Race (31 page)

I said, “It’s towed to Joe’s Towing.” I read her the address.
 
“Just tell Joe
Coultier
I sent you.”

“I didn’t get your name,” she said, smiling.
 

She had a great smile.

I don’t know why but my face flushed.
 
Maybe it was the way she looked at me.
 
“It’s Jonny
Rupert
.”

NO!

My face burned.
 
“
Rupret
.
 
R before the E,” I said, collecting myself.

“
Rupret
,” she said, repeating it to herself.
 
“R before the E.
 
Different but unique.”

Now my knees were getting weak.
  
Maybe it was the pajamas.

She said, “If it isn’t too much trouble can you take me to Joe’s Towing?”

“Sure,” I said.

She smiled even more.

Suddenly I remembered.
 
Joey.
 
“Um…I can’t.”

Her smile faded.

“I’ve got…to…go somewhere.”

“It’ll be a quick drive,” she said.
 
“You can just drop me off and come back.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t.”
 
I hated doing this.
 
I really did. But I couldn’t leave Joey alone.
 
Our investigation was relying on him.
 
“I really cannot.” I gave her the directions again.

She was disappointed, but she still smiled.
 
She thanked me and headed in the direction of the streetcar.
 

***

Ms. Zee waited until the officer was out of sight and then went to the car.
 
She entered the Lincoln and then shook her head.
 
Hause
was ready and waiting with the shotgun.
  
Without saying a word he started the car and they were gone.

***

As I got to the door I realized I hadn’t asked her name.
 
Damn, what an idiot I was.
 
Going up the stairs I cursed myself for being so stupid.

I heard the toilet flush and a few seconds later Joey emerged from the bathroom.
  

“There’s coffee if you like,” I said.

He nodded and filled a cup.

“I’m going to go check my e-mail,” he said, and with that he disappeared into my room.

***

Martin found a perfect spot, located in the warehouse of an industrial site along the waterfront of Lake Ontario.
  

The new technology demanded an area with enough room for the heavy equipment.
  
The open interior of the warehouse was ideal for this type of manufacturing.
  

This would confine them to one location, but they had no choice.
 
Too much money had already been wasted and now it was time to earn some back.
  
Once
Nex
was produced and distributed they would find another location, but for now this would have to do.
 

Martin saw three U-Hauls enter the warehouse.
  
He was determined to have
Nex
ready in the next couple of days.
 
Ms. Zee was not available, so everything had to be done by him.
 
She was busy trying to get rid of Joey.

***

I lay on the sofa with my eyes closed.
 
It was close to afternoon and Joey was still in the bedroom.
 
I didn’t want to bother him.
 
In fact, I didn’t want him to bother me.
 
I was not his babysitter.
  
I was doing my job, while resting at home.
 

I tossed over.
  
I was restless.
 
I was upset at myself for not getting her name.
 
She was friendly.
 
A real damsel in distress and I couldn’t help her.
  
Maybe I could go to her home.
 
What home?
 
I didn’t know where she lived.
 
She pointed to a street but I didn’t know the exact house.
 
Maybe I could go and knock on each door and ask for someone I didn’t know the name of.
  
I tossed once more and decided to watch TV.
 

There was a knock on the door and grudgingly I opened it.
 
It was
Beadsworth
.
 
He entered without saying a word.
 
I went back and flopped onto the sofa.

“Where’s Joey?” he asked.

“In the bedroom,” I answered.

He seemed relieved.
 

“So, what can I do for you?” I said.

“We found the body of Mr. Armand
Dempiers
.
 
He used to be an employee of Bantam Pharmaceuticals Limited.”
 

“Barnes and Herrera already briefed me on him,” I said.

Beadsworth
took a seat and then leaned over towards the bedroom.
 

“He’s on the computer,” I said.

Beadsworth
fixed his tie.
 
“They’ll be performing an autopsy on Mr.
Dempiers
.”
 
Beadsworth
looked nervous.
 
I had never seen him nervous.
 
“Um…we’re waiting for the results…has anyone from the force visited Joey?”

“No, why?” I said.

