Dead Ends (32 page)

A room at the far end of the barn locked with a combination lock caught Jack's attention. It wasn't the lock that caused his adrenalin to surge. It was the picture of a hamster on the door that told him they were not on mutual territory.

Jack spun around as Balvinder, Fateh, Quang, and Rashard appeared behind them. Balvinder and Rashard each brandished sawed-off shotguns while Fateh and Quang held pistols.

“Cocktail! What —”

Cocktail's chortle interrupted Sy's panicked voice. “Sorry guys,” he said, “you didn't make the honour roll.”

Jack glanced around for a chance to escape. His glance did not go unnoticed. Cocktail's smile mutated to a sneer. “All of you,” he barked, “lay down on your stomachs and put your hands behind your back!”

They slowly complied, laying face down in a row on the floor.

Jack could taste the dust and particles of hay in his mouth as he lay on the floor. More of it caused his eyes to water, but he hardly noticed as he waited for the inevitable sound of gunfire to announce their executions.
I wish I could write a note to Natasha and tell her how much I love her … and to say I'm sorry. Sorry that she will be a mom all on her own. Sorry, too, to my child for not being there …

Quang stuck his pistol in his belt and tied each of the captive's hands behind their backs with zip ties.

Jack pondered on the use of the zip ties.
Why didn't they shoot us? This is the ideal spot …

Jack's thoughts were interrupted when Fateh kicked Sy in the face and said, “That is for what you cost me the other morning.”

“Fateh! Wait,” commanded Cocktail. “Stick to the itinerary. You'll get your chance. Let Quang finish.”

Quang picked up a short length of heavy chain and weaved one end through the bound arms of each of the captives.

“Gentleman, stand up,” ordered Cocktail.

They did as told and the chain was used to bind them shoulder to shoulder in a circle with their backs against a thick support beam that ran from the floor up to the ceiling. The ends of the chain were tightened and padlocked together.

“Listen carefully,” said Cocktail, “you will all die, that is without question. For those of you who are slow to grasp concepts easily, I will give you a moment to accept your fate.”

Jack saw Cocktail smile before whistling part of the tune to
The Bridge on the River Kwai
.
He's enjoying this
, he thought. He recalled the bloody splashes up the back of Gabriel's house and looked around the barn.
Cocktail can do anything to us here ... drag it out for days … try not to focus on the pain. Focus on something else … Natasha … too painful … focus on an object … the picture of Harry the Hamster…

“Okay, gentlemen, your time is up,” said Cocktail, as he strutted around his captives with his hands clasped behind him. “The bad news is that you're going to die, but the good news is you can decide how. It is all a question of economics. The richer you make us before you die will decide whether your death is quick and painless ... or long and slow. You see, I have listened to most of you brag about how much you've made.” Cocktail stopped to stare at Sy and continued, “Brag about how you made a million dollars …” Cocktail shook his head and added, “How very, very foolish you have been.”

“Fuck you,” seethed Mongo. “You're gonna kill us, anyway. I sure as fuck ain't payin' you to do it.”

“Well, thank you, Mongo, for volunteering to go first,” said Cocktail. He nodded to Quang who approached Mongo with a dirty rag to use as a gag.

“Okay, you're right. You win,” said Mongo, gruffly. “Let me go and I'll give ya the money. I'm done with this stuff. I give up. Let me go and I'm out of here. Fuck, I'll even leave B.C. if ya want me to.”

“Of course you would,” said Cocktail, “but you weren't paying attention. None of you will leave here alive.” A bemused smile crossed Cocktail's face and he said, “Open your mouth like a good boy. You'll get a chance to talk later.”

Jack saw the look of rage on Mongo's face turn to panic as the gag was tied around his mouth. The reason was obvious. Rashard had set the shotgun down and approached with a pitchfork, which he jabbed in the air toward Mongo's face. At the same time Rashard was joined by Quang who held a barbecue lighter.

“The rest of you watch our first volunteer closely,” said Cocktail, “and decide how best you can spend your money before you die.” Cocktail gestured for Rashard to stand back and said, “Mister Quang, please demonstrate to our audience how painful death can become.”

Quang clicked the lighter. On the third click the flame erupted out the end and he slowly moved the flame under Mongo's goatee.

Jack heard Mongo scream through the gag and saw the big man's muscles bulge as he twisted and turned in an effort to get away.

Jack turned away as the smell of burned hair and flesh invaded his nostrils. Beside him he could feel Mongo lurch and twist his body as his muffled cries turned to whimpers.

Without warning, Rashard stabbed Mongo through the arm with the pitchfork, effectively pinning him to the beam. “This will hold the fucker still!”

The action caused the chain to tighten, jerking Jack back as a spray of blood shot out from an artery in Mongo's arm, hitting Cocktail in the face.

“What have you done?” screamed Cocktail.

Chapter Forty-One

Laura checked her watch and realized only four minutes had passed since she last looked.

“I don't see what we can do except wait,” replied Connie, watching her.

“You've been checking with OCTF? The monitors?”

“Everyone is up to speed. Nothing unusual on the wiretap. OCTF has a room bug someplace where Fateh's guys are partying. Everything seems normal.”

