“What about security?”

“The bikers will look after it. I might be the referee, but everyone knows who I’ll be representing. If anyone does something stupid, they’re dead.”

“Gotcha.”

“I really shouldn’t say this, so keep it to yourself. Out of all the others, you’re the one I respect the most. I want you to do well at the meeting.”

Sy’s face brightened. “Thanks. I really appreciate that.”

“It would be a good idea if you kept me informed of what you’re up to. Go through the bikers to arrange a meet, if need be, but I’m the point man. If you’re making any moves it will help if I know so I can convince the bikers that you’re not some dunderhead flailing around.”

Sy nodded and said, “Thanks, Cocktail. I could use all the friends I could get. A good reason I should take on someone smart like Jay. He is one cool dude. Knows how to get rid of people to make it look like an accident. It would be good if he joined up with me.”

“Bet your guys who got busted last night won’t be in jail long.”

“I talked with Basil Westmount. He expects he’ll get them out this afternoon. Problem is, they’ll be heat bags with the cops at a time when I need ’em most. That’s if none of them squealed.”

“Think any of them would?”

“Fuckin’ Roach and Bagger did. Don’t know what the cops had on them. As far as last night goes, well, I know Brewski would never turn.”

“What? Roach and —”

“Yeah, those two. Don’t worry about it. They’ve already been taken care of.”

Cocktail waited until Sy left before speaking to Hamburger.

“Pass it on to your boss that I know who the losing side is going to be. The police arrested a bunch of Sy’s guys last night and wiped out his top people. The ones who are left are pointing fingers at each other. They took out two of their own a couple of hours ago.”

“I’ll pass it on,” replied Hamburger.

“I realize that the, uh, selected individuals for the final … shall we say, execution of this plan is up to you guys, but I think the choice is obvious. With that in mind, I gave Sy the bullshit line about getting everyone together for a truce talk.”

“Think he went for it?”

“Like a hungry gull after a school bag-lunch.”

“I’m sure we’ll be in touch soon, but in the mean time, carry on business as usual.”

“One other thing. Sy has a new friend he is thinking of partnering up with. Don’t know anything about the guy or who might be backing him. He lives in the apartment above Sy with his girlfriend. They go by the names of Jay and Princess. Might be a good idea for you guys to check them out.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Balvinder’s meeting with Fateh that afternoon did not go as smoothly as he had hoped.

“Fuck runnin’ stuff past Cocktail,” said Fateh vehemently. “How the fuck do you know he won’t pass it on to the other side?”

“He won’t,” replied Balvinder. “If he was doin’ that, he could have had me killed this morning. Satans Wrath don’t give a shit about which side wins as long as they’re not caught in the middle. I spoke with Quang about an hour ago. He thinks the three of us should come up with a game plan.”

“I don’t need fuckin’ Quang’s help to kill anyone.”

“It is better if we coordinate things under a united front. If we don’t resolve it quick, Cocktail says the fuckin’ gravy train we’ve all been riding is going to come to a halt.”

“Satans Wrath would cut off the chemicals?” asked Fateh.

Balvinder nodded.

“That would cost them money, too.”

Balvinder shook his head and said, “Man, the bikers got lots of other action. They deal coke by the ton and got labs right across the country. They can afford to put our labs on hold, but we can’t. Besides, where else could we get chemicals that cheap? Even if they didn’t kill us, their prices would put us out of business. If our people quit making money … pretty soon they won’t be our people.”

Fateh thought about it for a moment and replied, “Okay, when it comes to keepin’ our pipeline for chemicals coming, I agree. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to be running to them if I decide to pop somebody. When there is opportunity, you grab it. If you had told me where Sy was partying the other night, he would already be dead.”

“My guys tried.”

Fateh smiled and said, “Yeah, I heard. With little girlie guns. Like I said, you should have called me. I’d have introduced Sy to Big Bertha.”

Balvinder was surprised. “It came through? You got it?”

“Yup. Had it smuggled across the border last week. Fifty-calibre. Fuckin’ bullets bigger than your thumb. Capable of bringing down an airplane. Got it mounted in the back of a van. All we gotta do is pull up alongside, slide open the side door and blow anything we want into fuckin’ smithereens. There wouldn’t be enough scrap metal left of a vehicle to make a paperweight.”

“Un-fuckin’ believeable! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Just did. You still got someone close to Sy?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t want to risk Big Bertha hanging around Sy’s apartment. The heat is obviously on him and I’m not taking a chance of the cops grabbing it. Next time you pinpoint when he’ll be someplace else, give me a call.”

“There’s Mongo and Munch to consider, as well.”

“We can deal with them after … that’s if there is any fight left in them. It was Sy’s people who invaded our turf. That is who should get the message first on not to fuck with us. The bikers want this war over? Fine! Consider it fuckin’ over when Big Bertha opens up.”

Late that afternoon, Jack returned to Sy’s apartment and the two men did their usual walk down the hall.

Sy looked at Jack and said, “Roach and Bagger … done.”

Jack ignored the comment and said, “That was a hell of a night last night. We were lucky to escape. Sorry you lost so many of your guys.”

“You tried to warn me. I should have listened. Everyone from the van, including Brewski, got let out a few minutes ago. The guns were stashed in a duffle bag. Our lawyer says it will be hard for the cops to prove who they belong to. The two YDUs in the Mustang are still being held.”

Jack didn’t respond until they had walked farther. “Something else on your mind?” he asked.

Sy coughed and said, “I know things don’t exactly look like they’re going well for me, but I think it is going to pick up.”

“That’s good.”

“Remember I once told you I knew a guy by the name of Cocktail?”

“Yes,” said Jack. He felt his chest tighten and realized he was holding his breath.

“I met with him this morning.”

“You’re a busy guy. Thought you’d be a little tired after last night.”

“Sometimes I don’t get a choice. Certain people call and ya gotta go.”

“Certain people like Cocktail?”

“Certain people like Satans Wrath. They acted as my chauffeurs. You know about them, eh?”

“Who doesn’t?” replied Jack. “Is Cocktail one of them?”

“No, but he works for them. Cocktail helps me. He supplies the chemicals and the training for the labs we run. I’ve been making a lot of money. Still am.”

“You shouldn’t be telling me this. If Cocktail gets popped, you’ll be giving me the hairy eyeball.”

“Hear me out. I’m not blabbin’ without reason. It’s like you said before, I need to gather as many allies as I can. Cocktail says the bikers are going to force us to accept a truce and decide what turf belongs to who.”

“Sounds smart. What’s that got to do with Cocktail?”

“He is going to represent the bikers at the meeting. Act as a referee. Guess the bikers don’t respect us enough yet for a face to face.”

No shit …“When is this meeting?”