Enforcer (54 page)

The local news went crazy trying to scoop all of the national news outlets, going so far as to publicly “out” as many clients of Ojacarcu’s prostitution ring as possible. Since the local crews knew the area, they were almost always the first to track down a client or a victim, much to the annoyance of the CNN and MSNBC crews. A YouTube video of the Channel 5 team brawling with Darren McAngelo’s “Daytime - Crimetime” crew became even more popular than the emerging tale of how deep Ojacarcu’s organization had burrowed into the area.

Petre Diaconescu was officially dead, the FBI, CIA, and NSA erasing all traces of him to keep anyone who might think otherwise from knowing the truth. Connor had spent a month threatening, begging, pleading, then threatening again until the DEA brass agreed to drop all charges against Petre in exchange for being able to pick his brain clean. Two weeks before Connor and Dana landed in Bucharest, the FBI and Homeland security carried out sixteen simultaneous raids across the country. Four cities in Canada, eight in Western Europe, and the collapse of the Rohozeanu and Savu clans in Romania followed over the next three days as international law enforcement agencies cooperated in a massive operation.

The information Petre had given the DEA interrogators had been a goldmine. Connor had been impressed that Petre had been that far inside, but Petre assured him most of what he’d told the agents was easily found on the internet if they would just take a look. Connor had clapped him on the shoulder while calling bullshit in his mind. He knew the Romanian was careful not to let information spill out of his mouth, but he was finding out that the man, his friend, was a hell of a lot more than anyone suspected.

Connor had been forced to tell the investigators about Travis Benkula’s fate, as well as Larry’s. He knew his conscience would never be free of the guilt if he kept it to himself. He held off about Larry until after he’d had a chance to talk privately with Petre out on the back lawn of the hospital, Petre in a wheelchair, Connor pushing him along while trying to keep three different IV’s and other contraptions from tangling up in his feet and the chair’s wheels. Just in case there were listening devices in either of their rooms. Both agreed that it could be put on Dracul. Petre understood Connor’s need to have it cleared from his conscience.

Dana had shown up two weeks later, amazed that Connor still lived in the same apartment, more amazed that the man she loved was still alive, still in one piece, and still not in prison. When the news broke nationally, she’d dreaded hearing or reading about any of it. As the story unfolded, she waited to hear Connor’s name listed among the dead. When that didn’t happen, she waited to hear his name as a suspect, a witness, anything. It never came. She noticed Petre’s name was curiously absent as well from the cast of characters when the cable news talking heads yelled at each other over the details of the case.

The two longest weeks of her life were spent barely able to pay attention to her job, her new friends, or even her life. She’d spent most of her free time on the internet, searching every news story, every arrest report, every federal law enforcement agency website for Connor’s name. After another two weeks, Dana couldn’t take it anymore and had to find out. She called the three local hospitals, asking to be connected to Connor’s room each time, and each time was told that no such patient existed. It took every ounce of self-control to keep herself from screaming at the phone receptionists.

One morning as she was getting dressed for work, an idea came to her suddenly when she saw the envelope that Petre had stuffed with money sitting in her sock drawer. She immediately dialed the first hospital on her phone’s call log, asking for Petre Diaconescu. Dana’s frustration level was about to make her explode when the receptionist at St. Luke’s told her to hold. Instead of coming back on the line to say that there was no such patient, a man’s voice was on the other end.

“Who is this?” the gruff voice asked.

“Who is this?” Dana asked, full of caution.

“I’m going to give you three seconds to tell me who the hell this is before I get a judge to sign a search warrant and pull your phone records, lady.”

“I’m… looking for Petre Diaconescu.”

“I got that part from the receptionist. Now how about you tell me who the hell you are and why you are looking for Mr. Diaconescu.”

“I… he knew Connor…”

“Connor Dunsmore?” the man asked, his voice empty of threat. “How do you know Connor?”

Dana broke down in tears, the man on the other end of the phone patiently drawing out of her the story of her part in events that had come to a conclusion. Agent Gauthier called her back twenty minutes after the agent that had taken the call reported Dana’s attempt to contact Petre and Connor. Dana nearly went mad for another thirty minutes while Agent Gauthier tracked Connor down to ask if he knew someone named Dana Foste,r who claimed to be his ex-girlfriend. Gauthier was sure Dana’s story was true, but he’d worked with enough dangerous criminal organizations that he needed to make sure it wasn’t an elaborate trick by the Romanians.

The government wrapped up their investigation three months later, just as hockey season was about to start again. The news agencies never revealed Connor’s name, nor Petre’s, thanks to Agent Gauthier and his counterpart at the DEA, Agent Kline. The two were only referred to in the official reports as “Witness A” and “Witness B”. Agent Gauthier arrived at Connor’s apartment a few days after all of the camera crews had packed up and moved on to North Dakota to cover a collapsed bridge that had claimed fifteen lives. He’d spent most of the visit catching Connor and Dana up on everything, letting them know almost all ends had been cleaned up and made tidy. Except for two ends.

Because of his role as an active participant in an organized criminal network, Connor was to be deported within thirty days, with very little chance of his ever being allowed back into the United States. Petre no longer existed, but at the same time, was no longer welcome in America. Connor spent a week in Ottawa after his deportation, meeting as many members of the House of Commons and the Senate as would see him, lobbying to have Jake Montgomery granted citizenship. Whenever a confused member of the legislature questioned why they should support a nobody like Jake Montgomery, Connor put them in touch with Deputy Director Kline of the DEA, who quietly explained Jake’s situation, and why he was unable to stay in the United States.

