The Grey Zone

by Easton, Don

“I’ve told her that you’ve been working nights with us and that we gave you a hand comparing names of bad guys with names from an old file you had in MCU. If she sees us comparing footage, it might be hard to explain. She’d want to know what new lead we’ve developed … and how.”

  “Maybe we should go to my place and use my computer.”

  “Where do you live?”

  “Out in Langley.”

  “My house is closer, and so is Laura’s. I also have my sons’ laptops. If we put them side by side it’ll be easier to compare images. Come on over. I’ll call Laura and have her meet us here.”

  * * *

  While Laura and Alicia sat at the kitchen table peering at the recent CCTV footage of Andy Zhao on the corner of Robson and Richards, Jack inserted a USB flash drive containing the footage of David Chung into the second computer.

  “Yes! Yes!” Alicia screamed, stabbing her finger at the image on the screen of a man in the crowd behind Andy Zhao.

  No way she lives in an apartment. She’d be written up for noise violation whenever she brought anyone home.

  “Hurry!” she said, gesturing to the second laptop. “You’ll see! It’s the same guy!”

  Jack brought up the footage of David Chung waiting at the same the corner.

  “Fast forward about three minutes. Let me do it!” Alicia said excitedly.

  Jack shoved his chair back. “Be my guest.”

  A moment later, Alicia paused the video. “There, there! It’s the same guy, I’m sure of it! Look, both times it looks like he’s talking on a cellphone.”

  Jack and Laura looked at the frame the video was frozen on. It was zoomed in and grainy, but it clearly showed the same man. He was taller than the people around him and had black, curly, well-trimmed hair. He was cleanshaven, wearing a suit and tie.

  “Keep watching,” Alicia said. “Look what he does!”

  In both instances, the man bent down, seemingly to adjust his shoe or sock.

  “And that’s how he scanned them,” Jack said, giving a thumbs-up sign. “Great, looks like we got —”

  Alicia leapt from her chair and hugged him, then planted a kiss on his forehead before turning to Laura.

  “No, I’m not into that,” Laura said, putting up her hands to stay Alicia. “Might turn Jack on, but I’m not into exhibitionism.” She winked at Jack.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Alicia said. “Both of you, thank you.”

  Jack studied the picture. “Good news that he’s wearing a suit and tie.”

  “Suit and tie … five o’clock rush hour … he probably works nearby,” Alicia said thoughtfully.

  “That’d be my guess. There are closer parking lots to that intersection than the one they were told to use. Perhaps our scanner didn’t want to wait around on the sidewalk for fear of being remembered if there was a police investigation. He could work somewhere between the parking lot and the corner. Someplace where he can see his victims hurrying past with the ransom.”

  “Then he follows them to the corner,” Alicia said. She glanced at her watch. “I’d better make an appearance at MCU. I’ve been gone most of the day. I want to stake out the area around Robson and Richards after, though.”

  “No worries. Laura and I’ll be there by three thirty. If you’re free at the end of your shift, pop over and help out.”

  “I’ll be there,” she replied adamantly.

  “If we don’t have any luck, we’ll try tomorrow morning, and so on,” Jack said.

  “Thank you, this is, this is … you don’t know what this means to me.”

  “I’ve got a pretty good idea,” Jack replied. “It’s not just that the monsters chopped Tommy’s fingers off — they also made it feel personal by singling you out.”

  Alicia sighed. “Sometimes I think David and Jia hate me more than they do the kidnappers. If I hadn’t screwed up, their little guy wouldn’t have been harmed.”

  “We all have to do our jobs. You were just doing yours. They may realize that in time.”

  “It’ll help if we catch who did it. They might not forgive me, but at least they’d feel some sense of justice.”

  Jack eyed the man in the image. There will be justice. One way or the other.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Jack and Laura staked out the area near the intersection of Robson and Richards at 3:30 p.m., and Alicia joined them at 6:00 p.m. Their surveillance continued until 7:30 p.m., then they met briefly in a nearby alley.

