"Turns out the arrangement is not a done deal. The pres had just come from a meeting of the National Coalition of Motorcyclists where the Bandidos and the Hel s Angels tried to hammer out an agreement about the Machine. The Angels are not thril ed about the Bandidos' expansion campaign, and offered to disband a prospect chapter in New Mexico if the Bandidos would drop negotiations with the Quebec club."

"So the Machine is real y hanging out there?" Ponytail.

"Yes. But if they are patched over, a Bandidos presence could shift the balance here." Roy's voice sounded grim.

"The Rock Machine is relatively new on the scene, n'est-ce pas?" asked the young-looking investigator.

"They've been around since 1977," said Roy "But they only added MC to their name in '97. Before that they didn't think of themselves as anything as conventional as a motorcycle club. It was a little surprise on their Christmas cards that year."

"Christmas cards?" I thought he was joking.

"Yeah. Tradition means a lot to these guys. It was quite the talk of the prison chat room." Kuricek.

Laughter.

"The cards al ow members to keep up with each other," Roy explained. "The downside is that they also fatten the intel igence files of rival gangs."

Roy clicked to a map of Montreal.

"Currently the Rock Machine is battling the Hel s Angels over control of the province's il egal drug trade. And we're talking big bucks, here. According to the solicitor general, Canada's il icit drug market is worth seven to ten bil ion a year to organized crime gangs. Quebec represents a big piece of that."

He indicated two areas of the city

"The disputed turf involves the north and east sides of Montreal, and parts of Quebec City. Since 1994 there have been hundreds of bombings and arsons, and no less than one hundred and fourteen murders."

"Counting Marcotte, the Vail ancourt twins, and the Toussaint child?" I asked

"Good point. One hundred and eighteen. At least a score of others are missing and presumed dead."

"How many of these asshole warriors are out there in the trenches?"

"The starting lineup is about two hundred sixty-five for the Angels, fifty for the Rock Machine."

"That's it?" I was astounded so few could wreak so much havoc.

"Don't forget the second-stringers." Kuricek leaned back and his chair whooshed softly

"Both sides have puppet clubs that align with them. It's these losers that do al the dirty work for the organizations."

"Dirty work?" It al sounded dirty to me.

"Distribution and sale of drugs, debt col ection, weapons and explosives buys, intimidation, murder. These puppet clubs are the dregs of bikerdom and they'l do anything to prove their bal s to the big dogs. That's why it's so hard to nail a patch holder of a major club. The bastards are slippery as hel and always operate at arm's length."