“Sergeant Aldrich was upset that I requested Joey be put under your supervision.”

“He was? Good.
 
It’s about time the man grows some white hair.
 
I don’t like him.”

“Can I have a word with Joey?”
Beadsworth
asked.

“Go ahead.”

Beadsworth
got up to go over to the room when there was a knock on the door.
  
Beadsworth
answered.
 

Aldrich came in, but no Garnett.
 

I got up.
 

I sensed tension between
Beadsworth
and Aldrich.
 
They exchanged welcomes, which I felt were contrived.
  

“Officer
Rupret
,” Aldrich said, with a nod.

I knew he wasn’t here for me so I called out for Joey.
  
He came out of the room looking red-eyed.
 
He’d been staring at the monitor for hours.

Aldrich got right to the point, “We’ve found the body that you mentioned.
  
You were correct.
 
It is why you must tell us more.
 
Time is running out.”
 
He shoved a stack of paper at Joey.
 
“Sign it and you’ll have your protection.”

Joey looked at the bundle.
 
He scanned it and then scribbled his signature.
  
He then gave them an address.
  
“You can find them there.”

“I will have Detective Garnett pick you up tomorrow,” Aldrich said.

Joey shrugged an okay.

Both Aldrich and
Beadsworth
left.

***

I lay back on the sofa and Joey sat on the opposite chair.
       

The ringing of the telephone broke the awkward silence, and I was glad it did.
 

“Hello,” I answered it.

“Hi, is this Jon
Rupret
?” said a female voice.

I recognized the voice.
 
It was the woman with the red hair.
 
I immediately felt energized.

“Yes, speaking,” I said, calming myself.

“Hi, we met outside your house…”

“Yes, yes, of course.
 
Did you get your vehicle?”

“Exactly where you said it would be,” she laughed.
 

I laughed.

Joey quietly picked up a magazine and began flipping the pages.

“How did you get my number?” I asked.

“The phone book.”

Ah, the good old white pages.

“I didn’t get your name?”

“It’s Laura,” she paused.
 
“Um…I didn’t mention it earlier, but I’m here visiting my sister.
 
She lives around the block from your house and…I’ll be leaving for the U.S.”

My heart sank. “You’re leaving?”

“Yes, tomorrow.
 
I was hoping we could meet…maybe over dinner.”

“I don’t know…” I looked across at Joey.
 
“I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“You can’t even spare an hour?”

I squirmed.
 
I wanted to go.
 
I really did.

“Okay,” I finally said, caving in.

TWENTY-THREE

Ed Burrows found Martin in the makeshift office.
  
Martin didn’t look up; he was busy talking on the phone.
  
Burrows walked back to the door and waited.
 
He looked across to the middle of the warehouse, and saw two people unloading heavy barrels of gelatin from the U-Haul.
 

 
A tank of water had already been delivered, along with a truck filled with
glycine
and sodium hydroxide.
  
Metal containers of
dextroamphetamine
were going to be delivered later in the day.
   
Caffeine was the easiest component to get, so he wasn’t too worried about it.
 

Martin was off the phone now.

Burrows walked up to him.

Martin had the
What-can-I-do-for-you-now
look.

“We still don’t have sodium
lauryl
sulphate
,” Burrows said.

“What do we need that for?” Martin said.
  

Burrows said, “It helps to absorb the drug
transmucosally
into the mouth, throat and esophagus.
 
Without it the drug is useless.”

Martin went silent, and then said, “You have to realize I don’t have unlimited resources.
 
I can’t just call a company and say ship me a ton of this and a ton of that.
 
Alarms would go off.”

Burrows said nothing.
 

 
         
“All right,” Martin said, waving his hands in the air.
 
“I’ll make some calls.”

***

It was getting dark when I came out of the bathroom.
 
I had showered and shaved and applied some heavy-duty deodorant.
 
Joey was in the living room watching an old movie.
 
I went into my room and changed into a nice silk shirt, unwrinkled pants, and a dark jacket.
 
I checked myself in the mirror and except for the exposed little bruise on my nose I looked mighty fine.