The Grey Zone Read online

  Jack Taggart Mysteries

  Loose Ends

  Above Ground

  Angel in the Full Moon

  Samurai Code

  Dead Ends

  Birds of a Feather

  Corporate Asset

  The Benefactor

  Art and Murder

  A Delicate Matter

  Subverting Justice

  An Element of Risk

  The Grey Zone

  Copyright © Don Easton, 2019

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purpose of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

  All characters in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Publisher: Scott Fraser | Acquiring editor: Kathryn Lane | Editor: Catharine Chen

  Cover designer: Laura Boyle

  Cover image: istock.com/dorioconnell

  Printer: Webcom, a division of Marquis Book Printing Inc.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Title: The grey zone / Don Easton.

  Names: Easton, Don, author.

  Description: Series statement: A Jack Taggart mystery

  Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190135166 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190135174 | ISBN 9781459745308 (softcover) | ISBN 9781459745315 (PDF) | ISBN 9781459745322 (EPUB)

  Classification: LCC PS8609.A78 G74 2019 | DDC C813/.6—dc23

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  We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Ontario, through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and Ontario Creates, and the Government of Canada.

  Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites or their content unless they are owned by the publisher.

  Printed and bound in Canada.

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FORTY

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

  CHAPTER SIXTY

  CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

  CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

  CHAPTER ONE

  “I’m eight. I should be allowed to ride in the front, not sit in the back like a baby.”

  Jia Chung braked to a stop and looked in the rear-view mirror. It was mid-May. The afternoon sun had broken through the clouds to shine on the Japanese plum trees lining the driveway of their White Rock estate. The trees were in full blossom and petals were falling, giving the appearance of pink snow swirling down.

  Out on the main road she drove slower than the limit. Her car was a Mercedes-Benz S-Class that her husband, David, had purchased for her last month. They had a fifteen-minute drive to where Tommy had his music lessons.

  “Mom, did you hear me?”

  She glanced in the rear-view mirror again and focused on her son. “Tommy, we’ve talked about this. It’s safer in the back. Maybe when you’re ten.”

  “My friends get to ride in the front and they’re eight.”

  Jia thought it funny how matter-of-fact, almost mature his voice sounded, but she hid her smile. “You’re a bit smaller than your friends.”

  Tommy was silent for a moment. “Yeah … I know.”

  “Children don’t all grow at the same rate. I bet you’ll have a big growth spurt soon.”

  “Do you think so?” He paused. “That’d be good. The boys at school tease me all the time.”

  “What do they say?”

  “That I look like an elf ’cause I’m so little. And that my ears stick out and my hands are small, like a girl’s.”

  Why are children so cruel?

  “I know you said Asian people are shorter, but none of my Chinese friends are as small as me.”

  In the mirror she saw the forlorn look on his face. Poor little guy.

  “It’s okay, Mom,” he said, as if reading her thoughts. “I don’t let it bother me.”

  Jia hid her concern. “Your time will come. And as far as your hands go, none of your friends can play the piano as well as you.” She turned off onto a residential lane that meandered through the neighbourhood, then added, “You’re really good.”

  “You have to say that — you’re my mom,” Tommy said. But his face brightened.

  “It’s true! Ask Mrs. Finch. She told me that you’re her favourite student.”

  “She said that? Really?”

  “Yes, but don’t tell any of the other students. That wouldn’t be kind.”

  As Jia braked at a stop sign, the jolt of her car being bumped from behind ended the conversation. She glanced in her rear-view mirror at a white van. Damn it. Is there any damage?

  The van’s driver, an old man, pounded the steering wheel with his fist in apparent self-recrimination before getting out. Grey hair stuck out from under his fedora, which, like the long, dark topcoat he wore, had seen better days. His eyes peered at her from behind glasses with thick black frames, and his legs wobbled as he clutched the open door, seemingly afraid to let go.

  “Stay in the car,” Jia ordered Tommy. “I’ll be right back.”

  She glanced at her rear bumper as she passed. Is that a ding, or just dirt? The old man bent over the driver’
s seat, probably looking for insurance papers.

  She tapped him on the shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  He turned quickly, grabbing her wrist with one hand and jabbing something into her stomach with the other. “Keep quiet and get inside. If you make any noise, we’ll kill you and your kid.”

