They were all in the Lincoln-Ms. Zee, Kong, Joey and Suraj-heading to the House of Jam. Suraj was behind the wheel and he was nervous. He found the Lincoln too big to handle. He would rather be in his Sundance. But there was no way Ms. Zee would allow that. She only went anywhere in the Lincoln.
Ms. Zee was not in a good mood. It was embarrassing to have to go to your clients and retrieve the samples. Joey yawned beside her. His head was facing the other direction. She was sick of babysitting him.
Joey yawned again, this one longer and louder. Kong fidgeted on the front passenger seat. At first Ms. Zee had refused to bring Joey along but he begged her. It had been a while since he’d been outside the lab. He needed some time to relax. So did she. But this was business.
When I was all dressed up I looked in the mirror. I was decked out in shiny black boots, brown khakis, a green silk shirt and a smooth artificial leather jacket. I was ready to have fun.
Barnes was going to pick me up and together we were going to check out the best entertainment experience in town. Beadsworth thought he’d stick out at the House of Jam, or maybe he didn’t like clubs, so he opted to not go. Whatever the reason, I was glad I was going with Barnes. At least I didn’t have to follow someone around. I was the boss. I thought maybe, given the way I was behaving earlier, Barnes would consider me his superior.
As I was touching up my hair there was a honk.
I rushed out the door and was halfway down the steps when I stopped. I went back up, unlocked, and said, “Goodbye, Mike.” Michael Jordan smiled back at me. He approved of me having fun. He always did.
When I turned the handle of the main door my landlady peered out. “Jon,” she said, “You’re very busy?”
“Yeah,” I smiled.
“You’re eating well?”
“Yes, great.”
“Come and have dinner with us tomorrow.”
“No,” I said. “I don’t have time.”
“I’m not going to argue with you. Come. I’ll make your favourite dish.”
“Mechado?” I said, slowly.
“Yes, mechado.” She smiled.
When I was first introduced to mechado, a Filipino beef stew, I immediately fell in love with it. Now, whenever I hear the word mechado my taste buds start to water.
“I will not come for you, but for mechado. Okay?”
She knew I was joking. “Okay.”
There was another honk.
“Gotta go,” I said. “See you tomorrow.”
Barnes was behind the wheel and he was grinning. “I can’t believe we’ll be going to the House of Jam. Y’know, you’ve gotta be important to get into that place. I tried going the second time. They wouldn’t let me in. I even tried bribing them, but nope, it didn’t work. Can you believe DJ Krash will be playing today? This is awesome.”
“We’re still on duty,” I said.
“What if I get lucky?” he smiled devilishly.
“Your luck will run out if Aldrich hears about this. We’re not authorized to be there. Beadsworth persuaded Garnett to let us go, in the hope we find something.”
He put the car in gear.
“Also, don’t get hammered. This is work. And you don’t want to show up the next day with a hangover.”
“All right, sure,” he said, a little disappointed. “We go in and we scope the place out.”
“That’s it.” I smiled. “If somehow, out of the blue, we see someone nice, we just get their number. That’s it.”
“That’s it.” He nodded.
It was well past eight in the evening and there was a huge line up outside the House of Jam.
“There must be a couple of hundred people,” Barnes said as we drove past the waiting people. We went down the block searching for a parking spot. It is all but impossible to find parking in downtown Toronto. I should know; I used to give tickets to those who parked illegally. I was afraid we would have to park in front of the fire hydrant or something.
It took us twenty minutes but we did find a spot four blocks away from the club.
“It’ll take us forever to get in with this long line,” Barnes said, concerned.
I dialed Cal Murray’s number and after a few minutes hung up. “We’re going through the back.”
When we got there Cal was already waiting for us. I introduced Barnes and we went up the stairs.
“You guys go and have fun,” said Cal. “If you need me, I’ll be here.”
We went through the narrow hall and into the club. I was blown away by the sheer energy of the place. The noise was immense. It had done a three-sixty transformation from the quiet place it was this morning. It was already bustling with people.
Barnes said something inaudible.
“What?” I yelled.
He leaned closer. “This is what I’m talking about.”
“How ’bout we split up. You stay up here and I’ll go down. If you see anything you ring me.” I was yelling hard.
“Sure,” he yelled back.
I moved forward and made my way to the railing of the mezzanine. Below there was a good crowd on the dance floor. On the stage DJ Krash was mixing feverishly. He was wearing a white cap and a black t-shirt. A pair of headphones was around his neck. The crowd was into the music. I think it was retro or contemporary-but what the hell did I know. Different coloured lights beamed down on to the dancers.
I was getting into the music too. Involuntarily, my head started bopping to the beat. I made my way down through the right side stairs. There were a lot of people and a lot of girls. Now I knew why Barnes wanted to come here.
A few people had taken spots on the Beam Breaker.
I danced-if you call shaking your body in different directions dancing-my way to the stage. DJ Krash was focused on mixing records on the turntables. For a split second he looked up and when he saw me he smiled.
I felt important. I knew the DJ.
