18

 

His dad had been asleep for a few hours, which made it easier for Alex and Gwen to talk Vera into coming home for a much-needed rest. It wasn’t hard to convince her. She’d been up most of the night and was exhausted.

Back at his parents, Gwen took over. She drew a hot bath for Vera, and once she was out of the tub and into her pyjamas, she made her a snack and sat with her while she ate it.

Alex took a shower and headed to the bedroom. Once Vera was tucked into bed, Gwen hopped in the shower, then put on her pyjamas, and joined Alex in the bedroom.

“Mom likes you better than she likes me,” said Alex from the bed, where he now lay, half asleep.

“That’s not true and you know it,” said Gwen. She was brushing her hair by the window.

“Who flew you up here?”

“A friend of Jeri’s. He was coming this way for a job up past Williams Lake. He said it was no trouble to drop me off.”

“I’m sure glad you’re here.”

Gwen came over and sat beside him on the bed.

“I’m glad I’m here too.”

“You have that look,” said Alex.

“Yes, I do. You and I are going to have a long talk. We can do that now, or later, if you want to rest first.”

“I should probably rest first, before you lace into me?”

“No jokes.”

“You’re really pissed with me, aren’t you? I can tell.”

“Very observant of you and yes, I am.”

“Is it about the danger in my job.”

“No Alex. If that was the case, I would have left you years ago. It’s about what you keep from me.”

Alex gazed at the beautiful woman beside him, the woman he loved with every fibre of his being.

“It’s just that I don’t want anything to happen to you because of my work and that’s why I keep things from you.”

“That argument isn’t going to work. Not this time. Not anymore. If I hadn’t been so very, very tired from course work when this all started, I never would have agreed to be shipped off to the boonies like some damsel in distress!”

“Gwen, you haven’t slept properly in weeks.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“I don’t think of you as a damsel in distress.”

“Yes, Alex, you do! And I’m here to tell you that this is the last time that’s going to happen!”

He looked at her in amazement.

“What’s so surprising?” said Gwen. “Do you think I don’t mind running off and hiding every time you decide I have to?

“It’s only happened twice,” said Alex.

“But this time, I could see no immediate danger to me. I could just as easily have stayed in a hotel for a few days. You call, and an hour later, Jeri’s at my door to whisk me away.”

“These bastards would have tracked you to a hotel in minutes.”

“They? Who’s they?”

“Global Guard; they’re mercenaries for hire, although they don’t advertise that on their website.”

“Mercenaries. Jeri didn’t tell me that! She’s every bit as secretive as you!”

“They have all the latest weapons, ammo, technology. All you’d have to do is use a credit card and they’d have had your location in a heartbeat.”

“Hmm.”

“I thought that you were in jeopardy, and I did what I thought was best. I was trying to protect you from a man who was trying to kill me, and I was afraid he might use you—as a way to get at me.”

“You weren’t wrong about that,” she admitted. “He used your dad.”

“And that was after he’d already made three attempts on my life—in one day. And Global’s head office is in Vancouver, where you live. And where there are more guys just like him, trained and ready for action.”

Gwen’s face went white. “He tried to kill you three times! Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”

“Four actually,” said Alex, pointing to his bandaged arm. But, there’d only been one attempt when I talked to you.”

“Dammit, Alex! Did Jeri know that? All she would say is these are very dangerous people and it’s best for you to be with us. She can be a bit bossy.”

“Hmm,” said Alex. “She means well and her and Jas care about you.

Gwen’s face softened a little.

“I was just too tired to fight either one of you.”

“Yes, and Jeri knew Global was involved, so she knew just how serious it was. My first thought was that you were in immediate danger, and I was afraid of what might happen if I didn’t do something. And I was here and you were there, so I called Jeri.”

Gwen was silent for a long minute.

“You do know that I won’t fall to pieces if I know what’s really going on.”

“I know that.”

“But when I’m dealing with people who think nothing of taking a life because it’s all in a day’s work… I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you because of a decision I didn’t make.”

“Okay, sweetheart,” she said. “You’re off the hook… This time.”

“Good to hear, now come to bed. Please.”

She joined him. He put his bandaged arm on the pillow behind her. She lay beside him.

“Does it hurt much?”

“Not too much. I was lucky. It’s just a graze.”

Gwen gazed at him quietly, but said nothing.

“Actually, there is something else I need to talk to you about.”

“Something else? Alex?”

