5
Alex had made excellent time on the road and was less than an hour from Kamloops when his phone dinged.
Call Mel. Urgent
A call that couldn’t wait. He pulled off the highway onto the shoulder and phoned her back on his burner. She picked up.
“Alex?”
“Hi, Melva. It’s been a while. What’s up?”
“It’s not good, Alex. Max King—he’s one of ours. He was abducted and so was his girlfriend. They’ve been rescued and for that we’re very grateful! But we’re also scared.”
“King’s mother hired me earlier this morning to find him! I’m only an hour out of Kamloops. What do you know?”
“His girlfriend, Rose, she got away, somehow, and managed to find a phone belonging to one of the abductors is my guess. She called the police.”
“Is the girlfriend redz?”
“No, she isn’t.“
“Any news on how the couple are doing?”
“My boyfriend is a nurse at Inland. He let me know shortly after they were brought in. That was late last night. She’s in pretty rough shape with a severe concussion, and Max is recovering from a lethal dose of heroin and I don’t know what else. I’ll let you get the full story from Max. I don’t have all the details.”
“I haven’t met Max, or Norm.”
“Norm works in the Emergency department.”
“Why do you think Max was targeted?”
“We’re still not sure why. Someone is out for blood, but at the moment we don’t know who. We’re hoping you can find out.”
“I’ll do what I can.”
“Thing is, Alex, we’ve never seen this level of heavy-handedness, at least not in Canada. Not over a lawsuit.”
“What lawsuit?”
“Mountain Metals is about to be served with a big one, but there’s no secret about that. Max and Ari Rosen are the lawyers on that case. And I hear lawyers and other parties from the States have requested intervenor status. Communities on both sides of the Canadian border are threatened by one of their tailings dam.”
Alex knew how powerful mining corporations were with their lawyers and their lobbyists and the government—who, for the most part, welcome them like the second coming. A bit like throwing stones at a juggernaut, in his opinion, but he kept that to himself.
“But maybe this isn’t about that lawsuit.”
“What do you mean by that, Mel?”
“This is completely under the radar still, but our parent organization, AERIE, plus the redz and some close allies, are about to launch something we are calling the White Blizzard. Lots of lawsuits—all at once, filed against many companies. It’s big, Alex. Really big, and we’re almost at the finish line. It’s coming from a partnership here in North America, both Canada and the US, and a few European countries and Australia. It’s something we’ve been working on for a while now. Lots of people are behind it, and we hope it’s gonna be a game changer.
“We need a game changer,” echoed Alex. “But are you sure you’ve been able to keep this a secret?”
“Until last night, we thought we had. Now, I’m not so sure. But we’ve been so, so careful Alex. It just doesn’t make any sense to me how anyone would find out.”
“Hmm. Are you living in Kamloops now?”
“I’m staying with Norm, at least until we get to the finish line with Blizzard.”
“When will that be?”
“Not till this coming Friday—so four more days.”
“Okay,” said Alex. I’ll keep quiet about White Blizzard.”
“You must! Max hasn’t told his mom, or anyone. None of us have.”
“I will. I’ve got a meeting with Ari Rosen, as soon as I get to Kamloops. Then I’ll head over to the hospital to see Max and hopefully talk to him and Rose. If they’re up to it.”
“Ari Rosen’s good people. He works with Max. He’s one of the lawyers involved in the Blizzard. And Norm’s with Max.”
“Copy that.”
An hour later, Alex was pulling into the parking lot at Brigham and Associates when his phone buzzed. It was Eugene Munroe.
Got a minute
Alex parked and called him.
“Hey Alex. What brings you to town?”
“I was hired to find a lawyer who’d gone missing, name of Max King. He and his girlfriend, Rose Barlow, are at the Royal Inland Hospital. His mom hired me a few hours ago.”
“Where are you now?”
“At King’s office. I’m going to talk with Ari Rosen, an associate of his. Then I’d like to talk to Max King.”
