Race

by Mobashar Qureshi

  “Sir,” Beadsworth said walking up. “It would be better if he stays under Officer Rupret’s protection.”

  “Detective Beadsworth, do explain,” Aldrich said.

  “A mole is working inside the department. Until we find out who it is we must not expose the witness.”

  Joey said, “I’m not a witness yet. First my protection.”

  They ignored him.

  “It would be better,” Beadsworth continued, “For the witness to be allowed to stay with Officer Rupret, who is outside the department and is on medical leave and would therefore be able to watch the witness at all times.”

  It felt like Joey and I were two little children whose fates were being decided by strangers.

  There was a pause and then Aldrich said, “Detective Beadsworth, I respect your opinion. It may be better if the witness stays with Officer Rupret.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Beadsworth said with a slight nod.

  Aldrich turned to Joey, “Give us something to begin our investigation.”

  Joey thought about it; his eyes searched for what information to divulge. “I overheard them talking. At the Scarborough Bluffs you will find the body of Armand Dempiers.”

  This caused a reaction. Aldrich spun around and was out the door, followed by Garnett who was dialing on the phone.

  Beadsworth turned to me and whispered, “Do not let him out of your sight.” With that he disappeared around the door.

  The chicken wings were cold and shriveled up. Joey shrugged and said, “I’m full.”

  ***

  Everything was packed and in the process of being moved. They could no longer use the current location. If Joey spoke, the police would be paying them a visit very soon.

  Ms. Zee had taken certain precautions just in case something like this ever happened. Everything in their small headquarters was portable, from the furniture to the pharmaceutical equipment.

  There was another problem that she had to resolve. The new technology required that they produce in one location. It was not financially feasible to purchase several freeze-dryers and other expensive equipment.

  They needed a good location, not only for the production of Nex, but also for the distribution of it. Martin had been dispatched to search for one.

  Her cell rang and she knew who it was. She listened and then hung up.

  She already knew Joey was at the home of an officer named Jonathan Rupret. But this officer was not to be harmed under any circumstances. One officer had already been assaulted and injuring another would place more attention on them. She was not happy with this information.

  She would have to find a way of getting to Joey without harming the officer. She couldn’t rely on anyone in the group. Kong would snap the officer’s neck at the first chance he got. Hause and Suraj weren’t known for their smarts. She would have to do something on her own.

  TWENTY-TWO

  It was the next morning and Hause dropped Ms. Zee off a block away from Greenwood Avenue. She was wearing a beige skirt and a white blouse. Her auburn hair was untied and flowed freely to her shoulders.

  Hause waited in the car for her signal. She walked in the direction of the officer’s home but stopped at the corner of Gerrard and Greenwood. The plan was to get the officer out of the house, giving Hause enough time to go in and finish Joey. How she was going to do this she had no idea.

  She looked across to the house and tried to think. Should she walk up to the door and say that she was lost? No, that didn’t make any sense. She could ask anyone on the street for help. What if she went up to him and said she had just been robbed? No, then she would have to go to the police department to report it.

  She put her hand through her hair, thinking of a plan.

  ***

  I woke up and found Joey sleeping peacefully on the sofa. The coffee maker was brewing so I went to the bathroom. After I was done, I filled my cup and went to the balcony. The air was semi-fresh but the sun was shining brightly. I leaned on the metal railing and took a sip. The coffee needed a little more sugar.

  I spotted a woman standing at the corner of the street. She looked distressed. She looked up at me. I smiled.

  She looked around. I suddenly understood. I motioned her to wait and I went back inside.

  ***

  Ms. Zee saw the officer come out onto the balcony and then smile at her. He then waved and disappeared. What was he doing? She didn’t have any time to think when the front door swung open and the officer, still in his pajamas, came out running toward her. His nose was covered in a bandage.

  “Has your car been towed?” he said.

  “Sorry?” she said.

  “Your car was towed, right?” he pointed to spot beside the sidewalk. “You parked it here last night and this morning it was gone.”

  “Uh…yes,” she understood. “How did you know?”

  ***

  “I just do,” I said. I wasn’t going to tell her my car had been towed several times from the very same spot.

  She said, “I don’t know what I was thinking. I parked here, but this morning it’s gone.”

  “From seven-to-nine it’s a tow-away zone,” I said.

  “I didn’t know that,” she said.

  “Did you just move down here?”

  “My sister lives over there,” she said pointing to a street adjacent to us. “What am I going to do?”

  She had amazing green eyes and even more amazing long red hair.

  I said, “It’s towed to Joe’s Towing.” I read her the address. “Just tell Joe Coultier I sent you.”

  “I didn’t get your name,” she said, smiling.

  She had a great smile.

  I don’t know why but my face flushed. Maybe it was the way she looked at me. “It’s Jonny Rupert.”

  NO!

  My face burned. “Rupret. R before the E,” I said, collecting myself.

  “Rupret,” she said, repeating it to herself. “R before the E. Different but unique.”

  Now my knees were getting weak. Maybe it was the pajamas.

  She said, “If it isn’t too much trouble can you take me to Joe’s Towing?”

