Читать книгу Subverting Justice - Don Easton - Страница 12

It was 7:30 a.m. when Jack picked Laura up in front of her house. As she fastened her seat belt she said, “Amazing what twelve hours of sleep can do for a person.”

“Glad you’re feeling better.” Jack pulled away from the curb. “Have you given more thought about asking for a transfer?”

“Wow, you don’t waste any time.”

“Sorry … good morning. Are you putting in for a transfer?”

Laura hesitated, then said, “Jack, I’m sorry.”

Shit. I’m going to miss you something awful. “Don’t be sorry. You have to do what’s right for you. Besides, we’ll always be friends.” He tried to give her a reassuring smile but realized she knew how he felt.

“‘Friends’ isn’t the right word. You’re like family to me, but this thing with Pure E leaving that message on the wall … I think I should stay until —”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jack said, trying to sound casual. “Like I said yesterday, there’s always something.”

“I know, but how about I stay until January? That’s three months away. By then I’ll have a pretty good idea about how you plan on getting Pure E.”

Jack gave her a sideways glance. “You thinking you’ll be able to keep me out of trouble?”

“Someone has to.”

“You sure? I don’t mind if you want to leave before then.”

“I’m sure. Besides, I’m really embarrassed about the meltdown yesterday. It’s not how I want you to remember me. Three months might give me time to redeem myself.”

“You don’t need to redeem yourself. Not after all you and I’ve been through. There’d be something wrong with us if we didn’t have the occasional meltdown.” He paused, then went on, “In our line of work there comes a time when you need to extricate yourself from the stress and be smart enough to realize it. It takes more than hiding out in the women’s washroom and a night’s sleep to fix that. I think a transfer is the right decision.”

“And you?”

“Actually, hiding out in the women’s washroom seems to work for me.”

“Funny man.” Laura paused, then said, “Look at me a sec.”

Jack glanced at her. “What?”

“You look worse than you did when you dropped me off yesterday.”

“It was a long night,” Jack replied. “I doubt I got more than a few hours’ sleep.”

“You upset because of me?”

“No, that wasn’t it.”

“Oh … you told Natasha about the farmhouse. I bet she was upset.”

Jack shook his head. “I better update you on what happened after I dropped you off yesterday. It’s one of those good news, bad news things. The good news is I spoke with John Adams. One of the file boxes he took pertains to Lance Morgan and Whiskey Jake. I’ll know more details within a week or so.”

“Fantastic! That’s great news. You turned Lance once before — think you can do it again?”

“Hope so. If there are enough details to link him with money laundering, we could threaten him with extradition. He’d serve big time in the States.”

Laura’s voice became grave. “What’s the bad news?”

“Pure E thinks he has a sense of humour … other than what he showed at the farmhouse.”

Laura’s voice became edgy. “How? What’s going on?”

“I-HIT called me at suppertime, telling me that Damien’s phone had been turned back on. They got an address to where it was.”

“Where? Did you go out? You should’ve called me.”

“No, I stayed home. It was my address. Someone dropped the phone in my mailbox.”

“Jack!” Laura was obviously shocked.

“There were photos on it. You can see for yourself.” He dug the phone out of his pocket and passed it to her.

Laura flipped through the photos. “Oh, man. Jack … your kids … you and Natasha.”

“Like I said, Pure E has a real sense of humour. Natasha isn’t amused, though.”

“She must be terrified,” Laura replied.

“Not terrified — angry. Told me she was fed up with the bullshit.” Jack paused, then added, “I said I’d deal with it.”

Laura was quiet for a moment. When she spoke, her voice sounded grave. “How, exactly, do you plan to on doing that?”

“Don’t worry. I can’t step outside the law and make it personal. There’d be retaliation. That being said, we need to send a message. What I want to do is submit a plan to have Drug Section, Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, Integrated Proceeds of Crime, and any other relevant section to focus their attention on Satans Wrath. Traffic Enforcement, as well. I don’t want these guys to be able to move without being hassled. Show the assholes what their new leader has brought down on them. Given what happened, I’m sure the brass will approve it.”

Laura looked at the pictures again.

“They weren’t emailed to anyone,” Jack noted. “Bet they used their own phones and sent copies to Pure E, though.”

Laura scowled. “We can’t let him get away with this.”

“I won’t.”

“We won’t,” Laura said forcefully. “I told you, I’m with you on this. Forget the three months. If it takes longer, so be it.”

Jack felt the lump in his throat. “We’ll see. If you change your mind and want to go, I’ll be okay. To be honest, I don’t know how you held on this long.”

Laura chuckled. “Maybe because I’m as pigheaded as you are.”

“I’ve no idea how long it’ll take.”

Laura cast him a sideways glance. “With the home visit you got yesterday, I don’t see you letting Pure E get away with it for long.”

As soon as Jack and Laura arrived at work, they met with Rose in her office and Jack told her about finding Damien’s cellphone in his mailbox.

Rose’s jaw slackened, then concern crossed her face.

She’s worried for my safety. “Don’t worry. As my ten-year-old-son figured out, Pure E was just trying to scare us.”

“Scare you!” Rose exclaimed. Her face hardened. “Pure E doesn’t know you, but I do. What are you intending to —”

Christ! She’s concerned for his safety! The rage Jack felt was instant. “What the hell?”

Rose stared at him.

“You’re worried about his safety?” he said.

“And —”

“My family is the victim here! Yes, I’m pissed off, but I don’t plan on running off half-cocked.”

“I am worried about you and your family. That worry includes how you’ll respond.”

Jack forced himself to calm down. “If anything,” he said, “my anger makes me more focused on the best way to handle it.”

