Loose Ends (28 page)

“What were you playing?” asked Jack, as he gave the rope a slap and watched it swing out the open doors at the end of the loft.

“I don't know. I was just thinking it would be fun to swing out in the yard … but if I fell and hurt myself, I guess it wouldn't be good.”

“Jack could tie a big knot at the end of the rope. You could stand on it and it would be safer.”

Jack caught the rope in his hand and spoke to Marcie while tying a large knot. “It wouldn't be good if you hurt yourself. I would be upset. So would Liz and Ben.”

“No, they wouldn't. They're mad at me. I did a stupid thing. But what else is new,” she mumbled.

“They told us about that, but they're not angry with you at all,” said Natasha. “As a matter of fact, they were just bragging to us about how much help you've been and how hard you've been tackling your school work.”

“Listening to them,” said Jack, “makes me really proud of you. They're really happy with you. They're definitely not angry with you. In fact, I think the three of you help each other much more than you realize.”

“That's nice they said that.” She looked at her watch. “I bet dinner is ready. We should go.”

Natasha found out that Jack had not exaggerated how great the meal would be. The simplicity of the roasted free-range chicken, scalloped potatoes, and broccoli with hollandaise sauce made for a homey, mouth-watering meal. She wasn't surprised at the freshly baked apple pie with ice cream for dessert. The aroma of the pie had greeted her when she first arrived.

Supper conversation was easygoing, which she appreciated. The occasional friction of Jack's knee rubbing against her leg brought on fantasies of a primal nature. More intellectual conversation would have been difficult.

After dinner, she insisted on helping Liz clean up in the kitchen, while Ben went to get wood for the fireplace.
She saw Jack and Marcie escape the work detail as they headed outside to walk off dinner. She didn't mind; it gave her time alone with Liz. Time to squeeze any stories out of her about Jack. Either as a child, or as a man.

Liz told her about Ben's heart attack and how Jack spent every spare minute he had working on the farm until Ben slowly regained his strength. She said something else. Jack was really good with Maggie and Ben Junior. He'd been like a second dad to them.

“In case you wanted to know that,” said Liz, with a smirk on her face.

Natasha smiled. “It's good to know,” she replied.

Later, they had coffee in the living room. Marcie seemed happier and joined in on the conversation. At nine o'clock, Marcie announced that it was her bedtime, and Natasha realized that it was time to go.

They said good night at the door. Jack gave Marcie a hug first, then Liz. Natasha saw Ben standing back. He looked shy. She smiled and gave him a hug. His arms were huge and strong. She felt like a child in his grasp.

Liz hugged her and whispered, “You take good care of my little brother.”

“I will,” she whispered back.

It was then she noticed Marcie in the living room, standing on her tiptoes at the fireplace. She picked up the glass mouse and took it with her as she headed down the hall to her bedroom.

Natasha glanced at Jack. He looked pleased. She felt good too. She liked Jack's family, and she knew she loved Jack. Her only disappointment for the day was that Jack wouldn't spend the night with her. He had an early morning engagement — one that was important enough that she could not convince him to stay.

It was six-thirty on Monday morning when Jack and Danny finished their coffee in a small restaurant adjacent to a large cemetery.

“Time?” asked Danny.

“It's time,” replied Jack.

Danny punched the numbers into his cellphone. Superintendent Wigmore was getting dressed for work when he answered the call.

“Sir? It's Danny O'Reilly.”

“O'Reilly! Well, well. Aren't you the punctual one. What have you decided?”

“Sir, I've only got a few minutes. I'm at a coffee shop. Jack is here, too, but he just went to the washroom.”

“So you've decided to come clean? Tell me what Taggart is up to? Or, should I say, what the two of you have been up to?”

“Yes, sir, but a lot has happened this last week.
Taggart thinks he knows who killed his niece and nephew. Two bikers from Satans Wrath.”

“How does he figure that?”

“We turned a good informant. Someone inside the club.”

“Turning an informant in Satans Wrath? Just like that? Come on, O'Reilly! What's been going on?”