Any lawmakers who hesitated were quickly reminded that the man had saved the life of one of Canada’s own, not to mention dismantled an entire organized crime operation almost single-handedly, and produced intel that had brought down over a thousand criminals, including eighty-four in Canada, smashing Toronto’s largest heroin distribution network in the process.

Dana had no real choice in the matter other than walking away and staying away for good. Connor had wanted to get married before leaving America to make it easier for her to gain citizenship. Dana had argued that she needed time to adjust to the boring, banal lifestyle they would now have to lead with him no longer lacing up to play competitive hockey, and no gangsters constantly keeping them on their toes.

Petre had piped up during one of the discussions, letting Dana know that if Connor asked for her to become a citizen, it would get “stamped with rubber” within an hour. Connor cursed his friend out for his inability to learn proper English. All three had laughed, and later, Dana assured him that she would become Mrs. Dunsmore, but not until after they’d settled into a new life and she found employment with one of the tech firms in Ontario.

*****

Two hours after arriving in Constanta, they walked down the Strada Lebedei, a bag hanging from each of their arms as they made a leisurely circuit of the shops along the road. The pair decided on a last stop before heading back to their hotel for the night. They’d had an incredible seafood dinner at a little shack on the side of the road an hour before, and wanted something sweet to top it off before calling it a night.

Connor held the door open to a shop called “Ocean Sweets” according to Dana’s translation of the words painted on the window. Her ability to pick up Romanian, or any language, far exceeded Connor’s. He thought she would be almost fluent before they called it quits and headed back to Canada, neither of them expecting to actually find the woman Petre had been in love with almost twenty years earlier.

“Two of those cakes,” Connor said, pointing at the shelf in the glass case that held what looked like chocolate lava cakes.

“Anything else?” the woman asked, surprising him.

“You speak English?” he asked.

The woman laughed, giving Dana a look that said
men are so foolish
before answering.

“Yes, English is necessary to steal money from the rich tourists who visit here.” The woman winked at Dana, eliciting a giggle from her.

“So if a shopkeep only speaks Romanian, they won’t be able to steal from us?” Connor asked, playing along.

“Oh no,” the woman said. “They’ll steal from you quite easily because you are Americans. It’s the British who are the tough nuts to crack.” Her accent suddenly shifted into one that sounded as if it came straight from the BBC. “But show them you can speak proper King’s English, and the buggers will practically throw Euros at you.”

All of them had a good laugh, renewed again when Connor told her that they were both Canadians, and was promptly told that he had to do better in the future so he wouldn’t be lumped in with Americans. The woman warmed up the cakes and offered them tea and coffee. While the couple sat, enjoying their desserts, the woman began to close her little bakery down for the night. Connor felt guilty and stood up, gesturing to Dana that they should leave so they wouldn’t keep the older woman from going home.

“Sit, sit,” the woman said, shooing both of them back into their seats.

She walked around her shop, sweeping and wiping. As she passed by, Connor held out his hand to stop her.

“May I ask you something?”

“Of course,” the woman said with a smile.

“Do you know someone named Helen Ivan?” Dana asked.

The woman’s eyes went wide for just a second, her smile faltering as fear overcame her expression.

“I’ve never heard the name, no,” she said.

Connor and Dana exchanged a look. Dana reached out to grab the woman’s hand, feeling it jerk slightly as if she were about to pull away from Dana’s grip and bolt out of the bakery.

“Petre wants you to know that he’s never forgotten about you,” Dana said gently.

The woman looked from Connor’s face to Dana’s, suddenly afraid of the two Canadians.

“He’s finally safe. He couldn’t make it, but he also wants to let you know that he’s never loved anyone since he had to send you away.”

Helen fell to her knees, her eyes unable to stop the flow of tears. Dana gently pulled her to her feet before enveloping her in a hug, Connor wrapping his arms around both of them an instant later.

CHARACTERS

I typically keep a list off to the right so I can remember who is who in longer stories or ones that have a decent sized cast. I mistakenly included a character list in one of my novellas, but a number of readers said they liked such lists. I always try to include one if the story has more than a couple of characters in it. This one is by no means complete, but it’s what I had left over at the end. Strikethroughs are characters that didn’t make the cut but I thought they might during the writing. Some of the details concerning a char/location might not match what is in the story, but I’m too lazy to fix it by this point. You do remember that you’ve just slogged through a 410 page book, right? We both need some rest.

Connor Dunsmore
(26) - #30, RW - Boise Bombers, UPHL

Dana Foster
(24) - Starbucks

Jera Gellner
(26) - drug addict

Costache Ojacarcu
(58) - Owner of the Boise Bombers of the United Professional Hockey League

Dracul
(40?) - scary bodyguard

Petre Diaconescu
(46) - bodyguard

Vadim Zaituc
- (29) - bodyguard

Pavel Kazaku / Ovidiu Bratianu / Greg
- handlers/block guards

Garth Lamoureux
(50) - coach of the Boise Bombers

Coach Walters
(52) - Assistant Coach

Derek
‘Griff’
Giffords
(48) - Trainer/Equipment Manager for Boise Bombers

Elvin
‘Gansy’
Gannett
(20) - Captain of Boise Bombers

Devar Mondin
- Bombers Goalie

Daryl Hockner
- new Bombers’ captain

Billy Donovan
- Bombers' play-by-play

Andre Jergens -
Bombers’ forward

Tyler Floyd - Boise Bomber forward

Jason Beekman - Boise Bomber forward

Alice Childress
(23) - Starbucks

Larry Fallon
(25) - junkie dealer

Donald Benton
- fat guy

Travis Benkula
- dead bearded guy, murdered by Dracul