what happened. We’ve already logged in fourteen hours today. All I want to do now is close my eyes.”
Laura was almost home when she drove past a liquor store, then slammed on her brakes and backed up.
Jack was relaxing on the sofa talking to Natasha when the phone rang.
“This stuff is awful!” said Laura. “How do you drink it?”
“Ah ... you are wise to phone the master martini maker,” replied Jack. “It is actually an acquired taste. For beginners, I recommend...”
Elvis saw Laura’s hand tremble as she slid a martini across the kitchen table toward him. He took a sip, grimaced, and then said, “So, you set the alarm clock for four?”
Laura nodded.
“Pretty early.”
Laura took a swallow but held the glass with both hands to try to stop it from spilling.
“Are you going to tell me about it?”
Laura peered at him from over her glass but didn’t reply.
“Something bad happened today ... or tonight.”
Laura put her glass back down on the table and her eyes opened wider as she feigned surprise.
Elvis’s face reddened and he said, “Don’t lie to me, Laura! Don’t give me that act surprised, show concern, deny, deny, deny routine. You narcs do it so much that it has become a joke in our office. If you don’t — or can’t — tell me, fine, but respect me enough not to lie to me.”
Laura’s face went blank for a moment, then she started to cry. Elvis put his arms out to her. She quickly rose and then sat on his lap and held him tight.
“I respect you,” she sobbed, “and I love you more than anything. What happened today ... I really love you. This ... I can’t talk about it. Everything will be okay. Just trust me.”
Elvis held her but didn’t respond. What is going on?
chapter thirty-three
It was quarter to four in the morning when Damien, Lance, and Whiskey Jake arrived back at the car wash. Leitch and Ray lifted their heads and turned to stare. They were still naked and tied face-down to the railings on the floor, with gags in place.
Leitch’s eyes were wide with fear. His face was bloodied, but he still had hope. He grunted and whined as he tried to plead. White blisters on the soles of his feet were explained by the cigarette butts lying beside them.
Ray’s eyes were dark. His experiences had taught him that pleading might only prolong the inevitable, delaying the welcome relief of death. The smell of burnt hair lingered in the air from more personal places where a cigarette lighter had been applied to his body.
“What did you find out?” asked Damien.
Rellik tapped Ray in the ribs with his boot and said, “Ray, here, was acting on orders from Carlos. They found out that Jack Taggart was involved with the first shipment that the cops grabbed in San Diego.”
“How?”
“They have sources in the phone companies. They did phone tolls of the U.S. cop who got the search warrants. They found several calls back and forth between him and Taggart. Right before the bust, during the bust ... and a call after. Good idea. Something we should be doing.”
“Why the fuck didn’t Carlos tell me? Would have been nice to know, seeing as we had two more shiploads coming!”
“They figured they had taken care of the problem before the next ship went out, except they whacked the wrong guy. That’s also where Leisure Suit Larry here came in. He told Ray that you weren’t prone to killin’ cops ... not even broads that work in the cops’ labs. They figured if you knew, you might back out of the deal.”
Damien knelt close to Leitch’s face and said, “You will soon discover that killing people is an option I am not always opposed to.”
Leitch grunted and whined as Damien stood to face Rellik again.
“What about The Toad? Where is he?”
“They both deny knowing him.”
“I was told that they were both in a park with The Toad.”
“Maybe someone bullshitted you?” suggested Rellik.
“Same person said that these two knew each other. That info was good.”
“I was pretty thorough, boss,” said Rellik. “I really don’t think they knew him. At least, not under that name.”
Damien thought about this, then asked, “What about trying to drown the cop’s kid?”
“Ray says that Carlos figured they could neutralize the cops by messin’ with their brain cells. Scare ’em all into doin’ nothin’. After that, he said somethin’ about giving them a choice of silver or lead.”
Damien looked at Ray and said, “For your information, the cops in Canada are paid a fuck of a lot more than the cops where you come from. They’re not easily bribed here, and if you offer them silver or lead ... I guarantee they’ll give you lead!”
“There’s another thing with Leisure Boy,” said Rellik. “Ray paid him a hundred grand to backstab us. Leisure Boy gave him reports from the rat cop before we even saw ’em. Also set up companies for Carlos to launder money here.”
“Maybe that was The Toad’s interest in Leitch,” suggested Lance. “Using him to move the money out of Canada for him!”
Leitch shook his head from side to side and let out a muffled protest. It brought him another kick in the ribs from Damien, who then asked, “How many guys they got here?”
“Twenty-one people,” said Rellik. “But only four besides Ray that got balls to do stuff. The rest are mom and pop types used for laundering.”
“Names and addresses?”
Rellik nodded and said, “Phone numbers, too. The four tough asses live in a rented house together. Got someone watching it now. Don’t think anyone is home yet. Ray has his own apartment. We got someone lookin’ in it now.”
“Anything else?”
“Yeah. Before we got Ray, Carlos was planning to have you personally deliver the last payment down to Colombia. Wanted to see if you would give your life to save Vicki and Katie.”
Damien stared down at Ray for a moment, then said, “Untie his arm. The one that’s broken. He can still use it to hold a phone.”
Rellik untied Ray’s wrist, and a moment later Damien punched in the numbers on the cellphone. He waited until Carlos answered and then said, “Carlos, your brother wishes to talk with you.” He handed the phone to Ray and said, “I’ll let you say goodbye.”
“Carlos!” screamed Ray, then rapidly spoke
