christ, they were almost killed for the second time since starting this investigation. I wouldn’t blame them if they do decide to pull out altogether.”
“Is that how you read it?” asked Connie.
“What do you mean?”
Connie sighed and said, “Jack once told me that as an undercover operator you need to see the big picture. He said the scales of justice are different in that line of work.”
“How so?”
“He says he includes the moral issues as a counterbalance to the legal issues.”
“I don’t get what you’re saying,” replied Dallas.
“I’d say Jack and Laura are weighing whether to terminate the operation or let a teenaged girl be murdered so they can find some guy who smashed the brains out of a priest with a cement block. I think they already know who she is and are stalling.”
“Jesus … I mean … she’s evil, but she’s still just a kid.”
“Yeah,” sighed Connie, “a kid who likes to kill people.”
“And who knows what else she has done.”
Connie nodded.
“So what do we do about it?”
Connie shook her head and said, “We have to give them time to peruse their notes, it only makes sense. My guess is they will try to stall us for a day or two and continue the UC.”
“A day or two isn’t long.”
“It is if the kid gets murdered. We can’t afford to take that chance. We’ll start pounding on doors tonight and talking to as many young women as we can. She better hope that we find her before its too late.”
“For Jack and Laura … how do you decide on something like this? To live with that …”
“I don’t know. Maybe in their work the instinct to survive precludes armchair morality, but I don’t agree with it. Right is right and wrong is wrong.” Connie looked at Dallas and pointed her finger at him and added, “And having a sixteen-year-old kid murdered is wrong.”
“Did you say, have the kid murdered?”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Jack and Laura sat at their desks for the next half-hour. Eventually Jack received a text message. He glanced at it and said, “It’s done. The devil is in the hole.”
Laura nodded.
Jack called Connie and said, “I’ve got her name.”
“You’re kidding,” said Connie in surprise. “Are you positive?”
“Yes. I told you it was on the tip of my tongue. Her name is Lorraine Calder.”
“Lorraine Calder? I know that name.”
“She’s the one involved in the suicide of Julie Goodwin, so you’ll have her address in your file. She also set up another young girl by the name of Cassandra.”
“Who’s that?”
“Another kid at the party the night Lorraine made a pass at me. Consider it good news that you don’t have Cassandra’s name in your file.”
“And you’re just remembering Lorraine’s name now? She’s Brewski’s girlfriend. You guys know her!”
“What can I say. It’s been a hell of a day. You try to remember details and voices after the day we had.”
“Yeah … okay. Sorry.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Go over to her house and speak with her parents. Maybe say we heard from an undisclosed source that some gang is going to kill her because they don’t trust her.”
“Lorraine won’t scare. She’ll tell you to pound sand and it will still heat things up as far as Laura and I are concerned. Satans Wrath will pull Cocktail away from these guys.”
“I don’t have a choice. As far as you and Laura go, it’s time for you to pull out.”
“Let me know how it goes.”
After hanging up, Connie looked at Dallas and said, “He gave me her name. Lorraine Calder. Her address is in our file. Somewhere in Surrey, as I recall.”
“Guess you were wrong about Jack,” replied Dallas.
Connie sat for a moment. “I wonder if I am,” she said, reaching for the telephone.
“Who you calling?” asked Dallas.
“Surrey Detachment.”
Moments later, Connie hung up the phone and said, “You can quit looking in the file. Lorraine’s parents came home from work an hour ago and found her dead in the washroom.”
“What?”
“It looks like an accidental overdose. When Lorraine’s parents got home they found that their bathroom door was locked. They banged on it and eventually opened it to find Lorraine slumped over the toilet with an empty syringe beside her. She had old track marks on her arms. The case looks pretty open and shut.”
“Man, what a coincidence,” said Dallas.
“Gee, that’s a word I’ve never heard before,” said Connie, sarcastically.
“Aren’t you going to phone Jack and Laura and let them know the investigation is still on?”
“You do it. Personally, I think they already know.”
