12

 

When they arrived at the hospital, Alex stayed in the car. Eugene headed in and stopped at the reception desk to get Rose Barlow’s room number. She had been moved that morning to the second floor. He took the stairs up and flashed his badge at the uniform on her door.

“I’m here to make a quick delivery.”

“Okay.” The guy nodded and waved him through.

Eugene entered the room and shut the door behind him.

“Hi, Rose. I’m Eugene, one of the officers on your case.”

He handed her the burner.

“I believe Max has already added his number for you.”

“Thank you so much,” said Rose, clutching it to her chest. “Is Max okay? And what about Connie, his mom? Is she okay?”

“Don’t you worry. They’re fine. They’ve got a full detail guarding them.”

“Who got me the phone?”

“That would be Alex Desocarras, a friend to those in love.”

Rose smiled. “He is a nice guy.”

Eugene nodded. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better. I hope I can go home soon.”

“Soon?”

“They said tomorrow, if my headache hasn’t returned.”

“And where is home?”

“An apartment I share with a friend.”

“Don’t make any plans just yet. We’ll be in touch later today regarding safety precautions for you.”

“I was afraid of that. But I don’t think I was the target. When I think about it, they were surprised I was there. Max is who they wanted.”

“That may be, but we can’t assume that you’re in the clear just yet.”

“Maybe I should go to Max’s place?”

“I’m sure he’d love that, but Max’s place is quite crowded at the moment. Someone will get back to you this afternoon about the best place for you to go when you leave here and just how we’re going to arrange that.”

“Thank you,” said Rose.

“In the meantime,” said Eugene, indicating the phone she was holding, “I’m pretty sure Max is waiting for your call.”

He left her then, checked in briefly with the uniform, then headed out to the car. Alex was waiting for him, still holding his burner. He’d just got off the phone with Melva.

Eugene climbed in and reached for the ignition key.

“Before we leave here, I’m going to give you some information that I’m privy to, but I can’t tell you how I got it,” said Alex.

“Okay?”

“And you can’t share it with anyone, not just yet.”

“I’m suitably intrigued,” said Eugene.

“As you know, Solutions Source Inc. holds a percentage of Mountain Metals stock. Frank McGiver is listed as the representative for Solutions Source.”

“How big is their share?”

“About fifteen percent.”

“That’s significant,” said Eugene. “Gives them some power.”

“Agreed. McGiver met with a rep from Global Guard yesterday.”

“Fuck… Lots of time for Global to get their asses up here. You figure they were the goons trying to kill you on the highway.”

“I do.”

“I wonder if the folks at Mountain Metals know Global Guard is here and working for McGiver’s outfit?”

“That would be hard to confirm, but even if they do know,” said Alex, “they can deny involvement. And speaking of Mountain Metals, Rose’s uncle works for them. A guy named Ray Palmer. He’s the director of operations in Canada.”

“I wonder if he’s involved?”

Alex was silent for a minute. Max mentioned earlier that he had called Rose about having dinner last Sunday, but she already had plans.”

“Could be a coincidence.”

“Could be.”

“If it’s The League behind this, they’re pushing hard,” said Eugene. “What if this isn’t just about trying to shut down some lawyers.”

“There could be another agenda. Either way, we need the detectives to be paying much closer attention.”

“Bannon is paying attention now. Strickland was from the beginning.”

“She’s the smart one,” said Alex.

“She’s his sister-in-law. Her brother is married to his sister.”

“Oh. Well, that could explain why she hasn’t asked for another partner,” said Alex with a grin.

“By the way, Barlow is getting out of the hospital soon, and she wants to stay with her boyfriend.”

“Of course she does, but that’s out of the question.”

“We’ve got to put her somewhere. Strickland will figure it out. In the meantime, let’s pick up your gear. I’ll breathe easier when you have fire power.”

“That makes two of us.”

 

 

Eugene pulled into the parking lot at Brigham & Associates.

“I’m parked over there, to the right, beside the Mercedes,” said Alex. “The jeep is mine.”

Eugene swung in beside it and killed the engine. He got out and examined the car.

