“I really appreciate you guys getting involved in this,” Bernadette said. “But I don’t want you getting into trouble over my situation.”
Craig snorted, coke coming out his nose. “Hell no, we exist for trouble.” He wiped the coke from his nose. He was smaller than Chad, with an elfin quality that made him seem like Chad’s sidekick. His friends looked at him, shaking their heads.
“Ah, what my two eloquent friends are saying is we’re happy to help,” Jason said. He looked very much like Melinda, the blonde hair, blue eyes, and easy smile. “No one likes to see people bullied, and often the police can’t do anything about it. We’ll do whatever we can to put his Ace guy in the slammer…now, speaking of that, I brought Aaron along, our law student to give us the inside dope on this.”
Aaron sat up, wiped his glasses with a cloth from this pocket, and took out a large legal pad and pencil. He waited until his silence had the room’s full attention and began in slow monotone. “Well, as I see this case, we have the young Bernadette here, attempting to draw a confession on tape from the suspect, Ace, a.k.a Guy Labinski, is that correct?”
Bernadette shifted uncomfortably and swallowed. This felt like an interrogation. “Yes,” she replied in a squeak.
Aaron made a note on his legal pad. He was better dressed than the rest; he wore grey corduroys, a blue button down shirt, and black shiny loafers. Bernadette thought he looked all business.
“And you, Bernadette, you’ve had some prior dealings with this man? I understand from Melinda you threw him out of your apartment for attempted assault of your aunt?” Aaron asked. His voice went up slightly on the last few words.
“Well, yes, but I…well it wasn’t really assault, he was being rough with my aunt…”
“Just answer the question.”
“Yes, I threw him out of the apartment,” Bernadette admitted with a sigh.
Aaron turned to his friends. “We got a problem. One, if I was the defense council for Guy Labinkski, I’d say Bernadette here had a grudge against him and was seeking to entrap him for revenge, and two, and this is the most important,” he looked at Bernadette, “you give a recording to the police and they put this guy in jail, he’s out on bail in twenty-four hours until the hearing. The case will take months before it goes to court, and you…”
“And I’m in serious jeopardy of getting taken out by him,” Bernadette said. “Is that you wanted to say?”
“Yes, that’s the extent of it,” Aaron said. “I’m sorry to say this, but even with my geek squad friends on your side doing all kinds of magic with electronic listening devices, the legal system churns at a snail’s pace. All the while, it puts your life in peril.”
“That’s not fair,” Melinda said.
“It’s called due process, Melinda,” Aaron said. “The state must respect all legal rights that are owed to a person. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual from it. Ace gets the same process—even though you say he’s a scum bag, he’s a scum bag with rights.”
“We’re screwed before we get started,” Chad said. He looked at his friends. “Well, geek squad, this was a good idea.”
“Wait,” Bernadette said. “I heard a the detective say Ace was dealing drugs at the high school, he’s in a gang…called the Devil’s Undertakers, and his gang leader, a guy named…Carl Hoffer, was against it. What if we got Ace to admit what he was doing on tape and gave it to his gang leader.”
“And the gang makes Ace disappear?” Aaron said.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Bernadette said. “Kind of divine justice of the pack; it happens all the time in the wild, when an alpha wolf takes over, and it banishes ones that contest its leadership. And it would take away the supply of Susie’s gang.”
Aaron shook his head. “We’re talking more than banishment here, Bernadette. I’ve seen some court cases on the Devil’s Undertakers; they’re one step away from the Hell’s Angels. Their leader is a psycho named Carl Hoffer, and yes, he doesn’t believe in selling drugs to schools, but he’s into heavy drugs to prostitution.”
“But it’s the perfect solution,” Chad said. “Bernadette gets Ace to admit he’s selling drugs to schools on tape, we give the tape to Hoffer, and no more Ace.” He picked up a nacho chip. “Problem solved.” He made a loud crunch to prove his point.
“I can’t be party to this,” Aaron said. “I do not want to know anything more about this discussion.” He looked at Jason. “You have some strange friends, and I suggest you send this little girl back under the rock from where you found her, She’s nothing but trouble.”