  “Sure,” I said.

  She smiled even more.

  Suddenly I remembered. Joey. “Um…I can’t.”

  Her smile faded.

  “I’ve got…to…go somewhere.”

  “It’ll be a quick drive,” she said. “You can just drop me off and come back.”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t.” I hated doing this. I really did. But I couldn’t leave Joey alone. Our investigation was relying on him. “I really cannot.” I gave her the directions again.

  She was disappointed, but she still smiled. She thanked me and headed in the direction of the streetcar.

  ***

  Ms. Zee waited until the officer was out of sight and then went to the car. She entered the Lincoln and then shook her head. Hause was ready and waiting with the shotgun. Without saying a word he started the car and they were gone.

  ***

  As I got to the door I realized I hadn’t asked her name. Damn, what an idiot I was. Going up the stairs I cursed myself for being so stupid.

  I heard the toilet flush and a few seconds later Joey emerged from the bathroom.

  “There’s coffee if you like,” I said.

  He nodded and filled a cup.

  “I’m going to go check my e-mail,” he said, and with that he disappeared into my room.

  ***

  Martin found a perfect spot, located in the warehouse of an industrial site along the waterfront of Lake Ontario.

  The new technology demanded an area with enough room for the heavy equipment. The open interior of the warehouse was ideal for this type of manufacturing.

  This would confine them to one location, but they had no choice. Too much money had already been wasted and now it was time to earn some back. Once Nex was produced and distributed they would find another location, but for now this would have to do.

  Mart
in saw three U-Hauls enter the warehouse. He was determined to have Nex ready in the next couple of days. Ms. Zee was not available, so everything had to be done by him. She was busy trying to get rid of Joey.

  ***

  I lay on the sofa with my eyes closed. It was close to afternoon and Joey was still in the bedroom. I didn’t want to bother him. In fact, I didn’t want him to bother me. I was not his babysitter. I was doing my job, while resting at home.

  I tossed over. I was restless. I was upset at myself for not getting her name. She was friendly. A real damsel in distress and I couldn’t help her. Maybe I could go to her home. What home? I didn’t know where she lived. She pointed to a street but I didn’t know the exact house. Maybe I could go and knock on each door and ask for someone I didn’t know the name of. I tossed once more and decided to watch TV.

  There was a knock on the door and grudgingly I opened it. It was Beadsworth. He entered without saying a word. I went back and flopped onto the sofa.

  “Where’s Joey?” he asked.

  “In the bedroom,” I answered.

  He seemed relieved.

  “So, what can I do for you?” I said.

  “We found the body of Mr. Armand Dempiers. He used to be an employee of Bantam Pharmaceuticals Limited.”

  “Barnes and Herrera already briefed me on him,” I said.

  Beadsworth took a seat and then leaned over towards the bedroom.

  “He’s on the computer,” I said.

  Beadsworth fixed his tie. “They’ll be performing an autopsy on Mr. Dempiers.” Beadsworth looked nervous. I had never seen him nervous. “Um…we’re waiting for the results…has anyone from the force visited Joey?”

  “No, why?” I said.

  “Sergeant Aldrich was upset that I requested Joey be put under your supervision.”

  “He was? Good. It’s about time the man grows some white hair. I don’t like him.”

  “Can I have a word with Joey?” Beadsworth asked.

  “Go ahead.”

  Beadsworth got up to go over to the room when there was a knock on the door. Beadsworth answered.

  Aldrich came in, but no Garnett.

  I got up.

  I sensed tension between Beadsworth and Aldrich. They exchanged welcomes, which I felt were contrived.

  “Officer Rupret,” Aldrich said, with a nod.

  I knew he wasn’t here for me so I called out for Joey. He came out of the room looking red-eyed. He’d been staring at the monitor for hours.

  Aldrich got right to the point, “We’ve found the body that you mentioned. You were correct. It is why you must tell us more. Time is running out.” He shoved a stack of paper at Joey. “Sign it and you’ll have your protection.”

  Joey looked at the bundle. He scanned it and then scribbled his signature. He then gave them an address. “You can find them there.”

  “I will have Detective Garnett pick you up tomorrow,” Aldrich said.

  Joey shrugged an okay.

  Both Aldrich and Beadsworth left.

  ***

  I lay back on the sofa and Joey sat on the opposite chair.

  The ringing of the telephone broke the awkward silence, and I was glad it did.

  “Hello,” I answered it.

  “Hi, is this Jon Rupret?” said a female voice.

  I recognized the voice. It was the woman with the red hair. I immediately felt energized.

  “Yes, speaking,” I said, calming myself.

  “Hi, we met outside your house…”

  “Yes, yes, of course. Did you get your vehicle?”

  “Exactly where you said it would be,” she laughed.

  I laughed.

  Joey quietly picked up a magazine and began flipping the pages.

  “How did you get my number?” I asked.

  “The phone book.”

  Ah, the good old white pages.

  “I didn’t get your name?”

  “It’s Laura,” she paused. “Um…I didn’t mention it earlier, but I’m here visiting my sister. She lives around the block from your house and…I’ll be leaving for the U.S.”

