The Deception (17 page)

It wasn’t very exciting but as each minute crept by she knew it would intensify. Ryan came back to the car and they waited still more until Carl’s crew arrived to load up the sea container. She saw Rich, his face still scarred with healing scabs, and cringed. How did she do that? A simple moment of hurt or be hurt.

He was there with a new guy, Jaz guessed Ethan. Carl was the first buyer to take away his purchase, which wasn’t surprising considering the amount of drugs it was harbouring.

By now, the sky was growing dark as clouds moved above them like a blanket over the earth, covering the setting sun. It would make it a little easier to move in undetected.

‘Tilly and Cody are behind the truck, we’ll leave in front and set up,’ said Jaz. When they arrived, after parking behind some trees and out of sight, they got their weapons ready. ‘Tay, you’re the sharp shooter, can you take out the dog, please.’

‘Sure can,’ he said as he took the dart gun with the tranquilliser.

She was relieved when Ryan said it would be no problem to get hold of one. Killing animals wasn’t something she planned on doing, even if Cujo had taken a liking to her foot.

Carl pulled up, unlocked the gate, let the truck in and then locked up before opening up the warehouse. When the truck and everyone had disappeared inside, Jaz knew it was nearly time. She waited five minutes for a bit more darkness before giving the order. ‘Let’s go.’

Outside they crept through the semi-dark. Tilly and Cody had been waiting by the line of trees and now joined them. At the fence, Tilly pulled out wire cutters and made quick work of the mesh. Once inside the yard, Jaz motioned for them to split up, Cody and Tilly to the left while Jaz’s team went right. She pointed to Taylor and gave the signal.

He took out Cujo in one shot. His hand never quivered. They watched the dog flinch, and then after a few seconds Cujo lay down groggily.

With soft steps, they moved in closer. A man was by the side door, keeping watch. Jaz indicated to Ryan that there was one target. She drew her gun, so did Ryan and Tay, who slipped the tranquilliser gun into the back of his pants. They passed Cujo, who was deep in sleep, and hid behind Carl’s car, parked just by the door and between them and the guard.

Jaz picked up a rock and threw it into the dark in the opposite direction. The man guarding the door heard it, and moved towards the sound, showing them his back. Without being told, Ryan ran towards him silently. His strong arm went around the guy’s throat while a hand covered his mouth. Jaz was right behind him, pulling the roll of duct tape off her arm. One piece went over his mouth just before he collapsed from the chokehold. Tay slipped a cable tie over his hands and one on his feet. Then they left him there, out of play.

Jaz peered inside. Carl was talking to the two men as they stood within the open sea container. Just as she’d hoped, they had already unloaded it off the truck and gone to work extracting the drugs.

Holding her arm up, she got them to wait. Cody and Tilly came around from the other side, this was the only door in and out.

‘Is that the last one?’ said Carl as Rich walked out of the container with another bag. Jaz didn’t hear Rich’s reply but the nod of his head was all she needed. She gave her team the go-ahead to move in. With guns drawn, Jaz went straight for Carl while Ryan shouted, ‘Don’t move.’

Jaz pushed her gun to the back of Carl’s head so he wouldn’t turn around. Tay and Ryan grabbed the two workers while Cody swept the area for more. Once he’d cleared the office and toilet, he came back and helped Tilly move all the drugs into a metal drum they found. Tilly found some fuel in a jerry can for a nearby generator and poured some over the drugs before lighting a match.

‘No!’ cried Carl. ‘You can’t. They’ll come after me.’

The Carl Jaz had originally met seemed like a different person to this drug dealer, who suddenly seemed slimy in his gold chains and fancy dress pants. His voice gave away his fear. She had to try hard to force away the images of Marcus’s face.

Ryan turned to him. ‘You shouldn’t make your bed with the devil.’

‘They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,’ said Carl. ‘Please, who are you? The police? Can we work out something?’

‘Nup,’ said Tilly, ditching the match into the drum. With a ‘whoof’ the bags ignited, filling the shed with an orange glow. The flames danced across his face and the metal walls of the shed.

Carl swore and his hands went to his head in frustration, pulling at his hair. Jaz watched carefully in case he made a move for her gun.

‘So … are you going to kill us?’ Carl asked. ‘I have a family,’ he begged.

‘You’ll never know. We’ll always be watching.’ Ryan shrugged.

