Race (27 page)

***

“How’s Barnes doing?” Moro asked Herrera.
  
In the force only a handful knew what had happened to Barnes.
 

“He’s recovering,” said Herrera, not wanting to talk about it.

There was silence.
 
I was getting anxious.
  
My palms were sweating.
 
My stomach was churning. My heart was beating.
 
I had to calm myself.
 
I looked around.
 
I spotted the BUBBLE T SHOP.
 
That would relax me—a cup of bubble tea.
 
Strawberry.
 
But I couldn’t just leave.
 
Could I?
 

“We still got time,” I said as casually as possible.
 
“You guys want something? Coffee? Bubble tea?”

Except for
Beadsworth
, they all gave me their orders.
 

I walked in the direction of the shop.
 
I took deep breaths.
 
I needed to relax.
 
I entered the shop and found Susan behind the counter.
 
She smiled, recognizing me.
 

“Welcome back,” she said.

“Hello,” I said.

“Let me guess,” she smiled.
 
“Strawberry bubble tea.
 
Right?”

“Yes, one please,” I responded.
 

“On the house,” said a voice from behind the girl.
 
It was the owner.
 

“But I need other stuff too.
 
For my colleagues.”

“Everything is complimentary,” he said.
 
He looked very happy.
 

“Thank you. You know, I’ll come back here often.”

He went silent.

“Next time I would like to pay, though,” I said.

“Of course, of course.”

I leaned closer.
 
“You know what?” He also leaned closer.
 
“I’m in the police force.”

“Really?” he said, looking tense.

“And you know what?”

“What?” he said.
 

“I’m going tell everyone about you guys—“

He looked a little pale now.

“—Because you guys know how to treat your customers.”

“Thank you,” he said with a smile.

“After I’m through, this place will be packed.
 
You know how cops are, always eating doughnuts and drinking coffee.
 
You’ll have more business than ever.”

“Thank you,” he said again.
 

I really didn’t mind helping good, decent, hard-working people.
 
All they ever want is to make an honest living.

Susan handed me my order and I left.

***

“This is good,” said Ross.
 
He was drinking a kiwi bubble tea.

“Yep, the best,” I said sipping my strawberry.
 
“You sure you don’t want any?” I said to
Beadsworth
, who shrugged me off.
 

“Not bad,” Garnett grunted.

“The truck has left Niagara Falls,”
Beadsworth
said, coming back.
 

Nemdharry
and Terries and a team were waiting outside the warehouse for us.
 
When we went in, they’d go right after us.
 
The raid had to be at exactly the same time. No chance for RACE to warn anyone.

Half an hour later a white truck drove up and eased into the back of the building. We were sitting in our cars.
  
Beadsworth
speed-dialed and said something on his cell.
 
He then signaled the two other vehicles.

The car with Ross and Moro sped out first, followed by the car with Garnett and Herrera.
  
We were the last to leave the parking lot.
  

As we entered the front of the building we saw Garnett and Herrera swerve left and park at the main doors.
 
We drove past them and straight through the side lane that led to the back parking lot.
  
Up ahead we saw Ross and Moro’s vehicle park vertically so as to block the entrance and exit to the back.
 

We stopped behind them and got out.
  
This all took less than thirty seconds.
 

I raced around the corner to the back, sweating profusely underneath the vest.
 
My heart was thumping and my knees felt like they would give at any minute.
   
The back lot was dark and empty, except for one vehicle—the white truck.
  
It was parked in front of a wide-open emergency door and it was still running.
 
Ross stood beside it.
  
He shook his head; no one was in it.

Beadsworth
signaled me to take the other emergency door.
 
I nodded and headed in that direction.
 
I heard metal clangs and looked up to see Moro racing up the fire escape.
  
I reached the door and found it had no handle.

Of course it had no handle.
 
It was an emergency door, only to be opened from inside.
   

What should I do now?

Go back?
  

I had seen
Beadsworth
go through the open emergency door.
 
I should go help him.

I was about to turn back when the metal door swung open and hit me straight in the face.
 
I fell back, my head spinning and my eyes watery.
  
A man stood beside the door holding a carton.
  
When he saw me, he immediately dropped the box and retreated up the stairs.

I felt something roll through my nostril and onto my upper lip, but I didn’t have time to check it out.
 
I started after the man.

At the top of the stairs he turned right.
 

Skipping steps, I made it to the top. He turned again.
 
I kept after him.

When I turned right for the third time, he was still climbing the stairs ahead of me.
  

“Stop!” I said, but he kept moving.
   
I pulled out my gun.
 
He passed another man who was holding a large box.

The man froze.
 
I was halfway up the stairs when he threw the box at me.
 
I tried avoiding it, but it hit me like a brick.
 
I lost my balance and tumbled down the stairs.
 
My head hit something hard and I went blank.

TWENTY

They were in Regent Park, inside the laundry room, waiting for Marcus.
  
Ms. Zee, along with Kong and Martin, waited patiently.
  
Ms. Zee didn’t care how long he took.
 
Now she had the upper hand.
 

Martin was in a good mood ever since they had received the manufacturing process.
  
He moved from one washing machine to another, trying to find the best spot to lean on.
 
He also continued tapping his coat pocket, checking, double-checking, as if the contents inside might disappear.

Kong stood beside her with his arms crossed over his chest.
  
Kong was probably happy to be out of his confinement, but no one could tell.
 

The door swung open and Marcus, in his fur coat, appeared.
 
His bodyguard closed the door.
 

“I hope you have good news,” Marcus said, dropping his coat to the bodyguard behind him.
 
“I’m getting tired of these meetings.”

Ms. Zee said nothing.
 
She stood staring at him.
 

“
Yes
, can we get down to business?” Marcus sounded annoyed.

She still said nothing.
 
Martin moved beside her.

“Okay,” Marcus said.
 
He snapped his fingers and the bodyguard immediately placed the fur coat over his shoulders.

“If you leave this meeting,” Ms. Zee said.
 
“I guarantee you’ll regret it.”

“Hey, lady,” Marcus snapped.
 
“Don’t ever threaten me.”
 
His face was getting red.

She smiled.
 
“We have the product.”

The redness faded and he said, “You do?”

She turned to Martin, who walked across and placed two white tablets on top of the lid of a washing machine.
 

“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.