Danger in Toronto

As I waked down the street in Toronto; my eyes flitted across the scene in front of me. A man with a silver beard chatted aimlessly with what appeared to be a dinosaur smuggler. The young lady at the restaurant sitting alone drinking coffee and eating crackers and brie seemed to be unaware of the danger surrounding her. The man walking down the street had a look of determination, like he was out seeking his cheating wife. As he quickened his pace I noticed the woman in red coming from the direction he was headed. I knew right away she was the contact I was to meet up with. I went into the restaurant and waited to be seated. The young lady looked up at me through the window and smiled as the waitress escorted me to a table near the window. The woman in red walked towards the restaurant and I could see her take a second look at the dinosaur smuggler and the man with a silver beard. They appeared to be finishing up their transaction and were looking about to make sure there were no witnesses. They waited for her to enter the restaurant then exchanged packages before briskly heading in opposite directions. The woman in red was escorted to my table by the waitress and as she took her seat I looked out the window to ensure that it was deserted. The only one who witnessed us both entering the restaurant was the woman contentedly eating her brie at the outdoor table.
The beautiful woman before me started telling her story. She said her name was Candice and she told of how she was there when the boss had ordered the baker killed. She was trusted by the boss and he never expected her to turn on him. Now that she had she needed protection and I would ensure that she got it. First I had to get her to go back with me to the station. Leroy said we had no case. She gave us a witness and if we could keep her alive we could put the boss away for a very long time. The murder of the Baker had been an especially brutal one. The man who had done it was dead and so was the getaway driver. If the boss ordered it then at least we could seek justice.
Candice would not go to the station she said she could not trust anyone, not even Leroy! She said she would stay with me if we could find a place that was far away from here. She begged me not to tell Leroy where that was. She was afraid he would tell the boss. She told me that the boss had a lot of the force on his books; she thought Leroy was one of them. I asked her how she knew I wasn’t one of them and she told me it was because I was on the hit list.
That hit me like a five ton hammer. I was on the hit list? Candice seemed sure that I would soon be killed if I was not careful. I immediately started racking my brain trying to figure out what to do. I had dated a girl from the country who had no Idea what he boss was all about. She told me that she had heard stories but she did not know they were real. That must mean that the boss didn’t have ties to anyone near there. I knew of a house down the road from her farm that was for rent. I decided that that was where we needed to go.
As I glanced past Candice I noticed the man with a silver beard round the corner at the same time the man who was frantically looking for something, maybe a cheating wife, came into view. I knew then that they were possibly looking for Candice. I took her out the back door of the restaurant leaving money on the table for our drinks. In the alley I found a line with clothes hanging on them. I had her take off her red coat and put on a grey overcoat hanging there. She was awash in fear. If she was found out she would be on that hit list too. Someone was watching her. I knew the grey over coat would only get us so far so I hastened my step and placed an arm around her like she belonged to me. We got to my car and I noticed the dinosaur smuggler in my rearview mirror as we drove away. He was looking around frantically. The last sight I had of him he was shrugging his shoulders at the man with a silver beard. I knew we had escaped in the nick of time.
Our only hope was to secure a place in the country as man and wife. We would have to go underground and assume a new identity until the boss could be caught. I drove across town and stopped the car next to a pay phone. I had to notify someone. Leroy was the only one I felt I could go to this with but if he was dirty that would put us both in danger. I dialed the phone and waited with trepidation for him to answer. I told him what she had told me.
“That makes a case,” I said
He argued that he would not be able to get the DA to prosecute unless she came to the station and gave a statement. When I told him that is wasn’t safe and I was taking her to his house boat to stay; he got quiet. No one would think to look for me there and he knew it.
I hung up the phone and drove to the house in the country. It was a long peaceful drive and Candice started to relax. I knew she was right; Leroy was on the boss’s payroll. As we pulled into the driveway I was relieved to see the For Rent sign still in the window. I walked next door and inquired about renting it. I paid cash and the land lord handed me the keys. We had a month to figure out if there was a way to nail the boss with all the people he was paying off, or not. If we could not I would have to find a way to keep Candice safe no matter what.