“You’ll have to get in line. There are two detectives on that case, Strickland and Bannon, and they weren’t allowed to interview earlier this morning. I hear the girlfriend is in pretty bad shape. Remember, this is the judge’s daughter that went missing. And King isn’t in great shape either.”
“When are you off shift?” asked Alex.
“Not for a few hours, but I haven’t had lunch. Let’s get something to eat?”
“Sounds good. I’m hungry,” said Alex, who hadn’t eaten since his early breakfast. “Let’s meet after I speak with Ari Rosen.”
“How about the Home Restaurant?”
“Sure. I’ll text you when I’m clear.”
“See you then.”
Alex walked through the office doors of Brigham & Associates just after two pm. Ari Rosen was waiting at reception.
“I’m Alex Desocarras. I’m working for Connie King.”
“I’m Ari Rosen, but please, call me Ari.”
They shook hands and Ari led Alex to his office. Alex had grown up in Kamloops and loved the rugged landscape. The view from Rosen’s office was stunning. The cliffs beyond the window were alive with reddish gold light.
“I miss these cliffs,” said Alex, nodding to the window.
“You’re from around here, then?”
“Born and raised,” said Alex, “just across the river. Ari, as I mentioned on the phone, Connie King hired me to find out why Max and his girlfriend were abducted and by who. I understand that they’re at the hospital now.”
“I’m aware. Connie King called me earlier and Max had a friend call me from the hospital.”
“Great. I just have a few questions. How well do you know Max?”
“Very well. I’ve been here a little over four years. Max has been with us for almost three years. We often have lunch or go for drinks after work.”
“When did you see him last?”
“I haven’t seen or heard from him since last Friday.”
“Is that unusual?”
“Not really. We don’t often hang on the weekend unless it’s a firm function, so it’s not unusual to not hear from him on the weekend.”
“Are you working on anything with him right now?”
“We have a few cases, but none have been filed.”
Alex noted Ari spoke carefully and gave away no relevant information.
“Important cases?”
“Very important.”
“What’s his client load like?”
“He’s got quite a few clients.”
“Open cases?”
“Yes.”
“Any red flags?
“We have a lot of contentious cases. It’s what we do. It comes with the territory,” said Ari, with a smile.
“Right. Have you spoken with the police?”
“By phone, yes. Detective Bannon called me last night, regarding Rose. He’d spoken with Rose’s roommate Meeta, so he knew that Max and Rose were dating. Bannon called our office when he couldn’t reach Max. The answering service gave him my number, and I talked with him briefly. I had nothing for him. But he called again this morning, just after you called, and he wants to interview me. I’m meeting with him in an hour.”
“I realize you have to respect client confidentiality, but can you give me an idea of what the two of you were working on, or, with regard to a case that Max was working on that might have had him worried?”
“There’s one client that I know of that’s in for a very dirty fight. Or no fight at all. It’s not unusual for mining companies to find a way to get their cases dismissed, or to settle without going to court. They don’t generally end up in court. It is a rigged game most of the time.”
“And the name of the client?”
Ari looked at Alex, sizing him up.
“Connie King said Max and Rose had been abducted?”
“It looks like it,” said Alex. “I have no particulars as yet.”
“Abducted! Fuck! I just can’t wrap my head around it.”
Alex waited.
“Okay. I’ll tell you, but this has to be in strict confidence.”
“Understood.”
“The Newcastle Band is bringing a very serious claim against Mountain Metals Mining.”
“Newcastle Band; near Princeton,” said Alex. “That would be Okanagan Nation territory.”
Ari nodded. “We haven’t filed yet, but Mountain Metals is probably aware of our plan. They have a big copper mine in the area.”
“Copper Mountain,” said Alex.
Another nod. “The tailings dam has been leaking off and on for several years now, but that was only recently reported by Mountain Metals for the first time. The tailings dam leak has been contaminating the Similkameen River water and the aquifer used by everyone. Mountain Metals has a lousy history in BC and everywhere else. They talk a lot, but mostly they gut the land, dump their shit, don’t clean up, and make billions in the process. And they’re making billions off that mine with many more years to come.”