The Lincoln turned off Queen Street West and headed south. It turned into a dark alley and parked in a lot that could hold eight to ten cars. It was the parking lot of the House of Jam: reserved for the owners and its guests.
Ms. Zee dialed a number and Cal answered.
“We’re coming to see you, Cal,” she said.
“But…but…” Cal started.
“We’ll only be there for a few minutes,” she said.
“No. Come back later,” he said firmly.
“We’re outside your door,” she said.
Defeated, Cal said, “I’ll be down in a minute.”
The back door swung open. Cal was not happy to see them, but he managed a smile.
All four of them followed Cal to his office. Suraj and Joey headed out to the club.
“What can I do for you?” said Cal, getting behind his desk.
“We want the samples back,” Ms. Zee said. Kong was with her in the room.
“What samples?”
“The samples of the drug.”
“Um…” Cal put his fingers to his lips. “I disposed of them right after you left.”
“I don’t believe you,” Ms. Zee answered.
“Don’t, but it wouldn’t do me any good to keep them. What if the cops found the drugs? They’d shut the place down.” Cal leaned forward. “Why do you want it back anyways?”
“The samples are not to our liking.”
“And why is that?”
“We have our reasons,” Ms. Zee said.
Not satisfied, Cal said, “Let me ask you this and tell me honestly. Will you have the drug or not?”
“We will,” she said.
I went to the bar and ordered a ginger ale. I nearly choked when the bartender told me it was three dollars. It was ginger ale, not imported wine. Disgruntled, I headed for the chairs lined around the dance floor. This would be a good spot to scope out the place. It had an indescribable energy. I could see why this was the club to be at. The Beam Breaker already had a line-up. They all wanted to try it out.
I already had a personal tour.
A girl walked up to me. She smiled and said, “Buy you a drink?”
“No thanks, already bought one,” I said raising my glass of ginger ale.
Her face turned sour and she left.
I took a sip and then realized what a dope I was. The girl was interested in me and I turned her down. I looked around, hoping to find her again.
I forgot my glass and headed in the direction she’d gone. There were too many people and searching for her was like trying to find a toothpick in a stack of toothpicks. I thought of the Find-a-Friend. I went to the machine but changed my mind when I saw two huge guys with cut-off tank tops, which by the way revealed well muscled arms, standing in front of the machine having a good time. I didn’t want to disturb them. That wouldn’t be polite. I went back to my chair.
As I got near I saw a white kid with shaggy hair sitting on my chair.
“That’s my glass,” I said pointing to a half-empty glass perched on the rail.
“Sorry,” the kid apologized. “I didn’t know someone was sitting here.”
“That’s okay,” I leaned over to retrieve my drink.
The guy next to us suddenly got up and left. I think DJ Krash was playing his music. I took the empty seat and turned to the kid.
“Hey, I’m Jeff,” the kid said, offering his hand.
“If what you’re saying is true,” Cal said. “Then this new drug will be huge.”
“Very,” Ms. Zee reiterated.
“Then I would like a piece of the profit.”
Ms. Zee was taken back a little. In their previous meetings he was ardently against them opening shop in his establishment. “Why the sudden change of heart?”
“I cannot completely stop drugs from entering my club. If I join you I can control exactly what gets in and what gets out.” This sounded like perfect business. “On top of that, I can make some money.”
Ms. Zee seemed pleased. “How much are we talking about?”
“Fifty-fifty,” Cal said.
“No,” Ms. Zee was a good negotiator. “Thirty-Seventy.”
“Fifty-fifty. House of Jam is the place to be in Toronto-fifty-fifty it is.”
“Thirty-five-sixty-five.”
“No. In my place you’ll have more returning clients than anywhere else.”
“Forty-sixty.”
“Also,” Cal leaned for his final kill. “If I get raided I’ll lose everything.”
“All right. Fifty-fifty,” she said. House of Jam was the place to start a venture. It was also good business, considering she did not have the drug yet.
“I’m Jon Rupret,” I shook his hand. “R before E.”
He thought about it, “Not Rupert but Rupret. Interesting.” He moved his head up and down.
“You got it.” I took a sip of my drink.
“Hey, wait a minute.” He narrowed his eyes as if he was trying to locate something in his head. “Aren’t you the guy who messed up the drug squad investigation last year?”
I couldn’t believe he recognized me.
“Yeah, you are that guy,” he concluded.
I hung my head and took another sip.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I would have done the same thing. You did your job.”
“I did,” I said. “So you come here often?” I asked.
“Naw, whenever I get the chance. How about you?”
“First time.”
“Wow, you don’t get out much.”
“Working.”
“You still in the police force?”
“Yep, they couldn’t get rid of me that easily.”
“In parking?”
“Nope. Got transferred.” I took a sip. “What do you do?”
“I just graduated.”
“In what?”
“Pharmaceutical Chemistry.”
“We’ll return with the drug,” said Ms. Zee. She turned to Kong. “Get Suraj and Joey. We’re leaving.”
Kong went through the narrow hall and into the club. The music was loud and it hit him hard. He winced. There were too many people-moving, talking, laughing, yelling-it was all too much for him. He grunted.