Tilly laughed. ‘We all have families, mate. And you’re the bastard helping to kill them all, selling this shit.’

The smell of the burning drugs was something Jaz didn’t know if she’d ever forget, different again from the green hemp.

Suddenly Ethan, who Taylor had his gun trained on, darted for the door. He must have thought his captor was too young or distracted by the flames. His mistake. Taylor turned and shot him in the leg, the suppressor on the gun muffling the sound. Ethan cried out as he fell. Taylor went and stood over him. ‘My next one won’t miss.’

Jaz knew Taylor could have tried to run him down, but maybe he was trying to prove to Ryan that he was capable of firing his gun when needed. He was no longer weak. Taylor did look rather bad-ass standing over Ethan, who clutched at his leg while blood seeped through his baggy jeans and ran over his hands.

‘Please, I’ll do whatever you want,’ Carl said, his voice quivering.

Ryan glanced to her. This was her gig, they left when she said it was time.

‘Turn around, Carl,’ said Jaz, making a split second decision.

As Carl slowly turned his eyes grew as he realised what he was seeing. His son’s girlfriend with a gun. ‘Jaz? Is that you?’

‘You’re in way over your head, Carl. I suggest you move overseas before Salvatore finds you. That is who you work for, correct?’

Carl nodded his head but his mouth was trying to form words. ‘But … you …’

Jaz ignored his surprise and went on to interrogate him. ‘Where do the drugs go from here?’ Carl glanced at the others before coming back to her. She knew he didn’t get it. She pushed the gun closer to his chest, near his heart. ‘Yes, I met your son on purpose and yes, I am working with these guys. Now answer my questions or you’ll end up like Ethan.’

His eyes flashed with panic. The fact that she knew Ethan’s name was working to her advantage too. Quickly she repeated her question about the drugs.

‘To Tony.’

‘Tony who, Carl? Don’t make me have to visit Marcus tonight.’

Carl paled and blinked rapidly under the bright shed lights. She could see he was confused, still trying to understand how she could have been in his house with his son one minute and then pointing a gun at his head the next.

‘Tony McNally. He works for Salvatore.’

‘Salvatore De Luca? Where do you meet?’

He nodded. ‘It’s a different place each time. Rich is supposed to hand over the shipment at eleven tonight. Tony texts me the address each time. It is our only contact.’

Jaz thought for a moment, wondering what other intel she could gather from Carl. ‘What country does the container come from? Do you know where the drugs are made?’

‘I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t. I’m just the extraction point. I’m told when it’s here and the number of the sea container.’

‘Who tells you?’ said Jaz, keeping her questions coming while Carl was happy to talk.

‘Daniel. I don’t know his last name, but he does work in customs.’

‘So where are you supposed to be delivering the shipment tonight?’

Carl gave her the address. ‘It’s an abandoned warehouse we’ve used before. Tony switches it up over a dozen sites.’ Jaz asked him to list some of the other sites and tried to lock as many as she could to memory. No doubt Ryan would have been doing the same.

‘You can tell Tony his shipment was destroyed, that you’re out of the business because you fear for your life,’ said Ryan. ‘But she doesn’t get a mention unless you want us to visit your family.’ Ryan nodded towards Jaz.

‘Please don’t hurt my son, he’s all we have left.’

Jaz glanced to Ryan who gave her a short sharp nod of approval. They’d got enough from Carl.

‘Carl, why don’t you find a country that has a great arts program and let Marcus be your focus from now on.’ She gave the gun a little jiggle so he’d remember she was holding it. ‘I’d hate it if anything ever happened to him.’ She said it like a threat and meant it.

Jaz raised her free hand and gave the signal to leave.

They all retreated, guns still aimed at Carl and the other men until they were clear of the warehouse. They escaped back through the cut fence and to the safety of their cars. There was no ‘thank you’ to Tilly and Cody, it wasn’t needed. Jaz gave them a thumbs up before they went their separate ways. Tilly stopped, raised his hands and gave her a silent clap. With a nod he disappeared. She didn’t know where Cody and Tilly went, but she had other plans. Ryan sat behind the wheel and started the ute, Jaz watched him until he turned to her.

‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ she asked.

‘An eleven o’clock appointment? Definitely.’

Chapter 15

Her blood raced through her body as if being pumped by a massive oil rig at double speed while Jaz checked over her gun. Ryan drove them through the lit streets in silence. Jaz googled the address and gave Ryan directions to the warehouse.

