LITMIR.BIZ

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They focused their energy by doing surveillance of the Russians while doing intermittent surveillance on c.

      

c had a routine of sleeping in late and then going to the Orient Pleasure for an hour over lunch. He would generally spend the rest of his day and evening at the Great Canadian Casino in Coquitlam. His skill as a gambler left much to be desired.

      Surveillance of the Russians showed that they varied their sleep patterns. Sometimes they would appear early in the morning and go to a restaurant for breakfast. On these occasions, Jack surmised that they had not been to bed yet, or, at least judging by the escorts that left the building moments before they appeared, they had not been to sleep yet.

      Other times the Russians would not appear until early afternoon, when they would go and drink espresso in different restaurants. At night, they would throw their money around at various nightclubs or go to more expensive restaurants. If they didn’t pick up any women at the nightclubs, they would often call an escort service when they returned to their penthouse.

      H

ng lay on her side on the foam mattress, staring at the calendar. Pops never shut the light off and she found herself switching her attention back and forth between the calendar and the chain and shackle at the opposite end of the room.

      Now she felt so weak that she could barely move. Going by the large X marks that Pops penciled on the calendar each day, she had been there thirteen days. She had been given a plastic cup to drink water from out of the toilet tank. The only food she had been given was one loaf of white bread.

      Her fingers had quit throbbing, but any attempt to move them brought immediate pain. The same went for her ribs and she had learned to take shallow breaths.

      On the first night she was chained, Pops had returned and flung all her clothes and belongings at her. The room had a high humidity and at first when she wore her new coat she was too warm, but now she felt weak and shivered constantly.

      Pops would see her for a few minutes each morning and again at night. Except for hurting her the first night, he had not actually touched her.

      One night he dragged a garden hose through the passageway and said he was going to give her a shower. Despite the incredible shame she felt at undressing in front of him, her fear made her obey and she squatted obediently on the floor and tried to cover herself with her hands.

      “You are a filthy, worthless little child,” he said. “No wonder your father gave you away,” he said as he urinated on her, before taking the hose and spraying cold water into her face.

      Every time H

ng heard the familiar creak of the passage door, she automatically cringed and drew her knees up into the fetal position as she waited for Pops to enter, mark the X on the calendar, and announce how many days were left until “red-circle day.”

      Tonight was different. Pops shoved a large cardboard box ahead of him through the passageway opening and set it down out of H

ng’s reach. The box was big enough that it could have held an object the size of a kitchen chair.

      “There are special things in here for you,” said Pops. He marked another X on the calendar and said, “Things for red-circle days. As you can see, the first such day is tomorrow.”

      H

ng didn’t respond, but just stared at him from where she lay.

      “What do you think is in the box?” asked Pops.

      H

ng continued to stare.

      Pops tone turned to anger and he said, “Well, you’ve got twenty-four hours to think about it!”

      H

ng closed her eyes and, a moment later, she heard the creak of the door as Pops left her alone. She immediately got to her feet and got as close to the box as her chain would permit, but she was too far away to see inside it. She went back to her mattress, sat, and stared at the box.

      What does it mean? She looked at the calendar again. Four more weeks and Linh will be here ... and I told her to come!

      H

ng cried in anguish. Eventually she caught her breath between sobs and looked at the calendar. Tomorrow is the first red-circle day. There are more circles later. What do they mean?

       chapter seven

      I t was eight o’clock at night when Jack and Laura saw the Russians return to one of their favourite restaurants.

      Jack lowered his binoculars and said, “Table for two. Doesn’t look like they expect any company. Let’s knock it off and go home and introduce ourselves to our spouses.”

      “Looking for a treat, are you?”

      Jack chuckled and said, “Something like that.”

      “Well, I figure we’re likely wasting our time out here at the moment.”

      “Something is going on with these two,” said Jack. “Retired schoolteachers don’t have that kind of money to throw around. Not to mention they had the clout to meet with the top exec of Satans Wrath.”

      “I’m not saying we shouldn’t work on them. I know the type. Whatever they’re involved in is big enough that they aren’t standing on the corner dealing ounces. Working on this type ... it’s always peaks and valleys.”

      “And right now we’re in a valley,” said Jack. “What we really need is an informant. Someone on the inside.”

      “Who and how?”

      “Don’t know yet. Tomorrow I’m going to go to a bookstore. Start learning a little Russian and Vietnamese. Will help build a rapport if we do find someone to turn. Besides, it’ll give me something to read when we’re on surveillance.”

      It was midnight when Jack glanced out of the ensuite bathroom just as Natasha was getting into bed.

      “How good is your Russian?” he asked. “Could you teach me some?”

      “With a name like Natasha Trovinski, how good do you think it is?”

      “I don’t really know. I’ve heard you talk to your parents.”

      “Lazhites’ syooda,” she replied.

      “What did you say?”

      “Lay down over here.”

      “That sounds real good to me!”

      The next afternoon Jack and Laura watched as the Russians left their apartment and got into a waiting limousine-styled taxi. They followed them to a location on the west end of Vancouver where the Russians had the limo wait as they went into a store. Laura stayed in the car while Jack took a portable police radio and went on foot.

      Jack returned a few minutes later just as the Russians were returning to the limo.

      Jack grinned at Laura and said, “They popped into a store called West Marine. They were asking for marine charts for around Seattle. The clerk said they didn’t carry any for Puget Sound. They only carried charts for places north of the forty-ninth.”

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