“Sir, it's a long story, and I can't talk right now. Basically, I'm afraid of what Jack will do to the men who did this. He trusts me completely and tells me everything. He said that he's thinking of getting them. Wants to take a week or two and plan how to do it.”

“A week or two? This is good…. We have time. Meet me tonight at the Oceanside and we'll go over everything. Then I'll take it to Internal and we'll come up with a plan.”

“Tonight isn't good, sir. Jack wants me to work surveillance with him the next couple of nights. If I slip away, he might get suspicious. Wednesday night would be better.” Danny's voice suddenly became more official and he said, “Sorry, no. You've got the wrong number.”

“Taggart is back, I take it?”

“Yes, that is this number,” said Danny.

“Okay, no problem. Call me at home Wednesday night to set up a time to meet.”

A few minutes later, Wigmore left his apartment and walked to his car. He was irritated when he saw that someone had left an empty liquor bottle standing on the roof of his car. He picked the bottle up and looked at the label.
Glennfiddich … my brand. Too bad someone hadn't left a full one!
He set the bottle by the curb before driving off.

At the same time, Jack and Danny walked up a grassy knoll in a cemetery. The ground was soaked from an overnight rain and the air was crisp. Leaves had
already fallen, exposing black branches to the grey sky. Some of the upright grave markers were silhouetted on the crest of the hill. The business towers and high-rise apartments on the horizon were still lit up.

“Whose idea was it to meet here?”

“Mine. If our friend doesn't cooperate, I'm going to send you back to the car to get some stuff from the trunk.”

“What stuff?”

“A blanket and —”

“Over here!” Lance yelled.

Jack and Danny had reached the crest of the hill and saw Lance sitting on a marble tombstone.

“How's it goin'?” asked Jack. “Are you taking any heat over Halibut getting busted?”

Lance shook his head. “Naw, they figure it was one of two things. Either the heat came from Montreal like they said on the news, or else the cops threw that out as a red herring and were really following Halibut all along. If they decide the heat was on Halibut, it will look bad for Rolly.”

“Why Rolly?” asked Jack. “Come on, we can walk as we talk,” he added.

Lance stood up and joined Jack and Danny as they slowly walked through the cemetery.

“Wizard gave Rolly shit this weekend,” continued Lance. “He told Rolly that he should have used Dragon because the heat had been on Halibut before, when we whacked Lenny. Not much else was said about it, but Damien is pissed off. It's caused a bit of a stink in the club.”

“Why is that?” asked Danny.

“This was only the second shipment. Now the guys back east are pointing fingers at us, saying we screwed up, and we're pointing fingers back at them.”

“Speaking of Damien,” said Jack, “how come you're not an executive officer? Maybe not national pres, but you've got more brains than Wizard. You could be president or vice-president of your chapter. You've got a lot of years in.”

Lance shrugged. “Wizard is smarter than he looks. He's got a good chance of beating Damien out for national pres. The election takes place in a couple of weeks. Presidents from all the chapters in the country will be flyin' in to vote.”

“You think Wizard is in the running?”

“Definitely. He's fluent in French and has a lot of support from the guys back east. He's been down there schmoozing with them. It was him who set up the speed connection.”

“Still doesn't explain why you haven't made executive level.”

“It's a lot less hassle just being one step removed from executive. Less work, but you're still respected and not stuck with a lot of the shit jobs.”

“Start campaigning. We want you to be an executive officer.”

Lance nodded. “Yeah, I could see that comin'.”

“Anything else going on?” asked Jack.

“Don't know if you're interested, but I heard Damien telling Wizard that he was flying down to the Grand Caymans for a week. Damien said that if they couldn't reach him for any reason when he was gone, then Wizard would act as national president. He left last night and is coming back next Sunday.”

Jack stopped walking and stood beside a fresh grave. He prodded the dirt lightly with the toe of his ankle boot and said, “Doing a little banking, is he?”

Lance chuckled, then said, “Yeah, probably. Doesn't say and I don't ask.”

“Speaking of asking,” Jack flashed a glance at Danny, then continued, “I've got something for you to ask Rolly.”

