Jack raced up the ramp and kicked the door. It burst open immediately and he found himself on a ramp leading to a pile of manure. Beyond the pile was an open yard leading to a large hangar-styled building that was open on all sides. At one end of the building was a tractor and a hay baler. Outside the building stood a large, overhead gravity-fed tank of gas.

Jack glanced behind him. Screaming through the smoke and crackling fire told him that Quang was being dragged out the front entrance of the barn. Footsteps pounding through the barn said others were coming his way.

He looked back at the hangar and saw that the rest of building was filled with rows of bales of hay, stacked to roof level. It will take about ten seconds to make it to the hangar. Maybe longer. Can I make it? The hangar has nothing but field around it. No place to run to …

Balvinder and Rashard, with guns in hand, burst out onto the ramp, followed seconds later by Fateh and Cocktail.

“The fucker is hiding in the storage hangar,” yelled Rashard.

Balvinder glanced back inside the barn and said, “What about our three prisoners?”

“Let them burn to death,” replied Cocktail. “Murder will be hard to prove, besides, it was Jay who started the fire, not us.”

“The fucking neighbours are bound to see the fire,” continued Rashard. “We might never find him before the cops and fire department show up.”

“Then torch the hangar, too,” yelled Cocktail. “There’s farm equipment in there, better yet, that’s an overhead gas tank beside the hangar. Use it!”

Moments later, another large whoosh of flame erupted as the hangar, fuelled by gas, turned the building into an inferno.

Jack squirmed out from underneath the plank and peeked over the manure pile. Cocktail, Balvinder, and Rashard were watching different corners of the hangar. Within seconds, all the hay was burning. No living creature could survive inside.

Jack stumbled back into the barn and crouched low as he ran back through the barn. In the dense smoke and heat, he saw Sy, Mongo, and Munch. They had dropped to the ground, fighting and kicking in an unsuccessful attempt to free themselves. Their lungs choked and gasped for air while the roar of the fire sounded like a jet engine screaming around them.

Jack kicked a window and used his foot to hook a piece of shattered glass and pull it inside.

“Jay! Help us!” coughed Sy.

“I will,” replied Jack. “Give me a minute to free myself,” he said, plunking himself down on the floor. He picked up the broken glass with his fingers and feverishly sawed away at the zip tie. Precious seconds ticked past and his fingers became slippery with blood.

“Jay! Look out!” yelled Sy.

Jack saw Cocktail charging at him with a pitchfork as the zip tie broke. He didn’t have time to get up. His eyes met Cocktail and he saw the blind rage.

“You’re dead!” screamed Cocktail.

Jack was sitting cross-legged on the floor. He rested his elbow on his knee with his arm extended upward. Jack’s face and open chest looked like an easy target and Cocktail lunged at it with the pitchfork.

A look of surprise crossed Cocktail’s face when Jack used his arm to knock the pitchfork to one side, while grabbing the wooden shaft with his other hand and giving it a tug as if to pull it from Cocktail’s grasp.

Cocktail responded as most people would. He yanked hard on the pitchfork. It was what Jack had been waiting for. The movement gave Jack the momentum to rise with the pitchfork and propel himself forward, knocking Cocktail to the floor, with himself on top.

Jack punched him viciously five times in the face. Cocktail let go of the pitchfork and Jack pressed the wooden handle across his throat and leaned on it with all his weight.

“Help us,” pleaded Mongo behind him. “We’re burning …”

Cocktail lost consciousness and Jack continued to press down.

“Jay! Come on!” said Sy, barely able to cough out the words.

Jack cursed and scrambled across the floor to the broken window. He grabbed two shards of glass and used one to free Sy. When he did, he said, “Grab the other piece and help me.”

As Mongo and Munch got free, Jack heard Cocktail yell and saw him moving on all fours, like a crab, as he grabbed his attaché case and scurried away, disappearing into the smoke on the far side of the barn. His screams alerted Balvinder, Rashard, and Fateh.

Jack, Sy, Mongo, and Munch ran out the front door. Munch stumbled over Quang’s smouldering body, got to his feet, and followed the others. Jack quickly checked the van they had arrived in … no keys in the ignition. A scream from Balvinder said they had been spotted.

“Run for it!” yelled Jack, while darting for the darkness away from the lights of the farm.

Chapter Forty-Two

Police and fire department crews were on the scene soon after a neighbour reported hearing an explosion and seeing the fire. The fire department soon realized there was nothing they could do to save the barn or the storage hangar behind it. They did discover a burned and unconscious figure lying in the barnyard. Despite third degree burns to half his body, he was still alive and an ambulance rushed him away.

A police officer saw a pickup truck drive into the yard and a man ran over to speak to him.

“I live over there,” he yelled, pointing off to a neighbouring farm.

“You the fellow who reported this?”

“Nope. The sirens woke me up. Then someone stole my flatbed truck and took off in it. I got dressed and came over to tell you. Happened ten or fifteen minutes ago.”

“Did you call it in?”

“No, I could see your flashing lights so I thought maybe you caught the guy.”

“I didn’t see it, but I’ll radio it in.” The officer paused and asked, “Had you left the keys in the ignition?”

“No, of course not. I leave them in the ashtray.”

“Brilliant.”

Laura answered her BlackBerry on the first ring.

“Hi, Princess. Calling to let you know I’m still above ground.”

Laura burst out crying, but Jack continued, “Some bad shit came down tonight. Cocktail went in with Balvinder, Fateh, Rashard, and Quang and tried to set us up.”

“Where are you?” she asked, as the release of tension brought more tears.

“At a gas station on the Number One highway near Clearbrook. I borrowed someone’s truck, but decided to ditch it. I need a ride. Sy, Mongo, and Munch are with me, but they are contacting their own people.”

After Jack gave Laura directions, he hung up and the four men walked a short distance from the gas station to a place they could stand in darkness and wait.

Jack saw the blood dripping from Mongo’s hand and said, “Your arm is going to need medical attention.”

“Fuckin’ tell me about it. That fuckin’ Rashard must have hit an artery. There’s a hospital in Abbotsford. I’ll get my guys to take me there.”

“When the cops locate that flatbed and find your blood in it, they might check the local hospitals. Not to mention, they’re liable to show up there with Quang. You should pick a hospital that’s farther away.”

Mongo nodded his head in agreement and said, “Good thinkin’. Thanks.”

“Let me take a look at it,” said Jack. “I may need to rip your shirt and use it to stop the bleeding.”

Mongo agreed.

Jack tended to his arm and as he worked on it, he said, “It might be in everyone’s best interests to find new places to sleep and lay low for awhile until we sort this out.”

“Lay low!” replied Mongo. “Fuck that! Somehow I’m gonna find Cocktail. He’s the one who set us up. Then I’m gonna take Rashard and —”

“Who is Cocktail?” asked Jack. “What’s his real name?”

Sy, Mongo and Munch each looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.