Jason stood up. “Aaron, that’s rude. Bernadette is Melinda’s good friend. We don’t back out on our friends in my family.”
Melinda stood beside Bernadette and put her arm around her. They watched Aaron pack his things into his shiny black briefcase and leave.
Chad muttered “asshole” in his direction as Aaron slammed the door.
The room was silent. Chad, Craig, and Jason swigged their cokes and looked at each other. Jason raised his head, looked up at the ceiling. “We don’t know Ace would be killed by this Hoffer, do we?”
“No, we don’t,” Chad said.
“Furthermore, is it our concern how this gang hands out punishment for disobedience to its credo?” Jason said.
“Hell, no,” Craig said.
Jason looked at Bernadette. “We’re in.”
“But what about what Aaron said?” Bernadette asked.
Jason shrugged. “Look, Aaron sees incidents in black—there is no white with him. He’ll make an excellent lawyer one day, but hopefully, he won’t be so uptight. And don’t worry about our little heated exchange. Two days from now, he’ll be calling me up to go for a beer. He doesn’t have any other friends.”
“Okay, then,” Melinda said. “We’ve got work to do.”
“Right,” Chad said. “I made out list of things we’ll need: binoculars, cameras with telephoto lenses, the digital tape recorder, and the ten thousand dollars.”
“Ten thousand dollars! Where’re we going to get that kind of money?” Bernadette asked.
Chad smiled. “The University of Alberta Business Department.” He pulled out a brown bill and placed it on the table. “This is the miracle of an expensive, colour laser printer. All you need is some good paper and voila, you got some brown one-hundred-dollar notes. We even got the new shiny metallic patch to show up, which makes it look real legit.”
“Oh, my god, it’s counterfeit. What are we getting ourselves into?” Bernadette said.
“If you print both sides, it’s illegal.” Chad turned the bill over; it was blank on the other side. “We’re going to make you a big roll of these babies. As long as you have the bills rolled up, the big Ace doesn’t see you’ve got bogus notes. You flash the roll like you own the Bank of Canada.”
“Speaking of which,” Craig said, “here’s some talking points—on how drugs are described. You want to be buying eight balls, that’s…three and half grams. They cost 175 each. We think you’ll get his attention if you ask him for ten grand worth.”
“But…what if he wants to see the money…you know, like handle it,” Bernadette said.
“Not going to happen,” Jason said. He knitted his eyebrows into a blond frown. “You’ve got to be tough. You show him the roll, tell him he doesn’t get any cash until you see the merchandise, and you’re going to be distributor to all the high schools.”
“But what if he wants to make a transaction right there?” Bernadette asked.
Chad scratched his head. “Good point, what does she do?”
“Ah, we have her take half the money. She flashes some cash, says there’s more where this came from, and set up a buy,” Craig said.
“But there’s not going to be a buy, right?” Melinda asked.
“Nope, we get Ace saying he wants to sell drugs to Bernadette to distribute to the high schools, we drop the tape on this crazy bike leader’s doorstep, and goodbye Ace.”
“Sounds simple,” Bernadette said. “But you know this Ace guy is pretty tough. One slip up, and somebody gets hurt. I don’t want it to be any of you. You have no dog in this fight. Sorry old Indian term…it means—”
“We know what it means, Bernadette,” Jason said. “Here’s how we see it. You’re aunt’s being bullied by this guy, and unless we get him to take a hike and to also dry up the drugs at your school, to put this Susie out of business, your life is a misery. So, we are in this fight. Maybe we’re geek vigilantes, but here we are.”
“God, I’m pumped with this, how about you guys?” Chad asked, pounding the kitchen counter.
Bernadette shook her head. “I’m just asking you to stay as far from Ace as possible. Do whatever surveillance you need to do from a distance. I can give you his description, and I think I saw his car the other day. I also have his license plate number.”