  Jack saw the frustration on Alicia’s face. “Hey, kid, cheer up. We’ve put a face to one of the monsters. It’s only a matter of time. Laura and I’ll be back out by six a.m. tomorrow. We’ll keep returning until we find him.”

  Alicia’s face brightened. “You’re right, aren’t you? We will find him.”

  “It’s simply a matter of time,” Jack repeated.

  “I believe you. We’ve had the file for two years without getting anywhere. I met the two of you only last week and look what’s been accomplished.”

  “There are peaks and valleys,” Laura said. “We hit a peak. I agree with Jack. Bet we identify him within a month at most.”

  “Tomorrow’s your last day at MCU,” Jack noted.

  “Yup, I’ll be turning over all my files.”

  “Including this one,” Laura said.

  “Yes. Officially it’s assigned to Sergeant Hawkins.”

  “Is he a good guy?” Jack asked.

  “Really good. He stood up for me when the others were giving me dirty looks for being burned. He told everyone that he could see from the air that I hadn’t done anything wrong.” Alicia paused. “Sure feels like I did, though.”

  “Bet they’ll want to take you out for drinks tomorrow night,” Laura said.

  “That’s been planned, but I’d rather be with you guys.”

  “I’m surprised you’re officially starting this Wednesday. Next Monday is Canada Day. It would have made sense for your transfer to start after the holiday.”

  “I’m excited to get started. I told them the sooner, the better.”

  Jack smiled inwardly. The exuberance of youth. “Well, don’t worry about tomorrow. I guarantee you’ll be working long hours with us soon enough. Enjoy your party tomorrow night.”

  “Besides, trying not to arouse suspicion is part of learning to operate in the grey zone,” Laura said. She cast Jack a sideways glance. “That and developing a taste for olive soup.”

  “Olive soup?”

  “You’ll learn about that after we’ve identified this guy,” Jack said.

  Alicia looked bemused. “Thanks, guys.”

  * * *

  Jack was blending in with a group of people at a bus stop a block and a half from the intersection of Robson and Richards when his phone rang. It was 8:15 a.m.

  “I’ve got ’im,” Laura said. Her voice was level, but Jack knew she was suppressing her excitement. “He’s sitting in a Tim Hortons along with two other men and a woman. It’s located on Robson slightly down the street from the IGA.”

  Jack’s adrenalin surged. “Are you positive?”

  “Yup. Suit and all.”

  Jack forced himself to sound calm. “Are you inside?”

  “No, I went in to grab a cup to go and didn’t spot him until I was leaving. I’ll be watching from an alcove across the street and down a bit, in front of a burger place.”

  “On my way. ETA one minute. Keep the line open in case they come out before I get there.”

  Once Jack reached Laura, she gestured toward the entrance of the coffee shop. “He’s still inside. They’re sitting toward the back and won’t be able to see us.”

  “You said he was with two other men and a woman?”

  “Yes, I’d guess our target to be in his midthirties. Navyblue suit with a light-blue shirt and a red tie. The other three I’d guess to be in their early twenties. They look like university students. Dressed casual. The woman is chubby, short blond hair, green top and — see for yourself, there they are.
”

  The group came out of the coffee shop, then strolled down Robson Street, away from them.

  “Take this side,” Jack said, then rushed across the street to follow them.

  At the intersection, the group crossed over to the opposite side of Robson, where Laura was approaching, before continuing along Robson.

  Jack stayed on his side of the street. The group entered a three-storey building with stores on the street level and what appeared to be offices on the two floors above. He saw their target closing the blinds in a corner office on the second floor. Gotcha!

  A minute later, Jack was scanning the building’s directory. The name on the second-floor corner office made him flinch. Powers Security Consultant Service.

  A security consultant? This asshole knows the game. He’ll have all the toys for spying and countersurveillance.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Back at the office, Laura handed Jack a sheet of paper. “We have confirmation.”