“Whoa! I’m impressed that you managed to stay on the road,” said Eugene. “It can’t be that hard to tip a jeep. Course you have the roll bar. Good thing too.”

“It was dumb luck that I didn’t go over the side rail.”

“You’re going to need some serious body work.” Eugene moved to his trunk and opened it.

Alex already had his boot open. He threw his duffle bag and lined bomber jacket into Eugene’s trunk. He grabbed his gun case and closed the boot.

“No beast?”

“No,” said Alex. “I didn’t think I’d need one."

“We’ll get you one from the detachment.”

Alex was nearly at Eugene’s passenger door when he felt, rather than heard, the bullet that blew through his left shoulder pad.

“Rifle fire,” yelled Alex. Both men dropped down, and Eugene pulled out his Walther.

“Building beside us,” said Alex. “Seventh floor window is ajar.”

Eugene quickly opened the driver’s side door and got in, keeping low. He started the car. Alex slid in on the passenger side and hunkered down. He opened his gun case, grabbed his pistol and loaded it.

“Damn, I love this jacket,” said Alex, with a glance at the hole in the shoulder of his jacket.

Eugene threw the car into reverse, squealed out of the parking space and braked hard. A spray of shots hit the front hood as he then gunned it for the exit. He reached the exit and pulled—tires squealing—into the street.

“I’ll double back up here,” said Eugene.

Alex scanned the street retreating behind them, pulled out his burner and called Bannon.

“Sniper shots fired at the lawyers’ office,” said Alex, when he picked up. “We’re doubling back now.”

“For chrissakes,” said Bannon. “I’ll call for backup.”

Eugene did a U-turn and headed back to the building the perp was shooting from.

“How long’s it been?”

“Nearly two minutes,” said Alex.

Eugene pulled up in front of the building. “I’ll take the front door.”

Alex headed to the back of the building and rounded the corner in time to see a man dressed in dark clothes climb into a grey SUV, which immediately took off down the alley.

He entered the building and took the elevator to the seventh floor, texting Eugene and Bannon on the fly.

Sniper gone .. heading to 7th floor to have a look around

Eugene and Alex met up on the east side of the seventh floor. The last tenant had vacated, and the wing was empty.

“I’ll check the rest of the floor,” said Eugene.

Alex walked the length of the hall and picked the room the shooter most likely used—the third room from the street side. It was empty save for an old desk that had been pulled over to one of the windows. The threadbare carpet had ripped in the process. The top of the desk had some odd scratches which Alex thought were probably from a gun stand. He approached the window which was slightly ajar and looked out over the visitor’s parking lot below.

It wasn’t a great place to make the shot, though not impossible from where the shooter stood. In Alex’s estimation, there was no better spot to be had on this floor, because of where he was parked. The difficulty of the shot, he thought, probably saved his life.

The fact that the shooter was holed up here, waiting for Alex to return, could mean Global Guard had brought a team up. Alex hunkered down and examined the area around the desk. A french fry had fallen under the desk. He pushed on it. Still soft, meaning it hadn’t had time to harden in the air. Sloppy, he thought. He was beside the wall and as he stood up, something metallic caught his eye, between the desk and the wall. He pulled the desk out a half foot to have a better look.

A brass cartridge casing had come to rest on the heating duct that ran the length of the wall, about six inches from the floor. Alex fished out a pen, leaned in sideways and managed to snag the casing. He stood up and examined it closely. It was bigger than rounds favoured by most sniper shooters. Eugene joined him.

“The entire floor is empty,” he said, leaning in to have a closer look at the casing.

“Shit. That’s a long cartridge.”

“About four inches. Not standard for snipers,” said Alex. “It fell between the desk and the wall. The shooter didn’t have time to recover it.”

“Great catch. If this is the ammo they’re using, we’ll all need hard armour panels over the vests.” Eugene snapped a pic. “I’ll send this to Strickland. She has the Surrey Emergency Response Team on standby.”

“The hell with standby,” said Alex. “How long before she can get them up here?”

Eugene pulled out his burner. “Let’s find out.”

he said, texting the picture to Strickland, with the caption ‘about four inches’ and waited a beat, then called her.