Alex’s thoughts immediately went to the Mount Polley tailings pond disaster. Another copper mine, this one in his nation’s territory. It was the largest environmental mining disaster in Canada’s history—a forever disaster because they hadn’t yet figured out how to clean up the copper waste.
The engineers in charge, who had definitely been more than a little remiss in their duties, took all the heat and were fined. The mine owner, Imperator, successfully quashed two lawsuits. And now, eight years on, Imperator had reopened the Mount Polley mine.
Alex shook his head. “My people, other nations in BC, and around the world, for that matter, watch helpless while big mining decimates their pristine territories. Canada and BC handed off environmental responsibility long ago to the corporations doing the damage. Basically, they gave them the go-ahead. Score big points for the mining lobbyists.”
“And big oil, too. It’s scary all right,” said Ari. “The Newcastle First Nation is freaking because Mountain Metals wants to raise the tailings pond embankment at Copper Mountain to well over 255 metres. It would be the second highest tailings dam in the world. It’s unheard of—in Canada anyway.”
“Are they out of their minds!” said Alex.
“Quite possibly,” said Ari without a hint of sarcasm. “That’s higher again than the Hoover Dam. The tailings dam at Copper Mountain is already leaking, and if they raise the embankment and it collapses…”
“The Similkameen watershed crosses the border into the United States, eventually emptying into the Colorado River,” Alex finished for him. “If that tailings dam fails, it will be a mining disaster without precedent—on both sides of the border.
“There would be no coming back from that,” said Ari. “Russia had a catastrophe like that, one that’s for the books as well. And China too. But for sure, if Copper Mountain’s tailings dam breeches, the contamination will cross our border and extend down, through Washington State and keep on going, eventually emptying into the Colorado River. There’s mounting pressure on the US government to do something! One of the non-profit watchdogs in Washington State has worked with Newcastle in the past. They’ve already indicated they would like intervenor status if the case goes to court. I’m sure many more will want to follow suit.”
“Do you think Max’s disappearance is connected to the Mountain Metals case?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. There is certainly that possibility. Copper Mountain will be a very important case. If it isn’t quashed before it even gets started, that is. Like I said, that’s how big mining usually handles things. But the environmental damage that is threatened at that site, and I’m talking about copper poisoning of the watershed there, well, that could happen tomorrow! And then there’s the New Directions mine at Blue River—tantalum and niobium, rare earth metals. But that’s another story.”
“I know about the Blue River mine. It’s in Simpcw territory. They didn’t want it there in the first place, and they still don’t.”
“Mountain Metals owns that mine too. There lots of so-called green diversification going on in the mining sector.”
“They want to shut down the mine; and not just my them. Any community downriver of that mine is in for trouble,” said Ari. “The heat is being turned up on dirty mining practices, but big mining can ignore the heat because there is never enough heat to force any kind of significant change. Between the lobbyists and the lawmakers, it’s been a done deal for a long time. New Directions is being lauded as part of Canada’s green future, but the Blue River mine is shaping up to be just as big a mess as Copper Mountain.”
“Off the record, of course, but are the Simpcw planning to take New Directions to court, Ari?”
“There was a lot of interest in doing that.”
“What are their chances if they do?”
“In truth, I don’t know. Their main concern is radiation poisoning.”
He waited for that to register with Alex.
“What should really be happening is everyone, everywhere involved in resource extraction needs to take a breath and wait until more environmentally friendly options can be scaled up. The options exist! They’re being worked on as we speak.” Ari stopped, shoulders slumped.
“I’d like to know more about these options, but not at the moment. I want to get to the hospital and see if they’ll let me speak with Max King. Thanks for your time, Ari. I’ll be in touch if I have any more questions.”
“Absolutely. And Alex, if you could keep me in the loop regarding how Max and Rose are doing, I’d appreciate it. Texts are fine.”
“I will,” said Alex. “But I’m sure Max will be in touch as soon as he’s up to it.”
