“What the hell happened? Who whacked ’em? Where’s The Toad?”

“We don’t know,” said Jack. “You called me last night to say everything was okay. That it was a done deal!”

“It was! I don’t know anything about this!”

“You said nobody knew about the motel except you and The Toad,” said Jack accusingly.

“And the Colombians,” said Lance. “But that don’t make sense. They were already paid before I...” Lance stopped and glanced at Laura.

“She knows,” said Jack. “I trust her. You’re going to have to do the same.”

“Yeah, well ... anyway. They were paid before the ship was unloaded. So why would someone kill ’em?”

“Have you talked with Damien? Maybe The Toad is with him.”

“Not yet. Guess I better send him a short message, then drive over to talk details.”

“Do it, but first call the motel office and see if they’ll tell you what happened.”

Lance understood, and a couple of minutes later a clerk at the motel admitted that two guests had been murdered.

“Good,” said Jack. “Now tell Damien you went to look for The Toad and saw cops all over and called the motel. Call me as soon as you’re done meeting with him.”

After Lance left, Laura suggested, “Home to bed?”

“Think you can sleep?”

“I might. When I get really stressed I feel like my whole system shuts down. All I want to do is close my eyes.”

Jack nodded, then gestured toward the back of the car and said, “Right after I stash what’s in the trunk.”

“Three-point-five. You’re going to have a lumpy mattress.”

“Actually ... I rented a storage locker the other day.”

“I knew it! How long have you been planning all this?” she said, letting her exasperation show.

“The storage locker was for something else a couple of weeks ago.”

“Something else?” She paused, then asked, “You have a freezer in there?”

Jack smiled, then replied, “You are tired. If I had a freezer in there I wouldn’t have had to call you out last night. Great idea, though. Maybe I should get one and extend the rental.”

“If you do, get a new partner while you’re at it. No wonder Danny is on stress leave.”

Laura had meant it as humour but saw the look on Jack’s face and was embarrassed. “I’m sorry,” she said, “that was a dumb thing to say.”

“Not your fault. I just feel bad about how things turned out between me and Danny.”

Jack noticed that Laura was silent as he drove her back to her car. Then he saw that she was shaking. “Cold?” he said, turning up the heat.

“It’s not the cold. I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

“Of what I did! Helping you!”

“Now it hits you?”

Laura opened and closed her fists a few times to try to regain control.

“Afraid we’ll get caught?” asked Jack. “A little. More worried about whether or not I did the right thing.”

“When we catch the Brit you’ll feel like you did the right thing.”

Laura sighed and said, “I know. I’m not blaming you. I made my own decision.” She paused a moment and then added, “Although it bugs me that you made me look at Charlie’s picture. I feel manipulated.”

“Kind of late to change what we did now.”

“I’m not saying we should. I’m just not sure what we did was right.”

Jack felt the acid in his empty stomach as he worried about Laura having second doubts. He glanced at her and said, “What we did was right.” He then paused and said, “Sorry about the manipulation. Won’t let it happen again.”

“Yeah, right. As if I really believe that. You’re an operator.”

“You’re an operator too.”

“Exactly,” Laura said, and then smiled.

“Were you just jerking my chain?” “About having second doubts? Yes. You should have seen your face. But not about the manipulation part. I don’t like being manipulated. I was just getting even.”

Jack smiled. “Are we even?”

“Sure. Now how about we get some sleep.”

“Let’s have brunch first. It would be better if you relax a little before going home. I know this great little café. Excellent service as long as you don’t try to leave a tip.”

It was almost noon when Damien received a text message from Carlos. A cold phone is at your front house. I will talk at you in one hour!

Damien chuckled. Carlos’s attempt to use English slang sometimes sounded funny.

My front gate perhaps? Probably means a delivery service will bring me a cool phone. Damien went to his communications room and checked the television monitor near the front gate. Vicki’s Hummer was parked there, but she was not in the driver’s seat.

Maybe she’s picking a package up from the ground. I’ve warned her about packages! He zoomed the camera in on the Hummer. Where’s Katie?

He paused as he received a text message from Lance. Two bros from Q were murdered last night at the motel. Coming over.

Damien stared at the Hummer. It was still deserted. He ran from the house.

chapter twenty-five

Connie Crane called her boss and briefed him on the double homicide. She spoke of Taggart and Secord’s involvement and said that Drug Section was canvassing their members for any leads.

Randy hesitated when he hung up. Any reason for calling the assistant commissioner on a Saturday had to be extremely serious. He soon knew he had made the right decision.

Isaac listened to the details with a keen interest and thanked Randy for updating him. Isaac then called Staff Sergeant Legg and ordered him to contact Elvis immediately.

Elvis took the call and listened carefully as Legg explained the situation.

“I don’t really know anything,” said Elvis. “She’s not home yet.”

“It’s after twelve. You haven’t heard from her?”

“She called about an hour ago. Said she was going to have a bite to eat with Jack and would be home after. That’s all I know.”

“What time did she start working last night?”

“We were asleep. I didn’t really check the time. It was late, after midnight for sure.”

“She didn’t mention why she was called out?”

“I asked her if it was undercover. I thought she said surveillance, but I’m not sure. I was half asleep. Do you want me to ask her?”

“A little gentle prodding might not hurt.”

“She should be home any minute. I’ll ask.”

“Be discreet! As I said before, we’ll just keep this between the two of us. The road to hell is slippery and steep. Let’s make sure Laura doesn’t reach that part.”

Damien stopped when he reached Vicki’s Hummer and looked around. Nobody was in sight. Something was wrong. Really wrong.

It was with a sense of dread that he opened the driver’s door and looked inside. He felt relieved to see that it was empty, except for a plastic bag on the driver’s seat. He peeked inside the bag and saw that it was just a cellphone, partially wrapped in a rag. The keys hung from the ignition. He parked the Hummer in the garage and brought the plastic bag inside to the kitchen table.

What the hell is going on? He took the cellphone out and set it on the table. He picked up the rag and saw a small blue jeweller’s box in the bottom of the bag. He was about to set the rag aside but something caught his eye. The fabric had pictures of Disney characters on it. They were panties that Vicki had bought for Katie during the Easter break. They had been slashed off with a knife.

Damien felt the bile from his stomach burn his throat. He abruptly grabbed the jeweller’s box and opened it. He saw Vicki’s wedding ring. It was still attached to her finger.