Broken Faith
Part 22
by Lois Cloarec Hart
Disclaimers - See Part 1 for disclaimers.
Chapter Twenty-Two
"Thanks."
Lee nodded at the taciturn bartender and dropped a couple of two-dollar coins on the bar. She'd spent most of the day searching for Pike and Eddie, calling in favours from all over the city's lower strata. The brothers had gone to ground, and while learning some very interesting things about their recent activities, she'd been unable to locate them. The big woman finally ended up back in the place her search had begun, a seedy, smoke-filled bar that was the brothers' usual haunt.
Sitting quietly at the end of the bar, Lee nursed a beer while she waited. Dressed down for the occasion in ragged jeans, boots and a grubby black t-shirt, she was indistinguishable from the rest of the bar's shabby patrons. For the umpteenth time, her eyes subtly swept the interior of the bar as if to ferret out the answers she was seeking. Each person entering or leaving was evaluated and, thus far, dismissed.
Lee had compiled a pretty clear picture of the brothers' associates, and she was now looking for a slender Asian man that had been reported in their company in this very bar on a regular basis. None of her contacts had been able to provide a name, but one had told her that, judging by the way they'd been throwing it around on women, partying and vehicles, Pike and Eddie were apparently on to a good deal that was putting a lot of cash in their pockets. Lee didn't doubt that. The Harleys in the brothers' driveway had been virtually brand new and definitely not cheap.
Taking a tiny sip of her beer, Lee's eye was caught by a newcomer slipping into the bar. She felt a little thrill of excitement as she discreetly examined him. The slight Oriental man was dressed much too smartly for the bar he'd just entered, and the big woman saw his eyes darting around as if he were searching for someone. Surreptitiously, she leaned farther back into the shadowed corner, watching out of the corner of her eye as he completed his survey and made his way to the bar. She couldn't hear what he said to the bartender, but his agitation was apparent to her practiced eye.
Watching the interrogation for a few moments, Lee made a decision. Pushing her barely touched glass aside, she stood and ambled out of the bar. Blinking as she emerged into the afternoon sun, the big woman made her way to Dana's car parked halfway down the block. Sliding into the driver's seat, she put on her sunglasses and waited, eyes fixed on the bar's entrance.
As she'd expected, she saw the Oriental man leave and hasten to an older model Honda. When he drove away, she waited a few beats before pulling out into traffic herself. Trailing him, Lee was amused when he headed directly for a bar she'd already checked in her search for the elusive King brothers. When he parked and entered the bar, she pulled in too and strolled up the sidewalk to his car. Quickly noting his licence number, she returned to her vehicle.
Keeping one eye on the bar's entrance, Lee retrieved her cell phone from the glove compartment, punched in a number and listened to it ring. When it was answered, she grinned and said, "Vincent! My man!"
She laughed as she heard the answering groan. "Aw, c'mon, Vinny. Is that any way to talk to an old friend?"
Tracing the steering wheel with her finger, the big woman listened to the exasperated voice. "Sure we're friends. Didn't I get you a month's worth of Flames tickets the last time we spoke?"
Lee let Vincent complain for a few moments and then cut in. "Look, Vinny...I need a favour. Can you look up a licence for me?"
She knew he'd come through for her, but she also knew he had to make his ritual protests first. "Yeah, I know, but if you do me this one tiny favour, I'll get you Stamps tickets for the next four home games and a forty of the beverage of your choice. Whaddaya say?"
Grinning in triumph at his reluctantly muttered acquiescence, she rattled off the plate number. As Vincent was pulling up the information for her, she saw the Oriental man come out of the bar and head for his car. She was surprised when he slammed his fist down on the hood. Narrowing her eyes behind the dark lenses, she was intrigued by the man's body language. He was clearly upset about something, but he also appeared to be fighting to regain his composure. He stood unmoving, his head lowered for long moments, then straightened up and got into his car.
At that moment, Vincent came back on the line with the desired information and, getting him to spell the unfamiliar name, she jotted it down along with an address.
"Thanks, Vinny. I'll drop those tickets off later in the week."
Hanging up, Lee again pulled out several cars back of her quarry, but this time when he stopped at a pool hall, she continued on. Given that he'd gone to three of the places she'd already covered in her search for Pike and Eddie, she was certain he was on the same trail and would be just as unsuccessful as she'd been.
