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small pockets of turf around the city. In a few years, Big River had organized a network that ran across the entire province. The triad started small, focussing on gambling and illegal imports, but as their influence grew so did their greed. The triad figured out sneaking in drugs and guns was about as easy as getting knockoff Prada bags past customs. And when they perfected their smuggling routes, people were the last innovation. Why bring in a purse you can sell once at a discount price, when you can bring in a person who will spend years working at sweatshop wages to pay for their freedom at a hugely inflated price? Better still, that same person would then pay the same thing over and over again to bring their relatives to Canada. The fine hand-stitching on a faux purse had nothing on the tight weave of a heartstring stretched across the ocean.
    The triad had diversified, but they never gave up on what brought them to the dance. They took their gambling seriously and they took debts with even less humour. If Rick was in deep to Big River, the triad would hurt him, not enough to cripple, but bad enough for him to know they meant business. When he still didn’t come up with the money, they’d make an example of him. It would be splashy and it would probably last a weekend.
    â€œYou might be better off skipping town.”
    â€œI’m dying. I get treatments a couple times a week. I can’t just pack up and go. If I did, I wouldn’t have to pack much. Where would that leave Rick? He can’t survive without me.”
    â€œSo your only option is to pull a job that will settle the bill.”
    â€œYou got it.”
    â€œYou know he won’t learn his lesson. He’ll just rack up another debt thinking he’s badass enough to pay the tab with some more weekend gunplay.”
    â€œYou’re not a parent, so you wouldn’t understand. When you’re a mom, you’ll do anything for your kids. You’ll pay any price to keep them safe. It doesn’t matter if they’ll do the same wrongs again, you’ll always be there.”
    I said nothing.
    â€œI told you, you wouldn’t understand,” she said.
    I kept my mouth shut and pointed. The truck had just pulled into the lot.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    O ne guard got out of the passenger side and walked around to the back of the truck. He knocked on the door and another guard opened it up from theinside. The guard stepped out from the rear, holding a blueduffel bag. The two men did a quick scan of the lot that was more habit than on-the-job vigilance, and then wentinside. The duffel had shrink-wrapped bricks of cash inside. The guards would open the ATM and pull out the depleted cassette. One man would stand guard while the other refilled the cassette with the cash from the bag. The stopwatch in my hand said the door was open for twenty-five seconds. The two men entered the store, leaving the driver out front in the truck. The driver waited patiently in the cab and kept busy by checking his mirrors every few seconds.
    Two and a half minutes in, Rick got back in the car. He was jazzed up seeing the truck and he gave me a playful punch on the shoulder.
    â€œSee, man? Everything I said was on the money. You doubted me, but you gotta give it to me. I came through, right?”
    I didn’t take my eyes off the truck. The driver was giving each mirror equal attention. He was alert and professional at his first stop; odds were he would get more and more lax as the day went on. Problem was, the cash would diminish along with the driver’s attentiveness. If the truck was going to get hit, it was best to do it early.
    At the seven-minute mark, the two guards were back. The back door was opened with keys and the empty duffel bag went in along with one of the guards. The other guard let himself into the passenger seat and the driver started the engine. The driver checked his mirrors and the truck moved away from the curb. I stayed