They’d left the office and were walking to the elevators when Strickland answered. Eugene put her on speaker.

“That casing suggests to me that Global Guard is involved. Even military snipers aren’t using a round like that. The ERT should be up here by four PM.”

“Good,” said Eugene.

“I just don’t get it, Eugene. This is complete overkill! What the hell!”

“Angie, the teams at the house aren’t ready for this kind of firepower.”

“Don’t I know it. Bannon’s talking with them now, and he called the office to get hard armour panels delivered for everyone. ERT will take over at Max King’s as soon as they’re here. It’s quiet right now. Let’s pray it stays that way.”

“Global Guard’s men can’t all be sporting this kind of round,” said Eugene.

“We can’t count on that,” said Alex.

“Leaving it behind was a stupid move. Lucky for us, though.”

“I don’t think the sniper had a choice,” said Alex. “It was hard to get at and they had to get away fast. It was sheer luck that I found it.”

“Do we have panels for Alex?” Eugene asked. “We’re headed to the detachment now to get him some gear then back to King’s place.”

“We can cover him.”

“Are you going to put the neighbourhood on lock down?”

“We’re on that.”

 

 

Eugene and Alex geared up at the detachment. By the time they made it to Max King’s place, night had fallen and the barricade was in place. Bannon and Strickland were waiting for them in front of the house.

A uniform was with them. Hard panels were being distributed.

“These hard panels are heavy,” said one officer.

Alex fished the casing out of his pocket and showed it to him.

“Someone has a supply of these,” said Alex. “Your vest won’t stop it.”

“It’s not that heavy,” he amended quietly before returning to his position in the back alley.

“The ERT team will be at the airport in fifteen minutes,” said Bannon with a worried look all around. “An armoured vehicle is waiting to bring them here. Shouldn’t be long now.”

There was a sudden eruption of high-pitched beeping from inside King’s house.

“Smoke alarm? What next,” said Strickland, heading for the front door. It opened in front of her, and Connie, Max and Ari came running out.

“Carbon monoxide warning,” said Max over the wail of the alarm.

“Is that a battery-operated detector?” asked Alex.

“No,” said Max. “It’s wired in.”

“Back in the house everyone,” yelled Alex, moving toward the door. “Your system might have been hacked.”

The first shot hit Alex in the back. He stumbled, not far from the door, but managed to remain on his feet. He took the last few steps, reached for the handle and pushed it open.

“Everyone back inside now!” yelled Alex as he entered the house and stepped to one side.

The others quickly moved to block shooter access to the civilians.

“Everyone down!” screamed Bannon as another shot tore a piece off the door jam and the next shots hit the now open door. The detectives shielded Max, Connie and Ari as they half stumbled, half crawled back into the house, followed by the detectives. More bullets hit the door as Bannon got it closed. It wasn’t until then that everyone realized Ari had taken a bullet.

“Fuck, Ari! Let me see that,” said Max.

“I’m okay,” said Ari, holding onto his bleeding shoulder, half doubled over in pain.

“No, you’re not,” said Connie.

“Let’s get him to a safer place first,” said Bannon.

“Bannon and Strickland hustled everyone down the hall to King’s office, Alex right behind them.

They settled Ari into a chair and Connie and Alex had a close look. The bullet had caused a lot of damage. It was oozing blood steadily. Ari had broken out in a cold sweat.

“He’s in shock,” said Alex. “Are there clean hand towels in the kitchen?”

“I’ll get them,” said Connie, making a dash for the kitchen.

“Are there blankets downstairs?”

“There’s two in the hall closet,” said Max, running for the blankets.

“I’ll get one of the cots,” said Bannon.

“It looks like the bullet’s still in there,” said Alex. “We need to stop the bleeding.”

Connie was back with a bundle of dish towels. She wadded two up and pressed them against the wound. Ari grimaced in pain. Max was right behind her with the blankets.

“Max, what medical supplies do you have?”

“Not a lot, but bandages, ointment, stuff like that.”

“Where?”

