Laura adjusted the binoculars and saw that two mini-vans had arrived. The drivers were walking toward the house.

“We’ve got two of the Tran brothers,” she said. “Thao and Húu.”

Jack swallowed a surge of bile. Where are the Russians ... and where is Dúc?

Jack and Laura watched as the two brothers disappeared inside the house. Thao reappeared by himself and the overhead garage door opened briefly to allow him to back his van inside.

Minutes later, the overhead door opened and he drove away as Húu repeated the process and also drove away shortly after.

“Dividing up the girls,” said Jack. “Maybe Dúc is just late. He’ll probably show up with a van soon. Maybe the Russians will be with him.” Maybe, but not likely ...

Dúc did arrive soon—alone in his car.

Laura looked at Jack and said, “Guess there are no girls left.”

Jack nodded silently, watching as Dúc walked up and knocked on the door.

“Figure he’s here to pay for their storage?” asked Laura.

“Probably. No Russians,” said Jack, feeling depressed. “I bet he already paid them.”

“Maybe we can get a warrant for bank records,” suggested Laura. “See if we can link them and the Russians. Quaile will think a warrant like that is for Commercial Crime.”

“You can try, but I think by the way the Russians throw cash around, you’re not going to find much in the way of a paper trail. This isn’t a Commercial Crime type file.”

“Speaking of that,” said Laura, “it’s eight-thirty. Maybe we should head over to Commercial Crime.”

“Yeah, let’s give it a minute. If Dúc leaves right away, I’d like to follow and see if he does meet with the Russians.”

Dúc spoke briefly with someone at the door before returning to his car. Seconds later, he drove it inside the garage.”

“What’s he doing?” said Jack. “This isn’t his house.”

“Maybe a mistress,” suggested Laura.

Seconds later, the overhead garage door opened again and Dúc drove away.

“We’re following him,” said Jack, as his hopes returned. “Mistress, my ass. There’s nobody with him in the car. He drove inside because he didn’t want anyone to see what he was picking up.”

“Had to be,” said Laura. “He wasn’t in there long enough to be doing anything else.”

Jack smiled and looked at Laura and asked, “What else would a boat bring in from Vietnam?”

“Heroin,” she said.

Jack gave her the thumbs up sign and said, “With Giang now being my new buddy, I could push the dope angle and get him to introduce me to Dúc for that. He might even get more time than he would for being a pimp.”

“I thought Dúc didn’t deal drugs.”

“Everyone says he doesn’t deal coke. My money is riding on heroin.”

The tires squealed as Laura turned a corner and manoeuvred the car through traffic to catch up. Dúc was driving a block ahead of them and was obeying all the traffic regulations.

“He doesn’t want to get stopped,” commented Laura.

“Corporal Taggart, from Commercial Crime,” blared a feminine voice over the police radio.

“Go ahead,” answered Laura, while grabbing the microphone that dangled from the steering column. “He’s listening.”

“Taggart! Where are you!” yelled Quaile into the radio as he nudged the secretary aside.

“Damn it,” said Jack, glancing at Laura. “The asshole decided to drop in on Commercial Crime this morning. He knows we’re not there. Give me the mike.”

“Taggart! Where are you?” asked Quaile, again.

“Sorry, Staff,” answered Jack. “I picked up Laura this morning and then we had car troubles. The engine keeps cutting in and out on us.”

“Park and tell me where you are exactly. I’ll send a tow truck.”

“Shit,” whispered Jack, before thumbing the transmit button again, “We’re just about at the office. It appears to have corrected itself. Probably just condensation in the gas. We’ll be there in fifteen.”

Jack sighed as he met Laura’s gaze. “Yeah, we’ll get to the dope through Giang. Go ahead, better step on it.”

Laura quickly turned the car around and they sped off in the opposite direction.

“Up ahead, Linh!” yelled Dúc. “Look! See it!”

Linh stuck her head out of the trunk into the back seat compartment and looked up at the sign that Dúc pointed at.

Canada–U.S. Border! “I see it! I see it!” she said.

“Pull the seat closed! Quickly!” yelled Dúc.

chapter twenty

Quaile did not wait for Jack and Laura at the Commercial Crime office. He requested—and was granted—an immediate meeting with Isaac.

“Sir, it’s about Taggart,” said Quaile. “He refuses orders and shows a total disregard for others. I just came from a meeting that was to have started an hour ago at Commercial Crime. Taggart was to be there at eight and as far as I know, he still hasn’t arrived. It’s embarrassing. I radioed him and he said he was having car problems. I’m sure he was lying.”

“He’s late for a meeting and you feel you need to speak to me about it?” asked Isaac.

“There’s more to it than that, sir. I took a call from the Vancouver City Police this morning. They were looking for one of their detectives and believed he might be at our office. It turns out that Taggart has been working on a project that I ordered him to drop weeks ago.”

“That investigation where he went to Costa Rica?” asked Isaac.

“Yes, sir.” Quaile leaned back in the chair, shaking his head. “What a fiasco that was. Taggart now says those two Russians may only be smuggling prostitutes into Canada to work in a couple of Vietnamese massage parlours. I told him to either turn it over to Immigration or City Vice. It is certainly not of the quality of file that I expect our office to engage in.”

“Maybe Corporal Taggart is burnt-out,” said Isaac.

“He seems clueless about what he should be doing. On top of that, he is a bad influence on the people under him. Morale in the office has deteriorated considerably. I respectfully suggest that his time has come.”

Isaac nodded thoughtfully and said, “I agree,” and reached for the telephone. He paused and said, “It’s funny. This isn’t how I thought Corporal Taggart would leave the section.”

“Sir?”

Isaac shook his head and said, “With his history, I expected he would either end up in jail or dead.”

Quaile listened patiently as Isaac talked on the phone. When Isaac hung up he turned to Quaile and said, “It’s done. Have Corporal Taggart report to Inspector Schaff in Staffing immediately.”

Jack and Laura arrived at Commercial Crime just as the meeting ended, so they returned to their own office.

“Got a call from Elaine at Travel King,” said Jack, as he listened to his voice mail. He quickly dialled her number and spoke with her.

“Well?” asked Laura when Jack hung up the phone.

“Moustache Pete and the Fat Man just booked a trip to Vietnam,” he said. “They reserved a room at a place called the Hotel Happy Holiday in Hanoi next Wednesday.”

“Only six days from now,” said Laura.

“They fly out of Vancouver at noon the day before. Takes over twenty hours to get there.”

“They’re arranging another boatload,” said Laura, excitedly.

“For sure. Maybe we can get the Vietnamese police to nail them. I’d rather serve two years in a jail in Canada than one month in a Vietnamese prison. This could turn out really great. I’ll make some calls and see who we can liaise with ...”

“Corporal Taggart,” said Quaile, announcing his arrival into their office.

“Staff, sorry about missing the meeting this morning. We just came from there. I’ve got the minutes of the meeting so ...”

“So can it, Taggart! You’re to report to Inspector Schaff in Staffing immediately. After which, you are to return and empty your desk!”