"Have fun, Gao Qui-jian," Lee muttered, driving past the pool hall and leaving the inner city. She drove to the address that Vincent had given her, an attractive block of apartments in the southeast quadrant of the city.
Parking in the visitor spots opposite the main entrance, Lee waited until she saw an older woman making her way from the bus stop to the door of the building, struggling with an armload of bags. Walking up behind her, she offered genially, "Looks like you've got quite the load there, ma'am. Can I give you a hand in?"
The chubby matron smiled gratefully as Lee took some of the heavy bags. "Thank you, dear. I really shouldn't have spent so much, but I ran into the best sale..."
As the woman unlocked the front door, she rambled on about the sale and how much money she'd saved, while Lee nodded interestedly and murmured acknowledgements in the appropriate spots. Hooking her foot around the door, Lee held it open for her companion then followed after her with the bags. The woman talked all the way to her ninth floor apartment and then invited Lee in for some iced tea.
Declining politely, Lee explained that her brother was waiting for her and she really had to get going. She set the bags inside the door and waved as she walked down the hall to the bank of elevators. Taking the lift down to the fifth floor, the big woman was pleased to see the hall was empty. She was even more pleased to see that Gao's door had no more than a standard lock on it.
Knocking twice to ensure the apartment was empty, Lee smiled as she flashed back on Willem's hilarious early efforts to teach her how to pick a lock. Pulling an ever-present pick out of her wallet, she had the door open in thirty seconds. Slipping inside, she held perfectly still, letting her eyes sweep for any apparent security alarms. When all remained quiet, she did a quick check of the hallway closet and then a thorough walk through of the rest of the small apartment.
Once satisfied that there were no security devices installed, Lee stopped and took stock of her surroundings. The place was neat, clean and sparsely equipped with generic furnishings. There was little to give away the taste or personality of the inhabitant.
Moving swiftly now, Lee searched the apartment, being careful to leave no indications of her passage. She found nothing of interest until she got to Gao's bedroom. Pulling open a bedside table, she stared at the H&K P7M13 with narrowed eyes. German engineered with a double stack magazine, the expensive handgun was not something ordinarily found in the average Canadian household and would've had to have been bought on the black market.
"Tchh, tchh. I bet you're breaking half a dozen laws having that there, aren't you, Gao?" Lee said with mock disapproval. "Too bad I can't exactly turn you in for it."
Closing the drawer without disturbing the weapon, she finished off her search of the bedroom. Pausing at the new-looking Powerbook G4 on the small workstation, she wished that her computer savvy were up to coaxing the machine to yield its secrets. Knowing that was beyond her, Lee rifled through the three drawers, finding nothing of interest except a manila folder in the bottom drawer. Extracting it, she opened it to find a sheaf of handwritten notes.
Written in a shorthand of Chinese characters and English, Lee managed to decipher that it was a list of times and places. Focusing on the topmost sheet, she caught the words, 'lawyer, Banff, Cochrane, zoo' and the dates indicated that the notes were from the past weekend. A chill ran through Lee as she recalled that Marika had mentioned that she and Rhi had driven to Banff on Saturday and gone to the zoo with Terry and Jan on Sunday. Quickly checking the earliest date on the notes, she replaced them carefully in the folder and returned it to the drawer. She longed to take them with her to have them completely translated, but she didn't want to alert Gao prematurely.
Deciding she'd pushed her luck far enough for one day, Lee left the room and exited the apartment without incident. Once back in her car, she sat quietly, mulling over her new information.
"C'mon, Lee, you've got most of the pieces of the puzzle. You just have to put them together." Talking to herself was an old habit, and helped her order her thoughts. "Somehow, there's a connection between Pike, Eddie, Gao and Rhi. What the hell could the kid have gotten mixed up in that she'd be targeted by a bunch of thugs?"
Frowning, Lee shook her head in puzzlement. "Maybe something at work?" Knowing that Rhi dealt exclusively in immigration cases, she worried at it from that angle. "If the key is work, then Rika has to be involved too, but she hasn't said anything about any problematic cases. I mean she had the hearing out in Vancouver..."
