Above Ground (25 page)

“I'm coming with you,” said Lance. “It's not safe.”

Damien shook his head and said, “This is something I need to do alone. Start selling the fucking...” Damien stopped when he realized he was inside the house, then said, “You do what you were told to do!” He rushed toward the door to the garage but stopped and ran back to the kitchen. He grabbed a small picnic cooler from the fridge and then ran to the garage.

On a normal day, Damien might have spotted the surveillance team and taken appropriate action. Today was not normal. His mind was on his family as he drove.

Cecil Hinds watched as Damien parked his car in Stanley Park. Part of the surveillance team remained with the car while others followed Damien on foot.

“T-1 is carrying a small cooler,” reported Nicole. “Maybe meeting someone for a picnic.”

“
Who
is the big question,” replied Hinds. “Stay with him, but give him lots of room.”

Damien didn't mince words when he sat beside Jack on a park bench, placing the cooler between them. “I need a favour. Now!” he said.

Jack was surprised. “I don't owe you any favours! We're even! A tonne of coke and a murder makes us more than even!”

“This isn't about that!” said Damien, harshly. Then his voice softened and he said, “I mean I would like a favour from you. I'd owe you this time.”

Jack was caught off guard.
Why would he come to me, even if two of his guys were murdered? Is he hoping I can locate The Toad? He eyed Damien and the cooler curiously. He's more agitated than I expected. Thought he would be happy that the heat's on The Toad. And the cooler ... what's that all about?
Jack cleared his throat, then said, “Last time we met you said you would never give me another favour. Remember?”

“I remember.”

“So why should I believe you would ever pay me back?”

“Because I'm telling you I will! I gave you one on credit! I'm just asking for the same!”

Jack nodded, then said, “You can do me a favour first. An easy one. Your lawyer friend, Leitch, deals with a guy who has a British accent. Looks Indo. I want him.”

“I don't know who that is,” said Damien, his face reddening.

“He's connected with your club!”

“If he is, I'll find out! I just don't know right now!”

“He knows The Toad. He met with The Toad and then with Leitch three weeks ago. They were all paranoid, so something was going on!” Jack studied Damien's face
closely as he spoke.
What I'm telling him ... his face ... he already knows! Thought it would take another few days.
Jack stared at Damien and then said, “The Toad works for you. Call him and ask.”

“We tried! Nobody knows where the fuck he is! That's what I want you to do! Find him!”

“You want me to find The Toad? He had something to do with a couple of your strikers getting shot in a motel last night, didn't he?”

“Are you going to help me or not? First tell me that! You help me find The Toad and I swear I'll find out who this British guy is!”

Jack leaned back and briefly massaged the back of his neck. “Okay,” he said. “I'll take you at your word, but tell me what's going on.”

Damien handed Jack the cooler and said, “Open it!”

Jack placed the cooler on his lap and heard the sound of ice moving around inside. He opened it and looked in. A plastic bag containing a girl's panties lay on top of the ice.

“Under them,” said Damien. “Look under them.” Jack dug deeper into the ice and found another plastic bag. It contained a human finger.

“What's this?” said Jack.

The words spilled out of Damien. He told of the ransom and his fear that he didn't have time to raise the first payment by Monday.

Jack felt stunned as he stared at the finger. I did this. I may as well have chopped it off myself.

“Your wife is a doctor, right?” said Damien, pointing at the finger. “Can —”

“I don't know. I'll call her,” replied Jack, quickly punching the numbers on his cell.

The surveillance team from CFSEU scrambled to get into position to see what was in the cooler.

“Anybody see what was in it?” asked Hinds into the radio.

“No, the lid blocked my view,” came the reply. “By the look on their faces it must be something important.”

“Damn it,” mumbled Hinds, reaching for his cell.

Jack spoke with Natasha and quickly told her about a kidnapping. He said the husband did not want any official police involvement or any record of the incident. He then told her where they were.

“I'm coming in. I can be there in an hour,” she said.

“I don't want you around until after I find the Brit,” said Jack. “It's not safe.”

“I'm done living my life in fear out here.”

“Natasha! Listen to me! It's obvious he'll murder you the first chance he gets!”

“We'll talk about it later. Stay there, I'm on my way.”

Jack put his phone away and said, “She'll be here within the hour.”

Damien stared at Jack for a moment, then asked, “So what was that all about? Why do you want this Brit? You think he wants to murder your wife?”

Jack told Damien about the Brit but changed the story to say that a source of his identified the Brit in the park with The Toad and Leitch.

“And this guy tried to make your partner's wife decide which one of her kids was going to die, just because she made you dinner?”

Jack nodded. “Who the hell would do that? You must know him.”

“I don't! Maybe he was hired by someone I do know, but I can't think of who that would be.”

“You doing anything with the Indos?”

“Not me. And he met with The Toad ... it doesn't make sense. The Toad would never get involved in something like that! He was at the election last year when we were deciding whether or not to waste you. He voted against the idea. Same as everyone else.”

“Maybe The Toad doesn't know about it. Could the Brit be someone Leitch is using to pass on messages to The Toad?”

