The Basement

by Tom Clarke

  At about 12:30 Darrel Wilcoks came walking into my office.

  “Hey bro, the briefs not until 1:30” I said rocking back in my office chair, “you trying to get gold star today?”

  “Very funny Jimmy” Darrel replied as he sat down on the couch in my office. “Hey, Keith tells me that you guys took some pictures of biker graffiti last night, can I take a look?”

  “Of course,” I said as I handed Darrel my cell phone. “They are in the photos, sorry I have not had a chance to print them out yet.” As Darrel started looking through the photos on my phone I started to notice a change in his facial expression, it was as if he had just seen someone he really did not like and they were walking towards him.

  “Jimmy, what’s the story with this circle scribed on the wall?”

  “I don’t know” I replied. “I don’t recognize the pattern, or the writing. I mean it looks like it may be Russian or some shit, but I don’t know.

  I looked through some of my gang-books and did not see anything similar. Does it mean anything to you?”

  Darrel leaned forward and passed me my phone back, “It’s not Russian Jim, its Croatian”

  I looked up at Darrel with a slight smirk on my face, “Croatian, really, tell me Darrel how do you know that?”

  “Come on dude, my Grandmother is Croatian, you know that!” Darrel replied as he sat back done on the couch in my office.

  “Bullshit!” I replied, “your Grandmother is French and we all know it. But, I will play along, what’s it say?”

  “I don’t know Jimmy” Darrel said with a wide smile, “I recognize it, but I can’t read it. These other symbols here, they almost look Egyptian.”

  “Egyptian?” I said, “come on bro, now I know your pulling my leg.”

  “No, seriously” Darrel chirped back. “Come on bro don’t look at me like that…I watch a lot of History channel.”

  “You suck Darrel!” I barked as I threw a wadded-up piece of paper at him. “Listen I want to get those translated, do you know anyone?”

  Darrel sat back and thought for a second, “In fact I do, there’s a grad student at the university that can do it. She’s my cousin, we can trust her to keep her mouth shut about it.”

  I sat there for a second shaking my head, “Your cousin huh?” I said with a smile on my face. “Okay, I trust you, still think your full of shit, but I trust you, let’s go see her tomorrow. I’ll forward you the pictures today”

  Darrel hopped up from the couch and slapped his hands together, “Right on, now let’s go buy some shit.”

  As Darrel headed off to find some coffee I walked down to Keith’s office, walked in, and shut the door. “Hey bro I just showed the pictures from last night to Darrel, he says the writing inside the circle is Croatian, and he thinks the symbols might be Egyptian.”

  Keith turned from his computer, “Seriously Jimmy?” he said with a tone of confusion in his voice, almost as if he was trying to figure out why I was even still messing with that stuff.

  “Yeah, and there’s something else” I said as I took a seat in one of Keith’s office chairs.

  “When I showed him the pictures he was looking at them like he had seen that circle shit before and was not happy to be seeing it again.”

  Keith rocked back in his chair, “After that shit show in the basement, brother I can’t say I blame him.”

  “Yeah” I replied shaking my head. “Listen bro I’m going with Darrel tomorrow to meet a cousin of his who works at the university, he says that she can translate this shit for us.”

  Keith suddenly became very agitated, “Fuck that Jimmy!” he barked as he threw his pen back into his desk drawer. “I don’t give a shit what that says! Bro I don’t want to know! I just don’t want to talk about it anymore!”

  “Jesus Keith, take a breath and calm down!” I said raising both my hands up. “Listen, I just have a feeling that the circle, the graffiti, King, and those butt-nuggets the LW’s are all connected somehow.”

  “Jimmy please” Keith pleaded, “Just leave it alone.”

  “No can-do player” I replied standing up from my chair. “Now come on, you’re on the wire for this one.”

  The briefing took place in the conference room at our office. In attendance was myself (giving the briefing), Keith, Dave, Mike, Stevie, Darrel, and Rick who had agreed to come out and play with the big boys.

  At 1:30pm I started the briefing, “Okay gent’s todays operations will be a controlled purchase of Ecstasy pills and Methamphetamine from Desie, this is a pre-arranged deal for $750.00.” I continued, “I will be the UC and will be equipped with the transmitter, Keith and Rick will be monitoring the wire, they will be in Rick’s truck since Desie has seen Keith’s car before.”

  Both Rick and Keith nodded their heads as they took notes, “Dave, Mike, Stevie, and Darrel will be on cover, Stevie can we use your Expedition for that?” I asked, more out of politeness than anything else.

  Stevie nodded his head, “No problem Jimmy, I will just need to clear some of the stuff out of the back seat.”

  I gave a quick thumb’s up and said, “Cool, thanks man. I will be in my blue Tahoe. Listen, Desie has never shown up with anyone else before so we are not expecting anyone, but if she does I will only be letting her get into my rig.”

  Rick raised a hand and asked, “Hey Jim, what if King shows up with her?”