Suddenly, Lee sat upright. The date on the first notes! It coincided with the day her two friends had returned from Vancouver! The big woman searched her memory for details of the immigration hearing, but couldn't recall anything unusual that her friend had mentioned.
"Oh, Christ!" Lee stared sightlessly across the parking spaces, remembering what had happened in Vancouver. Cass! Was Rika's bete noire conceivably involved? Had the lawyer's discovery of the woman's other identity possibly set off the chain of events endangering Rhi's life? But why Rhi? Why not Rika?
Unable to answer that question, the ex-policewoman's agile mind began trying on and discarding theories until something clicked. What if it's both of them, but Rhi just happened to be first in line?
"Would Cass do that? Kill two people because they found out about her alter ego?"
Lee instinctively knew even as she voiced the question that Cass would be perfectly capable of harming anyone who crossed her. She'd never forgotten the flat, dead look in the woman's eyes the day she and Dana had met Cass coming out of Marika's condo. Not much scared her, but the memory of those eyes still haunted her. She'd never seen orbs so devoid of the slightest trace of humanity. Nor had she forgotten the look of cold triumph in those opaque, brown eyes as Cass had left Marika traumatized on the floor of her own bedroom.
Quickly making a decision, Lee called her partner. "Willem? Is Barb in the office today?"
Listening to her partner's response, the big woman started up the engine. "Good, tell her I'll pick her up in front of our building in twenty-five minutes. And, Will? Tell her to bring all her equipment."
Pulling out of the apartment complex, Lee turned north, back to the heart of the city, conscious of a deepening fear for her friends.
*****************************************************
"Geez, Rika, do you think we got enough here?" Rhi teased as she juggled half of the shopping bags. "I mean, I think there was at least one store with clothes still left in it."
The lawyer grinned at her companion over the bags in her own arms. "Well, cute as you look in my clothes, you really can't go back to work in shorts and t-shirts."
The smaller woman laughed and followed her friend out of the elevator as it deposited them on the 15th floor. It had been a full day. First thing in the morning, she had done the paperwork to replace the documents burned up in her wallet, her passport proving invaluable as identification. They'd gone to the bank where her salvaged passbook had speeded the acquisition of another bankcard and access to her account. Then they'd gone shopping, and capped the day off with dinner in an Italian restaurant.
Despite the trauma of the preceding 24 hours, Rhi was feeling very contented with life. Accustomed to shopping in second hand and low end stores for her clothes, she'd initially balked at Marika's gentle suggestions that she try some different places, but she was glad now that she'd listened to her friend's advice.
Rhi had never concerned herself much with style, unconsciously even selecting garments that would allow her to remain invisible as much as possible. But now, for the first time, she wanted to look good in someone's eyes, and she'd accepted Marika's advice on colours and selections, thrilling to the look of approval in the blonde's eyes as she tried on various items. She'd spent all of the money in the envelope and several hundred of her own savings, but didn't regret it a bit. For the first time in a decade, she felt attractive, and she was reveling in the sensation.
"I'll clear out one side of my closet and a drawer in the bureau for you to put your clothes away until we can pick up a freestanding wardrobe for the den this weekend, okay?" Marika called over her shoulder as she fumbled to insert her key in the lock. "Oh, and don't let me forget to give you the spare key too."
"Okay," Rhi agreed as she trailed the lawyer into the apartment. She almost ran into Marika as the blonde stopped short.
"Lee! Hi, I wasn't expecting you until later," Marika said warmly.
Poking her head around the taller woman, Rhi saw their friend seated at the dining room table with some items on a paper towel in front of her.
"Hi, Lee," she piped up, subsiding as she took in the serious look on the broad, open face regarding them intently.
"Hey, you two. Come sit down. I need to talk to you."
Marika and Rhi shot a look at each other at the unusually sober tone of Lee's voice, but did as she bade them, setting the bags down and seating themselves at the table.
"What's going on, Lee?" Marika began.
Lee rubbed her forehead tiredly. "I need you two to listen to me. Let me tell you what I've found out first, and then we'll talk it all over, okay?"
Rhi felt apprehension rising within her, but she and the lawyer nodded agreement concomitantly.
Lee pushed at the small metallic items in front of her and said bluntly, "I had Barb sweep your apartment this afternoon. She found bugs in every room of the place, and your phone and computer had both been tapped."