Once Norm Nilsen was off shift, he called his girlfriend, Melva Nehanee, and filled her in with all the information he had regarding Max King and Rose Barlow. She’d been staying at his place the past few weeks, working closely with Max King and Ari Rosen, while they got all parties ready for the launch of White Blizzard. Mel, as she was known by just about everyone, started an internet relay chat that had quickly become very intense.
mel: I just talked to norm … he’s at the hospital … max and his girlfriend rose were abducted early yesterday evening
euroviso: abducted?
eurobabe: fucking bastards!
mel: I still don’t have all the details … rose managed to escape from the abductors and took a phone with her … she called the police who pinged her location and they rescued her first and got her to a hospital … she’s not doing great … we’re all pulling for her … she was the one who told the police that max was on site and that they needed to find him
sáhkku: so they were both nearly killed?
mel: yes
euroviso: what did they do to max?
mel: someone shot him up with heroin and I don’t know what else … if they hadn’t rescued him he’d be dead
euroviso: fuck!
sáhkku: we need to abort! we can’t risk anyone else getting hurt.
mel: max doesn’t want us to
eurobabe: he said that?
mel: he did, to norm, at the hospital … tell mel not to abort … we go ahead as planned
euroviso: are we exposed?
mel: i don’t think so
aiai: white blizzard … is it exposed?
mel: i don’t think so but we don’t know for sure yet
itztime: we can’t risk exposure
sáhkku: but why would max be a target if there wasn’t a leak? and why his girlfriend?
mel: we don’t know yet but we think she was in the wrong place at the wrong time … and we don’t know exactly how it went down … could be unrelated to what we’re doing … one of his clients is taking a very big mining co to court on a separate matter … a very big deal … involves both canada and partners in the u.s. … no secret about it either … but that could be what got max in trouble
sáhkku: max doesn’t want to abort the plan … neither do i … but only if we can keep everyone safe
aiai: but can we keep everyone safe … damn, we’re so close
eurobabe: so very close … finally some real hope … those bastards!
mercurial: don’t lose hope … it’s all we have … hey mel how are you.
mel: hey merc … you good up there in the great north?
mercurial: all set up here … and what can they do now … it’s too late to stop us
mel: I called Alex D a few hours ago … max’s mom hired him … he’s up here by now … he will investigate for us
aiai: love that guy … is he still a cop?
mel: no
aiai: we’re ready to go here … this aussie says we proceed … what can they do? nothing!
deva: good idea to bring in alex
findalaw: agreed … alex will find the bastards
deva: i hope so … hey mel … folks in nevada want to ride this horse to the finish … so much at stake, so little time
inthemoment: max won’t want us to back down
espanadiva: agreed … stick to the plan … we’re nearly ready here … definitely will be by friday
mel: let’s put it to a vote: do we cancel?
The seventeen people online were unanimous in their support that the group move forward as planned. She ended the chat with a promise of an update on how Max and Rose were doing as soon as she knew something.
Exhausted from hours of adrenaline coursing through her veins, Mel went to the kitchen to make some herbal tea. Norm had just arrived and he was at the counter, making a sandwich. He held out one arm, and in a moment, she was by his side, enveloped in a warm hug.
“Is Max alone?”
“No, of course not. Robbie’s with him.”
“I was so fucking scared.”
“Me too, Mel.” They were forehead to forehead now.
“Was he alive when they found him?”
“The cops got there first; he wasn’t breathing and his pulse was…”
“Fuck.”
“But a lot of people have had the training and one of the officers started breathing for Max as soon as she found him. That’s what kept him going, I’m sure of it. They had a naloxone kit but it was a while before it kicked in. What did you tell them on the chat?”
“That someone was trying to kill them, and that it was a very close call. I told them that I pulled Alex in. He’ll know what to do.”
“I hope so. Fuck Mel. Whoever’s behind their abduction is taking it to another level. Over lawsuits?”
“Big mining doesn’t usually care about lawsuits one way or the other.”
“What the hell are we dealing with then?”