“Sometimes I’ve made important decisions based on information I have been given from a source that I promised I would keep secret. You’re going to angry with me when you hear this, but it’s time I told you.”

“Out with it?”

“I belong to the redz—a secret Indigenous organization that’s dedicated to promoting our rights in this province. They have links to other Indigenous organizations with the same agenda, in this country and in other countries.”

Gwen was speechless, but it wasn’t long before a smile started to spread across her face.

“So, redz… a secret Indigenous organization that you belong to.”

“Yes. I didn’t want to put you in a position where you had to choose to keep my secret.”

“So, you made that decision for me.”

“It’s not like that!”

“I think it is! What are you afraid of? Are they armed or something?”

“No! They’re not armed. They’re peaceful, law-abiding Indigenous folks who expose corrupt judges and prosecutors, help save women who are being trafficked, take on corporations to try to protect the environment from further degradation, support the right to dissent—that kind of thing.”

“So, people I’d be totally on board with.”

“You would be, but there are other considerations.”

“Such as?”

“For one thing, it’s not always safe. Levon Starr was a hacktivist and he belonged to redz. He kind of introduced me to the group. Actually, he asked permission from the group to share important information with me… Remember that case a couple of years back… the human traffickers up in Prince Rupert? He became aware of them when he hacked the Prince George detachment computer.”

“How can I forget. Levon Starr, the hacktivist; the man who was shot by the police officer. You went to his memorial. Then you fell apart…”

Alex nodded. “He coordinated the activities of the redz in BC, and he was the liaison with other Indigenous organizations in Canada and around the world. I was invited to join the redz officially, a few months after he was killed.”

“Who took his place?”

“A woman named Melva stepped up.”

“I’d like to meet her,” said Gwen.

“I’ve talked to her on the phone a few times, but I only met her officially, a couple of days ago. She was in big trouble. It’s a long story.”

“What kind of trouble.”

“Her life was in jeopardy.”

“Tell me everything.”

So, Alex told her about asking Melva to hack into the Global Guard server to get some information he needed and how he asked her to go back in again, to try to find out more. When she did that, how they were waiting for her, and she assumed that they tracked her computer location and how she had to fry her computer and run for it.

“I should never have asked her to go back in. But she thought she’d be safe. And when she did, she was suddenly in serious trouble.”

“It was her decision though, wasn’t it?”

“Well, yes, it was.”

“So, what did you do then?”

“I called Dad and he arranged for Uncle Fred to drive her and her boyfriend, Norm, to a safe place.”

“The old guard to the rescue. Don’t you love those guys!”

“Dad wanted to bring them here.”

“Of course, he did!”

Gwen’s smile disappeared.

“The guy who was trying to kill you, is he the one that shot Ron?”

“Gerry LePlant. It was either LePlant or his partner who shot Dad.” Alex took in a deep breath and let it out.

“Why is that name familiar?”

“Eugene and I did a course with him a couple of years after I joined up. That’s when I first met Eugene, although we didn’t work together until he got posted to 100 Mile House.”

“But isn’t LePlant RCMP?”

“He was.”

“So, he knew you and Eugene.”

Alex nodded. “Then he left the Force and went to work for Global Guard. Melva found out his name when she first hacked them, and that they’ve been working jobs in Canada for a few years now.”

“Doing what?”

“Melva found evidence that LePlant was hired by Mimacor a couple of years back to kill one of ours, a guy named Cameron McLeod. Cam was an activist opposed to fracking up in the Peace.”

“LePlant was hired to kill him!” said Gwen. “So when LePlant found out that someone had hacked their system… and possibly had information about the murder of Cam McLeod…”

Alex nodded. “And that person could also know that he was up here with a team to take three of us out.”

“He would be foolish not to assume that information had been passed to you. He had to get rid of you to protect himself. He was exposed.”

“That’s pretty much it.”

“So, he kidnapped your dad.”

“To draw me out,” said Alex. “Then they took Dad out into a field… and shot him and left him there to die.”

Gwen took his hand. She knew it was going to be a long time before Alex would be able to put this away. More company for all of the painful memories his work forced him to carry around.

“In the meantime, LePlant had me waiting at a crossroads not far from where Dad was, and sent a drone to blow up the jeep, with me in it. That was the plan. They didn’t know Eugene was with me.”

Gwen reached over and grabbed Alex in a tight embrace. It was a long minute before she let go.