Rhi stared incredulously at their friend as she heard Marika gasp in shock beside her.
Continuing, Lee outlined her suspicions about Rhi having two brushes with death in 24 hours, and the steps she'd taken to investigate. Rhi couldn't help smiling at the recitation of the big woman's encounter with Grammy Olive. The feisty old woman had been the one bright spot in her youth, and she resolved to get back there soon to visit the woman whose rough kindness and homemade cookies had made it easier to endure her bleak sojourn with Hettie.
Lee stopped the recital of her probe into the events long enough to ask, "Rhi, have you had any recent problems with Pike and Eddie?"
Rhi shook her head. "No, not since that time in the alley with Mrs. Khalil. I haven't even seen them around the neighbourhood much in the last few weeks."
"Yeah, I didn't really think this was a personal vendetta, but I wanted to double check." Lee shook her head and picked up her story again. When she reached the part about checking out Gao's apartment, Rhi saw the frown on the lawyer's face, but Marika held her tongue.
Looking directly at them, Lee said firmly, "I found two interesting things in his place. One was a handgun that is not your typical Saturday night special, and the other was notes detailing your activities back to the day you returned from Vancouver."
Shocked, Rhi looked at Marika, who'd turned alarmingly pale. Instinctively she reached for the lawyer's hand, and she felt the long, slender fingers curl around her own as they both absorbed the startling information.
"But why, Lee? Why would anyone follow us?" Marika asked, clearly rattled.
"I've thought about that a lot this afternoon," Lee answered. "I'm not one hundred percent sure, but given the timing and what happened in Vancouver, I suspect it may be Cass covering the tracks of her double life."
"Cass!?" Marika stood up abruptly, tearing her hand from Rhi's grasp and knocking her chair over backwards. "Cass tried to have Rhi killed?"
Rhi stared in fascination, confused by the implications of some woman she didn't even know having it in for her, but even more amazed at the fury in the lawyer's face.
Lee reached for Marika's hand, but the blonde backed away, crossing her arms over her chest. Precisely enunciating her words, she spat, "Are you telling me that Cass sent someone to kill Rhiannon?"
"Sit down," Lee said sternly, and for a moment Rhi thought Marika would ignore her, but slowly the lawyer picked up her chair, and setting it upright, sat down again. However, the younger woman could tell by the stiffness in her friend's body that she was far from placated.
"I don't have enough evidence to tell you that for sure, Marika," Lee stated, "but unless something else odd happened in Vancouver, the only thing that stands out about the trip is you finding out that Cass and this society woman are one and the same. What if she'd go to any lengths to ensure her secret doesn't get out?"
"But why me?" Rhi blurted. "I've never even met the woman and I certainly couldn't identify her."
Lee looked at her compassionately. "You could just be collateral damage control, Lady Mouse. Cass might be covering all her bases, figuring that Rika told you when she went back to her room that night."
"I told you." Marika's voice was flat as she looked at Lee. "If my home has been bugged since we got back, someone knows that I told you everything about that night."
"I know. I've thought about that, and I'll be watching my back," Lee assured her. "Look, whoever they are, they're going to realize that something is up because all their little toys have gone dead..."
"Are you sure you got them all?" Marika asked bleakly.
Rhi saw a little shudder go through her friend, and felt the same sense of revulsion that someone had invaded their privacy.
Lee nodded. "Yeah. There's no one better at her job than Barb, and she swept this place twice just to be sure and disabled all these. You're clean; and I've got someone coming by tonight to install our best security system. Look, I want you two to be extra vigilant from now on. Grow eyes in the back of your head and use 'em. Stick together and watch each other's back. If you're going somewhere, make sure it's really public, but as much as possible, limit yourselves to going to work and coming home until I find out more about what's going on. Marika, make sure you've always got your cell phone with you and put my cell on speed dial."
Both women nodded their understanding, and Rhi asked softly, "What happens now, Lee?"
"Now I start to do a little digging. I want to find out what the connection is between Gao and Cass, and I want to know what rock Pike and Eddie crawled under. If I can find them, I have a feeling that with a little pressure, I can get them to squeal like a pair of piggies. I'm also going to talk to my old CO and see if he can help me out."
