“Why is he staying with you if there’s no need to panic?” said Sid, his voice rising.
“Just coincidence. His wife is out of town and we decided to bach together. By the way, how well do you know Superintendent Wigmore?”
“Not well. Just socially on occasion. He didn’t speak very highly of you.”
“Oh?” said Jack, feigning surprise. “He’s had some emotional problems lately. I won’t hold that against him. I’ll call you as soon as we know something further.”
“Now what?” asked Danny, after Jack hung up.
“If Isaac thinks our lives are in danger, he’ll transfer the both of us so far north we’ll need a dogsled team. If that happens, I’ll quit and stay here to finish this on my own.”
“After what happened, how can you convince him otherwise?”
“Play up that it’s a drug war. I’ll have a report on his desk first thing tomorrow morning saying our informant told us a drug war is starting. Convince him that today was a coincidence.”
“Isaac will want to know who is dumb enough to take on Satans Wrath.”
“I’ll say it’s conflict within Satans Wrath. That way when more of them start dying, it’ll make sense.”
“You think he’ll swallow that?”
“I hope so. Otherwise you and Susan better develop a taste for whale blubber.”
“Speaking of our friend?”
Jack glanced at his watch. “This should be interesting. When I cancelled the meet with him at noon, he sounded like he didn’t know anything yet. Since then he’s left half a dozen urgent messages for me to call him.”
“Why not call him?”
“I will, but I want to see his face when we talk.” Jack called Lance’s number. His message was brief. “Cemetery! Two hours!”
Jack then said to Danny, “Tell me you’ve got your vest on?”
“It’s on.”
Two hours later, Lance made sure that his jacket covered the handle of the 9 mm tucked in the front of his jeans before quietly making his way into the cemetery. He didn’t approach from the normal direction, but circled around and came in from behind instead.
Minutes later, he heard whispering and saw Jack and Danny standing near a grave marker. Their backs were toward him and they continued to whisper as he approached. Lance stopped behind them and said, “Glad to see you guys didn’t bring a shovel with ya!”
Jack and Danny turned to face him. “It’s not that far away,” said Jack.
“How come ya didn’t get back to me? I’ve been phonin’ and leavin’ messages all day!”
“Why didn’t you call before it happened?”
“I swear to fuckin’ God I didn’t know about it! The first I heard was when Wiz called a meetin’ around noon. That’s when he let everyone in the chapter know that Nails an’ Axle got blown up. He said that they were takin’ care of business when somethin’ happened. It was after the meetin’ that Wiz and Rolly let me know that it was supposed to be for you guys.”
“What did they say?”
“Wiz apologized for not lettin’ me in on it but said that there wasn’t time. I asked him what happened.” Lance looked at Danny and said, “Rolly was there. He thought he saw Nails put the bomb on your car and then drove about a block away and waited. He mentioned that some broad had driven in when Nails was doin’ it. At the time, he thought it had been planted but realizes now that it wasn’t.”
“Who else was there besides Rolly? Wasn’t Wizard around?” asked Jack.
“It was just the three of them. Wiz was at the airport meeting Damien. He was just getting’ back from the Grand Caymans.”
“Did Damien sanction this?”
“Don’t know. But they do know that someone in the club is rattin’. The heat is really on.”
“They had to figure that out once you let them know that we knew who Rolly and Wizard murdered. This doesn’t really change anything as far as you go.”
“Yeah, I guess not, but it’s getting’ pretty damn uncomfortable.”
“We’ll look after you.”
“So now what?” asked Danny. “What are they going to do next?”
“I asked. Wizard said we’re not to do anything right now. He promised to let me know if that was going to change.”
“You’re sure about that?” asked Jack.
“That’s what he said. We got orders to sit tight. Wiz did say that things will change after the election. He’s confident that he’ll beat out Damien.” Lance looked at Jack and asked, “There was somethin’ you were going to get me to do?”
“I was going to get you to put more pressure on Wizard and Rolly this week, but things are too hot right now. We better wait a week or so and see what happens.”
“You’re fuckin’ right things are hot! Waitin’ is fine by me.”
Lance agreed to stay in touch and was walking away when Jack said, “One more thing!”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“Just out of curiosity, are you packin’?”
Lance lifted his jacket slightly to expose the handle of the 9 mm. “You’re fuckin’ right I’m packin’! If I’d seen another shovel I would’ve used it to bury you both!”
Jack smiled, then said, “Take care of yourself, Lance.”
Jack and Danny stood in the cemetery and watched Lance drive away. Moments later they heard the metallic sound of a bolt sliding in a rifle.
Jack turned and said, “Louie, you look like a bloody ninja. Except for the white socks!”
Louie looked quickly at his feet. “You asshole! They’re black!”
“You weren’t sure, though, were you? I don’t know, Louie. I think you’re getting old.”
“Not so old that I couldn’t kick your ass!”
Danny interjected. “Listen guys, if it’s okay with you, I want to get going. I told Susan I’d call her and Calgary’s an hour ahead of us.”
Jack gave Danny an extra key to his apartment and told him to go ahead. He said he wanted to make sure that Louie didn’t get lost in the graveyard and then stop at the office to put in a quick report for Isaac to read in the morning.
Danny let himself in through
