Page 10 of Soul of Discretion

CHAPTER FOUR

They were well into their second day of the conference and Nick couldn’t believe he was enjoying himself for once. He’d attended many workshops, led one, and helped set up two more. Somehow, he kept being roped in to carrying the heavy stuff, another side effect of being his size, but he didn’t mind. Nick had time to sit and have lunch with Ben, and even Steph dropped by occasionally. His mini vacation had turned out much better than he’d imagined it would.

Only one thing continued to distract him from fully enjoying this time—intrusive thoughts of Simon. His creamy pale skin, his warm eyes, and that cocky grin kept flashing through Nick’s thoughts throughout the day. He hadn’t heard from Mr No Repeats and never expected to. That didn’t mean he could get the guy out of his head.

He gripped his coffee cup a little tighter before taking another sip. Christ, he wasn’t clingy or needy; he’d never had a problem walking away. Until now. Now all he could think about were those strong hands caressing his body and holding him in place as Simon fucked him long and hard. The power Simon exuded only made him irresistible. Nick understood Simon might have already returned to England, and that it was unlikely he’d ever see him again. Still, that did nothing to keep the man out of his thoughts.

His cell phone rang, bringing Nick back to reality. He swiped the screen open and saw it was his boss, Inspector McKenzie. Nick didn’t waste time and answered immediately.

“Sergeant Cooper here.”

“Good afternoon, Nick, how’s the conference?”

“Everything seems to be going well, sir. Is something wrong?” he asked, knowing the inspector wouldn’t be calling him if it weren’t important.

“Yes, there is. I hate to pull you away from the conference, but I need you to meet up with me and local law enforcement out on Britannia Road, east of Highway Four. Bring along Matthews’ and don’t bother suiting up—but wear your badges.”

“That’s an open area out there, sir. May I ask what this involves?” Nick asked. Considering he belonged to the drug and organized crime investigations division, this had to be something serious.

“It’s potentially regarding that case you were investigating last month, the one that came to a dead end.”

Nick knew which case the inspector was referring to. It involved smuggled drugs, and a who’s who of the local distributors and their bosses. They were hiding their shipments somewhere within a two-kilometre radius of the airport before exporting it to Europe. He believed the cocaine was originating from Columbia, making it across two international borders, but all their leads had run dry. The case had been set aside while Nick moved on to finish up the human trafficking investigation.

“Yes sir.” Nick’s mind raced with possibilities.

“Well, your dead end has turned up a dead body. Grab Ben and meet me there as soon as you can,” Inspector McKenzie ordered before hanging up.

Nick stared at his phone for a moment. What the hell? A body? But whose? He’d been following up on multiple individuals attached to this case. Lately there’d been a spate of deaths related to bad product on the streets: cocaine cut with God knows what. While Nick might not have appreciated people taking drugs, they didn’t deserve to be murdered by distributors who put profit first.

Heavy boots came thudding down the carpeted hallway toward him. Nick looked up to find Ben walking his way. He stood up and mentally changed gears from vacationing to a homicide investigation. The sad thing was this wasn’t even close to the first time it had happened. Nick had wondered how much longer he’d be able to face the evils in this world without cracking.

****

Britannia Road, a few kilometres East of Highway Four

Nick looked into the lifeless eyes of Mr Jack Teeman, the head of Breakforce’s Canadian operations in Toronto. He had been one of the men they’d had under surveillance. His bloated body lay halfway down a ditch, hanging part way out of a culvert that ran under the road. From what he could see, a couple of Jack’s fingers were missing. If Nick’s suspicions rang true, Jack would be missing his tongue as well. It was a clear message.

Talk and you die.

With his badge hanging around his neck, Nick trudged through the mud down the side of the ditch, Ben at his side. Peel Regional Police had already taped off the area and now stood watching. They’d left the crime scene for the RCMP to handle, due to the apparent connections to organized crime in the area and their prior case involving the victim. The team from the coroner’s office were pulling the body out of the culvert onto a nearby tarp, and into a body bag. It had been a long time since the sight of a dead body affected him, but this one made him feel a little sick.

The once-handsome man appeared to have been tortured. By the obvious hole in the back of the victim’s head, they’d used a single shot to end his life. Nick put on a pair of latex gloves and fished Jack’s wallet and cell phone out of the back pocket of the dead man’s jeans. He placed the cell phone in a plastic evidence bag and opened the wallet.

Confirming the man’s identity, he searched for anything obvious. There was over two hundred fifty dollars in the wallet, further confirming this hadn’t been a robbery. In between two five-dollar bills, Nick pulled out a small slip of paper with a long series of numbers hand-written on it.

“What did you find?” Ben asked as he checked Jack’s other pockets for anything that might lead them in the right direction or a place to start.

“Money’s still in his wallet.”

“No surprise there, this was a hit, not a robbery.”

“Yeah. It appears Mr Teeman got in way over his head. I found a tiny slip of paper with numbers on it. Here, hold it so I can get a shot of it. We need to figure out what it means.” Nick took a quick picture and placed the original in another plastic evidence bag.

“I take it we’re reopening the case?” Ben asked.

“That would be a YES, Officer Matthews.” Inspector McKenzie’s booming voice could be heard over the loud roar of a plane flying overhead. The inspector walked down the side of the ditch and up to Nick and Ben. “Are we sure that this is one of the men you’re investigating?”

“Without a doubt, sir. I’ve seen Jack Teeman at meetings with persons known to belong to the Italian Mafia. One meeting had a high-ranking member of the Baronne family,” Nick explained. The Baronnes involved themselves in everything from drug smuggling to illegal arms deals, and Nick believed the Baronne family was involved with the drugs being smuggled through the airport. He was sure they were the ones distributing the bad product, but so far he’d found no proof. They’d denied every allegation, stating a rival gang was responsible, and perhaps the police should harass them the same way the Baronnes were being treated.