  Jack smiled at the driver’s licence copy. It was the man from the CCTV footage: Derek Powers. “Thirty-four years old and living in an apartment about ten blocks from his office,” he noted.

  “He has two vehicles, both registered to his company,” Laura stated. “A blue Ford van and a black Ford Flex SUV. The Motor Vehicle Branch also lists another guy as living at the same address. Probably a brother.” She handed him another copy of a driver’s licence.

  “Peter Powers, aged twenty-seven.”

  “He owns a red Mustang and has a record,” Laura added, handing Jack more sheets of paper. “He was charged six years ago for trafficking in cocaine, but the charge was dismissed in court. Two years later he went to trial on another cocaine trafficking charge, was convicted, and received a fine.”

  Jack looked at the mug shot. Peter had a completely shaved head and a black goatee. He wore a gold earring in one ear. “Looks a lot different than his brother,” he noted.

  “Definitely. Derek looks like a businessman. Peter looks like a gangster. He definitely wasn’t one of the two guys with Derek this morning.”

  “Derek and Peter could be connected to the same criminal element. This is exactly what I was hoping to find. We’re off to a good start.”

  “Great way to start the day. Are you going to call Alicia or should I?”

  “Let’s tell her tomorrow. Today’s her last day at MCU. I don’t want to alert them yet, and she’d have a hard time acting like nothing was going on.”

  “You’re probably right. After a few drinks at her farewell party she might let something slip.”

  “My thoughts exactly.” Jack studied the criminal record. “Let’s get to work. I checked the Yellow Pages, and Powers is listed as doing both corporate and private security consultation.”

  “Sounds like he knows his stuff.” Laura paused. “How do we gift-wrap all this for MCU? The Crime Stoppers route? Tip them off anonymously so that nobody knows about your visit to the Chung household?”

  “That’d take us out of the picture completely,” Jack agreed. “But there could be problems. If the tipster were to mention Zhao only, MCU would interview him, and I’m sure he’d crack.”

  “Then your role would come up, leading them directly back to Chung.”

  “Yes. I told them my name was Bruce, but going by my middle name wouldn’t fool MCU if they dug a little deeper. Plus, with MCU appearing to know about Chung and Zhao but not me, Chung and Zhao themselves might clue in that there was something fishy going on.”

  “MCU would look for CCTV footage of Zhao and discover that Alicia had already done so.”

  “For sure. And Chung might blab about my Chinese wife. I don’t want Tina in trouble, either.”

  Laura mulled it over. “So the tipster could only say that Powers was involved in the Chung kidnapping, making no mention of Zhao.”

  “Which would leave MCU basically where they are now. They’d have the CCTV footage of Powers standing behind Chung, but that wouldn’t be enough. With privacy laws, they might not even be able to use it to apply for a wiretap. That leaves interrogation, but Powers has been around the block a few times. He wouldn’t be the type to crack over that.”

  “MCU wouldn’t know that there were others.”

  “Exactly. Even if MCU believed Powers was involved, they might think it was a one-time thing, and not attack the issue the way they should.”

  “Which is how?”

  “We know the kidnappers are becoming greedier and, likely, more brazen. I’d run a UC op on him if I were them.”

  “Which could turn out to be a costly long-term project. Not something MCU would undertake without evidence to indicate Powers is still active.”

  “There’s another worry. If MCU heats up Powers, there’s always the chance that the kidnappers blame Chung or Zhao and follow through with their threats to exact revenge on their children.”

  “Make examples of them, like they already did with Tommy,” Laura said bitterly.

  Jack nodded solemnly. “It would be better to say I had an informant who told me about Derek Powers being involved in a kidnapping. Unlike with the Crime Stoppers route, I’d be able to swear to the informant’s reliability.”

  “You said a kidnapping, not two or three. Meaning you’d leave Zhao out of it?” Laura noted.