  Ignoring the fact that I was just about to get to that contingency I replied, “If King shows up I will let that slide, I will invite King to sit in the front passenger seat and Desie can sit in the back seat.”

  Being the good boss that he was Rick then spoke up, “Cover team if that does happen why don’t you guys tighten it up a bit and get as close as you can to Jimmy without getting burned.”

  I continued the briefing, “Guys if we lose the wire connection Keith you give me a call on my cell….is everyone’s cell number on the ops plan correct?”

  Everyone else in the room looked at the cellphone number on the operations plan and nodded in agreement that they all looked good.

  “Cool, Keith if there is a problem with the wire just give me a call.”

  “Got it Jimmy” Keith replied.

  I continued, “Okay fellas if I run into trouble my help-me phrase will be plain speak and I will come out of role. Don’t come running up there like the A-team unless I come out of role, or I am getting my ass kicked!”

  Darrel snickered, “Brother if you come out of role you got it, we will be right there. If Desie starts kicking your ass, no promises.” The room started laughing, but quickly came back to order.

  It was okay to crack a joke or two but everyone in that room knew that briefings were important and everyone needed to have their heads in the game.

  It is the simplest operation that will become very complicated very quickly, and when things get complicated the chances of someone getting hurt starts to climb. We all knew that it was important to have our heads in the game….all of us.

  Smiling and shaking my head I asked, “Does anyone have any questions? Okay, keep an eye out for counter surveillance, there shouldnt be anyone around Rockets this time of day so if you see someone skulking around make a note. We will shoot for the left side of the front lot that way cover can set up right across the street in that hotel parking lot. That’s it, lets go.”

  As everyone in the room started to collect their notes Rick, again being the dutiful boss said, “Let’s do a wire and radio check before we leave the parking lot, Jimmy did you call dispatch?”

  “Yes sir” I replied, “they got us on the board and have passed it on to the patrol shift commander, he’s going to keep his crew out of the area unless we need them.”

  As the rest of the crew was getting ready I equipped myself with the electronic transmitter, otherwise known as the wire. The covert transmitter would not only transmit conversations I was having, but would also record them internally in case the recorder at the receiver failed….or someone forget to hit the r
ecord button, which had been known to happen from time to time.

  After equipping myself with the wire and clearing my undercover car of anything that could tip Desie off that I was not who I said I was, I sat down in the driver seat of my Tahoe, and went through my pre-deal ritual of visualizing every possible problem I could think of and what my response was going to be.

  A few minutes passed and the rest of the crew started to filter out of our building and into their respective vehicles. Keith came over to me and asked, “You all ready to go?”

  “Yes sir, I believe that I am, how about you guys, got the receiver all set up?” I replied.

  “Yup, Rick and I are all ready to roll, some quality time with the boss.” Keith said in a joking manner.

  “Yeah, listen” I said, “make sure that he doesn’t get too fired up, keep him on track will ya.”

  Keith winked and replied “You got it Jimmy, be safe.”

  Prior to leaving the parking lot we did a wire and radio check, after everything checked out good and operational the cover team headed to the area of Rockets. Their initial job was to make sure that there was not an angry mob waiting for me in the parking lot.

  As they arrived Stevie radioed back to Keith that everything looked good and that they were set up across the street. Keith then called me on my cell phone and gave me the green light to start heading to the parking lot of Rocket’s. As I pulled out of the parking lot I watched Keith and Rick pull in a few cars behind me, which is where they would stay for the drive to Rocket’s.

  It took me about 15 minutes to drive from our office to the side parking lot of Rocket’s. During the drive I again was going over possible problems that could jump up and how I would deal with them.

  Then I started thinking about Desie and how one day she had been a brain-dead pill popper and the next she was actually showing up on time and was aware of what was going on around her. The thing that Keith had told me about her looking at him in the mirror and smiling, and then when I called her this morning, something about it just did not feel right.

  I had seen plenty of people over the years that had gotten off the dope and into a treatment program; you don’t just wake up one morning and be “fine.” There is a legitimate recovery time, during which a lot of people, unless treated, get very sick as their bodies start dealing with the fact that the drugs are no longer there. They do not pull their shit together in one day, the whole thing was just weird. And that surveillance picture that Darrel had of King, the last time I saw that cat he was a broken-down drug dealer living in a trailer on the back side of a junkyard where he pulled parts. He was so freaked out even the LW’s didn’t want him.

  Then I started thinking about the basement at Hollow Crest, how did all this come together, and what was up with Darrel? He did not say anything, but I defiantly saw the change in his facial expression when he saw those graffiti pictures.

  When I was about 5 minutes from Rocket’s I got a call on my cell phone from Keith, “Hey bro, the cover team just called, she’s there.”

  “What!” I replied, “she’s there? That stupid bitch has never been on time for anything, and now she’s beating me to the deal, what the hell Keith.”

  Keith replied, “I know right, hey when you meet ask her what sort of vitamins she is taking, I want some.”

