It was Vicki. She was hysterical and crying but said that she and Katie were alive. Then she cried, “They were going to kill us! We were saved by —”

The phone went dead and Damien stood in a stunned silence for a moment, then turned to his men and said, “That was Vicki. They’re alive!”

“Where are they?” asked Whiskey Jake.

“I don’t know. The line went dead,” he said, as the arrival of hope coincided with the return of panic.

“They let them go!” said Lance.

Instantly Ray’s eyes portrayed his relief and he mumbled a prayer.

“Maybe,” replied Damien. “She said they were going to be killed, but then weren’t. Then the line went dead.”

A moment later, Damien received a text message on his BlackBerry: They’re both okay. We’re on our way to VGH. -JT-

Damien looked at his men. He felt his knees tremble and it took him a moment to comprehend.

“Damien?” asked Lance. “What is it? What’s going on?”

“They weren’t let go,” he said simply. “They were rescued by a cop ... Jack Taggart. They’re on their way to the hospital.”

Bile immediately flooded into Ray’s mouth. He choked and swallowed rapidly to keep from suffocating.

“Taggart! How the fuck did he get his nose into this?” growled Whiskey Jake.

“Yeah,” quickly added Lance, wondering who was talking with whom. He glanced down at Leitch and Ray and felt a wave of fear.

“Whiskey Jake, you come with me,” ordered Damien. “Rellik, you find out everything these two fuckers know. What they know about each other, Carlos, The Toad ... how many guys are working for them ... everything!”

“Will do, boss.”

“But keep them alive until I come back,” added Damien, before turning to Lance and ordering, “Arrange for a security team to cover off the Vancouver General, then meet me there.”

Jack sat in the Emergency waiting room, off by himself. Laura remained in the car outside in the parking lot. She agreed that the fewer Satans Wrath members who knew what she looked like, the better it would be.

Jack didn’t have to wait long before three strikers he recognized from the west-side chapter entered the hospital and quickly scanned the waiting room and the corridors. One of the strikers then went back outside to wait near the entrance. The other two set up a vigil inside.

Several minutes later, Jack saw Whiskey Jake and then Damien enter behind him.

Damien’s eyes met his, and he stood as Damien approached. He was conscious of the two strikers moving toward him, but a flick of Damien’s hand sent them both away. Damien then said something to Whiskey Jake, who took a seat in the waiting room while Damien spoke with Jack.

“Where are they?” asked Damien. “What happened? How...?”

“They’re going to be okay,” said Jack. “They’re both being examined right now. Give the doctors a few minutes, then you can see them.”

“You said they’re okay?”

“Vicki did lose one finger and she has an infection, but other than that, she’ll be okay.”

“Katie! What about Katie?”

“She wasn’t sexually molested. She is missing two teeth from being punched in the mouth. I understand they’re baby teeth so ... anyway, she’ll be okay. They’re both dehydrated and in shock, but that’s it.”

“They punched her in the mouth! She’s only eight years old,” seethed Damien.

“She tried to rescue her mom when they attacked her with bolt cutters.”

“How? How did you find them?”

“My partner tracked them down through Customs declarations and shipping invoices for coffee. We had just found their warehouse when we saw a van leaving in a hurry. We decided to follow the van. It was just luck. We didn’t know Vicki and Katie were inside. We followed the van to a spot along the river in Coquitlam. That’s when we realized what was going on. There were four guys. They got away but we managed to save Vicki and Katie.”

Damien let out a deep sigh, looked at his watch, then said, “Everything go okay with your trip to Mexico? I heard you were a hero.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Well, tonight you really are one.” He looked at his watch again and said, “That’s it. I’m not waiting out here. I’m going to see them. I’ll send you a message in the morning. We’ll talk then.”

Jack nodded, then said, “There’s one more thing. I found out that Carlos has a brother by the name —”

“Ray,” said Damien. “Yeah, I just found out. He’s the one with the British accent. Leitch was two-timing me behind my back. Don’t worry about Ray. He won’t be bothering anyone again.”

“You ... got him?” asked Jack.

Damien nodded.

Jack wondered if Ray was dead and used his finger to make a slashing motion across his neck to convey what he wanted to know.

Damien shrugged, then said, “Yeah, sure if you want to do it personally. I owe you big. If you want to kill him, that’s fine.”

Jack realized the mistake and said, “No! That’s not what I meant. I just wondered if he was still alive?”

“Oh! Yes, he’s being questioned as we speak.” Damien paused, then said, “I presume you had something to do with a shipload of coke that was taken down in San Diego?”

Jack nodded and said, “That’s why Ray tried to kill me. Only he botched it and killed the wrong guy. Acting on orders from Carlos, I presume?”

“Maybe,” said Damien. “Either that or following a suggestion from their lawyer — Leisure Suit Larry.”

“Leitch?”

“It would be his style. He recently recommended that someone from your toxicology department be killed to jeopardize some court cases. I believe her name was Lucy.”

“Lucy! Who did he say this to? Is there a contract on Lucy’s —”

“No. He suggested it to me. I nixed the idea immediately ... but I’m not Carlos. You cost him a lot of money in San Diego. He would agree to have you killed if he didn’t think of it himself.”

“I didn’t exactly advertise my involvement.”

“No, you were waiting to nail me with the second ship,” said Damien bitterly.

Jack nodded and said, “Speaking of that, nobody in my office knows about tonight either. I was grilled this morning about Bishop. I would like to be prepared before I go to work tomorrow morning. Anything you learn from Ray would be appreciated.”

“I’ll see what I find out. I’ll send you a message around four tomorrow morning. We can meet then,” said Damien.

“I don’t start work until eight. We could do it at seven,” said Jack.

Damien shook his head and said, “That doesn’t work for me. If you want to know what Ray said, answer back at four.”

“I would like to ask him a few questions myself,” said Jack quietly.

“Such as?”

“Whose idea it was to try and kill me and Danny’s baby. Was it Carlos or Ray? Also, I want to know how Carlos found out I was involved with the first ship.”

Damien nodded and said, “I’ll ask, then let you know.”

“One more thing. Ask him who the four guys were who kidnapped your family and where they can be found.”

“That,” said Damien, pointing his finger at Jack’s chest, “is my business.” He turned to walk away but paused and said, “We’re just like you guys on this one.”

“How so?” asked Jack.

Damien sneered and said, “We’re making sure that Ray doesn’t say anything without his legal counsel present.”

His legal counsel? Jack realized what Damien meant and watched him walk away. He thought about the early morning hour when Damien said he would call. Certain tasks are better accomplished in the dark ... like body disposal.

Jack checked his watch. That was six hours from now. He left the hospital and got in the car with Laura and told her about the conversation.

“You think they’ve got Leitch and the Brit?” she asked.

“Positive. The way things are going, I bet they’ll both be dead in less than six hours.”