LITMIR.BIZ

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of it,” Isaac said.

      “In exchange for keeping her son out of jail, Vicki gave me the information on her husband. When we seized Damien’s assets, I staged a phony situation where it looked like Vicki tried to attack me as we were searching his house.” Jack paused. Firing a bullet into my Kevlar vest … I think that qualifies as an attack. “Damien then told me about the cocaine shipment, believing he was saving his wife and son from going to jail.”

      Isaac stared at Jack. “What you described as an attack — it’s the first I’ve heard about it. Was it something you’d planned all along?”

      “Yes, sir,” Jack admitted.

      “You arranged this so Damien wouldn’t suspect his wife had informed?”

      “Yes, sir.”

      “The attack must have appeared realistic, perhaps even deadly, for Damien to think she’d receive a serious jail sentence,” Isaac noted. “So serious that he gave us a tonne of cocaine.”

      Please don’t go there. Rose already gave me shit. Mortimer would probably have me committed. “I’d already shown Damien the video of his son beating the drug dealer to death. I believe his reason to co-operate was a combination of factors.”

      “I’m sure it was,” Isaac said. “Continue.”

      Good. You see through the layers. You know there was more to it. Jack cleared his throat. “Unfortunately Damien didn’t tell me about the cocaine until after he’d obtained a lawyer for Vicki.”

      “Basil Westmount?” Isaac asked. Before Jack could reply, Isaac glanced at Mortimer and said, “He’s the lawyer Satans Wrath keeps on retainer.”

      “No, sir, it wasn’t Westmount, although he was representing Buck. For Vicki, Damien picked a respected lawyer by the name of Edward Gosling. Gosling met with her first and it was subsequent to that that Damien decided to bargain with me.”

      “A worthwhile bargain for us, considering what was seized last night in France.” Isaac stared at Mortimer until he eventually gave a nod of agreement.

      “The problem is, sir, at noon today I received a phone call from Basil Westmount. He said he’d received a call from Gosling’s office telling him they were representing Vicki and said they wanted to confirm if the charges against Buck had been dropped now that Damien had given us the boatload of cocaine.”

      “Oh, Lord, no,” Isaac muttered. He glanced at Mortimer. “Westmount is as crooked as they come and no doubt will tell Satans Wrath.” He turned to Jack. “I take it you’ve warned Damien?”

      “I called Damien’s number immediately, but …” Jack swallowed.

      “But?” Isaac prodded.

      “Pure E answered. He said he was expecting my call and told me that Damien wasn’t available … but he’d let Damien know I called.”

      “Oh, Lord,” Isaac repeated.

      “There’s no doubt Damien’s dead,” Jack said. “I then called the number I had for Vicki, but it wasn’t in service. Following that I called Edward Gosling’s office and discovered no one in his office made any calls to Basil Westmount.”

      Isaac’s eyebrows knitted together. “I’m not sure I understand.”

      “I couldn’t prove it in court, but it had to be Vicki who called Westmount. She was furious with Damien for not informing when I first showed them the video of Buck beating up the dealer. Damien wouldn’t have told anyone that Vicki attacked me or have made any mention of Gosling.”

      “A modern-day Judas,” Isaac said. “Have you called I-HIT?”

      “Yes, they’re trying to trace Damien’s cellphone — but Pure E wouldn’t have risked talking to me if there was any chance of us finding evidence.”

      “Any idea at all what they might’ve done with his body?”

      “No, sir. The three-three squad turn their phones off when they’re doing a hit … so their movements can’t be traced.”

      “Three-three squad?” Mortimer questioned.

      “Satans Wrath’s professional hit team,” Jack replied. “Individual members belong to various chapters, as do those assigned to the three-three. The area they are from, such as Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, and so on, is written across the bottom of their jackets. In their lingo it is referred to as the bottom rocker. The difference is the three-three are utilized by various chapter presidents across the country. Although their bottom rockers don’t say Canada, unofficially they’re thought of as the Canada Chapter. The third letter of the alphabet is ‘C,’ which is where the term three-three originated from.”

      “And you think Damien’s been murdered?” Mortimer again.

      “Yes, sir.”

      Mortimer gave Jack a look of disgust. “Didn’t it occur to you, Corporal, that last week you obtained evidence to charge him with money laundering? Not only weren’t you thinking clearly when you tried to warn him, I suspect it highly probable that he fled the country and is hoping you’ll think he’s dead.”

      “Sir, he’s definitely dead. Pure E wouldn’t have allowed Damien to get away with giving us the cocaine pipeline to Europe. Particularly with a seizure that large.”

      “You’re only guessing.” Mortimer scoffed. “I find it difficult to accept that they would kill their top man. In my opinion, you’ve been led down the garden path.”

      Jack’s face darkened. “I’m not a medical doctor, so I’m only guessing that Neal, Robert, and Roxanne Barlow are dead. I’d be pleased to take you to them so you could form your own opinion. That being said, I’m positive that Damien is dead.”

      Mortimer looked first at Jack, then Isaac. His jowls quivered and he spluttered in an apparent attempt to form a reply.

      Crap. That was a dumb thing to say to my future boss.

      Isaac’s face revealed his ire. “Corporal Taggart, your emotions have obviously affected your professionalism and the respect you normally hold for your superiors.”

      “Sir, he’s only had six hours sleep in the last two days,” Rose said. “With what he witnessed this morning and —”

      Isaac silenced Rose with a wave of his hand and focused on Jack. “Your outburst gives me cause to wonder if you’re suffering from post-traumatic stress. If that’s the case, you should be removed from active duty and put on stress leave. If that’s not the case, then your behaviour to Assistant Commissioner Mortimer is nothing short of insubordination.”

      Son-of-a-bitch. Apologize or else…. Jack swallowed, then looked at Mortimer. “Sir, I’m sorry. The events this morning were disturbing, but that’s no excuse for me to be discourteous and unprofessional. Please accept my apology.”

      Mortimer stared long enough for everyone to feel uncomfortable. “I accept your apology … this once.”

      “Thank you, sir.”

      “We’re done for now,” Isaac said. “I’ll contact I-HIT and we’ll adjourn until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow to decide what action to take.” He looked at Jack. “I suggest you get some sleep.”

      I feel like I’ve let you down…. “Sir, I’m extremely embarrassed,” Jack replied sincerely. He then gave a conciliatory nod to Mortimer. As far as you go, Humpty Dumpty, I’m in the mood for an omelette.

      Chapter Five

      Rose scowled at Jack as they walked back to their offices. “I can’t believe you spoke to Mortimer that way!”

      “The man’s an idiot! You heard what he said. If someone has a gun, I should turn the investigation over to the police. What the hell’s he thinking?”

      “He’s

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