“Do they normally party on a Sunday night?” asked Laura.

“I guess so. These guys don't need to show up for work Monday morning.”

“Jack is right about one thing,” said Laura. “Waiting is —”

Connie's phone rang and she grabbed it.

“Is it Jack?” asked Laura, hopefully, although reason told her that Jack would call her first.

“No, it's Nicole Purney, one of the monitors,” replied Connie, putting her finger up to her mouth for Laura to be quiet.

Laura saw the blood drain from Connie's face and her hand trembled as she passed the phone over to Laura. “You better hear what came over the room bug.”

“Play it back for me,” Laura asked into the receiver.

“As I told Connie when she called earlier,” said Nicole, “Fateh's top guys are partying hard tonight. This just came in. I live monitored it. Here you go.”

Laura strained to hear every sound. She heard laughter and the sound of ice being dropped in glasses. A male voice said, “Our fuckin' profit margin is gonna go up like a rocket.”

“Yeah, guess tonight we can consider all of the competition buried!” replied another male voice.

“Literally,” said a third person, followed by the sound of laughter.

Laura gasped and said, “I'm coming down there, Nicole,” and hung up.

Connie stared wide-eyed at Laura and said, “Do you think—”

“It was a trap,” replied Laura, getting to her feet. “Jack walked into an ambush.”

“What was said?” asked Sammy.

“Party talk,” mumbled Laura. “Sounds like Jack may already be dead and buried someplace.”

“Jesus, Laura!” replied Connie. “Don't say that. What can we do?”

“All we can do is wait and listen,” she replied, making no effort to wipe the tears from her face.

* * *

“You damned imbecile,” screamed Cocktail leaping back and grabbing a tissue from his pocket to wipe the blood off his face. “What if he has AIDS?” he yelled at Rashard. “You ever think of that?” he continued.

Jack watched as Cocktail rubbed the tissue hard on his face, pausing to inspect it before continuing to rub some more. When he was satisfied he had removed all the blood, he carefully examined his clothing to look for blood.

“I thought you wanted these guys to get good and bloody,” said Rashard.

“Next time warn me so I can stand back,” said Cocktail tersely. He looked at Quang and said, “Enough barbecuing for the moment. Take his gag off and see if he has come to his senses.”

Quang ripped the gag from Mongo's mouth and stood back as Mongo slumped forward and vomited.

“Enough,” said Jack. “I don't want to go through this. I bet I've got more money than these three guys put together. It's yours.”

“Interesting,” replied Cocktail. “Where is it?”

“It's hidden and protected. I'd have to show you.”

“Bullshit! Tell us where it is!”

“It's in a storage locker.”

“Where's the key?” asked Cocktail.

“My girlfriend has it. I could call her.”

“That isn't going to happen. No calls. Tell us which storage locker. You will remain here until we break into it. If you're telling the truth, your death will be painless and quick. I will leave it to your imagination to figure out what will happen if you are lying.”

“I copied your idea of using an incendiary bomb on a shelf like you do in your labs. I rigged a more complicated and hidden triggering mechanism, though. I would need to show you the carboy to point out exactly how I have incorporated the device that would set it off.”

“He's lying,” said Balvinder. “He would be afraid of burning his money.”

“Fireproof safe,” said Jack. “There are other documents … names … that I wanted destroyed rather than fall into the hands of certain enemies. The safe I could actually afford to lose, but not the names.”

“Your carboy and layout mimics the setup in the labs?”

“Yes, except I used a mercury switch so that motion will set off a blasting cap to trigger the contents of the carboy. I also installed two tripwires.”

“Mercury switch and two tripwires … I'm impressed,” replied Cocktail. “You are somewhat more sophisticated than your dysfunctional friends.”

Jack shrugged in response.

“So tell me, where exactly are these tripwires?”

“My carboy is in the middle of a shelf above the safe. There are loose boards scattered about that have to be moved to get to either the safe or the cardboard file folder containing my documents. One board has a tripwire to the left of the carboy, no … the right … maybe the left. The one on the floor by the safe is the opposite.”

“Which is it?” demanded Cocktail.

“He's lyin',” said Rashard.

“I'm not lying. I've seen what you would do to me if I was. Even worse if one of you got hurt getting it. The trouble is, I'm dyslexic. If I was in the room with the carboy I could describe it accurately, but to try and tell you by memory … I'm afraid I would make a mistake. Take me to the locker and I could tell you.”

“You're not leaving here,” said Cocktail. “Not alive, at least. You said the layout mimics our labs.” He looked at Quang and said, “Take him over to your lab, but leave his hands tied behind his back.” Cocktail looked at Jack and said, “You can verbalize or gesture to us exactly how you have supposedly done this.”

Jack was released from the chain, but his hands remained tied behind his back with the zip-tie. Sy, Mongo, and Munch remained padlocked around the beam.

Quang headed for the locked room and Balvinder grabbed Jack by the arm as they followed.

Jack glanced behind him and saw Rashard aim a pistol at his head. Cocktail followed behind Rashard while Fateh remained with the other prisoners.

Jack stood quietly with his head slumped on his chest as Quang undid the lock and opened the door slightly, before reaching up to pull down the lever.

