LITMIR.BIZ

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alt="Image"/>ng caught the look of disapproval from Ngc Bích as she stared after them.

      “The crew ... their rooms will be warm,” said H

ng. “Is it wrong to drink wine?”

      Ng

c Bích turned to Hng and smiled and said, “You are a child, my new sister. It is not just wine that these men want to put in the women.”

      H

ng felt embarrassed but said, “The women, maybe they will just enjoy the warmth and then say no, and leave.”

      Ng

c Bích shook her head and said, “That is why the men will share the wine. These young women will be too drunk to say no ... and if they do, the men may not listen. Never dishonour your family by such behaviour.”

      H

c Bích would even feel the need to convey that to her. “I never would. Yuk! Never!”

      “Good. No man would ever want you for his wife then,” said Ng

c Bích seriously.

      “I will never dishonour my family,” replied H

ng solemnly. “My father has told me about such women. Greedy women, who give their bodies to men.”

      Ng

c Bích nodded. “Always respect what you do and respect yourself. In America I am going to be trained to give massages and work at a hotel where the very rich go,” said Ngc Bích. “I will make lots of money and then,” Ngc Bích paused as her eyes twinkled, “when a man with a bottle of wine invites me to his room ... I will go.”

      “You will go?” exclaimed H

ng.

      “Yes. Because that man will be my husband.”

      H

c Bích joined in. Hc Bích’s comments made her realize how lucky she was ... or would be in three weeks when they arrived. She was told that the home of Mister Pops was so large that she would have her own bedroom. He was even so rich that when Linh came, she would also have her own bedroom.

      Pops turned the radio on to maximum volume before flushing the toilet and crouching down to hurry through the short passageway that led to the television room in his basement. Once free of the passageway, he pushed the square doorway shut behind him.

      He stood panting for a moment. Not that he was out of shape. He was a big man with a narcissistic drive that compelled him to maintain a daily routine of bodybuilding. His panting was not from physical exertion. It was from excitement.

      Pops’s house was a four-level split built over the side of a hill. In the basement of the home, he had discovered a small trap door leading to a dead space in the earth behind his foundation. The trap door was intended to gain access to some plumbing pipes that led from the upper levels down to the run-off pipes in the earth below.

      When Pops first stuck his head in the hole and shone a flashlight around, he saw a space that ran the width of his house and was several metres wide. It was partially back-filled with dirt and debris from when his house was built. The area was completely sealed off by cement foundations that supported the upper levels of his house farther back on the hill.

      For many months, Pops lay awake and fantasized about what special use he could make of this newfound space. His fantasies were about to become real.

      Now Pops stood and held his breath and listened. Not a sound! He placed his ear to the wall and could hear a slight sound from the radio, but if he had not known better, he might have deduced it came from some other home in his neighbourhood.

      “Yes!” he shouted with elation, while punching his fist into the palm of his other hand. The heavy thickness of soundproofing worked! He opened the passageway door and ducked back inside to retrieve the radio.

      The room he had built was basically a smaller room within the space. It was like a huge rectangular plywood box with an igloo-style passageway that led into it. There was a drain on the floor, along with a foam mattress, a toilet, and a set of shackles and chains fastened to the floor at each end of the room.

       chapter two

      Corporal Jack Taggart glanced at Constable Laura Secord as she patiently sat at her desk while flipping through the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Gazette. Her desk butted up to his and space was at a premium.

      The Intelligence Unit targeted organized crime, which meant gathering information on secretive societies. Investigations often fanned out like inverted pyramids. One criminal would lead to others and these others would lead to others and so on, as investigators tried to determine who were involved in criminal enterprises and who were just associates.

      Jack and Laura’s office slowly collected more and more file cabinets that in themselves became like Pandora’s boxes for those who would look inside to try to grasp the nature of the beast.

      It was late Friday afternoon and their shift should be just about over. Should be, but wouldn’t, grimaced Jack, while waiting to receive a text message on his BlackBerry. He knew Laura wouldn’t complain. Personal life often took a back seat as they adjusted their hours to match the hours of people who worked without schedules. At least it did if you were to be effective. Effective in your work. Not effective in your personal life.

      His thoughts went back to the person he was waiting to hear from. Why? Why would Damien make such an obvious faux pas? The National President of Satans Wrath .... You didn’t end up in charge of the top organized crime family in Canada by being stupid. So why?

      Satans Wrath had chapters in dozens of countries. They operated like an international corporation with paramilitary discipline. In many countries, including Canada, they were at the top of the list when it came to organized crime. Each chapter had its own president and each country had one national president. In Canada, that was Damien.

      Jack felt a vibration on his belt. Finally ...

      Laura saw Jack grab for his BlackBerry. She studied his face as he read the text message. Jack was more than her boss. Next to her husband, Jack was her closest friend.

      He glanced up and said, “It’s him. Montrose Park in forty-five minutes.”

      “I don’t know it,” replied Laura.

      “Near Second Narrow Bridge.”

      “I’ll call Elvis,” said Laura. “You mind dropping me off at home later? We rode in together this morning.”

      “Hopefully

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