“Which is?”

“We’re meeting Isaac and Mortimer this morning. I want your support, Rose, to submit an operational plan to make Satans Wrath a priority in this province. Drug Section, CFSEU, Integrated Proceeds of Crime … everyone needs to get involved. Right down to the members handing out traffic tickets. We have to send the bikers our own message.”

“Of course you’ll have my support for that,” Rose said. “There are what, about 115 Satans Wrath members in the province?”

Laura spoke up. “I think 127, if you include prospects.”

“Okay … and as a rule of thumb, for every member, there are about ten hardcore criminals affiliated with them,” Rose noted. “So altogether you’re talking about 1,270 professional criminals.”

“Yes. I realize we are badly outnumbered, but —”

“‘Outnumbered’ is an understatement,” Rose said. “Then there’s the puppet clubs who work for them, such as the Gypsy Devils. Also we’re only talking about the army they have in this province. These guys cross borders and intermingle on a daily basis.”

“I know, but we can’t give up. Something needs to be done.”

“I totally agree, but if extra manpower is allotted, they’ll be looking to you to provide them with specific targets. Have you given any thought to that?”

“Only briefly,” Jack admitted. “I’ve got one source who might come around.”

“Weenie Wagger.”

“Yes.”

“Who you told me is stressed out, drinking, and using drugs.”

“I’ve tried the drinking,” Laura said dryly. “Doesn’t work.” She must have seen the sour look on Jack’s face, because she elbowed him in the ribs. “Hey, only teasing. I’d never turn down one of your famous olive soups.”

Jack eyed Laura briefly. Her humour seemed forced. She’s trying to show me that she’s not stressed out and that it’s game on as usual. He gave her a smile, then turned back to Rose. “He’s more than paid his debt, but I might be able to turn him around.”

“Money?”

“No, I think he’ll be looking for a friend. Offering money would negate that. The problem is, even if he does co-operate, he’s only a peon. He’s not even allowed to speak to Pure E or chapter presidents unless they expressly okay it.”

“Are there any other avenues of investigation available?”

“Possibly. I’m expecting to receive some intel from down south that might help.”

“You’re talking about the connection Satans Wrath has with the West 12th Street Gang in Texas and the money-laundering scheme Damien had going in Mexico?”

“Yes.”

“I read a preliminary report that International Proceeds of Crime did from their raids last week. Except for Damien, none of the other bad guys in the files they seized were Canadian. I don’t think there’s anything there that could help us.”

“I-POC doesn’t know everything,” Jack replied quietly.

“Oh?” Rose raised an eyebrow. “You holding something back from me?”

Jack waited a beat. “I had the distinct impression when Mortimer spoke to us yesterday that protecting informants wasn’t his priority. He’d rather get his name in the newspaper.”

Rose frowned. “That’s Mortimer. You’re talking to me.”

“I know, but someone stuck their neck out to get some information for me. The info is in Spanish and needs to be translated. It might take a week or two. Once we get it, I’m optimistic it’ll give us the leverage we need to turn a high-valued source.”

“This person who stuck their neck out — how far out?”

“Far enough to be fired if found out.”

“I see. How much time do you need to get an operational plan together in the meantime to get the ball rolling in the event this new source doesn’t pan out?”

Thank you for not digging deeper. “Two or three weeks.”

“Two or three weeks?” Rose sounded dismayed.

“We definitely need to target the prospects and the three-three.”

“The three-three is obvious. I presume you said ‘the prospects’ because they’re responsible for taking most of the risks?”

“Yes. We’ll need to verify where everyone lives before submitting any operational plan. These guys move around a lot. Two or three weeks isn’t long to do all that.”

“It’s said that vengeance is a dish best served cold,” Laura added.

Rose peered at Laura over the top of her glasses. “Not you, too,” she muttered. She looked at Jack. “I was actually questioning if two or three weeks is long enough to put an op plan together. I don’t want you to rush into this. We need to be thorough.”

“We’ll have to work night and day, but it’ll be thorough,” Jack said adamantly. “After that, if we do get a new informant, we’ll have to adjust the op plan depending on what we learn. Money laundering, drug dealing, prostitution, credit card rip-offs … it’s all handled by different factions within the club.”

Rose nodded. “Even if you get this new source, it could still take a long time to nail Pure E.”

Jack glanced at Laura. “We know, but we’re optimistic. The potential source is a chapter president and is able to consult with Pure E directly.”

“Chapter president?” Rose pursed her lips. “Sounds good.”

“That being said, we may not be able to act on a lot of things he’ll tell us for fear of putting him in jeopardy,” Jack cautioned.

Rose looked reflective, then said, “I came away from yesterday’s meeting with the same sense of foreboding over Mortimer’s lack of concern about informant safety. I understand your worry.”

“If we get this new source, and I think we will, protecting him will be my top priority.”

“I’m sure you’ll come up with some way to protect him,” Rose said.

Like pointing a finger at someone else? Another sacrificial lamb like Neal Barlow? That makes me sick.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean what you thought I meant,” Rose hastened to say, apparently reading Jack’s expression. “I’m sure you’ll think of other ways.”

Jack decided to change the subject. “So we’re set for the meeting? We have your backing?”

“Not quite. You never mentioned I-HIT in the equation,” Rose said.

“They’re already involved, what with the four murders yesterday.”

“I realize that … so I think they have enough work. Don’t you agree?”

“We’re dealing with Pure E. I’m sure more bodies will surface sooner or later.”

“Bodies attributed to Pure E aren’t what I meant,” she said, staring at Jack.