on?
Damien gestured to the slip of paper in Jackâs hand and said, âThey think the cell number is cool so it could prove interesting to you. They also donât know I know their address. Itâs a penthouse suite backing onto Stanley Park. Fairly lavish. Two bedrooms, mini-bar, plasma television, one desk with a laptop computer and ... a bunch of textbooks.â
âAnd they donât know you know their address?â commented Laura, with a bemused look on her face.
Damien ignored the comment.
Textbooks?
wondered Jack.
Odd comment.
âWhat type of textbooks?â he asked.
âThey were in Russian.â Damien stared at Jack and said, âSo I donât know for sure.â
Jack sensed that there was more to this than Damien was letting on.
Or is he uncomfortable admitting that he had his guys break into the Russiansâ apartment?
âYou might be interested in who visits them there,â Damien suggested.
âAnd who would that be?â asked Jack.
âHow the hell should I know?â Damien pointed to the paper in Jackâs hand and said, âDonât lose that. I didnât make a copy and will have nothing further to do with these guys. Thatâs all Iâve got to say on the matter.â
Damien turned away and took a step, but stopped and added, âOh, by the way, I almost forgot. The shoes didnât arrive how you might think. But I guess if you had toxicology check them for powder you probably already know that.â He handed Laura another piece of paper and walked away.
âCustoms declaration,â said Laura. âThe shoes were mailed to him directly. No cargo ship involved.â She stared after Damien. âSo, what was that all about? Do you think heâstrying to sidetrack us into working on someone else instead of them?â
âI donât think so.â
âMaybe he wants us to get rid of the competition for him.â
âHe has his own surveillance team and hit squad for dealing with the competition.â
âComplete with locksmith,â added Laura.
âProbably the one they call Sparks, from the east-side chapter. He does bugging as well.â
âFigure heâs bugged the Russians?â
âI donât think so. Not after telling us. Heâd be afraid weâd find out. No, I think heâs telling the truth when he says he doesnât want anything to do with them.â
âSo what do you think? That these guys are with the Russian mafia and have got him rattled?â
Jack shook his head. âSatans Wrath had a problem with the Russian mafia a few years ago. Four Russian brothers were the ringleaders. It took a year or so, but when the bullets stopped, there were three dead Russians and the fourth fled back to Moscow. This is whatâs so strange. Stuff like that doesnât scare him. He said that these two guys make him uncomfortable. For him to admit thatâI just never would have believed it possible.â
âWhy doesnât he just kill them?â
âThatâs just it. I donât understand.â Jack spoke his thoughts aloud. âThereâs something he isnât telling us. Some potential consequence that scares the hell out of him.â
âSo what should we do?â
âI think we better do as he says. Check these guys out.â
It was late afternoon as Assistant Commissioner Isaac sat at his desk and gazed at the picture that stood upright on hisdesk next to his Bible. It was a picture of Sarah and Norah. His wife and daughter. Norah was only seventeen when an impaired driver raced through a red light, striking the side of the car that she was in. She died at the scene. Her friend, who was driving, was also seventeen and Isaac knew that she still blamed herself.
It was not her fault ... I pray that some day she realizes that
. The impaired driver was convicted and lost his licence.
Little compensation for losing our