  “For now, at least. I’d make it look like we were doing some preliminary investigation on Peter, and when Alicia came in she saw my informant notes indicating his brother may have been involved in a kidnapping. I’d say I initially presumed the kidnapping was to prod someone into paying up over a dope deal, but then Alicia looked into it further and matched the face in the CCTV footage to the Chung kidnapping. That would explain why this connection wasn’t discovered until Alicia arrived. She’d be a genuine heroine her first day on the job.”

  “I wouldn’t say genuine. Also, you’ll look like an ass for not having investigated the allegation earlier.”

  “Hey, an ass is only half the word I’m usually called.” Jack paused in thought. “No doubt the question will arise as to when I was given the information. I don’t know if it would make much difference if they knew it was last week. I think MCU would be so thrilled that they wouldn’t give it much thought.”

  “How do you come up with a believable informant to have given you the information? An imaginary person might not go over well — at least, not without a plausible cover story. Otherwise MCU might smell a rat. Same with Lexton. She’d definitely be taking a keen interest.”

  “You gave me the answer to that a minute ago. I’m sure Peter’s still dealing dope. He wouldn’t have been scared off it; he had one charge dismissed and only got a fine on the other. So we’ll make it look like the informant is a dope dealer connected to him.”

  “In the event MCU uses your information to get a wiretap, and you’re later called to court and cross-examined, what will you say?”

  “I’ll say I had someone give me information indicating that Derek Powers was involved in a kidnapping. Same as I’d tell MCU.”

  “I can see you lying to MCU, but I know you’d never lie in court.”

  “I wouldn’t be lying. I’m thinking of Andy Zhao. It was his information that led us to the CCTV footage to identify Powers. Hell, I could even say I had two informants.”

  Laura smirked. “Hadn’t really thought of Chung or Zhao as informants.”

  “Why not? Especially Zhao.”

  “And considering the threat made about his daughter, we’d be justified in protecting his identity.”

  “It would also work in our favour down the road, in court, when MCU reveals what prompted their investigation. The kidnappers will think it was one of Peter’s dope-dealing associates who spilled the beans, and that’ll take any heat off of Zhao or Chung.”

  “I see one flaw,” Laura said.

  “That we might get caught and lose our jobs?”

  “No. What if Peter’s dopey friends are the other kidnappers? They wouldn’t rat out Derek, because they’d b
e ratting themselves out.”

  “Let’s see who his friends are first. If we think it’s a possibility, then we’ll come up with another patsy, maybe someone lower on the dope-dealing chain. Peter lives with Derek, so I’m sure he knows about the kidnappings; he might even be involved. The others would likely think Peter was lying, even if he swore that he hadn’t told anyone.”

  “So when do we pass it on to MCU?”

  “I’d like to put together a bit of a package to make it look like Peter was connected to a group we’d considered working on. What we need to do is come up with a few criminal associates.”

  “Going by his appearance and his record, that should be easy,” Laura noted.

  “We’ll make that our priority.” Jack glanced at his watch. “I want you to go see if Peter’s Mustang is at his apartment.”

  “To see if he’s your regular doper who sleeps ’till noon, or if he has a legit job.”

  “You got it. Then take a look around Derek’s office building to see if you can locate his van and SUV. In the meantime, I’ll call Commercial Crime and see if they can find anything out discreetly. Maybe they could get a contact from some company to place a bogus call asking Powers for references to see who he’s done work for.”

  “It would be interesting to see if he did any consultant work for the companies Chung and Zhao work for,” Laura noted.

  “That would tie in nicely. I’d do it myself, but Commercial Crime has the contacts when it comes to white collar people, and they can do a more secure cover story. Maybe I could get them to check City Licensing and Companies Branch, and also see if Derek or Peter owns any property. It’d be nice to get a peek at their money trail.”

  “What story will you tell Commercial Crime? We haven’t yet come up with any chumps to take the heat for being your informant. What if MCU gets wind of it?”

  “I’ll think of something to prevent that.” Jack paused as he thought of something else he needed to do.

  “You’re frowning. What’s wrong?”

  “I need to phone David Chung. He thinks I’m paying the ransom today. I promised I’d let them know how it went.”