Deadline (14 page)

“
It appears to be a police
checkpoint ahead, Mr. Trevanian,” commented Dharwal. “No worry. Let
me handle it. Some baksheesh should take care of this. The
Pakistani police are very corrupt.”

As the car pulled up to the roadblock,
two uniformed officers stepped in front of the vehicle.

One was a short, paunchy individual
sporting a large black moustache. He held his arm out to signal a
halt. The second man was taller and thin, almost emaciated looking.
He wore a different uniform and appeared to be higher ranked than
the other officer.

“
This may not be so easy,”
said Dharwal looking a little agitated. “These are not just police
– they are Pakistani security officers. They are not quite as
corrupt. Please be silent, Mr. Trevanian. Let me do all the
talking. Perhaps we can talk our way through this. I will tell them
you are a Canadian journalist and we are transporting you to
Peshawar to file a story.”

Dharwal rolled down the window and
cheerily greeted the two officers in Pashto. The paunchy security
officer offered a curt response and demanded something of
Dharwal.

The driver slowly reached into his
pocket and withdrew his wallet. He produced what appeared to be a
driver’s license and some kind of ID card, along with a small wad
of money.

The security officer examined the
documents closely, and then handed them and the money to the other
officer. The senior officer’s eyes narrowed and a scowl spread
across his face.

He issued an angry retort to
Dharwal.

Dharwal replied but the response only
seemed to anger the senior officer more. He gestured with his arms
and appeared to be demanding they all get out of the
vehicle.

Dharwal turned to his companion in the
front seat and uttered something in Arabic.

Without hesitation Garzai slipped
Dharwal a 9 mm 92-F Beretta. Without warning Dharwal ended the
conversation.

He suddenly raised the pistol and
fired twice.

The first shot struck the officer in
the left shoulder. The second bullet found a fatal mark by hitting
the man in the forehead blowing out the back of his skull. Blood
and gray brain matter sprayed away in a cloud above his
head.

The second fat guard was caught by
surprise but soon recovered.

He reached for his pistol, but Dharwal
fired twice again. Both bullets cored into the guard’s chest. He
sunk to the ground twitching in spasms.

Dharwal tramped his foot on the gas
pedal.

The car lurched forward and struck the
front end of the vehicle blocking the road. Dharwal turned the
steering wheel hard right. The Lada responded and veered around the
vehicle.

“
Oh shit, what the fuck
are you doing? You’re going to get us all killed,” Trevanian
screamed at Dharwal. “If I showed my media accreditation I could
have talked us out of this.”

“
I don’t think so, Mr.
Trevanian. They’re looking for insurgents and that officer was
intransigent. He was not going to accept any bribe. We must as you
say, run for it!”

Trevanian glanced out the back window
and saw more soldiers running toward a Hummer.

Two Pakistani soldiers dropped to
their knees and fired AK-74 rifles on automatic setting. Like
machine guns they stitched the air with a volley of slugs.
Trevanian heard them pinging off the frame of the Lada.

He ducked down to the floor just as
the rear window shattered. A hail of bullets caught Dharwal and
Garzai. Blood and greyish brain matter spattered over the
windshield.

The car suddenly veered to the left,
out of control. It hit the edge of the highway and started to
roll.

Trevanian was tossed around inside the
vehicle like a sack of potatoes. His head struck the back of
Dharwal’s seat.

Suddenly everything went
dark.

The Lada lay upside down with its
wheels still spinning.

Chapter 38

Daily Express Parking
Garage 3:25 PM

KATIE CANNON exited the elevator into
the parking garage. She headed towards her blue Grand Am parked in
slot 33.

As she walked toward the car, she
fished into her brown leather purse for her car keys. She
approached the vehicle and thought it appeared to be sitting very
low.

“
Oh shit. Of all the times
to have a flat,” she spoke aloud to herself. Katie stared in
disbelief at her bad luck. The left front and rear tires were both
flat as a pancake. What were the odds of two tires going
flat?

There is nothing for it but to call a
cab, she decided. She needed to get down to the police station as
soon as possible. Katie reached for her cell phone. Just as she
started to flip it open, she heard her name being
hailed.

“
Hey there, Miss Cannon.
Do you have a problem?”

Security guard Ian McDonald slowly
approached her.

“
Oh, Ian. I have the worst
luck. I seem to have two flat tires and I need to get down to
police headquarters right away. I’m about to call a
taxi.”

“
No need for that, Miss
Cannon. I’m just getting off shift. I’d be happy to give you a
lift. It’s on my way home anyway and it will be faster than calling
a cab.” Ian smiled cheerily.

“
You’re right about that.
Thanks, that would be fine if it’s not too much trouble. You’re a
real life saver.”

“
No problem, Miss Cannon.
It’s all part of the security service. My vehicle is just over here
in the next row. Follow me.”

“
Right-o, Ian. And no need
to be so formal. Please call me Katie.”

“
As you wish, Katie. The
vehicle is not far.”

Katie followed Ian over to the next
parking row. He pulled out his keys and used the remote to open the
doors.

The vehicle was a maroon Ford
Explorer.

“
Nice vehicle, Ian.” Katie
opened the front passenger door and slipped onto the
seat.

“
It suits my purposes
quite nicely,” said Ian getting behind the wheel. “Buckle up and
away we go, Katie. You’re in for quite a ride.”

Chapter 39

The Westin 3:30
PM

MEGAN YOUNG strode into the lobby of
the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel feeling confident.

She wanted to forgive Dennis and try
to save their relationship. She was prepared to give whatever it
would take to make things work between them.

Room 1116. That’s the room Dennis said
he was in.

