Don Easton

The Benefactor


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it before realizing what it was and putting it back. Which he will suggest is what the witness saw. Parker has no previous criminal record. I’d say her chances of being convicted are about fifty-fifty. The bikers know this, so I would be surprised if they had anything to do with it.”

      “So you’re saying it isn’t a homicide?” said Boyle, with a nod of his head at Connie to say he had been right all along.

      “I didn’t say that,” replied Jack. “I’m saying I can’t think of a probable motive, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Also, it’s not only the bikers who are involved. Although they basically control the Vietnamese over the marijuana crops, the Viets still have a lot of their own action going and are comprised of dozens of different groups who generally operate independently of each other.”

      “So having one informant, unless by fluke he was with the right gang, wouldn’t be able to tell us much,” said Connie.

      “Yes, although the higher up you go on the corporate ladder, significant decisions become limited to a select few,” said Jack. “At the moment, a lot of B.C. bud is heading south of the border. With Satans Wrath’s guidance, the Vietnamese are trading a lot of the marijuana for guns, heroin, ecstasy, and cocaine with the Chinese gangs. The Chinese are well established up and down the west coast of North America and have been handling much of the actual smuggling going on back and forth across the border.”

      “So what the hell does all that have to do with our hit and run?” asked Connie.

      “Good question,” replied Jack. “If this was a hit, I think we’re missing the real motive at the moment. I’m not saying that the Viets aren’t involved. Someone else could have hired them, but it doesn’t fit in with a normal Asian organized crime hit. They’re usually bloody and done with machetes or guns to make a statement.”

      “To make a statement?” asked Boyle.

      “Telling someone not to mess with them,” replied Laura.

      “Yeah, well, thanks for … all your help,” said Boyle, sounding dismissive, as he leaned back in his chair so Jack and Laura wouldn’t see him. When Connie looked at him, he gave a sideways glance at Jack and Laura, then rolled his eyes as if to say, Why did you bother calling these two yokels over …

      Connie chose to ignore him and leaned forward in her chair, clasping her hands on her desk. “Jack … I called the Asian Organized Crime Task Force before giving you a call, but they don’t have anything that would help.”

      “Who did you speak to in AOCTF?” asked Jack.

      “One of the secretaries. She was pretty short with me. Said if something came up, they would let me know.”

      “In future,” said Jack, “if you need something from AOCTF, I would suggest you give Sergeant Roger Morris a call.”

      There was something about Jack’s tone of voice and how he looked at Connie that told her there was something he was trying to imply. “Oh?” she asked.

      “Roger’s a good guy,” replied Jack. He gave Connie a hard look, shifted his eyes momentarily to glance at Boyle, then looked back at Connie and said, “I trust Roger.”

      “Yeah, AOCTF are really busting their asses over there,” interjected Boyle. “They’ve taken a lot of weapons off the street. Equates to saving us a lot of work.”

      Connie looked at Jack and gave a faint nod that she understood. AOCTF has a leak … be damned careful who you talk to… Connie glanced at Boyle. And Jack doesn’t trust him enough to talk about it in front of him…

      Laura glanced at Boyle. “You’re right about AOCTF being busy,” she said. “They’re so tied up with the punks doing the gang shootings that they don’t have time to go after the guys higher up.”

      Connie cleared her throat and looked at Jack. “I know you’re busy, but I wouldn’t have called asking for help if there were, uh, alternative investigative methods I could do myself. I’m really at a loss. I know you two have a knack for turning informants or getting information.”

      Jack smiled. “What did you do when you looked up my number,” he asked, “look in your phone book under last resort?”

      Connie would have smiled if someone else had said that … but Jack was telling the truth. Their eyes locked momentarily. “Something like that,” she admitted. “I have a serious time issue. If Nancy Brighton was the real target, we need to know and get a handle on it pretty damned quick. Any ideas?”

      “I have some,” replied Jack. “Any chance of getting a search warrant for the van?”

      “Based on it driving by on the street? Not a chance.”

      “A witness said it was possible that Asians were driving the Honda,” noted Laura. “We’ve got a Vietnamese delivery van, so there is an Asian connection.”

      “Are you kidding me?” replied Connie. “Over half of Richmond is Asian. A judge would laugh me out of the office.”

      “Besides,” said Boyle, looking at Jack, “we’re talking about a delivery van for a restaurant.” He did not keep the sarcasm out of his voice when he added, “What could you hope to find in it, other than about a hundred different sets of fingerprints?”

      “I take it you’ve never spent time on surveillance in the back of a van,” replied Jack.

      “Not really. I prefer a more active approach to police work,” replied Boyle.

      “Yes, I can tell by the sleep in your eyes that you must be run off your feet,” replied Jack.

      Boyle took Jack seriously and nodded, rubbing his eyes.

      “I’ve spent countless hours on surveillance,” continued Jack. “You get the munchies. You get thirsty. There could be candy wrappings or —”

      “Candy wrappings tossed back by service people in the van,” interrupted Boyle. “Means nothing.”

      “Or perhaps fingerprints on a set of binoculars,” added Jack.

      Boyle paused. “Oh, uh, yeah, I guess,” he replied. “Still, the point is moot. We can’t get a warrant. You said you had some ideas. What are your others?”

      Jack ignored Boyle’s question and nodded to Laura, indicating it was time to leave. “I’ll call you tomorrow, Connie,” said Jack, over his shoulder as he and Laura walked out.

      After they left, Boyle looked at Connie and said, “What a jerk. Did you see that? He treated me like I wasn’t even here.” Boyle glanced in disgust in the direction Jack had left and added, “He doesn’t have a clue what to do.”

      “You were rude, too, when you sat back in your chair a moment ago, rolling your eyes.”

      “Maybe, but it’s not like either of them saw that.”

      “Jack did. Right after you did it, he looked at me, frowned, then rolled his eyes to mimic you.”

      “There’s no way he could see me. I leaned back —” Boyle then caught his reflection in the window behind Connie. “Oh, maybe he did see me.”

      “There is no maybe about it,” replied Connie, firmly.

      “Yeah, well, big deal. It’s not like they can help us.”

      “We don’t know that yet. I told you they are both UC operators. They have certain talents that neither of us have.”

      Boyle chuckled. “Come on, Connie. Don’t you think they might have a little difficulty going undercover as Asians? What are they going to do? Scotch-tape their eyes back?”

      Connie thought of Jack and Laura’s demeanour as she glared at Boyle. They accurately read your personality as soon as they met you…. She took a deep breathe to calm her response. “You’re new, so let me give you some advice. Show some respect and don’t fuck with them. We