After ten minutes Ryan finally spoke. ‘That was good, Jaz. How you handled that. You too, Tay.’

Tay sat in the back quietly, his smile she could see from the streetlights that flashed past. Jaz would tell him later how awesome he was. She’d feel safe with him covering her back any day.

‘So are we going to catch Tony?’ Tay asked.

‘No.’ Ryan’s voice was deep and serious. ‘We will watch, see what transpires and then we’ll decide.’

When they were close to the address, he pulled over.

‘Right, we have half an hour till Tony arrives. Tay, you stay here, don’t leave the car but keep watch. Jaz, you’re with me. Let’s go check it out.’

‘Here take this,’ said Tay, handing her his black hoodie. As she reached for it, he gripped her hand. ‘Be careful.’

Ryan reached for his jumper and they both pulled them on before slipping from the ute and merging with the dark. It was cold, making her nose prickle. With her gun tucked in her pants, she crouched over and followed Ryan. He led them down the long street, with only one working streetlight, to the warehouse in the dark. It was a metal building with two large roller doors at the front. Both had padlocks on them. Jaz could see enough from the glow of the moon through the thin layer of clouds that covered the sky.

Ryan walked the width of the warehouse, it was up against a wire fence but the building alongside had a driveway down to the back of the block. He indicated that he was going to see if he could do a lap around the warehouse. She was to stay, hide and watch.

Jaz nodded, watched Ryan disappear and then turned back to try the other end of the warehouse. There was an old wooden door, covered in graffiti, but it was also locked. The fence on this side had a hole where the wire had been pushed aside; a chunk of tin had been put in front to try and hide the hole. But it was loose and sitting on an angle. Jaz moved it carefully and cringed as the tin scraped against the fence. She hoped Ryan didn’t hear it. Gripping the cold hard wire, she climbed her way through the fence into the yard of the warehouse and stood silently, listening until her ears hurt. A breeze picked up and rattled some loose tin nearby, making her jump. Once she’d got her wits back, she checked out this side of the warehouse; looking for another entry point, whether it was a broken window or a loose panel, anything. On closer inspection in the mottled moonlight, it looked like kids snuck in regularly as the side of it was covered in graffiti. She hoped no homeless people had made this area a home.

A noise made her pause, she dropped down automatically. Rats? Cats? Homeless people?

A hand came over her mouth. Jaz crunched her teeth together to control her instant panic. A warm arm snaked its way around her waist and a familiar scent put her at ease.

‘Shh, it’s just me. Thought I told you to stay put,’ whispered Ryan. His lips brushed against her ear as he spoke, sending tingles along her skin. ‘One roller door at the back but it’s locked too. Rest looks abandoned.’ He took both his hands away but stayed close to her ear. ‘We’ll hide out in here and hope we can hear what goes down.’

And be quick enough to get out and follow Tony, Jaz hoped.

She nodded and pointed to a pile of building materials leaning up against the warehouse wall they could hide behind. Together they squatted down, Jaz put her hand on the ground to steady herself and found wire mesh. It felt rusty. No one had used this yard in ages.

A car rumbled its way down the street. Jaz breathed heavily, trying to calm herself but noticed her breath; like a mouth full of smoke, it wafted in the cold air. Quickly she covered her lips with the sleeve of Tay’s jumper to stay undetected. If only she could stop breathing altogether, it sounded as loud as the approaching car.

Ryan put a hand on her arm as if to say ‘get ready’. The car pulled up out the front. Jaz moved so she could see through a gap and caught the back end of a sedan. It looked green in the sliver of light that was available from the closest working streetlight. A door opened, keys jangled, feet shuffled, a groan, click of a lock and then screeching as the roller door was lifted up.

Jaz could sense Ryan beside her and even felt him tense up, the grip on her arm becoming like a vice. He’d pulled his gun out and the moonlight made his eyes look like the deep black pits of hell. He had murder on his mind.

In that very instant Jaz remembered his mate Chris, who was shot dead by Tony. The same Tony who was hardly ten metres away. Shit.

Maybe following him tonight was a bad move. Would Ryan be able to keep himself in control or was this revenge? Was he planning to leave here with blood on his hands? Jaz had no way of asking him either. She knew how badly Ryan wanted revenge for Chris’s death.