Jack reacted instantly by kicking Quang in the middle of his back, propelling him into the room, before tumbling to one side as a loud
whoosh
, accompanied by a huge fireball, engulfed the room.

Quang, a distorted image of a human fireball turned to run and slammed into Balvinder and Rashard. Jack was already on his feet, running to the nearest doorway, which led to the other side of the barn.

“Shoot him! Shoot him!” screamed Cocktail through a fog of smoke and fire.

Jack glanced back and saw Quang and Rashard both rolling on the floor while Balvinder jumped around them yelling for them to roll faster.

Jack burst through the doorway and saw a large sliding door in front of him. It was closed and with his hands tied behind his back, he knew he couldn't open it in time. He looked at the empty stanchions and a gutter used to collect manure. At the far end of the barn, three planks nailed together made a ramp up to a door made of rough boards.

Jack raced up the ramp and kicked the door. It burst open immediately and he found himself on a ramp leading to a pile of manure. Beyond the pile was an open yard leading to a large hangar-styled building that was open on all sides. At one end of the building was a tractor and a hay baler. Outside the building stood a large, overhead gravity-fed tank of gas.

Jack glanced behind him. Screaming through the smoke and crackling fire told him that Quang was being dragged out the front entrance of the barn. Footsteps pounding through the barn said others were coming his way.

He looked back at the hangar and saw that the rest of building was filled with rows of bales of hay, stacked to roof level.
It will take about ten seconds to make it to the hangar. Maybe longer. Can I make it? The hangar has nothing but field around it. No place to run to …

Balvinder and Rashard, with guns in hand, burst out onto the ramp, followed seconds later by Fateh and Cocktail.

“The fucker is hiding in the storage hangar,” yelled Rashard.

Balvinder glanced back inside the barn and said, “What about our three prisoners?”

“Let them burn to death,” replied Cocktail. “Murder will be hard to prove, besides, it was Jay who started the fire, not us.”

“The fucking neighbours are bound to see the fire,” continued Rashard. “We might never find him before the cops and fire department show up.”

“Then torch the hangar, too,” yelled Cocktail. “There's farm equipment in there, better yet, that's an overhead gas tank beside the hangar. Use it!”

Moments later, another large
whoosh
of flame erupted as the hangar, fuelled by gas, turned the building into an inferno.

Jack squirmed out from underneath the plank and peeked over the manure pile. Cocktail, Balvinder, and Rashard were watching different corners of the hangar. Within seconds, all the hay was burning. No living creature could survive inside.

Jack stumbled back into the barn and crouched low as he ran back through the barn. In the dense smoke and heat, he saw Sy, Mongo, and Munch. They had dropped to the ground, fighting and kicking in an unsuccessful attempt to free themselves. Their lungs choked and gasped for air while the roar of the fire sounded like a jet engine screaming around them.

Jack kicked a window and used his foot to hook a piece of shattered glass and pull it inside.

“Jay! Help us!” coughed Sy.

“I will,” replied Jack. “Give me a minute to free myself,” he said, plunking himself down on the floor. He picked up the broken glass with his fingers and feverishly sawed away at the zip tie. Precious seconds ticked past and his fingers became slippery with blood.

“Jay! Look out!” yelled Sy.

Jack saw Cocktail charging at him with a pitchfork as the zip tie broke. He didn't have time to get up. His eyes met Cocktail and he saw the blind rage.

“You're dead!” screamed Cocktail.

Jack was sitting cross-legged on the floor. He rested his elbow on his knee with his arm extended upward. Jack's face and open chest looked like an easy target and Cocktail lunged at it with the pitchfork.

A look of surprise crossed Cocktail's face when Jack used his arm to knock the pitchfork to one side, while grabbing the wooden shaft with his other hand and giving it a tug as if to pull it from Cocktail's grasp.

Cocktail responded as most people would. He yanked hard on the pitchfork. It was what Jack had been waiting for. The movement gave Jack the momentum to rise with the pitchfork and propel himself forward, knocking Cocktail to the floor, with himself on top.

Jack punched him viciously five times in the face. Cocktail let go of the pitchfork and Jack pressed the wooden handle across his throat and leaned on it with all his weight.

“Help us,” pleaded Mongo behind him. “We're burning …”

Cocktail lost consciousness and Jack continued to press down.

“Jay! Come on!” said Sy, barely able to cough out the words.

Jack cursed and scrambled across the floor to the broken window. He grabbed two shards of glass and used one to free Sy. When he did, he said, “Grab the other piece and help me.”

As Mongo and Munch got free, Jack heard Cocktail yell and saw him moving on all fours, like a crab, as he grabbed his attaché case and scurried away, disappearing into the smoke on the far side of the barn. His screams alerted Balvinder, Rashard, and Fateh.

Jack, Sy, Mongo, and Munch ran out the front door. Munch stumbled over Quang's smouldering body, got to his feet, and followed the others. Jack quickly checked the van they had arrived in … no keys in the ignition. A scream from Balvinder said they had been spotted.

“Run for it!” yelled Jack, while darting for the darkness away from the lights of the farm.