At the breakfast table I sipped coffee while eating a toast with marmalade. Beadsworth sat across from me with a newspaper. He was going over the front-page stories. Amy was upstairs with Liam. Noel had already gone to school.
I stared at Beadsworth intently. Something about him made me irritated. It wasn’t his trimmed beard, or his perfect ironed shirt, pants, or tie. It wasn’t even the way he was reading the paper, folding each page precisely to avoid any creases. It was what his son Noel had told me last night. Beadsworth gave his wife money in brown and white envelopes, and large sums of it, at that.
Where did he get that kind of money? Not as a police officer, I was sure.
I glared at him.
Maybe, Phillip, it’s because you’re a corrupt cop, taking money from drug dealers so you can live a life of luxury.
He flipped the page and in doing so glanced at me. I lowered my eyes to my toast.
Think about your wife and kids, Phillip. Wait, your wife is in cahoots with you. Where does she keep your money? Maybe, she is a victim. Yes. She has no choice but to follow you. You fiend!
He flipped the page again. “Breakfast okay?” he asked, smiling.
“Oh, yes. Just perfect.”
Yes, keep smiling, you well-dressed dictator.
He scanned the last page and placed the neatly folded paper on the table.
“Everything satisfactory yesterday?” he said. “Amy told me you came home last night looking distressed.”
Why do you care?
I said nothing.
“I’ve been made aware that Constable Barnes is now at home,” he said. “He’s doing much better. He doesn’t remember much, I’m afraid. But the force is not placing any pressure on him until he has fully recovered. If you like you can visit him.”
I nodded.
Ed Burrows stormed into the office. He was smiling from end-to-end. “We have it!” he said.
He placed a small navy-blue tray with a dozen square white tablets in front of her. Ms. Zee leaned over to pick one up when Burrows stopped her.
“Not with your fingers,” he said, handing her a small instrument that looked like a tweezer.
She plucked one up and brought it close to her. Her hand trembled at the thought of finally holding Nex.
Burrows spoke, “This is our finest batch. The ingredients acted positively to the process. I feel we should have compliance.” Ms. Zee knew that meant the drug would give the result they required. “But we do need to test it. Until then we cannot be one-hundred percent certain.” What that meant was they needed a guinea pig, someone who would voluntarily or-involuntarily-test the drug.
She thought about Joey. With a little persistence he would have been popping down the tablets like M amp;Ms. But he was no longer available. It then suddenly dawned on her, Regent Park.
“I’ll send Martin,” she said. “No-wait. I’ll go.” She wanted to personally see Marcus’ face when he saw she had the drug.
In Thorncliffe Park searching for a parking place, I wished I had my parking enforcement cruiser. I could have parked anywhere.
A purplish van exited a spot and I immediately took it. I went up the elevators to the fifteenth floor. I found Barnes’ apartment and knocked.
A pretty girl, in her early twenties, answered the door.
“Hi,” I said. “My name is Jon Rupret…”
“Yes, Michael mentioned you were coming,” she said. “Come in.”
I went in and the smell of something cooking penetrated my nostrils.
“Michael is in the bedroom.” She led me down the hall and into the room.
I found Michael Barnes propped up in bed watching TV. He looked up and a smile crossed his face.
“Hey, man,” he said. “How are you doing?”
“Better than you,” I said.
“Have a seat.”
I sat on the single chair opposite the bed.
The girl behind me said, “Michael, can I get you anything?”
“No, honey, I’m fine,” he said and she went away.
He leaned over to me and whispered, “So what do you think of her? She nice?”
She seemed polite and was very pretty. “Sure,” I said.
His smile widened. “My mom told me she was at the hospital every day. She was at my bedside hoping and praying for my recovery. I didn’t realize it but I love her so much.” He faced the television and waited for the commercials to come. “I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
“That’s great,” I said. I paused and then said, “I’m sorry about what happened that night.”