  Jia gasped when she looked down and saw the pistol. The man’s voice sounded much younger than he looked. He’s wearing a mask! She was startled further when the side door of the van slid open and another man wearing an identical mask peered out at her.

  “My purse is in the car,” she replied in panic.

  “We don’t want your fucking purse,” said the man inside the van. “Get in here or you’ll never see your kid again!”

  She glanced at Tommy — he was peering out the back window, unaware of what was happening — then swallowed nervously and looked inside the van. It was made for hauling cargo; the only seats were up front. She put one foot inside, then was shoved from behind. Seconds later, she was face down on the floor with the man’s knee on her back.

  “Stay still and keep quiet,” one of her attackers ordered.

  “Please, don’t hurt me,” she begged in a whisper. “You can go ahead and take my car. The keys are still in the ignition. Just let me get my son out and you can have it.”

  “I’ll get your kid,” the man who’d been driving said. “You stay put. I’ll tell Tommy you want to see him.”

  Oh, my God! “How do you know his name?”

  “We know everything about you. Now shut the fuck up while I go get your kid.”

  Jia’s worst fears were confirmed. These men had in mind something much more horrific than just stealing her car.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Constable Alicia Munday looked up from her desk in the bullpen when Sergeant Ned Hawkins came to the door of his office. She was a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police attached to the Major Crimes Unit working out of Surrey, British Columbia, which was a thirty-five-minute drive from their headquarters building in Vancouver.

  Alicia had joined the RCMP seven years earlier, after obtaining a degree in political science. Her first five years were spent in uniform, until she was transferred into Major Crimes. She was the most junior member of the unit, but had a reputation of having the determination and ability to solve difficult crimes.

  She was also single and spent much of her off-duty time working unpaid hours to bring criminals to justice. The fact that she seldom dated was her choice. She was an attractive brunette, and men were drawn to her like a magnet, but her advanced intellect sometimes limited the pool of people she’d want to spend time with.

  “Everyone into my office!” Hawkins ordered with a wave of his hand.

  Alicia and the six other officers in the bullpen glanced at each other, then got to their feet. She could tell from the look on Hawkins’s face that it was more than the usual armed robbery or sexual assault. This is something different.

  “All right,” Hawkins started once everyone had crowded into his office. “I’ve had a call patched through from a David Chung, who says his eight-year-old son was kidnapped about twenty minutes ago.”

  “Has an all-points bulletin been issued?” asked Corporal Devon Bradley.

  “No, I’ve decided not to put out an APB. The situation is dicey. Let me say first that this does not appear to be a domestic issue. He was calling on his way home from work and said his wife had just called him. She was apparently driving their son to piano lessons when her car was bumped from behind by a white van. When she got out, she discovered two men in the van, both wearing masks. They took her son and told her if she called the police, she wouldn’t get her boy back in one piece. She was too rattled to even get the plate number.”

  It was probably stolen, regardless, thought Alicia.

  “If we start stopping vans, it’ll tip them off that we’ve been called,” Hawkins continued. “Besides, it’s probably already been dumped.”

  An eight-year-old kid. God, the parents must be sick with worry. How do you handle stress like that? “What’s the boy’s name?” Alicia asked.

  “Tommy Chung. He’s their only child.”

  “Where’d it take place?”

  “A residential area in White Rock a few blocks from where they live on Marine Drive.”

  “Demands?” Alicia persisted.

  “Getting to that, let me speak. The wife was given a map with a location that the husband is supposed to go to this Friday at four thirty p.m. He’s to bring two hundred thousand dollars in hundred-dollar bills.”

  “Two hundred thou,” Bradley commented. “Can he come up with that much money in two days?”

  “The family moved into their home four years ago after paying fourteen mil for it, so there’s no doubt he can pay. He’s the chief executive officer of a company called Gamebest Technologies that makes computer software. He wants to pay, and I assured him we wouldn’t make any overt moves until his son is safe.”

  “Fourteen million!” Bradley exclaimed. “Jesus, I’m surprised they only asked for two hundred K.”

  “Perhaps they were thinking the family would find that smaller amount easier to come up with without arousing attention and not worth the risk of calling the police,” Alicia suggested.

