“What type of business are you in?” asked Goldie. “I mean, if you don’t mind me asking. If it is too personal then —”

“No, I don’t mind at all,” replied Jack, leaning back from the table as Patty brought him a martini. “Here you go, Patty,” he said, tipping her another fifty-dollar bill. “Did I ever tell you I think you have a beautiful name?”

After Patty expressed her gratitude and left, Jack looked at Goldie and said, “I’m an entrepreneur. Investments here and there. Trying to eke out a living.”

Goldie smiled knowingly. “An entrepreneur,” he said. “I have several friends who are entrepreneurs.”

“Ah, alas, there is competition everywhere,” replied Jack, raising his glass for a toast. “May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live.”

“And,” added Laura, “as you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point in the wrong direction.”

“I love it,” said Goldie. The diamond stud in his tooth reflected the light as he threw his head back and chortled.

Goldie’s action made Jack pause. I’d like to smash my fist into your face. See how funny you think that would be. He took a deep breath. Damn it, get a grip. Pretend to smile. He clinked glasses with Goldie and thought of another old Irish toast:

Drink is the curse of the land.

It makes you fight with your neighbour.

It makes you shoot at your neighbour.

It makes you miss.

Jack took a sip of his martini and put the glass back down on the table. Believe me, Goldie, you’re in my sights — I won’t miss.

18

It was two o’clock in the morning when Jack drove Laura home.

“I think it went well tonight,” said Laura. “Goldie was pretty friendly. Even bought us a round.”

“You’re right. No conversation to hint of anything illegal, but friendly. Monday is a stat holiday. Let’s take the next three days off. Wednesday morning the narcs have scheduled a meeting. We’ll wait until next Friday before going back to the club. See how Goldie acts toward us then.”

“You think he’s trying to check you out? Maybe with that Woo character that Wang was talking to?”

Jack nodded and said, “In the event something does go awry, I’ve got my fake ID made with O’Donnell ending in one L instead of two. If worse comes to worse, I can make it look like Rose made a mistake and thought I was the more notorious O’Donnell.”

“Let’s hope they don’t check you out beyond old newspaper clippings.”

“Oh, I don’t know, it could prove interesting,” replied Jack.

Laura saw a bemused look on Jack’s face. “Okay. What is it?” she asked. “I haven’t seen a genuine smile on your face all night until now.”

Jack cast a sideways glance at Laura and said, “I presumed Goldie might want to check me out — but think about it. They obviously don’t have any real connections in Montreal yet. It would be a little like going to Chicago and asking about Al Capone back in the 1930s.”

“So they might hear some bad stories to support your cover story?”

Jack smiled and said, “There is something I neglected to mention to Rose. The real Happy Jack is a bona fide sociopath, on top of which he hates being referred to as Happy Jack. It wasn’t the media who first named him that. It was a title his enemies bestowed upon him, inferring that he was always drunk. Rumour is he shot someone in the balls once for calling him that.”

“No kidding?”

“Guess he has issues. Hope whoever decides to ask about Happy Jack has life insurance.”

“Oh, man,” mumbled Laura. Here we go again.

On the morning of the following Wednesday, Jack, Laura, and CC were invited to attend a meeting with Drug Section. When they all arrived, Sammy told them that they were expecting to end their undercover heroin operation within the next two or three days.

“I thought things were going well for you with the targets who hang out at Wang’s restaurant?” said CC.

“They are,” replied Sammy. “We’re using different operators for the ecstasy and meth. We hope to run that one for another month, depending upon whether or not the money holds out.”

Sammy passed Jack a couple of surveillance pictures of a man with a ponytail and a black goatee. “This is Jojo. So far he is the biggest fish we’ve caught. Our operator is going to approach him Friday and see if we can buy a kilo. We can’t spend the cash, so if he goes for it, we’ll bust him and whoever else shows up.”

Both Jack and Laura examined the photos carefully.

“When on Friday?” asked Jack.

“We don’t want to give Jojo any time to dick around. The operator will approach him early in the evening. Part of the cover story is that he’s a truck driver and has to be on the road by midnight.”

“You think Jojo can come up with a kilo that fast?” asked Jack.

“He told the operator he could come up with it on two hours’ notice. I don’t think Jojo is bullshitting. Last time we ordered a quarter pound from him, he went to Goldie Locks, then met our guy at a McDonald’s half an hour later and did the deal.”

“Think it will be the same restaurant?” asked Jack.

“Have no idea. The operator is going to try and push him to meet his source. Don’t know how that will go, but either way, I’m going to plunk myself in a corner at Goldie Locks before Jojo gets there. If he shows up, I should be in a position to see who he meets. I’ll have my cell. If that person goes somewhere, we’ll tail him and see if he takes us to a stash.”

“What can we do to help?” asked Jack.

“You know a lot of the regulars. I’m hoping whoever he meets might be somebody you can put a name to. You know how these things go. Whoever he meets could end up chatting with someone else and so on. Anything you can do to help identify these pricks the better. If you need to tell me something, make eye contact and I’ll meet you in the can.”

“We’re not in a position to help with any arrests or if something goes wrong,” said Laura. “We’ve got our own thing going on in there.”

“Yeah, I know. All I’m asking is for you to be our eyes and ears. Leave any rough stuff to us.”

“So why did you call me to this meeting?” asked CC. “You’re talking dope. I’m homicide.”

“Jojo is currently serving triple probation.”

“Triple probation?” asked CC. “How the hell does he do that?”

Sammy grimaced and said, “Very easily, I’m afraid. Welcome to the world of drug trafficking in B.C. He was convicted three times in the last two years for trafficking. He received probation each time and the sentences are overlapping each other. The only thing hurting him is his sides from laughing so much. I’m hoping this time might be different. If we nail him with a kilo, he could be looking at doing federal time. If you want us to try and roll him, we’re willing to do so.”

“You’d let him walk?” asked CC.

“If he can provide info on a homicide, sure. It’s your call.”

CC thought about it for a moment and shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, but even if Jojo was somehow connected with Goldie and was able to give him to us, Goldie would serve less time than what Jojo is looking at. As I said before, his lawyer would put him on the stand and have him say he thought it was all a prank — that he didn’t really know what was going on.” CC slowly shook her head and looked at Sammy and said, “I don’t think it’s worth jeopardizing what you already have. In this case, it’s like having two birds in the hand and wanting to trade for one in the bush. Besides, would Jojo at his level be in with someone like Goldie? What do you think, Jack? Organized crime is your baby.”

Jack sighed and said, “Unfortunately, I agree with you completely. Goldie said he used his guys to grab the victim. He also said he told them it was a prank. Even if Jojo was one of those guys, it wouldn’t change anything as far as the courts go. Not to mention, whoever The Shaman and The Enabler are, they’re above Goldie and that makes them light years out of Jojo’s league.”