“That’s okay,” he said. “You know what’s strange? I don’t remember much.”
“Yeah, Beadsworth told me.”
“But you know what?” he said glancing back to the TV. “I do remember going there with you but I don’t remember anything after that except for…” he trailed off.
“Except for what?” I asked trying to get his attention.
“Uh…yeah. Except once in a while I see a bald head.”
“Bald head?”
“A big shiny bald head. I don’t know why.”
“Is there a face attached to it?”
“I hope so. But I don’t see it. It’s blurred.” He shut his eyes and then opened them. “At the hospital I was on some heavy-duty drugs and I got these funky dreams where I’m at the House of Jam-but, it’s not really the House of Jam but a weird, psychedelic kind of club. I’m either with you or my partner, Carlos, or sometimes even with Detective Garnett.”
“That’s not a dream. That’s a nightmare.”
“But every time it’s like this bald head is coming after me. Chasing me.”
“Does it catch you?” I said, fishing for some clue.
“I don’t know-I guess so.”
His mind was going back to the TV.
I had decided it was time to go, when he said, “What happened to RACE? Did you guys catch them? Carlos never talks about them.”
I didn’t know where to begin. Operation Anti-RACE was no longer operational and our main witness was dead. For all we knew, Nex was already out on the streets. But I couldn’t tell him all this. Not in his condition.
“We’re making progress,” I said. I got up and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “You make good progress too, okay?”
He smiled and thanked me for coming and then went back to watching TV.
I got back downtown, called Cal Murray, and after a few rings he answered. I told him I wanted a talk with him. After a little begging he agreed.
I waited behind the House of Jam until he showed up. “I don’t have much time, but come,” he said.
We went up the flight of stairs, through the narrow hall and into his office.
“This hot rapper from Scarborough will be coming down to promote his new CD and we’ve got a lot of promotional stuff to do.”
“What’s his name?” I asked.
“Altar Boy. You might not have heard of him yet, but he’ll be the next big thing.”
He went around his desk and sat down. “Have a seat,” he offered.
I saw the oh-so-familiar sofa and my mind flashed back to the time I had nearly lost my hear to it.
“I’ll stand,” I said.
Cal said, “It was nice of you guys not to launch an investigation after the attack. It would have given this place a bad rep. How’s he doing, anyways?”
“Constable Barnes is recovering,” I said. I was about to ask him a question when he interrupted me.
“Who was it that did it?”
“I’m sorry?” I said.
“You guys did catch whoever attacked the officer?”
“Not yet-that’s not why I’m here-”
“-That’s not possible,” he said, taken aback. “You have the videotapes from that night.”
“Not all,” I corrected him. “We’re missing the one that recorded the attack.”
“That’s not possible,” he puffed. “I handed all the tapes to the police.”
“All of them?”
“Yes, all. Even before I had a chance to view them, someone came and took them.”
“Who? Can you remember?”
His eyes darted from one end of the desk to the other. He was thinking hard. “Yes, of course,” he said. “It was your partner.”
“Sorry?” I said startled. “Who?”
“Your partner. With the beard and the slight accent. I gave both of you the tour of the club. Remember?”
I found myself losing breath and getting dizzy. “Do you mind if I sit down?” Before he answered, I fell on the sofa. My mind was reeling. This was too much. I suspected Beadsworth was up to something illegal but this was tampering with evidence.
I spoke with laboured breath, “Are you sure it was Phillip Beadsworth?”
“Yes,” he said, recognizing the name. “He came up to my office and demanded I give him all the camera tapes, and assured me there would be no investigation if I did.”
I grabbed my head. Everything was making more sense. I strained. Yes, it was getting clearer. Joey had mentioned there was a mole in the police department. Beadsworth. I remembered Beadsworth’s words, “Things were happening before you arrived and they will continue to happen after you leave.” He meant his involvement with RACE. He was part of RACE. He was the one who had insisted Joey stay with me. Why me? Joey should have been in the witness protection program. Beadsworth knew if Joey was under me he’d have access to him.
