“I never said much to anyone,” said Sy.

“Someone knew. You even needed a map to get here.”

“Last night we were partying at Brewski’s with the guys who got released from jail. I may have said I was doing a deal with you, but that was all. I also took the map out to look at it because I wanted to make sure we didn’t get lost.”

“You put it back in your pocket after?” asked Jack.

“Well, I was interrupted, what with the partying an’ all. It was on the kitchen counter for a while.” He looked intently at Jack and said, “You think Brewski is playin’ me for the other side?”

“We were set up when we left the party at Roach and Bagger’s. Brewski wasn’t there then.”

“You figured Roach and Bagger set us up that night? That’s what you said!”

“I’m sure Roach and Bagger set us up to the cops the night we went to Weasel’s. Looks like someone else is trying to feed us to the other side. You know the guys better than I do. Out of the other four guys who were at Brewski’s last night, how many were partying at Roach and Baggers that night?”

“All of ’em were there.”

“You’ve got a mole. You better find out who, or you’re dead.”

“More like all of us are dead,” added Laura.

“Come on,” said Sy. “I gotta take a quick piss, but then we better hurry before Fateh and his crew decide to return. They might still have their phones.”

Sy’s mention of phones reminded Jack that he still didn’t have his. He walked across the clearing to get it and saw a folded piece of paper on the ground where Fateh had been beaten. It was a roughly drawn map of their location. Directions were also written on it … in female handwriting. On the other side of the paper were the partial notes of a school assignment.

“Hey, Princess,” yelled Jack. “Help me find my phone, will you?”

As soon as Laura joined him, he turned his back to where Sy was urinating in the bushes and said, “Take a look.”

Laura glanced at the paper and said, “Lorraine. She’s the mole. What do we do? Sy will kill her. She’s only sixteen.”

“I know and if Connie finds out, she will demand that she be protected. It will blow everything.”

“It will for sure. Maybe burn our friend as well … but if we don’t do something, she may get us killed.”

“We’ve only got a couple of seconds to decide,” said Jack, glancing back over his shoulder at Sy who was zipping up. “I know she’s young … so were Cassandra and Julie Goodwin.”

“Oh, man.”

“Well?”

Laura tilted her head back, briefly closing her eyes. A sixteen-year-old girl … am I ready to go that far? What is the right thing to do?

“We don’t have time,” said Jack. “We need to decide. You know what I would do, but not if you don’t agree.”

Laura looked at Jack and said, “I guess if she’s old enough to play with the big boys, she’s old enough to face the consequences.”

Jack nodded, scooped his BlackBerry off the ground, and they returned to the van as Sy climbed into the back seat behind them.

“Take a look at what fell out of Fateh’s pocket,” said Jack, handing Sy the piece of paper.

Sy’s mouth dropped open. “A copy of my map!” He studied the paper, flipping it over and added, “It’s a girl’s handwriting. That fuckin’ Lorraine! She was the only girl there last night! That devil bitch! She’s dead!”

“We’ve got business that needs taking care of first,” said Jack, with a jerk of his thumb toward the chemicals.

“I can’t believe it,” seethed Sy. He punched his hand with his fist and said, “Yeah, okay. Let’s drop this off with your buddy. Make sure you drive slow. Between the chemicals and the bomb stuff, we don’t want to take any chances.”

“Did you say bomb?” asked Jack and Laura simultaneously.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Jack was driving out of the lane when he remembered to turn his BlackBerry back on. It rang immediately.

“Hey, Sammy. How ya doin’?” asked Jack.

“Okay to talk?” whispered Sammy, as Connie listened in.

“For you, sure.”

“You have no idea how relieved I am to hear your voice. Something came over the lines. A young woman tipped off Balvinder’s people that you, Laura, and Sy were leaving to do a dope deal this morning. She even gave them a map of where you were going. They’re going to try and take you all out with a 50 calibre.”

“We don’t have to worry about that,” said Jack. “That is already taken care of.”

“That?” said Sammy. “Don’t tell me you’ve got another problem.”

“We certainly do,” replied Jack.

“What else is going on? Can you give me a hint?” asked Sammy.

“Canada Day?” said Jack. “Not much. You planning a party?”

“Canada Day?” replied Sammy. “I don’t get it.”

“Sure, a party will be fun … You got what … fireworks … those really big ones? Sounds like a blast. Be careful nobody is drunk or stoned. Make sure someone is around who knows how to handle the stuff.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yup. See you in about an hour.”

“What the hell was that all about?” asked Connie as soon as Sammy hung up.

“Don’t know what happened with Big Bertha, but somehow it has been taken care of.”

“Oh, great,” muttered Connie. “That will probably mean there are more bodies someplace. What is all this about Canada Day?”

“Call bomb disposal and have them standing by.”

“Bomb disposal! Oh, mother of Jesus!”

When Jack hung up, Sy looked at him and said, “This is embarrassing. I’m shakin’ like a leaf. You two … even you, Princess … no offence, but you act like it was no big deal.”

“I did find it disconcerting,” said Laura.

“Disconcerting! I was scared shitless! Did you see the size of that bazooka? One bullet would take your whole head off!”

“Doesn’t help to dwell on it,” said Jack. “Learn from the past, but think about the future.”

“I am thinking about the future,” said Sy. “I gotta tell ya, I don’t know how much longer I can handle this shit. I’ve never been shot at or threatened like this before in my life until I met you.”

He’s got a point there, thought Laura.

“My nerves are shot,” continued Sy. “I’ve been thinking of moving back to Ontario. Maybe get back in with my ex and our little girl.”

“You’re a dad?” asked Jack.

“Yeah. Got a six-year-old. Haven’t seen her in four years.” Sy strained to looked back and forth in the side mirrors and said, “You making sure we’re not being tailed? They never took Fateh’s phones.”

“I’m making sure,” replied Jack. “But speaking of that, what do you intend to do about Lorraine?”

“Stop at the first pay phone we come to. I’m gonna call Brewski. It’s his slut. He can take responsibility.”

“You can’t talk over a phone,” warned Jack.

“No worries. We have a system. I text him on my BlackBerry and tell him to pick me up a coffee and a doughnut. I give him ten minutes to go down the block to a coffee shop and I call him there.”

Minutes later, Sy spotted a pay phone and Jack pulled over and parked. As soon as Sy left to use the phone, Jack turned to Laura and said, “Sammy and Connie already know about the ambush.”

“How?”

“It came over the lines. Lorraine called someone to pass on the info. Connie and Sammy haven’t identified her yet, but Sammy called to warn us.”

“They’ll want us to hear the voice. What do we do?”

“We can’t tell Connie about what we did …” Jack glanced out the window at Sy and added, “Or what we are doing.”

“She’d have us up on conspiracy to murder,” replied Laura.

“It will also be hard to say that we don’t know her voice.”

“So what do we do?”

“Hope Sy works fast,” said Jack. “Wait while I go check with him.”

Sy called the coffee shop and was telling Brewski what happened when Jack walked up to him.