Subverting Justice. Don Easton
you sent us out on.”
“Any luck?”
“Maybe. The call you made at noon to Damien took us to up Sumas Mountain to a cellphone tower.”
“Did you find anything? Being that close to a cellphone tower makes it hard to triangulate and pinpoint the exact spot.”
“We had the canine unit take a look, but came up negative. Incidentally the road leading into the tower is called Taggart Road … if that means anything.”
Pure E, you bastard! Enough already. “It wouldn’t be the first message I received today,” he said tersely.
“I’ve some interesting news, though,” Hobbs said. “A couple of minutes ago the phone was turned on.”
“Bet they tossed it and someone found it,” Jack replied.
“Sort of what I was thinking, but I’ve got an address and I’m wondering if you know who lives there. If it’s Damien who’s got the phone, all this is for nothing. If he’s dead, then I want to know who has his phone and how they got it.”
“I’ve got a list of addresses in my notebook — hang on a sec.” Jack pulled his notebook from his hip pocket. As he did, he glanced at his two sons. Ten-year-old Mike was clearing dishes from the table. His brother, Steve, a year younger, rudely shoved his empty plate toward Mike for him to take away. Jack smiled to himself. Next month it was Steve’s turn to do dishes, and he knew Mike would get even. “Okay, what’s the address?”
When Hobbs spoke, Jack didn’t need to check his notebook. The terror he felt was intense.
“Any idea who lives there?” Hobbs asked.
Jack turned to Natasha. “Take the boys and go down to the basement!” he yelled. “Don’t turn the lights on and keep away from the windows!”
Natasha’s face was white with fear, but she knew this was not the time for questions. “Mike, Steve, let’s go!” she commanded.
Both Mike and Steve hurried down the basement steps. Natasha gave one quick look at Jack over her shoulder, then followed them down.
“What’s going on?” Hobbs asked.
“The address you gave is mine,” Jack said.
“What? How’d you end up with the cellphone?”
“Good question.”
“Maybe you should call the number and listen for it to ring.”
“Cellphones can be used to detonate bombs,” Jack said abruptly while running to his bedroom to retrieve his Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol.
“Oh, Christ!”
“Stay on the line. I’m going to take a look around. There was a van on the street when I came home. Hadn’t seen it before.”
“Can you describe it?”
“It was white with a sign on the door saying Abe’s Furnace Repair.” Jack grabbed his pistol and peered out a window. “It’s gone. I’m going to take a look outside.”
“Maybe you should call the bomb squad,” Hobbs suggested.
“Got my family in the basement. I want to make sure there isn’t a package in a window well or something. If you hear a blast, call 9-1-1 for me.”
“Christ,” Hobbs said again.
Jack grabbed a flashlight, went into his garage, and slipped out the side door. A quick search around the basement foundation didn’t turn up anything. It was when he circled the house and arrived at the front door that he noticed the lid on the mailbox was up. He cautiously approached and looked inside. The cellphone was there. At first he felt relief that it wasn’t attached to a bomb — then anger set in and he grabbed it. “You fucking bastard!”
“Me?” Hobbs said.
“No, Purvis Evans. I’ve got the phone. It was left in my mailbox. There’s no bomb.”
“What a relief. I was shitting bricks here. Do you … want us to come over?” Hobbs asked.
“No, I’m sure whoever left it is gone — so’s the van. I’ll bring it in tomorrow. I better get back to my family. They’ll be scared.”
“Can’t blame them. So was I.”
On ending the call, Jack entered his house. “False alarm!” he yelled. “Everything’s okay. You can come up.”
As his family headed back up the stairs, Jack examined Damien’s phone. Hey … it’s not even password encrypted. Then he saw three pictures: Natasha gardening, Mike and Steve arriving home from school, and him embracing Natasha. Pure E, you’ve just made the biggest mistake of your life.
“What’s going on?” Natasha’s face was sombre as she returned to the kitchen, followed by Mike and Steve.
Jack took Natasha into the living room, leaving the boys in the kitchen, and told her what had transpired and showed her the pictures. He expected her to be scared. She wasn’t. “I’m fed up with this bullshit,” she said, jabbing a finger in his chest. “You deal with it and you deal with it now!”
Jack’s voice was deadly serious. “You know I will. Pure E is only doing this to scare us, but believe me, I’ll take care of it.” He glanced toward the kitchen and then his gaze met Natasha’s. “I think I should let them know what happened.”
Natasha, her demeanor calm now, nodded.
“We need to talk,” Jack said as he and Natasha returned to the kitchen and sat down.
“Do you and Mom need privacy?” Mike asked.
His question sounded so mature. Normally Jack might’ve smiled to himself, but the situation was too serious. “No, it’s better if you and Steve know what happened so you don’t start imagining things or worrying.”
“So we don’t need to be afraid?” Steve asked, sitting down.
“No. What happened was that I asked people I work with to help look for a phone that belonged to an informant of mine.”
“How did he lose it?” Mike asked.
“I believe my informant was murdered this morning,” Jack replied. “He was also a bad guy.”
“Did other bad guys find out he was your informant?” Steve asked.
Jack nodded. “His wife was angry with him and told the other bad guys.”
“So she’s a bad guy, too,” Steve said.
“Yes, she certainly is,” Jack replied.
“And the phone showed up here,” Natasha said matter-of-factly.
“Yes.” Jack nodded. “Someone left it in our mailbox.”
“You think it was bad guys who put it there?” Mike asked.
“Bad guys did put it there.”
“Because they were too afraid to knock on the door and give it to you?” Steve questioned.
“Partly,” Jack replied. “They also took pictures of us all.”
“Can we see?” both boys said at once.
Jack showed them the photos and saw the concerned looks on their faces. Natasha stared back at him and her face was very still. He looked at her. “I promise, I’ll deal with it,” he said quietly.
“There was a van on the street when we came home,” Mike offered. “I never saw it before.”
“I saw it, too,” Jack replied.
“Why’d they take our pictures?” Steve asked.
“They want to scare Dad so he won’t