Jason said, “Good, we can go from there. Melinda is going to give you a cell phone to carry with you at all times. She’ll have one as well, and so will we. We’ll figure out a time to get you in front of him and do the recording.”
“I’m so grateful to you for doing all this,” Bernadette said. “You have no idea how much this means to my aunt, her children, and me.”
Craig put his head on Chad’s shoulder. “Oh god, I’m going to tear up.”
Chad pushed Craig away. “Sorry for my idiot friend, he was once a drama major, or should I say—drama queen.”
Jason pulled some papers and some DVDs from his backpack. “Here are the drug definitions you’ll need to memorize, and also, we have some movies you’ll want to watch.”
Bernadette looked at the DVD’s. “Why do I want to watch movies?”
“Get the lingo down,” Chad said. “You gotta have the right attitude.”
Bernadette looked at the movies. “Goodfellas, Bad Lieutenant, and Debbie Does Dallas?”
Craig looked away, his face taking on a slight red shade. “We thought a wide spectrum…you know to broaden your horizons in the world of crime…and such…”
Melinda shook her head. “I’m really not sure about you guys.”
Jason stood up. “Look, do your homework, we’ll gather our resources and contact you when we have a sighting of our Ace subject.” He turned to Melinda. “You still got us Mom’s minivan for the week.”
“Yeah, but be careful with it, she just got it out of the shop from the ding she put in it,” Melinda said.
“Oh, I hope it’s a stealth minivan,” Chad said. “’Cause we going to look way obvious in a new Town and Country with all those windows.”
“We’ll cover up the windows,” Jason said.
Melinda saw Bernadette to the door. She hugged Melinda on the doorstep. “This is amazing, what you’re doing.”
Melinda shook her head. “No, remember, you’re the one who has to pull this off. We’re just backup.”
Bernadette realized the gravity of what Melinda had said. This was all becoming real now. This was play-acting to Melinda’s brother and his friends, but soon, this would be for real. She had to meet with Ace.
She crossed the large avenue and made her way back to school. She was mulling over in her mind what she’d need to do, how she’d need to act, when a strange feeling came over her.
She had a feeling she was being watched. He grandfather had always told her to stop and look behind her in the forest. An animal could stalk you if weren’t aware. She stopped and turned. An old Chevy Malibu stopped down the street.
Bernadette stared hard at the car. She couldn’t see the occupants. But the car looked familiar. There’d been one just like it parked behind Gus’s place on the reservation. It was gold with a black hard top.
She turned and began to walk faster. The Chevy revved its engine. It picked up speed. When it got close to her, it mounted the sidewalk coming straight for her.
21
Bernadette dived over a snow bank. The car careened off the bank, bounced back onto the road, and skidded to a stop. She looked up from the deep snow she’d landed in. The car was backing up. A door was opening.
There was no time to think. She had to run. The snow was up to her knees; she lunged from one step to another. She got between two apartment buildings where the snow was less deep and turned to look behind her.
The car stopped. The windows were dark; she couldn’t make out who was inside. Instinct told her it was the Cardinal boys. She turned and made her way at a slow run between the buildings. They opened onto an alleyway in the back.
She pulled the cell phone out of her backpack. If she called 9-1-1, how long would the police take to get here? As she powered up the phone the car roared away, turning the corner. She knew it was coming down the alleyway.
She put the phone away. Could she make it across the alley before the car? The engine’s roar was getting louder. She ran from the shelter of the apartment buildings, through their parking lots, and made the alley. The car had just entered the alley. It was picking up speed heading for her.
A high fence stood before her. The car was coming at her. She froze for a mere second. As the car approached, she grabbed an empty metal trashcan, heaved it at the car’s windshield, and jumped up to grab the top of the fence. She threw one leg up and hoisted herself over. She dropped over the other side. Breathing a sigh of relief, she caught her breath.
Then she heard a big dog growl.
A large German shepherd stood before his doghouse. His growl deep, his ears back, his tail was dropped. He was not happy Bernadette had appeared in his yard.