“Then what happened?”

“LePlant and his partner showed up to make sure I was dead. I waited till he got close enough, then I killed him.”

They both fell silent for a minute.

“It was him or you, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was. But I’ve never made the conscious choice to kill anyone before…”

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t feel anything, Gwen. I feel strangely detached from it.”

“Alex, you didn’t have a choice.”

“I didn’t. He wasn’t going to stop till I was dead. If I had made public that he was working for Global…”

“Do you think Global knows about you?”

“I don’t know for sure.”

“Is it possible they don’t? LePlant may have wanted to keep quiet about you. You were a liability to him and if he could shut you down with no one the wiser, that would be a best-case scenario for him, wouldn’t it?”

“That is possible.”

“Was LePlant alone?”

“No. A guy named Grover was with him. Eugene shot him twice. He’s at the hospital, in custody and with a guard on him.”

“That’s bad for Global, isn’t it?”

“I’d like to think so, but something tells me the coverup has already begun, and the government will look the other way. Mining’s reputation must be above reproach.”

“How did you find your dad?”

“The GPS on LePlant’s truck told me where I needed to look. Only two places, and it was quickly obvious it wasn’t the first place.”

“Ron’s recovery is going to be a long one,” said Gwen.

“That’s for sure.”

“The old guard have been fighting for our rights for many years,” said Gwen.

“They have and my Dad is a proud member… Loud and proud,” said Alex, his face very serious.

“Does Melva’s boyfriend belong to the redz?”

“He does. He’s a nurse, when he isn’t fighting corporate corruption,” said Alex with a grin. “He‘s a great guy. You’ll like him.”

“Who do I ask if I want to join the redz?”

“It’s dangerous sweetheart.”

“I’d think I would be an asset.”

“You’re ignoring me.”

“Most definitely.”

“If it was up to me, I’d just say no, because you might get hurt.”

Gwen whacked him hard on the arm and he winced in pain.

“I’m sorry, babe. Did that hurt?”

“Remember the blast, from the drone I mentioned earlier, the one that blew up our jeep… Eugene and I were both airborne, briefly… I landed on pavement.”

“So, you’re feeling a little tender,” said Gwen, very gently.

“I am.”

“I won’t hit you anymore.”

“I appreciate that.”

“I want to join the redz.”

“You really want to be a part of this?”

“I do.”

“You don’t need to think about it first?”

“I don’t need to think about it at all.”

“Okay. I’ll bring it to the group. You have to be invited. It is a group decision, but you are my partner, so I think you’ll probably be a shoe-in.”

Gwen let out a jubilant whoop then quickly covered her mouth.

“Oops. I don’t want to wake Vera.”

“Mom can’t hear you. She’s at the other end of the hall, and she’s probably fast asleep by now. She was very tired.”

“I’ve made another decision I’d like to share,” said Gwen. “I’m going to learn self-defence. I’m thinking about taking jujitsu. I’ve seen them practicing down on Granville Island. They very gracefully throw each other about. It looks really cool.”

“That’s a good one. You use the strength of your opponent against him, or her. I should go with you. I could use some new moves.”

“Also, I think it’s time you taught me how to shoot a gun. In fact, I think I should have a gun.”

“Not a gun! You don’t want a gun?”

“I most definitely do not want a gun, but I think it’s time I learned how to shoot one, so that I can defend myself when you’re not there. You know—a locked gun case in our house. It would put your mind at ease.”

“It would not put my mind at ease! It’s my work that makes you feel you need to learn self-defence and that you need to shoot a gun.”

Neither of them spoke for a minute.

“I have to do this work—especially now. I don’t feel that I have a choice.”

“I know. And your work does bring with it certain risks. And sometimes, an element of danger that involves me directly. But wandering around UBC campus at night carries a certain amount of risk for me as well.”

“Women are unsafe everywhere.”

“We are.”

“Sometimes, it makes me feel so helpless,” said Alex.

“I know.”

“Self-defence training is a good idea. As for a gun, how about I teach you to shoot, but we hold off on buying you your own gun.”

“I don’t really want to learn to shoot. But I want you to teach me anyway. And I don’t want my own gun. I just want to feel safer.”

“And I want you to feel safer.” At this point, Alex was fighting a losing battle to stay awake.

“I’ll let you get some rest.”

“Please don’t go, Gwen. Stay with me.”

She kissed him gently, and he fell asleep soon after, in her arms.