Jack looked at him blandly and said, “The illusion of power and control ... right to the end. I know about that. I was born into that element. I figured that by now you—”

“No,” cried Pops. “Please ... don’t torment me like this.”

“Ah ... now it comes. That’s more the tone I expected. The bully reveals the insecure coward that he really is.”

“Don’t,” Pops said weakly.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t torture me like this. I’m scared—look ... I’ve wet myself.”

“So you have,” observed Jack.

“You see? You’ve won! Please ... call the ambulance now.”

“Won? I haven’t won anything! This isn’t a game. It isn’t my intention to torture you.”

“Good,” gasped Pops. “You’ll call now, right?”

“Wrong. You are like a rabid dog. I take no delight in destroying a rabid dog any more than I would wish a dog to be rabid. I am simply doing it because it is the right thing to do.”

“You can’t! You’ll go to jail for this. For the rest of your life!”

“A chance I’m willing to take.”

Jack dropped the last candle on the floor close to Pops. They both watched as it rolled to a stop.

Pops looked up. He had a look of bewilderment in his eyes, which increased more so when Jack picked Dúc up off the floor and dropped his body on top of the candle near Pops.

“What are you doing?” asked Pops.

“You can hold his hand and take him with you when you die,” replied Jack.

Pops went to speak, but winced, grabbing his side while watching Jack light the four other candles he had placed. Their meaning became clear when Jack disconnected the propane heater and turned the propane tank on.

“Turn it off!” sputtered Pops.

Jack turned off the lights and briefly watched the flicker of the candles before ducking down to leave.

The sound of the hiss from the escaping gas permeated the entire room.

“Take me to the hospital,” pleaded Pops.

“I’m sending you someplace else,” replied Jack. “Say hello to my father for me, when he joins you.”

Jack got in the car and Laura started it up, drove to the end of the block, and parked. Everyone sat in silence and a minute slowly ticked by.

The sound of a muffled explosion and the shattering of basement windows caused Laura to glance in the rearview mirror.

She looked at Jack, who remained staring straight ahead. “Jack?”

“Take Linh to a suitable payphone,” he said, without turning his head.

chapter forty

Connie was back at her office working when she answered the telephone from Jack.

“What are you doing?” he asked, cheerily.

“We’re going to pull another all-nighter,” replied Connie. “Going to keep working until we find this bastard. You sound happy?”

“Got some fantastic news. Linh is okay!”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“She escaped. Laura and I are with her and Bien at Surrey Memorial right now. She’s traumatized, but is going to be okay.”

“Jesus Christ! Jack! How—” Connie started crying and couldn’t finish her sentence.

“She was locked in some dungeon in a basement someplace by a man she only knew as Pops. Tonight some other man came in with Pops and they started fighting. She used the opportunity to escape. I guess the poor kid ran for blocks before she calmed down enough. Later she got some money off a guy and used it to call home in Hanoi.”

“Who gave her money?”

“Some good Samaritan. She was crying and said she was lost and wanted to call her father. The guy probably didn’t realize where her father lived. He gave her some money and walked away. Linh called and her grandmother answered and gave her the number to Bien’s hotel. He called me and Laura and I grabbed Bien on the way and we picked her up.”

“Jesus! You should have called me as soon as Bien told you.”

“I would have, except Bien said she was really freaked out. He was afraid she would take off if anyone else showed up. He told her to hide in some bushes and not move until he got there personally.”

“I’m on my way over,” said Connie. “We have to get to this phone booth. I’ll call the Dog Master.”

“Laura will meet you at the main entrance. I’ve got something to do.”

“What? Where are you going?”

“I’ll be here, but I’m a little banged up. I broke my wrist.”

Warning bells sounded in Connie’s head. “Jack?”

“It’s embarrassing. I was standing on a chair on my balcony cleaning the leaves out of my rain gutter when I took the call from Bien. I was so bloody excited I took a tumble. I’m going in now to get a cast put on. They said I’ll need to wear it for six weeks.”

An hour passed before medical staff was able to find the time to put a cast on Jack. It covered most of his forearm and the lower half of his hand. He immediately went to the nursing station and found out that Linh had been examined.

He was told that there was no indication of any sexual abuse or serious physical injuries, apart from some bruising around her ankle. She was being given a sedative and was going to be held overnight for observation.

Jack was about to head to her room when he heard Laura talking to Connie as they approached the nursing station. He discreetly zipped up his jacket and flipped his collar up to cover the scrapes on his neck.

“Oh ... did you just get here?” he asked as he turned around and feigned surprise.

“Been here and back,” said Connie. “Laura took me to the phone booth. The dog lost the scent. How’s she doing? I need to talk to her.”

“No sexual penetration and no serious physical injuries, but she’s severely traumatized. I don’t think you should talk to her yet. I was just about to head out of here. Maybe you should talk to her in the morning.”

Connie frowned at Jack. “This can’t wait. Any clue she could give would help. The bastard who did this knows she escaped. He’s liable to do the same.”

Connie followed Jack and Laura down the hall and entered a room that Linh shared with three other patients.

Connie saw Bien sitting on the edge of the bed. He was smiling and talking in Vietnamese to Linh as he stroked her hair. Connie did not know any words of Vietnamese, but by the tone, Linh did not sound severely traumatized.

Her suspicions were confirmed when Linh looked up and said, “Hi, Jack! Hi, Laura!”

Bien looked at Connie and she saw the mark on the centre of his forehead.

“How is she?” asked Connie.

Bien’s face immediately became sombre and his command of the English language seemed to dissipate. “Very scared. No talk to police now.”

“That’s too bad,” replied Connie, softly. She gave a fake smile, before her face abruptly turned to business. “What happened to your forehead?” she demanded.

“I fall on bushes.”

“There seems to be a lot of clumsiness going on around here tonight,” she said, glancing at Jack.

“Pretty wet and slippery out,” Jack offered.

Connie smiled at Linh and moved closer and held her hand. “Hi,” she said. “My name is Connie.”

Linh glanced at Jack and looked at Connie and wrinkled her face, before turning her head away and starting to cry.

“She feels more comfortable with us,” said Jack. “Why don’t you leave and Laura and I will talk to her.”

“That isn’t going to happen,” said Connie. “I want to talk to her alone ... now!”

“Why? She’s a child. Someone has to—”

“I’ll allow her father to stay,” said Connie. “You and Laura ... out!”

Connie waited until Jack and Laura left the room before using her cellphone to call her partner.

“Get back to that pay phone. I want it dusted and get the coins done as well. Also get the tolls and times for any calls made from it tonight.”

“What’s up?” her partner asked.

“I’ll explain later. There’s a gas station across the street. See if they have any security cameras!”