“In the upstairs washroom. There’s a kit in the cupboard to the left of the sink.”

“Pain meds?”

“Medicine cabinet.”

“Ari, Are you allergic to anything?”

“No allergies,” mumbled Ari.

“I’ll be right back,” said Alex. He took off upstairs.

Bannon was back with the cot. Everyone got out of the way while Strickland helped him set it up. They moved Ari to the cot and covered him with blankets. Connie continued applying pressure to his shoulder.

“Do not leave this room,” ordered Bannon, as he and Strickland ran for the back door.

Upstairs, Alex found the kit, alcohol, wipes and 500 mg pain relief tabs in the medicine cabinet. He returned to the study.

“He’s in a lot of pain,” said Alex. “Give him three tabs immediately and 500 mg as needed. The towel is already soaked. Wad up some of this dressing and apply pressure right on the wound. Keep the pressure on! We have to slow the bleeding.”

“I can do that,” said Connie.

“I’ll help,” said Max.

“We’ll get an ambulance here as soon as the coast is clear.”

Alex returned to the front room.

“How bad is Rosen’s shoulder?”

“The bullet made quite a mess. It’s still in there. He’s in shock.”

“Fuck,” said Eugene.

“These guys are really pissing me off,” said Alex.

“That was the third attempt on you. That one’s gonna bruise.”

“At least we know the plates work.”

“Clear back here,” yelled Bannon from the kitchen.

“Copy that,” yelled Eugene from the front window.

“They must have got here before the neighbourhood was locked down,” said Alex.

There was the sound of radio crackle. Bannon picked up.

“What the hell is going on!” yelled one of the officers at the roadblock.

“Shots fired at the front of the house,” said Bannon.

“Checkpoint here. Who’s shooting? No one came through the checkpoint.”

“No idea,” said Bannon. “We’re still trying to ascertain where the perps are.”

“Roger that.”

“They’ve taken over one of the houses across from us,” said Alex. “They could have done that yesterday, or last night, or early this morning.”

“They’ve been watching us from the fucking street!”

“I don’t think they’ll risk coming after us on foot,” said Alex. “They can’t afford to be ID’d.”

“Agreed.”

Alex and Eugene could hear Bannon on the short wave with the teams, then Bannon and Strickland talking.

Eugene called Bannon on his two-way.

“We don’t think Global Guard will move on the house,” said Eugene. “Too risky for them. They can’t afford to be ID’d.”

“Makes sense, but I don’t want to take a chance. Just a second.” There was hurried talk from the kitchen.

“Both teams are ready. The team in the alley has moved to the back of the house and the other is covering the front of this house from the right side, facing the street.”

“Tell them I want to have a look at one of the houses across the street,” said Alex quietly.

“We’d like to check things out across the street,” said Eugene.

There was more discussion in the kitchen.

“Okay,” said Bannon. “We’ll move to the front door.”

“We can use the garage door entrance,” said Alex. “That will give us some cover.”

“We’ll go out through the garage door,” said Eugene. “Tell the team we’re coming out.”

 

 

They left the house via the garage and used a spruce hedge as cover to get to the street. Once there, they sprinted across and took cover behind several larger trees across from King’s place on the street. They’d already decided that the likely house, with no lights visible, was the one with a white van in the driveway. The houses adjacent to it both had lights on.

“Let’s go,” said Alex.

They sprinted for the house, taking cover at a partial hedge on the perimeter of the yard. Alex noted the crest on the door of the white van could have stood for anything. Seeing no movement at any of the windows, they made one last dash up the front stairs. Alex tried the door and the handle turned. He glanced at Eugene, raised an eyebrow, then slowly pushed the door open on a darkened, empty hallway.

They entered and stood, listening. The house was dead quiet. They started down the hallway—it was a layout similar to King’s place. They checked each room, ending at the darkened kitchen. The back door was wide open, and they took off after them.

The alley in the back of the houses on this side of the street also led to the walking path, and the river beyond it. They stopped when they got to the river. In the distance, they could make out the prow of a boat on the shoreline; no lights. Tiny figures could be seen clamouring aboard.