  My heart sank. “You’re leaving?”

  “Yes, tomorrow. I was hoping we could meet…maybe over dinner.”

  “I don’t know…” I looked across at Joey. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

  “You can’t even spare an hour?”

  I squirmed. I wanted to go. I really did.

  “Okay,” I finally said, caving in.

  TWENTY-THREE

  Ed Burrows found Martin in the makeshift office. Martin didn’t look up; he was busy talking on the phone. Burrows walked back to the door and waited. He looked across to the middle of the warehouse, and saw two people unloading heavy barrels of gelatin from the U-Haul.

  A tank of water had already been delivered, along with a truck filled with glycine and sodium hydroxide. Metal containers of dextroamphetamine were going to be delivered later in the day. Caffeine was the easiest component to get, so he wasn’t too worried about it.

  Martin was off the phone now.

  Burrows walked up to him.

  Martin had the What-can-I-do-for-you-now look.

  “We still don’t have sodium lauryl sulphate,” Burrows said.

  “What do we need that for?” Martin said.

  Burrows said, “It helps to absorb the drug transmucosally into the mouth, throat and esophagus. Without it the drug is useless.”

  Martin went silent, and then said, “You have to realize I don’t have unlimited resources. I can’t just call a company and say ship me a ton of this and a ton of that. Alarms would go off.”

  Burrows said nothing.

  “All right,” Martin said, waving his hands in the air. “I’ll make some calls.”

  ***

  It was getting dark when I came out of the bathroom. I had showered and shaved and applied some heavy-duty deodorant. Joey was in the living room watching an old movie. I went into my room and changed into a nice silk shirt, unwrinkled pants, and a dark jacket. I checked myself in the mirror and except for the exposed little bruise on my nose I looked mighty fine.

  Joey saw me and said, “You get dressed up to buy groceries?”

  I had lied to Joey about meeting Laura. No need to tell him.

  “I’m going to drop by a friend,” I said. “He’s not feeling well and all…but I’ll be back in an hour.” I checked my pocket for my cell phone. “You got my number?”

  “Yeah,” he got up.

  “Don’t open the door or answer the telephone. As far as anyone is concerned you are not here.”

  “What if it’s your partner?” he asked.

  “Don’t. If no one opens the door he’ll call my cell and I’ll tell him I’m out doing grocery shopping.”

  Joey followed me to the door.

  I hurried down the stairs, hoping my landlady wouldn’t stop me. I got into the car and drove off.

  ***

  Joey locked and bolted the door. He turned and leaped back startled. The life-size cutout of Michael Jordan smiled back at him. Joey started to laugh. This was the second time he had been unnerved by it.

  He picked up the giant cutout and placed it somewhere away from him. He was already nervous and he didn’t want something over six-and-a-half feet tall silently staring at him. It reminded him too much of Kong.

  He then went back to his movie.

  ***

  We had decided to meet at Sona Mahal—an Indian restaurant—not far from my home. I found her sitting at a table near the window. She smiled when she saw me. She was wearing a full black dress and some jewelry around her neck.

  “I hope you haven’t been waiting long?” I said, taking a seat.

  “A few minutes,” she answered. She looked beautiful.

  We placed our orders, when I said, “How long have you been staying here in Toronto?”

  “Only a few months,” she said. “I work for a consulting firm and one of our clients was interested in establishing a busin
ess in Toronto. I came here to see if that was financially viable. We have another client who is interested in expanding his business to Connecticut so…” She paused. “So I have to go down there for a while.”

  I moved my head up and down.

  “What do you do?” she asked.

  “I’m in law enforcement,” I said, thinking I shouldn’t have.

  “I like a man in uniform,” she said.

  Yes. I still had my parking enforcement uniform.

  Outside it was nightfall, but the lights from the restaurants illuminated the street.

  Our orders came and we started to eat. I had chana masala, a dish of basmati rice with chickpeas, onion, garlic, and Indian spices, while she had a butter chicken entrée of basmati rice with chicken pieces in a rich sauce of tomatoes, cream, butter, garlic, ginger and tandoori spices. Who ever said I couldn’t recite menus?

  She swallowed a spoonful of rice and said, “Oh, before I forget, can you excuse me? I just have to make a call.” With that she went outside.

  ***

  The Sundance sat parked a block away from Greenwood and Gerrard. Suraj was behind the wheel, and Hause in the passenger side. They had seen the black officer come out of the house and drive away.

  They were waiting for the signal. Ms. Zee was going to let them know when they should make their move. The cell phone rang and Hause answered it. He hung up and nodded to Suraj, who immediately put the car in gear and drove toward the house. Suddenly he pressed hard on the brakes, causing Hause to nearly hit the dashboard.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Hause cursed.

  Suraj said, “Look.”

  An old woman came out of the house and began sweeping leaves.

  “Shit,” Hause said.

  Suraj pulled out his pistol

  “No. Go back,” Hause said.

  “Why?”

  “Go back. Now.”

  Suraj reversed the car back to its original position.

  “Why can’t we just shoot the old woman?” Suraj asked.