My mouth dropped.
“Is something wrong?” I heard Cal say, but I ignored him.
Beadsworth must have joined Operation Anti-RACE to keep an eye on the investigation. He was leaking information to RACE. In return he was paid well; that explained the envelopes he gave his wife. That also explained the huge house and everything inside it.
I had to talk to Aldrich. I didn’t like him, but I had to do something.
“Hey man, you okay?” Cal said again.
“Yeah…I’m fine.” Suddenly my phone rang. It was Marcus from Regent Park. He sounded nervous. RACE had contacted him and they were on their way to meet him.
I got up, “Thanks, man.” I went to the door. “Oh, by the way, there’s a tiny little tear on the sofa. If you want to get rid of it and get yourself a fancy one-especially for this new rapper, you give me a call.”
The Lincoln turned into Regent Park. Hause was driving with Ms. Zee and Kong in the back. Martin didn’t accompany them. He was too busy with the logistics of the operation.
They found Marcus in the laundry room. Ms. Zee sensed he looked uneasy, almost nervous. It could be that she now had the drug and he had no choice but agree to all her demands.
The smell of detergent and fabric softener was very strong.
“Do you have it?” he said. “Or is this another sample?”
She eyed his bodyguard in the back, a skinny guy with a menacing face. He had his eyes fixed on Kong. Kong in return had his eyes fixed on him.
“Do you have it or is this a waste of my time?” Marcus said. His right hand shook slightly.
She pulled out a plastic prescription bottle and placed it on top of one of the washing machines. “It’s all there.”
Marcus motioned and his bodyguard walked over, picked it up, and handed it to him.
Marcus scanned the bottle and then looked at the cap.
“It’s child proof,” Ms. Zee said. “You have to push-”
“I know,” he said, annoyed. “I know how to open it.” He twisted the cap off and dropped a tablet in his right palm. The tweezers were inside Ms. Zee’s pocket but she wasn’t going to offer it to him. “It’s square. Clever,” he said. He flipped the tablet over, examining it from all sides and angles. He then half-closed his palm and did a motion as if he was weighing it. He felt a jolt in his hand and then it went numb. “Shit.” He looked down and the tablet had almost completely disappeared. Three blinks later he regained feeling in his fingers. “What happened?” he said, looking at her.
“You were sweating,” she said.
I parked at a spot from where I could see the brown building. I couldn’t see much from this distance but I didn’t want to blow my cover by getting any closer. During the ride I had hatched a plan.
Once RACE was done with their business they would come out. When they did, I’d follow them to their hide-out. I’d then notify Aldrich and with a task force we’d swoop down and apprehend them. When we had all the members of RACE, we’d go and get their main accomplice: Detective Phillip Beadsworth.
I felt a lump in my throat. I thought about his wife and his children, specially, about Noel with his crooked teeth and metal braces. He was a good kid with so much potential. What would happen to him after he saw his father go to jail? Maybe he’d drop of out school and end up a drug dealer. It would be ironic, like father like son.
Ms. Zee said, “When the tablet made contact with your sweat it dispersed into your skin.”
“You mean it went into my body?” Marcus nearly screamed.
“Don’t worry, your skin didn’t absorb all of it. I’d advise you to remove it from your hand immediately.”
Without realizing it he wiped his hand over his coat. A white powdery paste attached itself to the fur.
He screamed.
She couldn’t help but laugh.
His bodyguard pulled out a cloth and tried without success to remove the residue from the fur. He made it even worse by smearing it. Marcus cursed and shoved him aside.
Ms. Zee was now laughing harder.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying this,” he spat. He glanced over at Kong, whose face stayed the same the entire time. “At least someone doesn’t find this funny.”
“He doesn’t find anything funny,” Ms. Zee answered.
Martin straightened up and faced her. He needed some of the drug so it could be analyzed and copied. He knew people who’d be happy to help.