“Shit,” said Eugene. “That was fuckin’ ballsy! Not even a hundred metres from the back of King’s house. Our bad. We should have had the river covered!”

“I wonder who owns the boat?” said Alex.

They watched as the boat moved in a slow arc, then took off.

“I’ll let them know,” said Eugene, pulling out his two-way. “At least now we’re clear to get Rosen to the hospital.”

“They’re gone,” said Eugene.

“Shit,” said Bannon. “I’ll get the river patrol on it.”

“Best they hurry. They won’t be on the river long,” said Eugene.

“I do have some good news. The ERT just came through the checkpoint. I’ve got an ambulance standing by for Rosen. I’ll give it the all clear.”

“We’ll start a search of the house,” said Eugene.

Back at the house now, they entered the kitchen and put on the lights.

“I’ll take the second floor,” said Eugene. He headed down the hall and up the stairs.

Alex could hear the distant crackle of the Eugene’s radio as he started the search upstairs. He was still in the kitchen when Bannon and Strickland came thru the front door and joined him.

“An ambulance will be here any minute,” said Bannon. A siren could be heard wailing very close. “Two of the ERT will accompany Rosen to the hospital.”

“How is Ari doing?”

“Not so good. Connie and Max got the bleeding under control, but that bullet has to come out,” said Strickland.

“We’ve got a patrol boat searching the river, but if they’re smart, they won’t stay on the water for long,” said Bannon.

“The owner of the house is up here,” yelled Eugene.

“I’ll give him a hand,” said Strickland, heading upstairs.

Alex and Bannon continued the downstairs search, but there was nothing to find.

They’re pros, thought Alex. We won’t find anything.

A few minutes later, the detectives brought the owner, an older guy in his early seventies, downstairs, and settled him in the living room.

“This is the owner of the house, Dan Baker,” said Eugene. “They really put a scare into him.”

“He asked me if I could make him a cup of tea,” said Strickland, “and he’s hungry too. Probably hasn’t eaten all day. I’ll see if I can find him something to eat while I’m at it.”

She headed to the kitchen.

“She’s very nice,” he said, watching Strickland leave the room. He turned to the men grouped around him.

“I thought I was done for,” he said. “Face paint… they put on face paint! Not when they first got here… that was after. When they first came in, they were all wearing masks… hospital masks. For your protection, they said. The one that brought me water, that was later, and took the hood off, he was wearing face paint. It was scary. I mean… face paint. But I was grateful he took the hood off. Another guy came up later and checked on me. He was carrying a rifle—like ones the bad guys you see on TV have.”

“Dan, this is Detective Bannon, and this is Alex Desocarras. He’s helping us out.”

“Hi Dan,” said Alex.

Bannon nodded.

“Who is the woman with you?”

“That’s Detective Strickland.”

“Oh. She works for you?”

“She works with us, Dan,” said Eugene.

Baker nodded when it finally dawned on him.

“Do you know who those men were? I’m telling you, they scared the bejesus out of me.”

“We don’t know,” said Bannon. “But we agree that they are a scary bunch.”

“We’re hoping you can remember something to help us identify them,” said Eugene.

“I don’t know how much help I can be. I’ve been upstairs in the back bedroom since early this morning. I’m usually up by seven. I thought I’d enjoy sleeping in, once I retired. But old habits are hard to break.”

“So did the men get here about eight am?” Bannon asked.

“Before that, officer. I hadn’t turned on the TV yet, to watch the morning show on CFJC. It doesn’t start till eight and I never miss it. Until this morning that is, and those hooligans showed up. I know what you’re thinking, who watches TV these days. But I like my routine. Anyway, they show up here and they were real friendly at the front door. Just waltzed right in, telling me it was a surprise, just for me. They were all wearing masks like they do in the hospital. For your protection sir, they said, real nice. They looked like they were here to clean the place, so they all came right in, and I’m trying to tell them I didn’t request anything like that. We already have a cleaning service that comes twice a month. Then one of them grabbed me and put a bag over my head. Just like that. And then they dragged me upstairs. I thought… I thought…”

Dan Baker stopped. Both hands came up to cover his face.

