The Sundance braked and then turned sharply into another parking lot. Ms. Zee had sent Suraj to the BUBBLE T SHOP. She knew Kong would have no problem in killing the two officers but would need help in disposing of their bodies. It was no longer possible to let the officers live, since they had seen her.
From behind the wheel Suraj saw a cluster of police cars in front of the shop. He dialed Ms. Zee’s number and told her of the situation. She was not pleased. She told him to get back.
I was sitting in the passenger side of my car. I had four first-aid stitches on my upper lip from the paramedics and I was given painkillers. I had refused to go to the hospital. We were getting closer to RACE and I wanted to be part of the big bust. I didn’t want to see it on the news while lying in a hospital bed.
I saw Beadsworth talking to Susan, the cashier of the BUBBLE T SHOP. It looked as if he was thanking her. A moment later he came over and slid into the driver’s seat.
“You should have a doctor look at you,” he said.
“Naw, I’m fine,” I said, which would be true until the painkillers wore off.
“How did Garnett find us?” I asked.
“When I was following you, I notified him of my whereabouts. When he didn’t hear from me he came down. He found the BUBBLE T SHOP closed. He tried my cell phone but the blond gentleman had stripped me of it earlier. He then questioned the neighbours. Inside the coffee shop across the street was that girl.” Beadsworth moved his head in the direction of Susan. “She told Garnett she saw you earlier, looking in. Garnett returned with other members and broke through the door.”
“I’m glad you called Garnett,” I said.
He turned and looked me straight in the eyes. “That’s what we do, Officer Rupret. We’re a team. We look out for one another.”
“Hey, I didn’t know which side you were on.”
He didn’t say anything. He just nodded.
“We hope our assailant is more talkative,” he said. “Perhaps, we can finally break this case.” He looked across to the many vehicles littering the parking lot. “We are now searching for the owner of the shop. He goes by the name of Martin. But no matter, we’ll find him.”
“What about Aldrich?” I asked.
“Nothing yet.”
“What do you mean nothing yet?” I said. I could feel the pain coming on. “We know he’s working with RACE.”
“What do you suggest?”
“We go and bust his ass.”
“It’s not that simple. Sergeant Aldrich is our superior. There will be a formal complaint filed and then an investigation by Internal Affairs. Meanwhile, we need to find RACE,” he raised an eyebrow toward me. “And persuade them to come forward with any evidence against him.”
“You need witnesses.” I smiled.
He smiled back.
Ms. Zee was furious. Aldrich was on the other line and she was giving him an earful. Operation Anti-RACE was supposed to be shut down. How could he lose control of his team? Why didn’t he reprimand the officer who had followed them? Why didn’t he know about the raid at the BUBBLE T SHOP? Why didn’t he do anything to stop it?
Aldrich pleaded that it all happened behind his back.
He was supposed to protect them, she insisted. If she went down she would take him with her.
Now it was Aldrich’s turn. Why wasn’t Nex produced and distributed by now? Did she think he was going to fool the squad forever? She had told him she would have it in a matter of days, not several weeks. She was naive to think he could always clean up after her.
“They have Kong,” she yelled and slammed the phone down. She covered her face. What was she going to do?
Martin entered.
She looked up, more composed.
“We have to move,” she said.
Martin understood. “Burrows isn’t too happy,” he said.
“I don’t care,” she snapped. She then bit her lip and said, “Why not?”
“I’ll get him,” he said.
Burrows entered the office, followed by Martin. “We cannot move,” Burrows said. “Not now.”
She waited for him to explain.
“Our finest batch is in the freezing process,” he said. “If we take it out now the tablets will collapse.”
A lot of money was riding on that batch and she didn’t want to see it go to waste.
“Mr. Burrows,” she said as carefully as possible. “Our situation has changed. We have no choice but find another location-perhaps a better one. We have to move tonight.”
“We could wait a few more hours,” Martin spoke. “That should be enough time to take a prepared batch with us.”
Burrows agreed.
Ms. Zee thought about it. “Fine. But start clearing the warehouse. The freeze-dryers will be the last to move.”
A sweet melody woke me up. I was inside my car, which was being driven by Beadsworth. The melody was coming from Beadsworth’s cell phone. Garnett had found it at the BUBBLE T SHOP. We were the last to leave Scarborough and were on our way to his house. Beadsworth had insisted I get home and get some rest.
He answered it, spoke a few words, and hung up.
“Who was it?” I asked.
“Detective Garnett has been unavailable to get any information from your assailant. He won’t talk.”
That wasn’t a surprise. The man hadn’t spoken two words when he was smacking me around.
“He will talk,” Beadsworth said, assuring me. “Detective Garnett can be very persuasive.”
We were in Forest Hill; the magnificent houses gave that away. We entered Beadsworth’s driveway and parked.
Amy opened the door and her face turned to horror. “Oh, my-”
“I’m fine,” I said with a weak smile. I had bruises all over my face and stitches on my upper lip.
Noel was in the living room watching whatever show kids his age watch.
Amy looked over at her husband. He just kissed her. He would fill her in on the details later.
She took our coats and asked if we wanted anything. I shook my head. I’m not sure what Beadsworth said.
I went into the living room and flopped on the sofa. Noel was too mesmerized to see me come in. He was watching some weird cartoon. The characters had big eyes and small mouths. Every so often they would fly in the air and make a pose. Their lips weren’t even in sync with their voices. What ever happened to high-quality cartoons like the Looney Tunes?
Beadsworth and Amy were in the kitchen.
I closed my eyes. I tried to tune out the sounds from the TV. I should go up and straight to bed. In a minute, I promised myself.
I was falling asleep.
A shadow came over me and I jolted awake.
