Chapter 21

Detective Cooper was dead to the world when a telephone call woke him up. Still half asleep, he answered it with a groggy hello.

“Cooper, get your ass out of bed we need you. Nick James is on the run so it’s all hands on deck. I’ll pick you up in 15 minutes.”

Cooper recognised the voice of Detective Cecile Walker. She worked the night shift. When he jumped out of bed he saw it was 4.30 a.m. He took a quick shower and dressed.

Twenty minutes later he was on his way out the door but stopped long enough to hit the on button on the coffee machine so it would be ready for his guest when she woke up. He realized he had been awful hard on her, so by way of apology, he left her note explaining what was happening.

It was barely daylight when Cooper stepped outside. Detective Walker’s car skidded to a halt in front of his townhouse. He jumped into the passenger seat and buckled up as she explained. “Around midnight those mafia goons broke into Nick James’ house. He escaped and took off in his Porsche. Our cars gave chase but were no match for that souped up machine, but we followed him half-way across the city and finally cornered him in an industrial area in the west end.”

She pointed to a coffee in the cup holder. “I thought you might need one of these so I stopped long enough to grab one for you. There’s cars covering all exits out of the area, and now that it’s daylight, Captain Harris wants us to drive through it and look for the Porsche.”

Cooper sipped on his hot coffee and nodded. “A car like that should be easy to find.”

When they reached St, Albert Trail it was clogged with traffic north of the Yellowhead Trail because the police were preventing people from going to work inside the industrial area. Detective Walker ignored the detour signs, drove up to the barricade, and a police officer waved her through.

Captain Greg Harrison tapped on their window and they rolled it down. “Glad you two finally got here. We got Nick James trapped inside this district. Several teams are already looking for him but we need more help. Check every street and alley, anywhere he could hide his car. There’s a helicopter on the way to cover the area by air.”

Walker nodded and they drove west on 128^th Avenue. She monitored her side of the road and Cooper checked his side. They drove a couple of blocks and ran into a RCMP cruiser coming their way. They pulled up beside one another and rolled down their windows to talk.

The RCMP driver explained. “We were just about to check the alley behind these buildings on the south side of this avenue. They face the railroad track but there’s enough room for big trucks to get through with deliveries. Do you want to start at the east end of it and we will drive towards you form this end? If he’s in there, he’ll be caught between us.”

Walker made a U turn and headed back east, searching for an alley that would take them behind the row of buildings. She found the entrance near St. Albert Trail and they followed it until the building ended, turned right, and headed back west. There was no sign of the Porsche, but an excited voice blared into the radio.