Bannon opened his mouth to ask another question, but Eugene raised one hand to ward him off.

“Give him a minute,” he said quietly, while Dan cried silently, shoulders heaving.

Eugene sat down beside him.

“Take your time, Dan,” he said.

It took a few minutes for Baker to get himself under control. By then, Strickland was back with a mug of tea and a plate of biscuits.

“Here you go, Dan.” She placed the tea and biscuits on the coffee table in front of him. He watched closely as she took care to put one of the coasters he kept handy under the tea.

“Thank you,” he said. “My wife loves this table.”

“Where is your wife?”

“She’s visiting her sister in Vancouver. Thank God she isn’t here!”

“Indeed,” said Strickland.

“They told me you’re a detective too?”

“Detective Strickland.”

“Sorry ma’am. That was stupid of me. You’re all dressed the same. I wouldn’t have asked you for the tea if I’d realized.”

“It’s fine, Dan,” she said, but her face was unreadable.

Bannon cut in. “So how many men were here?”

“Four men were at the door.”

“Did you hear any of them call the other by name?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t hear anyone talking all day. Every now and then, I’d hear a sound, like someone was here. But they were very quiet… I might have fallen asleep… But then—not long before you got here, someone started yelling.”

“Yelling?” Eugene asked.

“Yeah. It sounded like he was angry. And right after that I heard loud thumping on the stairs going down.”

“Could you hear what they were saying?”

“No. But, like I said, you all got here not that long after that.”

“I think that’s good for now,” said Bannon. Is there someone we can call for you?”

“I have neighbours good neighbours; we’re all friends.”

“Dan, I think it’s probably best if you’re not alone right now,” said Eugene. “Is there anyone you can stay with tonight?”

“Our neighbours two doors down are really good friends. I know they have a spare bedroom. I guess they wouldn’t mind me being there.”

“Give them a call now. We’ll get someone to escort you to their place.”

“You want me to leave the house?”

“We think that’s best.”

“Do you think they’ll be back?”

“No,” said Eugene. “But I don’t think you should be alone here tonight.”

“My phone’s in the kitchen.” Baker tried to stand up, but he was stiff and sore from being immobile all day.

“I’ll get your phone,” said Alex.

 

 

An hour later, Dan Baker had been escorted to his friends a few doors down.

“I can’t get over it,” said Bannon. “They were here all day, and we found nothing. It’s like they were never here.”

“They must have set up here before I called for the perimeter,” said Strickland.

“Did you get that list of who’s connected to Mountain Metals?” asked Eugene.

“I asked for it this morning. I should have it by now! It shouldn’t be much longer.”

“It’s time for us to go on the offensive,” said Eugene.

“I agree,” said Alex, “and not just because I’m on the kill list.”

“There have been three attempts on you today,” said Strickland.

“I’ve been counting too. It’s making me nervous.”

“How’s your back?”

“Sore.”

“I’ll bet.”

“We need to come up with a plan to draw them out,” said Eugene. “Maybe—"

“Why do you think you’re on their kill list?” asked Bannon.

Alex looked at him.

“Because I’m working for the wrong side would be my guess.”

“The wrong side,” echoed Bannon. “You’re working for a lawyer.”

“An Indigenous lawyer and his friend, a Jewish lawyer, both with a track record of working for Indigenous people who want to stop big mining from tearing apart and poisoning their land.”

“When you put it that way, I see your point.”

“While we’re on the subject of big business, I’m not very happy with what C-IRG has been up to, especially lately,” said Eugene. “Someone has broadened the scope of their mandate considerably.”

“But at least they’re not trying to murder people,” said Bannon heatedly.

“Granted,” said Eugene quietly.

Which is why they weren’t given this job, thought Alex.

“I don’t like a lot of what they’re up to either,” said Strickland. “They might be part of our organization, but some of their actions are frankly embarrassing. But Al’s right. At least they don’t get orders to kill people.”

No one spoke for a minute.

“Guys, let’s stay on point,” said Bannon. “These assholes might not be done here! And we have no idea what they’re going to do next?”