“We need to test the drug,” Ms. Zee said.
“What’re you talking about?” he said. “Didn’t you see what just happened?” He lifted his right hand.
“Nex was not meant for sweaty palms. We need to see the effect when it is placed on the tongue.” She knew he was satisfied. But she wasn’t.
He eyed her hard. He then motioned his bodyguard. The bodyguard hesitated; he didn’t want to leave his boss alone with them.
“I’ll be all right,” Marcus said, turning to Ms. Zee. “We’re business partners now. Isn’t that right?”
Ms. Zee hated his smugness but didn’t say anything.
The bodyguard left them.
From my spot I saw someone come out of the building but I couldn’t tell exactly who. He went around the corner and disappeared. I got out and crossed the street, careful not to get too close.
The man came back, and I realized it was the bodyguard. Another man was with him. They went inside the building.
I immediately turned around and went back to the car. Something was happening inside, but I had to wait for RACE to come out.
The door of the laundry room swung open and in came the bodyguard with a short skinny man.
The bodyguard went to Marcus and whispered something in his ear. Marcus nodded approvingly.
“We have a volunteer,” he turned to Ms. Zee.
She eyed the short man. He was wearing a ragged jacket that was so stained that no amount of washing would do it any good. He had stubble on his chin that looked more like dirt than hair. His eyes were vacant, as if he didn’t know why he was here.
“Give it to him, then,” she said.
Marcus gave the bottle containing the tablets to his bodyguard. He wasn’t going to touch it again.
The bodyguard reluctantly took it. He then offered it to the short man. The man’s eyes widened.
“No way, man,” he said. “I am not taking no shit. You guys cops? I don’t do drugs, man. I’ve been clean for months.”
Ms. Zee said, “We’re not cops. We just want you to try it.”
He looked at the bottle. “Not for twenty bucks,” he said.
Twenty dollars? Ms. Zee shook her head. Here they were on the brink of something enormous and Marcus was being cheap.
“I’ll give you a hundred dollars if you try it,” she said.
“Hundred bucks?” he said. “Sure, I’ll try anything for a hundred bucks.”
“Your hands dry?” Ms. Zee said.
The man wiped his hand on his dirty coat and then showed it to her.
She nodded to the bodyguard who dropped a tablet on the man’s hand.
“Do not swallow,” Ms. Zee said. “Place it on your tongue.”
The man held the square tablet between his two fingers and then stuck his tongue out and placed it on it. He wanted to follow her orders precisely. He wanted his hundred dollars.
Instantly he grabbed his chest. He closed his eyes so tight that deep lines etched his face. He fell to his knees.
Agonizing seconds went by as the man, with his head bowed close to his chest, stayed still on his knees.
Then he lifted his head and a smile curled his face. He opened his eyes.
“What happened?” Ms. Zee demanded.
“Shit. That was awesome,” he said, showing his stained teeth. “Can I get another?”
She pulled out a hundred dollar bill and shoved it to him. He took it, but said, “Please, just one more.”
“That’ll cost you now,” said Marcus, seeing a business opportunity.
“Just give him another and throw him out,” Ms. Zee said.
“Outside,” Marcus waved to his bodyguard. He didn’t like seeing goods being given away for free.
“So what do you think?” Ms. Zee said once the two had left.
Marcus spoke with superiority. “It has potential. Fifty-fifty sounds reasonable.”
“Let’s stick to our deal. Shall we?”
“Thirty-seventy it is,” he said, realizing who had the upper hand. “When will I get a shipment?” he said eagerly.
“Within forty-eight hours.”
“That long?”
“The process requires time.”
“All right, all right. Just as long as I get the first shipment.”
Kong and Ms. Zee left.
When the bodyguard came back, Marcus said, “He swallow the tablet?”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“He wanted another one.”
A huge smile crossed Marcus’ face. Even his deal with the police officer fit into his plans.