“And?” prompted Damien.

“The OCTF might find out that we are supplying The Brotherhood with meth and GHB,” continued Lance. “Once the OCTF knock off the dumb shits in The Brotherhood, they’re not going to want to disband and lose their power. They’re bound to come after us next.”

“Exactly,” said Damien. “We need to educate The Brotherhood. The harder it is for the police to nail them, the more insulation we have, and the more police resources will be spent on The Brotherhood.”

“They’re a bunch of punk kids,” said Whiskey Jake. “Hard to organize and they won’t like it if they realize we’re taking over. We know the leaders, but we don’t know who all they control or how many they got.”

“Exactly why we should make a move. Discreetly start grooming a leader to take over The Brotherhood. Someone to gain power over them and make it easier for us to control.”

“Like a mole,” said Lance.

“Exactly,” replied Damien. “Pick someone we already control. End their war before the police use it as an excuse to ask for more money and resources. Allow The Brotherhood to set up a couple of dummy bosses underneath whoever we pick as a protective layer for us.”

“Like the canary in the coal mine,” said Lance.

“Precisely. At the moment, they have too many bosses, which is another reason there is so much conflict.”

“Right now they have seven bosses,” said Whiskey Jake.

“Which are too many idiots if we are to control them properly.”

“Maybe we should cut their number down?” suggested Whiskey Jake.

“Exactly what I have in mind, but with all the heat over these shootings, the timing isn’t good for us to openly do it ourselves. It could also have the potential of backfiring on us. The Brotherhood might realize we are the bigger threat and unite against us.”

“So how do we do it?” asked Whiskey Jake.

“We need to figure out which side is winning and go with them,” replied Damien. “We need someone with more brainpower than the current bosses to move things along. How about Cocktail?”

“He’s got the smarts,” said Lance. “Both sides of The Brotherhood deal with him and know we back him. They trust him and know he would never expose himself by being a boss. Makes them trust him more. He’s also smart enough not to double-cross us.”

“Good,” replied Damien. “Tell him to pick who he thinks is going to be the winning side, then offer to help them out. Set the losers up to be taken out all at once. Professionally. No more idiotic drive-by-shooting shit.”

“You got it,” said Whiskey Jake.

“In the meantime, except for Cocktail and his action, tell all our guys to stay clear of The Brotherhood.”

“After last night, the heat will be all over them,” agreed Lance.

“Plus, the dumb shits will probably retaliate immediately instead of waiting,” said Damien. “Give everything a few days. Once the air clears a little, tell Cocktail to meet the bosses and provide us with an assessment. Make sure our prospects are around to ensure secrecy and security with Cocktail. If there is any doubt, abort. I don’t want the police to ever connect him with us or The Brotherhood.”

“So once a stronger side emerges, we’ll eliminate the weaker side,” said Whiskey Jake.

“Yes, but not us personally,” replied Damien. “Get them to do it. We’ll give Cocktail some … professional advice that he can pass along. Get the losers in one spot. Take care of them all at once and make sure their bodies never surface.”

“He could use a pretext that we have ordered a truce meeting for them to straighten things out,” suggested Lance.

“That would work,” replied Damien. “Anything to get them all together in a place without witnesses. Won’t be as much heat if they disappear. Especially if their money disappears at the same time.”

“I think they’re smart enough not to use banks,” said Lance.

Damien nodded and said, “But I doubt they are sophisticated enough to launder or use offshore accounts. Tell Cocktail to get the losers to give up their cash before they dispose of them.”

“Torture the fuckers first,” said Whiskey Jake, as if he was going over his own mental checklist.

“Cocktail can split it amongst himself and the winning side,” continued Damien.

“If we take out three or four of their bosses,” said Lance, “with the number of punks out there and a lack of leadership, there could be a lot of retaliation on an undisciplined level.”

“If shit really goes wrong, we’ll claim Cocktail was acting on his own,” said Damien. “If it goes well, the winning side should feel indebted. As far as retaliation goes, without their leaders the kids will fold pretty fast. For a brief time it might draw a lot of police scrutiny, but all we have to do is wait it out and make sure we don’t get caught in the middle.”

Satans Wrath would not have to wait long to see who the weaker side was. Jack would be placed firmly on that weaker side … and targeted for assassination.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Jack and Laura arrived at the office at quarter to eight on Sunday morning and saw that their boss was already there.

“Come in, have a seat,” said Staff-Sergeant Rosemary Wood, gesturing to the two chairs in front of her desk. She waited until they were seated and said, “Well?”

“You read our reports?” asked Jack, pointing to the papers on her desk.

“I read them,” she said, matter-of-factly. “Driving like a couple of lunatics while shooting and smashing up cars on our public streets. It must have been quite a night.”

“It was,” admitted Jack.

“Both of you feel you are okay to work?”

“We’re fine,” both Jack and Laura said in unison.

“You’ll need to see the Force psychologist.”

“We know.”

“I’m sure you do. Be nice to the man, he is only trying to help.”

“Don’t worry, Rose. We’ll be nice and say the right things,” said Laura.

“For sure,” agreed Jack. “I don’t want him recommeding stress leave.”

“I know you will say the right things,” replied Rose, shaking her head. These two make a living out of fooling some of the toughest people on the planet. Our poor shrink won’t stand a chance. She looked at them and said, “About last night, it was a miracle nobody got hurt.”

“The incident was over within thirty seconds,” said Jack.

“A lot of people can get hurt in thirty seconds,” replied Rose.

“I know, but under the circumstances I did what I thought was best.”

“You never shot back … I take it you weren’t armed?”

“No. Seldom are when we’re undercover.”

Rose nodded and said, “After you called me last night, I called Isaac.”

Jack sucked in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Assistant Commissioner Isaac was the criminal operations officer who oversaw all the operational investigations in the Pacific region. He wasn’t someone you would bother at home without serious consideration. More so, when the call was made after midnight.

“How did he take it?” asked Jack.

“Well, he wasn’t exactly happy,” replied Rose, “but you won’t be kicking your Stetson up the highway to Nunavut Dog Sled Patrol, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Good. What did he say?”

“When I woke him up to say that you had been involved in a … situation, he groaned and muttered, “not again” and asked who was dead. When I said that the situation did not result in anyone’s death … that is correct, isn’t it?” asked Rose, while scrutinizing Jack’s face.

“So far,” replied Jack.

“So far?”

“Sy is planning retribution. He asked me to attend a meeting with him today.”

“You mentioned that last night and Isaac is in agreement that you do attend to find out what you can and to defuse the situation if possible.”