Lee looked at her friends sympathetically. "We'll get through this. Don't you worry about that. I'm not going to let you down." Standing decisively, she swept the useless bits of technology into her hand and jammed them in her pocket. "Dana will be by after her shift. Will you tell her not to worry if I'm out late and that I'm working on something? She'll understand."
Marika nodded and walked Lee to the door. Rhi watched as the big woman drew the lawyer into a hug for a long moment before making her exit.
She rose and met the blonde halfway. They stared at each other, until Marika dropped her eyes. "I'm so sorry."
Rhi barely heard the whispered words, but she heard the shame in her friend's voice. Wordlessly, she took Marika's hand and led her to the couch. Sinking into the thick cushions, she turned and took both the lawyer's hands in hers.
Gently, the small woman asked, "What are you sorry for? None of this is your fault."
Marika shook her head fiercely. "If it is Cass, then it's all my fault. My weakness could have cost your life!"
She choked then and Rhi waited patiently for her to regain control. When the blonde calmed a bit, she said firmly, "If it is Cass, then she's the only one to blame, Rika. Not you. Not ever."
"You don't understand," Marika protested, the agony rising again in her voice.
"Then tell me," Rhi suggested simply.
Unable to meet the younger woman's eyes, the lawyer stared at their linked hands. Rhi bided her time, unwilling to press Marika for more than she could handle, but certain that it was important for her friend to lance this festering boil if she was to move beyond it. She hadn't forgotten the loathing in Lee's voice when she'd described Cass as evil. She knew that if her good-natured, amiable friend felt that way about someone, she undoubtedly had good grounds for doing so. She was baffled by how Marika could have fallen into the clutches of a woman like that, and she hoped that the lawyer would find the strength within to talk everything out.
Finally, Marika raised her head and, meeting Rhi's eyes squarely, asked, "How much do you know?"
Rhi shrugged slightly. "Very little, actually. I know that whoever this Cass is, she's bad for you and to you. I know that Lee and Dana hate her, which means a lot in my book, but I don't know anything other than that."
The younger woman watched her companion draw a deep breath and could almost see the blonde's resolve stiffening. She tightened her grip on the slender hands, trying to convey reassurance.
Marika nodded her head, as if making up her mind. "It's not a pretty story, Rhi, and I don't come off very well in it."
"I don't care," Rhi assured her.
The lawyer gave her a wry half-smile. "You might change your mind, but you deserve to know the mess your roommate has made, especially since it now involves you."
She considered for a moment and then began to speak. Speaking in a low but firm voice, she told Rhiannon of her life-of a bright, funny mother that spoiled her outrageously when she was drinking and who shut her daughter out when she sobered up. She spoke of the nights when she would go bring her mother home from the bars, while her father worked late at his firm. She told of going to live with her father and his new wife after her parents divorced, and of the scandal that saw her banished from the family.
Rhi listened quietly to the dry recitation even as her heart ached for the girl this woman had been. Marika spoke briefly of the years away and the return to attend her father's alma mater in Toronto, graduating with honours, but with no one in the audience to cheer for her. She talked of coming to Calgary and meeting Lee. She didn't spare herself when she detailed the litany of failed relationships, taking full responsibility for all of them.
"I met Cass last September. I'd gone with an acquaintance to a house party with
people I didn't know. I was feeling pretty lousy at the time, wondering if love was
nothing more than a fairy tale told to gullible children, and after a few too many, I
started expounding on that theory to this woman at the party.
She laughed-said she knew what I needed and could give it to me without all that love
nonsense."
Marika paused and stared into the distance. Rhi waited, knowing that it was up to her friend to find the courage to face why she'd ended up with Cass.
After a long moment, the lawyer shook her head. "I can understand why I went to her place that night, I guess, but I'll never understand why I kept going back." Anguished gray eyes met Rhi's. "Lee and Dana were right. She was bad for me. Not so much the things she did to me, but the way she made me feel."
Softly Rhi asked, "How did she make you feel, Rika?"
"Like the sum total of my worth was how I served her in the bedroom. Like no one would ever look at me as anything more than an available warm body, and that love was out of the question for someone like me."
Rhi saw the growing anger in her companion's eyes and rejoiced at the sight.
