CC shrugged. “Who knows? Kids…. It doesn’t matter. Just take it.”

“Was her pencil in her pocket?”

“No. It was on the floor. Covered in blood. The parents won’t want that.”

Later that afternoon, Jack and Danny arrived at their office. The telephone was ringing as they walked in and Jack grabbed it. Lucy didn’t waste time.

“It matched! The ounce you gave me to test came from the same chemist!”

“Thank God. Oh, Luce, are you sure?”

“Yup!”

Jack rushed into Louie’s office where Danny caught up to him.

“I need to get authorization to make a UC purchase,” Jack said.

“From who?”

“From this Red that I was telling you about!”

“Some low-level dealer that you think might be selling speed? Forget it! Wigmore would wipe his ass with that request.”

“Lou, she is selling ounce level for sure. She supplies all the speed dealers in the bar.”

“And how do you know that?”

Danny looked at Jack. This should be interesting.

“Managed to turn an informant. He gave me the lowdown on the place.”

“Really?” Louie spoke to Jack but stared at Danny. “You came up with an informant pretty quick. Is this person reliable?”

Danny felt uneasy. Christ, is he like Jack? What way are my eyes supposed to look?

Jack answered for him. “We got lucky. Did surveillance like you told us. Caught a guy with an ounce of speed and managed to flip him. I haven’t told you the best part yet. It’s a match. The lab matched the ounce with the meth at the murder scene and the meth associated to Satans Wrath back east. They’ve obviously started a new connection with the club out here!”

“Sounds like a reasonable theory.”

“This is a good opportunity to take a swipe at Satans Wrath. Give Wigmore the details; he’s bound to approve it!”

“I’ll speak with Wigmore, but first, I want you to talk with Homicide.”

“I’ve been doing inside surveillance. This isn’t the place for people in suits.”

“I’ll vouch for that,” said Danny, glancing at his hand.

“They don’t have to go inside and hold your hand. I’ll call them myself.”

Jack and Danny took a seat and waited while Louie called CC. He relayed the information and listened, then hung up.

“Well?” Jack asked. “Are they coming to babysit?”

“They’re not interested yet. CC has worked on Satans Wrath before. She said they never talk on their phones and never rat each other out.”

“So they don’t want to be involved?” Jack’s voice sounded upbeat.

“She appreciates what you are doing but says she’s not interested unless you have something more substantial.”

“She’s got a point,” Danny said. “How do we take on an army like that? They must have hundreds of dealers, maybe thousands.”

“Have to work our way up to the multi-kilo level,” said Jack. “Catch a club member who has the inside track. Someone willing to talk.”

“But these guys have a reputation for never talking,” replied Danny.

“We’ll see about that,” replied Jack. His voice sounded cold.

“Maybe get an undercover operator inside the club?” suggested Danny.

Jack shook his head. “Won’t work.”

Danny looked at Louie, who explained. “They test their strikers for at least two years. Make them do all sorts of things. Robberies, drug trafficking, maybe murder. Things that UC operators can’t do. Jack is right. You need to turn someone on the inside.”

“With proper funding,” said Jack, “we’ll get our informant to make bigger and bigger buys. Maybe even introduce me. Once we get high enough, the bigger fish will surface.”

Louie nodded in agreement. “I’ll talk with Wigmore. I’m sure he’ll be interested.” He dialled Superintendent Wigmore, who gave him an immediate audience.

“Turned an informant, did they? Both Taggart and that new guy? What’s his name again?”

“Danny O’Reilly.”

“Right … O’Reilly. Did they both turn this informant, or just Taggart?”

“I don’t know the specific details about that. Jack isn’t one to take credit. It might have only been him who grabbed the guy.”

“Well, it doesn’t really matter. I was simply curious.” Wigmore took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “I don’t mind Taggart placing that porn investigation aside. Taxpayers have more important issues. But as far as funding goes, I’m sorry to say that we’re way over budget and there won’t be any money available until next spring. I feel awful about it, but that’s the way it is. Tell your men they can continue with surveillance, but they’re not to do anything else. Even if Homicide isn’t interested now, I still don’t want your men trampling on something that could later turn out to be important.”

Wigmore watched as Louie left his office. Informant, my ass!

Louie motioned for Jack and Danny to follow him to his office where he told them what Wigmore had said. It bothered him that Jack didn’t protest or utter a word. He just turned and walked out of the office. That meant that he already had an alternate plan.

It also bothered him that Wigmore said he didn’t remember Danny’s name. Wigmore had a reputation for remembering detail. He had welcomed Danny to the office less than two weeks before. Why does he want me to think that Danny isn’t important to him?

“So now what?” asked Danny, when they returned to their office. “Without funding we’re screwed.”

“I’m not going to let someone like Wigmore stop me! There are always people like him around. It’s a fact of life. You have to learn to deal with it.”

“You won’t have enough money to keep doing this on your own.”

“You’re right about that. Maybe enough for a couple of ounces. I’ll have to come up with more.”

“How? We’re talking tens of thousands.”

Jack gave Danny a hard look and chose not to answer. “Let’s see if we can identify Baldy. Find out who he is before scoring from Red again.”

“Back to the Black Water?”

“You got it.”

“Even if we do catch a member of the club with a couple kilos of speed, do you really think he would rat out?”

“How does that old movie go? I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

Jack’s voice was light and lively. Danny was learning. Jack’s cold, dark eyes said that he was anything but light and lively. Wigmore is right….

chapter nine

It was ten-thirty that night when Jack approached the entrance to the Black Water. His timing was lucky. Baldy came out of the bar in front of him and walked away in the opposite direction. Jack heard a short squeal of tires from the parking lot and knew that Danny had seen him too.

Moments later, Danny quickly pulled up beside Jack and passed him a portable radio through the window.

“Tell me you’ve had the surveillance course?” said Jack.

“That, I’ve had,” replied Danny.

Jack stayed behind Baldy on foot. Baldy was the cautious type and paused frequently to look around, but Jack remained elusive. Four blocks later, Baldy entered a dilapidated apartment building. Jack crept up the stairwell behind him and watched him unlock a door to a suite and step inside. He waited a moment, then got the apartment number and matched it with the name on the mailbox at the entrance to the building. Seconds later, he joined Danny.

“You get it?” asked Danny.

“Apartment 206. Mailbox says ‘L. Waschuk.’”

At the office, Jack studied a mug shot of Leonard Waschuk. Baldy now had a name. He also had a lengthy record for drug trafficking and was currently on probation.

Jack then discovered something on the police computer that made his adrenaline pump. Leonard’s last drug conviction was for a pound of cocaine. That investigation indicated that the cocaine originated from someone connected to Satans Wrath, but it wasn’t known who.