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.
chapter twenty-seven
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
