“When and how do you plan on doing it?” asked Jack, interrupting Sy’s conversation.

“The fuckin’ devil bitch is at Brewski’s place,” said Sy. “He wants to take her out to where we were. Says he’ll slash her up about a thousand times, then gut her with a knife and let her crawl around in the dirt until she dies.”

“Bad idea,” whispered Jack. “That will bring the cops down on everyone. They know she is Brewski’s girlfriend. If they end up getting him on the murder beef, he’s liable to turn on you to try and get a reduced sentence.”

“She’s gotta die! She’s gonna pay for what she tried to do to us!”

“To start with, I bet it was Brewski who got her hooked and mainlining coke,” said Jack.

“So what? Who cares about that?”

“You and he both should. You can’t trust an addict. For a free fix, they would turn in their own mother, which is likely how Fateh got to her.”

“You think we should wait?”

“Waiting is too dangerous. Lorraine might try it again. You need to act immediately.”

“So what the fuck are you saying we should do?”

“No torture. Nothing to draw heat. Let her kill herself.”

“How?”

“Give her something she will take and overdose and drop her somewhere. Make sure none of your guys are even around when she does it.”

Sy thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

“Princess and I won’t be coming around until we know it’s done and things are safe.”

“I’ll tell Brewski to do it right away.”

“Send me a text message on my BlackBerry. Punch in the numbers 6660 and I’ll know the job is done.”

“Six, six, six … sign of the devil,” said Sy. “What’s the zero for?”

“The devil is in the hole.”

“Cool.”

“This whole situation isn’t at all cool,” replied Jack.

“Yeah, I know. I fucked up.”

“One more thing …” said Jack, pausing to lock eyes, “don’t you or Brewski tell a soul about Lorraine, got it?” he said, while jabbing his finger into Sy’s chest.

Sy nodded sombrely.

Forty minutes later, Jack introduced Sy to Sammy.

“You took longer than you figured,” said Sammy. “Any problems?”

“Some of the competition were around,” replied Jack, “but they chatted with the bikers and left. No big deal.”

Sammy saw Sy’s mouth gape open at Jack’s comment, followed by a look of awe as Sy stared at Jack. Sammy smiled to himself. Well, you’ve got his respect, Jack. Reeled him in, hook, line, and sinker.

Sammy gave everyone a quick tour of the farmhouse and Sy appeared satisfied with an inner room where Sammy had installed shelving units and table.

“Got a good lock on the door, too,” said Sammy, “in case someone comes by.”

“We get a percentage of everything you make,” said Sy. “Jay said you are planning on shipping it back east. What doesn’t go back east goes to us. Understood? No side deals with anyone around here.”

“I understand,” replied Sammy. “Who do I contact for dropping off the product and ordering more chemicals?”

“Me. That’s what the bikers want.” Sy smiled and gave Sammy a slap on the back. “Really glad to meet you. Any friend of Jay is a friend of mine. Now, let me show you how to set a lab up like a professional. Even comes with a booby trap.”

“Wonderful,” said Sammy lamely.

Over the next several hours, Jack and Laura watched as Sy gave Sammy an in-depth course, complete with instructions on how to run a meth lab. He also screwed a small metal lever inside the door at the top. A wire ran past the lever through small eyehole screws over to a large glass carboy set on a shelf on the opposite side of the room. A rubber bung plugged the hole at the top of the carboy. The bung had been punctured with a grouping of small nails so that the spikes from the nails hung down inside the carboy. Sy threaded the wire through the small hole in the bung and let it dangle inside the carboy.

“We tie a small glass vial to the end of the wire in the carboy,” said Sy. “If someone comes in and doesn’t lower the lever above the door, it will yank the glass vial up where it will shatter against the nails. The stuff in the vial falls in the carboy and … ka-boom!” he yelled.

“Is this really necessary?” asked Jack.

Sy shrugged and said, “The fuckin’ fireball will wipe out everything. No DNA, no fingerprints … not nothin’. This is how Cocktail said to do things and the bikers say so, too. Anybody comes in that ain’t supposed to … well, there won’t be anything left of ’em but ashes.”

“Sounds like Cocktail and the bikers are protecting themselves more than the one doing the cooking.”

“Gotta play by their rules,” said Sy. “Sometimes the bikers are waiting when you arrive. If it ain’t hooked up right, you’re in for a hell of a beating. Besides, it’s easy to do. There is enough give in the line to open the door a little. If the lever is up, then the top of the lever is behind the line and the bomb is activated. All you gotta do is flick the lever down when you enter and back up when you leave.”

“Hope I don’t forget,” noted Sammy.

Sy chuckled and said, “Everybody says that. If I thought you would forget, I’d have asked you to pay the money up front.”

Sammy’s face paled as he studied the apparatus.

“Don’t worry,” said Sy. “You won’t forget after what I show you next. Let’s go outside around back.” He glanced at Laura and said, “This is guy stuff. Might be better if you wait in the van.”

Laura did as suggested while Sy retrieved the plywood box containing Harry the Hamster, before going behind the house with Jack and Sammy.

Sammy set the box on the ground and took the lid off.

Jack saw the hamster sit back on its hind legs as it peered up at them. The box had a small glass bottle containing a liquid in one corner of the box. Sy took the lid off the bottle and picked up a plastic straw and an eyedropper.

“Watch this,” said Sy. He took a pill bottle containing a clear liquid from his pocket and removed a couple of drops with the eyedropper. “Don’t bend over too close,” he cautioned, before using the eyedropper to place a few drops in the end of the straw and tip it so the drops ran down the straw and into the bottle inside the box.

Immediately a small explosion ignited an inferno inside the box. Harry the Hamster instantly became a squealing ball of flame and bashed and clawed against the side of the box for a moment before succumbing.

“They always panic and keep running into the wall,” said Sy. “Haven’t had one jump out of the box yet.”

Jack and Sammy traded grim glances over the odour of burned hair and charred flesh.

“Awful, ain’t it?” said Sy. “I almost puked the first time Cocktail showed me, but as he says, you won’t forget to disarm the door. He also said to put a picture of a hamster on the door to remind you each time you enter.”

Jack and Sammy knew a picture would not be necessary. Neither man would ever forget.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Jack and Laura drove Sy back to his apartment and waited in the underground parking lot while Sy went up to speak with Brewski. When Sy returned, he said, “Brewski gave her some stuff and dropped her off at her parents’ place about two hours ago.”

Jack nodded silently.

“He said she had asked where we were. He said he didn’t know and was worried because we should have been back. The little bitch pretended to worry, but it was all an act. Her mom and dad get home from work in another hour. I’m guessing she took it right away so they won’t see that she’s stoned. I’m sure she’s a goner.”

“I want it confirmed.”

“Will do. What are you up to?”

“Got some more business to take care of. Merchandise that needs moving. Call me when you know.”