Bernadette stood up slowly. She let her hands fall to her side. There was no way back. She had to go forward. It meant through this large, upset dog. “I’m not here to hurt you,” she said in a low, calm voice.
The dog started to bark. He bared his teeth. He moved closer. His body was going ridged. An attack was imminent. She raised her voice, this time speaking in Dene’, the language of her grandfather. “I said, I’m not here to hurt you. I will cause you no harm.”
The dog’s ears went up. It sat on its haunches and stared at Bernadette as if this person had just turned into an alien. Bernadette smiled. She continued speaking in Dene’. “You have the spirit of the wolf in you. You are a brother to my people. Thank you for allowing me to travel through your yard.”
She walked past the dog to the front of the house, found the gate, and made her way to the street. Just as she was walking away, she heard voices yelling, “Down dog, get down.”
The dog was barking at someone else who’d entered the yard. There were male screams. “Let go of my leg. Damn it, somebody hit him, let go of my leg.”
Another loud voice was heard. “You boys leave my dog alone and get out of my yard. I’ve called the police. Hannibal, leave that boy alone.”
Though she was shaking, she started to laugh. The Cardinal boys must have followed her over the fence. She had no idea which boy the dog had bit, but she didn’t care. The dog had given her the best escape possible.
Turning a corner, she cut through a parking lot and made her way back to school. She made it to the gym just as Travis and his team where finishing up their practice.
“Hey, Bernadette,” Travis said as he walked over, toweling himself off. “You get all your homework done in study hall?”
Bernadette shrugged, eyeing Travis’s bulging chest that was glistening with sweat. “Oh, I got most of it done. Still, bits left to do…you know.”
Travis swept her up in a big bear hug and kissed her forehead. “Well, good, ’cause when you’re there, I know you’re safe. I don’t want anything happening to my little angel.”
“Yep, that’s me, all safe and sound,” Bernadette said, sighing on the inside, knowing things like this would have her saying penance…if she ever got to confession.
She waited for Travis to come out of the shower and contemplated calling Officer Myers about the Cardinal boys chasing her. Bernadette realized she’d never really seen the Cardinal boys. She
knew it was Gus’s car—at least she thought it was his car—and she’d heard what she thought was Stephen Cardinal’s scream from the back yard.
She had herself a dilemma. If she called Myers about this, she’d be called down to the station to make a report. Travis would want to accompany her, which meant he’d know she’d snuck out of the school without him as her bodyguard. Shaking her head, she muttered, “I really know how to complicate my life.”
Stephen Cardinal screamed in pain in the back seat of the car, “Bastard dog bit me.” He pulled up his pant leg. “Look at these teeth marks! I’m gonna get gangrene or something; I need a hospital.”
Tommy shook his head from behind the wheel. “No way, man, we’re going to the drug store and get some antiseptic and a bandage. Who knows if the lady called the cops? We could be wanted felons, who knows what she did, they could’ve put one of those all point bulletins on us or something.”
Peter sat in the passenger seat shaking his head. “What the hell were you thinking? Trying to run her down in broad daylight. How many kinds of stupid are you, Stephen?”
“Look, I saw an opportunity and I took it, okay. Better than some coward ass like you, Peter. You keep telling us to lay low and play it safe, bide our time; well, I took action, okay. That’s what warriors do,” Stephen said.
“No, I don’t remember no warrior chasing a girl in a car. Was it in a history book I ever read?” Peter said. He turned to Tommy. “How about after you’ve doctored up our brave warrior back there, you drop me at the bus station. I think I’m about done with this.”
Tommy pulled the car over to the curb. He looked at Peter, and his eyes narrowed. “You listen here, little chicken shit, you’re going nowhere. You’re a Cardinal, part of our family, you ain’t done ‘til I say we’re done. ’Cause I can make you disappear just like I’m going to do with Bernadette. You hear me?”
Peter said nothing; he stared out the car window. A mother was walking by with her child holding her hand. The child looked at him and smiled. He couldn’t force his mouth to smile back.
Black Wolf Rising (Prequel to the Bernadette Callahan Mystery Series) Page 10