  “Same idea crossed my mind,” Hawkins said. “The bad guys told his wife they were giving her husband two full business days to get the money. They made it clear that if he tried to stall, things would not go well for their son.”

  “Do you know what the location is?” Alicia asked.

  “His wife just said it was in a park somewhere.” Hawkins glanced at each of their faces. “There’s no doubt they’re going to run him through the hoops before making the actual drop-off. His wife was also told that they have scanning equipment to detect bugs and trackers. They said that if the police get involved, if anyone tries to follow them or to use bugs or GPS tracking equipment, they’ll know.”

  These guys sound professional. What the hell do we do?

  “I questioned Chung about the house and the staff,” Hawkins continued. “They don’t have any live-in help, but two maids come to the home Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Today’s Wednesday, but he says the maids will have left already. I tried to press him for details so we could start background checks, but he was anxious to get home to his wife. I did learn that his house is on one and a half acres of land, beachfront property. He says it’s fairly secluded, but neighbours on the west side of his house can see part of his home. The entrance to the driveway is a different story. He says anyone can see who’s coming and going to the house.”

  “So what do we do?” Bradley asked.

  “We’ll gain entry from the ocean. It’ll be dark soon. He’s going to slip outside to phone me. Later he’ll meet us down by the water. I told him that any communication with his wife about us is to be in writing only until we’ve checked out his place for bugs. Providing we get the okay to talk, I’ll interview him then.”

  “Could the maids be in on it?” Bradley suggested.

  “Who knows.” Hawkins paused, then addressed Alicia. “I want you with me in the Zodiac when we go in. If the house is clear, you’ll stay to provide emotional support to the both of them. Bring a change of clothes and whatever else you need. You’ll need to gain their confidence to allow us to do our job, and prepare the husband for what to expect when he delivers the money. Try as best you can to keep them from panicking and ensure they don’t do or say anything stupid — like telling anyone else about what’s going on.”

  Emotional support? Alicia frowned. Crap. I’d rather be on surveillance when the time comes to take these scumbags down.

  Hawkins seemed to read her mind. “You’re the only one who thought to ask Tommy’s name. You care … and it’ll show.”

  Everyone cares. You can see it in their faces.

  “Your role is vital. If you’re good at it, the parents will look to you over anyone else. In fact, they’ll likely demand that you take pa
rt in supervising the money exchange because you’ll be the one they’ll trust with their son’s life.”

  Alicia thought about her responsibility. With her limited experience, she wouldn’t have a supervisory role, but the parents would be counting on her for their son’s safety. “I understand. Thanks.”

  “Emotionally, it’ll be difficult for you,” Hawkins warned. He glanced at the other officers. “It will be for all of us, so keep a tight rein on your feelings and be professional. Our top priority is to get this kid home safe. Don’t do anything to jeopardize that, even if it means letting the bad guys get away.”

  The idea that someone could get away with this made Alicia want to puke. But he’s right. Make sure Tommy’s safe … then get the bastards.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Darkness had fallen by the time the Zodiac’s engine was turned off. Besides Alicia and Hawkins, on board there were four officers from the Emergency Response Team, all dressed in black, and four technicians specially trained in electronic surveillance, clutching their electronic detection gear like mothers clutching their newborn babies.

  Two of the ERT officers slipped their paddles silently into the water while Hawkins talked on his cellphone. Soon Alicia caught the flicker of a flashlight from the shoreline.

  “Okay, spotted you,” Hawkins said.

  Moments later, David Chung met them where the waves lapped at the shore, watching as everyone disembarked.

  “Curtains, shades, blinds all closed?” Hawkins asked.

  “Yes,” David replied, staring at the ERT members, who stowed their paddles before equipping themselves with night-vision gear. “Where are they going?” he asked nervously as they disappeared into the darkness.

  “Just a little reconnaissance of your grounds and neighbourhood to see if anyone is watching,” Hawkins said.

  Alicia put her hand on David’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, they know what they’re doing and won’t be seen,” she said with assurance. “If they spot someone, all they’ll do is report back to us. Our utmost priority is to get Tommy home safely.”

  “I’ve got security cameras on the driveway and around the house, but yeah, it’d be easy to watch us from lots of places.”

  “My name’s Alicia, and I’ll be with you every step of the way. Any questions, anything, just ask. I’m here for you and your wife.”