Kong pushed through the throng of people-actually, they moved away as he passed them. He was too big and no one wanted to mess with him. He bumped into a guy holding two full glasses filled with coloured liquid that spilled onto the guy’s nice shirt. The guy apologized and quietly walked away.
Kong found Suraj standing at the bottom of the left staircase. Suraj looked bored and annoyed. He would rather be anywhere but here.
Suraj looked up and they both made eye contact. Suraj understood.
Barnes was chatting up a couple of girls in the mezzanine lounge when he squinted and moved his head to get a better view. Through the group of pool players he saw someone he recognized. Or thought he recognized. This guy had just come out of the narrow hall. His bald head was clearly visible, but from this angle Barnes could not see his face.
Barnes dialed a number and waited. “Come on,” Barnes said. “Come on.” A few more rings later Rupret answered.
“Come upstairs. I think I see someone,” Barnes yelled into the phone.
“What?” Barnes heard Rupret say.
“Come upstairs, now,” Barnes repeated.
“You have to speak louder. I can’t make you out,” Rupret said. “Why don’t I come upstairs?”
Barnes looked and the bald-headed man had disappeared. Barnes hung up and went in the direction where he had last seen the man.
“Wow, pharmaceutical chemistry,” I repeated. “What do you learn to do? Make drugs?” I laughed.
He laughed too. “Yeah, drugs.”
My cell phone vibrated.
“Excuse me,” I said. “Hello.”
It was Barnes.
“Come…(inaudible)…I think…(inaudible)…someone…” I couldn’t clearly make out what he was saying. I even had one finger shoved in my other ear. I guess I was too close to the stage.
“What?” I said.
“Come…(inaudible)…now.”
“You have to speak louder. I can’t make you out,” I said. I was not going to understand him through the cell phone. “Why don’t I come upstairs?” He hung up.
I turned to Jeff, “I gotta go, man.”
“Me, too,” he said, looking at his pager.
“Nice talking to you,” I said.
“See you around,” I heard him say as I hurried up the flight of stairs.
Barnes moved past the bar and was standing in the middle of the floor. Where did he go? He looked around. Was he dreaming? He wasn’t sure what, but there was something familiar about this man. He just couldn’t put a finger on what.
He spotted the bald-headed man looking down at the corner of the left staircase. Still he couldn’t see his face. Barnes pushed and shoved past several patrons and made his way to the stairs. The man was not there. He looked down. He was not on the ground floor either. Barnes knew the bald-headed man could not be on the mezzanine level. He could only have gone down.
Barnes rushed down, skipping several steps. There were too many people. The lights were low and only when the strobes of beams dropped down onto the dancers could Barnes make out faces.
He decided to push forward. Go to the front of the club, near the stage.
On the mezzanine level I searched around. Barnes was not at the lounge. I moved further scanning each face. No Barnes. There was no way I could ask someone if they’d seen Barnes. How would I describe him? He’s tall, young and white. Right. That would narrow it.
I passed the soda bar and went to the left side of the floor. No sign of him. The Find-a-Friend machine was vacant. I hurried and grabbed the joystick.
My excitement fell as I realized this machine was just for the mezzanine level. I had already searched that level.
I pulled out my cell and dialed his number again.
Barnes passed a line of people who were eagerly waiting to dance on the mini stage. It was one of those interactive zones that he’d seen on TV. This one had the dancer’s body heat projected onto the screen.
Barnes went forward and something caught his eye. A door to the left was a little ajar. A stream of light appeared from the opening. Something inside him said to check it out. It would be impossible to search through the entire dance floor. So there was no harm in this.
Barnes didn’t have a gun. He didn’t need a gun. He was only there to check the place out.
He pushed the heavy door slightly and peered inside. There was a dark hallway with a door to the right. There was another door at the end of the hall. Barnes entered and, feeling along the wall for guidance, moved down the hall toward that door. He stopped when he realized there was a figure standing in front of that door.
The hallway was very dark and Barnes tried hard, with no success, to make out this figure. When his eyes adjusted he immediately recognized it was the bald-headed man, holding the door open.
Something hit Barnes hard on the back of the head. There was a subdued clung, like metal hitting flesh. Barnes fell forward and saw darkness.
Suraj stood above Barnes, holding a metal pipe. He had been hiding behind the door. There was a noise. The noise was coming from Barnes. Suraj looked at Kong. The noise sounded like the ringing of a cell phone. Suraj dropped the pipe and both he and Kong ran out of the House of Jam.
No answer. I hung up. This was not good. I decided to go down. I knew the place well now.
Downstairs was even worse. There were way too many people.
My heart started beating faster. The longer it took to find Barnes the more nervous I became. Barnes would never have called me unless it was an emergency.
I took a deep breath. I would find him.
My eyes caught the door on the left of the stage.
I remembered Cal saying, We never keep this entrance open.
I rushed to the door and pulled it open. The hallway was dark but I could make out something on the floor. I slowly advanced into the hall.
There was a body flat on the ground and I instantly knew it was Constable Michael Barnes.
My knees became weak and I was ready to fall.