Megan hoped he would be there now. She
bypassed the front desk and headed right for the tower elevators.
What a surprise Dennis would get!

She turned left out of the elevator.
The room was three doors down.

She plucked up her courage, knocking
softly on the door. No answer. Perhaps he was out. Megan rapped on
the door again – much louder this time. So hard it hurt her
knuckles.

She heard the latch unlocking and the
door swung slightly ajar. Dennis popped his head around the
door.

“
Megan! What are you doing
here?” Dennis seemed shocked to see her.

“
Surprise, Dennis! I
thought about what you said and decided to take you up on your
offer. I think we should give this relationship another shot. I’m
prepared to forgive and forget if you promise to be faithful from
here on in. I must tell you that I had an awful row with Daddy over
you. He thinks I should throw you to the curb. Aren’t you going to
invite me in?”

“
That’s lovely, darling.
But why don’t you wait for me down in the bar.” Dennis appeared
uncharacteristically flustered. “I need to have a shower and shave.
I was just catching an afternoon nap. I’ll be with you in a
jiffy.”

Just then Megan heard a woman’s voice
in the background. “Who is it, darling? Is that room
service?”

Megan pushed hard against the
door.

Dennis fell back and the door swung
wide open. Standing in the back of the suite in the doorway to the
bedroom was an auburn-haired, buxom babe wrapped in a bath towel,
which barely covered the essentials.

It was Teresa – the woman Dennis met
in the bar.

Megan’s eyes fired up. She felt a
blush coursing through her face and turning into heated anger.“No!
It isn’t room service. I think you’ve already had plenty.” Megan
lashed out with her right hand, striking Dennis across the cheek.
“You cheating bastard. We’re through!”

She strode off down the corridor,
leaving Dennis clad in a bath towel, rubbing his cheek. He just
stared, speechless, as Megan stomped off down the hall.

Chapter 40

Inside the Ford Explorer
3:35 PM

IAN MCDONALD’S Ford Explorer headed
out of the garage of the Daily Express onto Dundas Street, west
toward Bay Street.

From there he headed north on Bay
Street towards College Street. The 12-storey Toronto Police
Headquarters building was located at 80 College Street, only a few
minutes drive from the paper.

“
Thanks so much for the
lift, Ian,” said Katie. ”I need to get to the police station as
soon as possible.”

“
What’s up at the cop
shop? A big story?” Ian gave a quizzical look over at
Katie.

“
It’s the Wolfman. The
police believe he may be one of our staffers.”

“
One of the newspaper
employees, really? What makes them think that?”

“
The e-mails he sent to me
have been traced back to the paper. They came from Thomas
Philpott’s computer. They’ve been questioning Thomas about this,
but they now seem to have ruled him out. It must be someone else at
the paper who had access to Thomas’s computer.”

McDonald laughed and smiled. “Why on
earth would they ever think that faggot could be the Wolfman?
Philpott’s such a wimp.”

“
I know it’s ridiculous,
Ian, but if it’s not Philpott, then it’s got to be someone else at
the paper.”

Katie noticed that they had just
passed College Street.

“
Whoa, Ian. You passed the
street. We needed to turn back there.”

Ian smiled. “Never mind, Katie. Your
plans just changed. We’re going for a little ride. I have other
ideas in mind for you. So just sit back and enjoy the experience. I
know I’m going to, news bitch!”

Katie was stunned.

Why would Ian do this?

He always seemed such a nice friendly,
easy-going guy. The personality switch was totally unexpected
…..and frightening.

No, he couldn’t be, thought Katie.
Surely Ian McDonald isn’t the Wolfman. But he used that terminology
‘news bitch’ that occurred so frequently in his e-mails to
her.

Katie tried to reason with him. “Come
on Ian, the joke’s over. You got me good. But I need to get to the
police station right away. This is important business. Please turn
the vehicle around.”

“
Shut up, bitch!” Ian
snarled at her with a dark expression, which overcame his face.
“You’re not in control now. I am. You will do exactly as I say or
suffer the consequences.”

Katie felt terrified and
helpless.

She gripped the door handle and turned
it, but the safety lock was firmly in place. There was no way she
was getting out of that vehicle while it was moving.

Stay calm, she told herself. Keep your
head and wits about you. An opportunity to escape may come and she
wanted to be ready to grasp it.

“
So you think you’re all
so smart” said McDonald. “You and the cops. I’ve been right there
under your noses the entire time. If you want to stay alive, you
will sit quietly and do whatever I say.”

“
I’ll not give you any
problem, Ian. But I will soon be missed when I don’t turn up at the
police station. Detective Sergeant Peter Moon is expecting me
soon.”

Ian laughed. “So what. They don’t know
I have you. You will have just disappeared. They won’t know the
first place to begin to look. I am taking you to my lair. You’re
about to make headlines in your own paper, Miss Cannon. Only this
time you won’t be writing the story.”

Chapter 41

Daily Express Newsroom 3:55
PM

ANDREW CHASE felt deeply disappointed
as he entered the Daily Express newsroom.

The place was a hive of activity as
usual in late afternoon. Many reporters at their desks were busy
writing their stories after covering their assignments for the day.
Editors and sub-editors were electronically editing and rewriting
copy.

But Chase noted Katie Cannon’s seat
was empty at her desk.

He had hoped she would be here. He
desperately needed to talk with her. He needed answers.

After his lunch with Ashley, he
desperately wanted to discuss her proposal with Katie. He must find
out Katie’s long-term aspirations for their
relationship.

Chase loved Katie and wanted her to
become his wife. He was tired of the secrecy and the uncommitted
nature of their relationship.