“But if they were all in the park together, why didn't Leitch just deal with The Toad personally?”

“Maybe The Toad wanted to keep his liaison with Leitch secret. Maybe he didn't want to risk someone seeing them together.”

“Possible, I guess.”

Jack decided to change the subject and asked, “Why $7 million in Canadian and then $3 in American?”

Damien shrugged and said, “Doesn't really matter. If we can't find The Toad and get the money back by Monday, Vicki and Katie are...” He stopped, unable to say what he was thinking.

“You're telling me that you have all that coke and can't come up with $3.5?”

“In a week, easy. But not in two days. Maybe half, I don't know. But look what Carlos has done. You really think he'll accept half?”

Jack glanced down at the cooler. It made him feel ill. He said, “I'm not so sure it's even about the money. He runs one of the biggest cartels in Colombia. This is chump change to him. What he's doing ... he's a psychopath. This is entertainment for him.”

“I figure the same. That's why I want you to find The Toad for me. You said you have a source close to him. I don't care who that is. I just want the money before Monday!”

“The Toad likes a little female companionship,” said Jack. “I know someone. I'll see what I can come up with.”

Damien nodded and said, “Thanks, I appreciate it.” He then took the cooler and placed it between his feet. For a while, both men were silent, absorbed in their own thoughts. The cooler eventually became a magnet for their eyes.

“They're in this because of me,” said Damien, fighting back tears. “I thought the club was everything. How could I have been so fucking stupid?”

Jack didn't respond. His own emotions were boiling to the surface as he stared at the cooler.

“After all these years of being in charge of the club, this happens ... and who do I turn to for help? A fuckin' cop.” Damien paused, trying to regain control of his emotions before saying, “How could this have happened to me?”

“It didn't,” said Jack. “It happened to Vicki and Katie.”

Both men returned to their own thoughts. Jack thought about Damien.
I always saw him as a monster. Now he looks like any worried dad or husband would. Scared because the people he loves are being violated. Angry at himself because it was his lifestyle that put them there
.

Jack then thought about his own actions.
Charlie paralyzed ... his dad murdered. A war vet murdered because I made the price of speed go up. The O'Reillys. Now this! Consequences of my actions. What have I done?

“What have I done?” said Damien.

Jack looked at Damien in shock.
Was I thinking out loud?
He saw the tears in Damien's eyes as Damien leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees while covering his face with his hands. His body started to shake.

“I think they've raped Katie,” he said, choking out the words. “She's only eight years old.”

Jack had forgotten about the panties. He picked up the cooler and examined them. “These have been sliced off,” he said.

“I know. Oh, God, please ... what have they done to her? I know I don't deserve a break ... but if you really exist, why would you...”

“She may not have been raped,” said Jack. “They were probably cut off because her ankles were bound together. He sent them to terrorize you.”

Damien sat upright and looked at Jack. “You really think so?”

“Cop's point of view.” Jack shrugged.

“You've dealt with this kind of thing before?” asked Damien.

“Not really. I've been thinking a lot about the psychopathic mind, though. Especially since my partner's family was attacked. Picture a mother tied to a chair for half an hour staring at a swimming pool that her baby had been tossed in.”

“Christ,” came Damien's mumbled reply.

“We're dealing with” — Jack paused to look at Damien — “real monsters. You help me catch mine and I'll help you with yours.”

Damien nodded and said, “If The Toad met this British or Indo, you can bet he was involved in ripping off the cash. I'm not sure where Leitch fits in. He once offered to ... help me with my finances. I don't entirely trust him, so I said no. Maybe The Toad is using his services.”

“How long has The Toad been dealing with him?” asked Jack.

“That's just it! I didn't know the two even knew each other.”

“But you will find out who the Brit is? Maybe through Leitch?”

“I'll deliver him to you like pâté on a plate!” Damien nodded toward the cooler and started to shake. “I just have to make sure they're safe, first. That's all that counts.”

Natasha hurried toward the park bench. She saw the tears in her husband's eyes as he tried to console the large man sitting beside him. “Jack?” she asked hesitantly. Both men sat upright and then stood. Their faces became masks. Hiding any appearance of weakness. As a doctor, it was a sight that she had seen often, but it was not something she respected.
Be who you are, not what you think others expect you to be.

“Natasha,” said Jack, “this is ... an associate of mine. He needs help. His wife and daughter have been kidnapped. They sent this back,” he added, gesturing toward the cooler.

“My name is Damien, Mrs. Taggart,” he said, handing her the cooler.

Natasha set the cooler on the park bench and looked inside. She examined the bag containing the finger quickly and then said, “Good, it's not frozen. You did the right thing. Any amputated digit should be quickly cooled, but not frozen or placed directly in any solution. I'll take it to my clinic. It should be wrapped in a saline-soaked swab, then sealed in a plastic bag and placed on ice.”

She glanced at Damien and saw the anguish on his face. “There have been recorded cases where digits have been successfully reattached up to twenty-four hours later if the amputated part was quickly cooled.”