"I don't think I'll ever forgive her for making me believe that."
With a calmness she didn't feel, Rhi sought confirmation, "So you know she lied, right?"
Marika smiled slightly. "I didn't for a long time, but recently...yes, I know she lied and manipulated me for her own ends. I doubt that I'll ever know why I fell for it for so long. I once worked up the nerve to ask her why she kept letting me come back if she had nothing but contempt for me. She laughed and said I was an amusing bauble, then she..." The lawyer trailed off and Rhi saw a shudder run through her friend.
"It's over, Rika," Rhi said fervently. "Put it behind you. She doesn't deserve one more thought from you."
Shaking her head sadly, Marika pointed out, "It's not over if she's the one behind the attacks on you. You don't know, Cass. If she sets her mind to something, I don't think she'll stop." Biting her lip, she stared intently at Rhi.
"Maybe you should get out of here. You've got lots of holiday time coming. Let me send you to the other side of the country until it's safe to come back."
Rhi snorted. "Not likely. I don't run...especially from a bully like her. Nope, you're stuck with me." Grinning she added, "Besides, we've got Lee on our side. I'm not worried."
Marika shook her head in affectionate exasperation. "All right, but we follow her instructions to the letter, okay? No playing Lone Ranger on me, right?"
"I promise. I'll stick to you like glue."
Both women smiled at that, then Marika suggested, "How about we get your new clothes put away?"
Rhi nodded and released her friend's hands, conscious that she'd very much enjoyed holding them. As they picked up the abandoned bags and walked down the hall to the bedroom, Rhi vowed to herself that Cass would never torment Marika again.
*****************************************************
Gao elbowed past the other passengers in the elevator, his usual manners eradicated by the escalating irritation of the day. Exiting onto his floor, he ignored the disgruntled murmurs that were cut off by the closing doors. Seething, he made his way to his apartment. After a fruitless day of searching, he'd had to accept that his incompetent subordinates were nowhere to be found. With them temporarily out of the picture, executing the Chameleon's orders fell back on his shoulders and he needed to make some plans.
Entering his apartment, Gao checked his answering machine and found several messages from Perry, demanding that he call. Frowning, he placed a call to his electronic ear on the lawyer and her companion.
"Yeah?"
"You called. What did you want?" Gao was not pleased and was not about to waste pleasantries on the man.
"The bugs ain't working." Perry was equally terse, but Gao could hear the tension in the man's voice.
"What do you mean they're not working? All of them?"
"Yeah, all of them went dead, plus the taps are out too."
Restraining an urge to tear into Perry, Gao snapped, "When did this happen!?"
"S'afternoon. I heard a couple of people moving around, but they wasn't talkin' or anything, and then...nothing. Couldn't hear a damned thing. You figure they found 'em all?"
"That would be the logical assumption," Gao said coldly, chilled by the implications. "Look, when do you normally send your reports to the coast?"
"Midnight, but the Chameleon ain't in town right now. Liang's been handling things for the last coupla days."
Gao closed his eyes in relief. He had a brief window of reprieve if his boss was away. As long as he'd executed her orders by the time she returned, she would be less likely to hold him responsible for the break in surveillance. "All right. Be candid in tonight's report. Tell Liang that the bugs have been deactivated, but that I'm on top of the situation and the Chameleon's order will be carried out as issued. Is that clear?"
"Yeah, okay. Did you want me to put more bugs in place?"
Gao considered that for a moment. "No. If they have discovered them, they'll be hyper alert and you probably won't get access as easily. If the Chameleon still wants surveillance continued once her orders are carried out, then you'll have to get back in somehow."
"Got it." Perry hung up without another word, and Gao replaced the receiver, tapping one finger on it lightly as he considered this latest turn of events. The Chameleon's original orders had been to make the hit look like an accident, but given the two failed attempts, that was virtually impossible now.
"I do believe that more direct action is required," the slight man mused speculatively. He walked briskly to the bedroom and retrieved his gun. Quickly checking that the clip was fully loaded, he tucked it in the back of his waistband and zipped his light summer jacket half closed.
Leaving the apartment, Gao decided that the troublesome and incompetent King brothers had officially become expendable, and he would see to that little matter after carrying out his priority orders.
Continued in Chapter 23