Noel was examining my face.
“Did you get into a fight?” he asked, examining each of my bruises.
“No,” I said. “What’s makes you say that?”
“You look hurt,” he responded.
“You mean this.” I pointed to my upper lip with a laugh. “This is how I look when I don’t take my vitamins. I’ll be fine.”
He looked like he didn’t believe me. I really didn’t know why. I guess I don’t give children much credit. They’re much smarter than the cartoons they watch.
“Yeah,” I said. “I kind of got into a fight. But don’t tell your parents, okay?”
He nodded. It was our little deal. I wouldn’t tell his parents how he broke his arm and he wouldn’t tell his parents that I got into a fight.
Beadsworth came in with the cell phone in his ear. He said something and then hung up. He smiled.
“It was Garnett,” he said.
“Garnett got him talking?” I said.
“Better than that. We know where Nex is being produced.”
Moving through smaller streets we finally saw a familiar Toyota parked to one side. Garnett got out as we stopped behind it.
“It’s in that warehouse,” he said, pointing to a rundown building around the corner. I assumed many years of neglect had assisted in the building’s current state. Graffiti covered a good portion of the walls. The windows were cracked or broken, and some were boarded up. There was light coming from inside. “A large moving van came and took some equipment. Andwe know exactly where it’s going.”
“How?” I asked.
He bobbed his head toward the Toyota. It was then that I realized someone was inside his car. I tilted my head. It was Martin, the owner of the BUBBLE T SHOP. He sagged in the backseat with this head low.
I went over, tapped on the window and waved. He raised his eyes to me. I then made a fist. He turned and sagged even further.
I heard Garnett’s voice from behind. He was speaking to Beadsworth, “He’s willing to make a deal.”
I looked around the corner. Opposite the warehouse, a man walked past the front entrance and came towards us. I recognized him immediately-Nemdharry.
“There is a main entrance in the front but it’s bolted. There are two fire exits on either side-those won’t be any problem. We can cover the narrow paths easily. A large loading dock is in the back. On the northeast side there is a closed gate that leads to the dock. Terries is watching over it.”
“Clara is here?” I said and then realized I shouldn’t have referred to her by her first name. I didn’t even know her.
Nemdharry paid no attention to my slight. “Yeah.”
Two minutes later another car pulled up. Herrera came out. “I hope he’s not pulling our balls,” he grunted.
Ever since Barnes was hurt, Herrera had been on the edge.
Garnett and Beadswoth said nothing.
“He better not be shitting us.” Herrera looked in the direction of Garnett’s car.
Garnett finally said. “Carlos, you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Herrera said. He pulled out his gun and checked to see if it was loaded. “What’re we waiting for?”
I was thinking that too.
Her makeshift office was bare, save for the lone desk and two chairs. Ms. Zee placed her elbows on the desk and her face in her palms. There was so much running through her mind, but in the end it was all directed towards one man. Peter Stankovich. Her ex-husband.
Peter Stankovich had stolen over four million dollars from the clients of the insurance company he had worked for. It was supposed to be a perfect crime. A crime so easy to accomplish that he wondered why no one else had thought of it.
He sent one hundred of his clients false invoices regarding their policies. In them, he inflated their monthly premiums. With the help of the funds accountant, he opened another company account, where the money was directly deposited. After taking the excess, he then forwarded the actual premium amount to the correct account.
At the end of each year, he sent each client an annual policy statement with the excess premium figures. For three years, no one noticed. The correct amounts were coming in from policyholders. Everything seemed normal. Until, one year the insurance company quietly hired an external company to prepare and send annual policy statements to its clients.
When clients received their correct statements they were outraged at the difference from what they were actually paying.
The insurance company received many calls, and all those calls were from clients of Peter Stankovich.
Peter Stankovich and the accountant were convicted of fraud and embezzlement in excess of $5000 and each sentenced to six years.
Peter Stankovich was cocky, arrogant, and cruel. That was the way Ms. Zee remembered him.
She clearly remembered what he had said to her the last time they had dinner together in their home. “You’re nothing but a stupid spoiled slut. Without me you’d be greeting customers at Walmart.”
She wasn’t stupid. Spoiled, yes, but definitely not stupid. She knew what he was up to and she did what he had done to his clients. She opened a separate account, one hidden from him, and each week deposited small amounts into that account. In the end she had a large sum.
With Martin, her lawyer, she took the divorce papers to Peter in jail and had him sign them. He wasn’t happy. It wasn’t the divorce that bothered him. It was the fact that she stole money from him. He tried to get her convicted too, but, as he had once, the jury thought she was just a spoiled housewife, incapable of anything devious.
It was at the jail visiting Peter that she saw Kong. He was in for assault, pending a trial. Through Martin she posted Kong’s bail. Then, she met Armand, and the possibility of out-doing her ex-husband came into being.
She lifted her head up and saw the empty room. She hadn’t had time to furnish it, which was a good thing. The only valuable object was the design of Nex.
Ms. Zee placed the papers in her briefcase and kept it close to her. She understood the situation. She was going to take the samples, which Ed Burrows would bring to her any minute now, and leave the country. She had many contacts and those contacts would be very useful in her escape.
With the process in her hands she could start her operations anywhere-in any country.
Burrows came through the door. In his hands was a sealed white container, the size of an icebox.
“There are five thousand in here,” he said.
Five thousand tablets of Nex, she smiled. This wasn’t a waste, after all.
“Where’s Martin?” Ms. Zee asked.
“I haven’t seen him,” he replied.
She quickly ordered Hause to go find him. Martin was going to arrange for everything. He was going to arrange her escape.
Hause came back shaking his head. Martin was gone.
Now she was worried.