  “For you my brother anything, let the cover guys know that I’m about two-minutes out.” I then hung up from my call with Keith, and my weird feeling about Desie started getting weirder.

  Just then my phone rang again, “What’s up Keith?”

  “Hey Jimmy pull off” Keith said with a sense of urgency in his voice. “Don’t go in, she has someone else there with her, Stevie is trying to get eyes on.”

  I pulled into the parking lot of a Safeway grocery store that was about a half-mile from the strip club, shaking my head and trying, in vain, to figure out what was going on with the new and improved Desie.

  Keith and Rick pulled in a few parking spots away from me.

  I could see Rick’s head was on a swivel looking for any potential threats in the area as Keith picked up his phone.

  As I answered the call from Keith I could hear a bit of concern in his voice, “Hey bro Stevie and the fellas could not see who was with Desie, but whoever it was got out of her car and went inside the club. Desie is still sitting in her car.”

  I relied, “Okay, have Rick let the cover know that I’m going to wait here for a few minutes and that way we can see if anyone comes back out, hey wait a second, bro I got Desie ringing me on the other line, I’ll call you right back.”

  I hung up on Keith and answered the call from Desie, “Hey kid, are you there, I’m running a few minutes late.”

  Desie replied, “That’s okay JT we will see you soon.”

  I paused for a second, “Hey Desie, who’s we? Did you bring a friend with you?”

  There was another slight pause from Desie, then she replied in an upbeat tone, “Nope, just me and my bad intentions, hurry up and get here.” Desie then hung up.

  I called Keith back, “Hey man when I told her that I was running late she said we will see you soon, sounds like she has someone with her to me.”

  Keith replied, “Sure does, Rick just got a call from Stevie, the person who went inside the club has not come out and she’s just sitting in her car by herself.”

  “Okay” I said, my brain racing, “let’s give her another 10 minutes and see if anyone else is moving around.”

  “Sounds good” Keith replied, “I’ll let everyone know.” Keith hung up the phone and told Rick that I was going to wait for another 10 minutes before heading on in, Rick agreed and notified the cover team.

  After 10 minutes I called Keith, “What’s the word over there Keith?”

  “Hey man we just got an update from Stevie, there’s been no activity with her. Jimmy cover team says that she’s just sitting in her car, hands on the wheel, starring out the front window, they said she hasn’t moved since you last call with her. Fucking weird bro!”

  “Okay” I replied, again trying to wrap my head around the situation.

  “Hey, Jimmy!” Keith barked back into the phone, “Did you hear me, Stevie said that there has literally been no activity, she has not moved, she’s just sitting in her car staring at the wind shield, they are not even sure she’s still breathing.”

  “Okay” I replied again, “Well we will know soon enough, go ahead and have Rick tell them I’m rolling into the parking lot.”

  “Are you sure bro, this shit is starting to hink me up a little.” Keith replied.

  “Yeah” I said, “I’m good to go, let’s go make this happen!”

  “Okay Jimmy, will do” Keith replied. I then pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards Rocket’s.

  As I pulled into Rocket’s I looked across the street and could see my cover team in Stevie’s rig parked out of the way. I then saw Desie’s car parked in the back-lot right where we had agreed to meet. Before pulling in I went ahead and drove around the parking lot and circled the building. I was looking for any other vehicles or people just hanging around. I hated surprises when I was doing undercover meets and this was a great way to avoid one, see them before they see you.

  Not seeing anything that caught my attention I pulled into a spot a couple of spaces over from Desie.

  During past contacts, she had always gotten into the front seat of my car and we did the deal. By parking close, but not too close, I could see her when she got out of her car and was walking to mine, a few extra seconds for me to see a potential issue and drive away if needed.

  When I parked I looked over and could see Desie just sitting in the driver’s seat of her car, she looked over at me and smiled. Desie then got out of her car and started walking over to mine.

  Her movements were strange, she seemed almost disjointed, as if she was trying to figure out how to walk upright.

  “Okay she’s out of her car and headed to me” I reported over the wire, “I do
n’t see anyone else in or around her car, okay she’s getting in with me.” Desie opened the passenger side door, but she did not get in. “Hey Desie, what’s the news, hop in kid” I said.

  She didn’t get in, she just stood there staring at me with her mouth slightly open, she didn’t say anything, she didn’t blink, she just stood there.

  “Hey, Desie, are you okay? Get in will ya.” She just stood there, then I noticed her start to sway left to right slightly, she then started clenching her fists and grinding her teeth.

  “Desie what the fuck is a matter with you, you’re freaking me out, get in the damn car will you!” I snapped.

  As I was saying this to Desie, Keith was relaying info to the cover team, “Okay be advised that something is not right, suspect is refusing to get into the car with UC, cover tighten up a little.” With that radio transmission Stevie and the cover team started to pull across the parking lot they were in, closing the gap they would have to cover if I started calling for help.