“Yeah? What's that?”

“Did you hear about those two little kids who were killed in a farmhouse up the Valley? Eight weeks ago?”

“Yeah. Is that when it was? I only know what I heard in the news.”

“Rolly killed the little boy.”

“What? You certain?”

“I'm positive. I think Wizard did the little girl. I want you to talk to them about it. Find out if they were with someone else.”

“You don't ask questions like that! Forget it!”

“You will ask! I'm not giving you any choice in this!” yelled Jack.

“Fuck you! I'm not doin' it!”

Jack flung his car keys at Danny, then tackled Lance by the throat.

Shortly after arriving at work, Wigmore received a call from a man with a nasal voice.

“Superintendent Wigmore speaking.”

“Yes, is this Superintendent Wigglemouth?” came a somewhat mumbled, nervous-sounding reply.

“It's Superintendent Wigmore!”

“Yes, Superintendent Wigglemore?”

“Wigmore,” he replied, enunciating the name carefully.

“Wrigglemore,” the voice repeated carefully.

“For Christ's sake! It's Superintendent Wigmore! W-I-G-M-O-R-E!”

The caller hung up.

It was dusk when Lance walked along a path in Stanley Park. The street lights came on and he nervously looked behind him, didn't see anyone, then walked up to Wizard and Rolly, who were sitting on a bench eating popcorn.

They stood up as he approached. Wizard jerked his head toward the path, indicating they should walk as they talked.

“So what's the deal?” said Wizard gruffly. “How come ya want to meet us out here?”

“The deal is,” said Lance, his voice trembling, “I got a real nasty visit from two cops this morning.”

“What the fuck did they want?” said Rolly with a higher than normal laugh.

“They wanted me to become a rat is what they fuckin' wanted!”

“What!” said Wizard incredulously. “What were they, two rookies tryin' to give away a handful of cash?”

“These weren't fuckin' rookies,” said Lance. “One guy is fuckin' crazy. Maybe both of them are, but one for sure. They took me to a graveyard and the crazy one jumps on me and starts chokin' the shit out of me until I black out. When I come to, he's still sittin' on my chest!”

“Are you fuckin' serious?” said Wizard.

“That ain't all. Then I see that the other fucker has got a blanket spread out on the ground and is shovellin' dirt onto it out of a new grave. Pretty fuckin' obvious what they were plannin' on doin' with me!”

“You're sweatin' just talkin' about it! You are fuckin' serious, ain't ya?”

“You're fuckin' right I'm serious!”

“Why? What the fuck did —”

“The crazy one said I tried to kill him two weeks ago.”

“What?”

“Remember Eddy? Behind the Black Water?”

“Yeah. Did he rat out on us?” asked Rolly.

“Whoever told you he was a rat fucked up real bad. Because Eddy was the crazy one who attacked me this morning! He's an RCMP officer!”

“Fuckin' Eddy is a cop?” Wizard looked astonished. “Can't be!”

“I saw their badges. The crazy one said he'd let me live if I cooperated with them.”

“So what did you tell 'em?” growled Wizard. “How come he didn't kill ya?”

“Fuck, I was in a bad situation! Then the crazy one says he wants me to testify about Lenny and also wants me to find out what Rolly did with the shotgun he used on some kid!”

“What?” yelled Rolly. “They know about me?”

“I told them I needed a couple days to think about it. I knew if you used a piece to whack someone that you would have tossed it, but I wasn't gonna tell them that!”

“What made them think I whacked some kid?” spluttered Rolly.

“They know all about you two,” said Lance, while nervously looking around.

The three men stopped talking as a couple jogged towards them, then passed by.

“What do ya mean? What'd they say?” asked Wizard.

“They told me things I didn't even know. Like they said that Rolly killed a little boy out in some abandoned farmhouse. They said you were with him when he killed the boy and popped the kid's sister first.”

Wizard immediately grabbed Rolly with both hands around his throat and pinned him back against a tree. “You fuckin' idiot! Who you been blabbin' at?”

“Fuckin' nobody, Wiz, fuckin' nobody!”