“What is this?” Marcus said.
“Try it.”
“I’m not trying none of your shit,” he said.
“Fine. Then you’ll never know.” She turned to Martin.
“Okay, okay. Slow down,” he said. She could tell he was eager. “I just don’t want my man to get sick, you know.” He sounded more polite now.
“There are no active ingredients in those. It’s just a placebo.”
“Then you don’t have the drug?” he said.
“We will soon.”
He nodded to his bodyguard, who picked up a tablet and placed it in his mouth. The bodyguard waited but did not swallow. He quietly went back to Marcus and whispered in his ear.
Marcus smiled.
“You don’t want to try it?” Ms. Zee asked.
“I trust my man,” he replied. “Now let’s talk business.”
I lay sideways on the sofa with my eyes open. The back of my head was sore and this position was more comfortable. I slept this way the entire night and suspected I might sleep this way for many more nights.
My nostrils were stuffed with bandages. My nose was not broken, only bruised. It hurt when I touched it. So I avoided doing that.
The time on my VCR was after ten in the morning. I was not to report to work until I had recovered fully and that could take days. I was up early and had managed to walk from the bed to the sofa.
Now I lay staring at the blank television and the digital clock on the VCR.
I remembered last night.
I remembered falling down the steps and hitting my head on the floor. I remembered being woken up by the paramedics. My head throbbed and ached but I was able to walk to the ambulance, yes, I did remember that. That’s where they bandaged me up. I was told that when my head hit the floor I fell unconscious. They insisted I go into overnight observation but I protested. They relented after determining there was no serious damage and gave me some painkillers and told me to rest.
I also remembered being driven home by Beadsworth. I remember asking him if we had stopped RACE. At first he would not answer my question, but after much persistence he told me.
We did not find RACE in the building. But that didn’t mean there were no illegal activities transpiring inside.
LLPM Imports amp; Exports were not acquiring used clothing from the Goodwill and Salvation Army and sending them to third-world countries; they were pirating DVDs. At their location in Scarborough they were copying thousands of titles and shipping them to a warehouse in Niagara Falls before sending them across the border into the United States.
We were on a wrong trail from the beginning.
Yes, we had suspicions about the late night deliveries. Yes, we did stop an illegal operation, but we were nowhere closer to RACE.
This made my head hurt even more.
I tried changing positions but even that became difficult. My head was throbbing. I forced myself up, took one aspirin, and was back on the sofa.
The process was in motion. Things were happening fast. Orders were sent out for liquid nitrogen freezing tunnels, blister packs, refrigerated cabinets, and freeze-dryers.
Money was switching hands quickly, but Ms. Zee didn’t care.
Burrows entered the room. “How long before we’re set?” he asked. He was eager to begin.
“In a day or two,” Ms. Zee said. “It will take time to acquire the equipment from our sources.”
She was surprised at how well Burrows had adapted into the organization.
Joey walked into the room. He scratched his shaggy hair and slumped down on a chair.
She dismissed Burrows, and said, “Is something wrong?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” He didn’t look at her directly. “I was thinking…” he let his words trail off.
She waited.
“After you have Nex…I…I want to leave.”
“Of course,” she said.
“I mean…I don’t want any trouble. I just want to do my job and leave and get on with my life.”
“Of course.”
“I also need some money.”
“How much?”
“Three thousand,” he said, swallowing.
“Of course.”
He nodded and got up. “I’ll go see if Ed needs help or something.”
She said nothing.
Joey closed the door and paused. He didn’t really think Ms. Zee would let him walk away. That was not how it worked. Once Nex was complete his life would be in danger. He hadn’t thought that when he had first started. But his mind changed when Armand disappeared. Joey was sure Armand had been killed.
Ever since Burrows arrived, Joey could sense his worth declining. Burrows liked to work alone. He rarely asked Joey for his opinions. Even if Joey had opinions, Burrows shrugged them off. Armand was not like that. Armand didn’t like him, but at least he let him do his job.
Joey had to get away and he had to get some place safe.
There was a knock at the door.
My eyes opened. I was still on the sofa. The VCR clock blinked 11:05 AM.
More knocking.
I forced myself up and dragged myself to the door. I opened it. It was Beadsworth.
“It’s early,” I said.
Without saying a word he entered.
I went back to the sofa. My head hurt worse. The noise from the door had given me a migraine. “Pass me the aspirins,” I said, lying down.
Beadsworth went into the kitchen and returned with my order. I took another pill.
He sat down. “I was going to bring you flowers but…”
“But you didn’t,” I said.
He nodded.
“Good. I’m not dying and I don’t care.”
He unbuttoned his coat, sat down, and crossed his legs.
“So what’s up?” I said.
“I just returned from the meeting and Aldrich has halted the operation.”
“What? He can’t do that.”
“He can and he did.”
“We did stop an illegal operation.”
“The Chief was not happy with our progress. Valuable resources are being wasted, she said. The investigation into the drug squad is already in the media and the Chief doesn’t want any more publicity.”
“This is bullshit, you know?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Then how are we supposed to do our job?”
“We are not,” he said with a hint of a smile.
“What?”
He said, “I spoke to Detective Herrera and he told me Constable Barnes is doing much better. He doesn’t