* * *
Jack hung up the telephone after a short conversation with Dallas.
Laura looked at him and said, “That sounded amiable. I thought Connie would have grilled you more.”
“It wasn’t Connie on the other end. It was Dallas. I have a feeling that Connie is too angry to talk to us at the moment.”
“I understand that,” replied Laura. “I feel sickened and angry myself.”
“Are you in a hurry to get home?” asked Jack.
“Let’s see. Almost got killed this morning. Set up a drug lab this afternoon … not to mention what … or I should say who we set up at the same time. I’ve missed supper with my husband who I’ve hardly seen enough to recognize. I’m exhausted …”
Jack nodded his understanding.
Laura sighed and said, “With what happened today, I know I won’t be able to sleep tonight. What did you have in mind? Double martinis?”
“Tea.”
“Tea!”
“Gabriel called yesterday. She’s having your typical adolescent problems with Noah and sounded stressed. Faith is at home, too. I thought a visit to let them know they haven’t been forgotten would help.”
“You’re hoping that seeing Faith will convince our brains that what we did was the right thing? Finding Cocktail is more important than a young girl’s life?”
Jack gave Laura a sideways glance and said, “Well … this particular girl, yes. Also a yes for my motive to see Gabriel tonight. You’re getting to know me pretty well.”
“The sad thing is I think it’s a good idea. The emotional baggage I’m carrying is not something I want to bring home.”
“Then let’s see if we can shed some baggage.”
* * *
Gabriel, grateful for the visitors, poured tea while Noah sat watching television in another room. Faith was asleep in her bedroom.
“How has he been doing?” asked Jack, with a nod of his head toward the living room.
“Not well,” replied Gabriel, with a frown. “His grades are still slipping. I know he can do the work if he wants. A couple of years ago he was a top student. His personality has changed. Acts macho sometimes and listless other times. Gets angry with me all the time.”
Jack and Laura exchanged a glance and Jack looked at Gabriel and asked, “Any money disappearing around the house?”
“No, I keep track of every dime. Why would you ask that?”
“Does he have an
y new friends? Phone conversations that he hangs up on or changes when you come in the room?”
“No, he’s really a loner. Why … you think he could be on drugs! Good Lord, no. He goes to church every Sunday. He would never take any alcohol or drugs.”
“Have you talked to him about his behaviour?” asked Jack.
“I tried, but he walks away.”
“Would you like me to talk him?” asked Jack.
“Thanks, but no. I asked him how it was going with the counsellor at school and he just blew up at me. Said he wanted to be left alone and didn’t appreciate me interfering in his life. I think it best to leave him alone for now.”
“Do his moods seem to change, in that sometimes he seems really happy or other times tense or jittery?” asked Laura.
“No, more often he is off in his own little dream world, staring blankly into space.”
“Have you searched his room?” asked Jack.
“Why would I? I told you he would never use drugs. He is a good Christian.”
“I’m sure he is, but Noah has been under a lot of stress. He probably feels he has to be the man of the house. There is also a lot of peer pressure at his age.”
“What if he found out I searched his room? He would think I don’t trust him.”
“He would know that you care and that you love him,” replied Jack.
Gabriel thought for a moment and said, “I’ll think about it.”
* * *
Jack arrived home as the CBC National news was starting. Natasha stood up from the television set and gave him a long kiss followed by an even longer hug.
“What’s that for?” asked Jack.
“Can’t a girl give her guy a hug and a kiss? Even if he does stink,” she added. “You smell like your hair got scorched.”
“I was near a fire,” he said, plunking himself down to stare at the television set. “Let me catch the news, then I’ll take a shower.
Natasha saw the distant look in Jack’s eyes. She knew that there was something more to the fire than Jack wanted to talk about.
“Three days ago you said this assignment might be over in a week,” said Natasha. “Do you still think that?”
She saw a brightness flicker in his eyes. “We’re almost finished,” he said. “I’m thinking it will be over in a couple of days now.”