The Grey Zone

by Easton, Don

  Jack exhaled deeply. “Okay, but I’m also going to tell him to play up the angle that he’s paranoid when it comes to doing any large drug transactions. No apartment buildings. Public spaces only. Places where Special O can be in position before he arrives.”

  “I agree,” Hawkins replied. “I feel a hell of a lot better with that idea than sitting on my ass in some plane two kilometres up in the sky.”

  That’s going to eat at you for the rest of your life.

  “Anything else?” When nobody spoke, Hawkins said, “Good, then we’re set.”

  As soon as Hawkins and Bradley had left, Rose turned to Jack. “I want to talk to you in my office.”

  Jack followed her and closed the door. “You’re concerned about the fact that Lexton is recommending Dalton?”

  “Yes, aren’t you? Her reasons sound pragmatic, but again, it’s highly unusual for someone in her position to become that involved.”

  “Maybe Alicia isn’t the only mole she hopes to cultivate.”

  Rose stared at him in response.

  Jack sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’ll tread carefully.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  On Friday morning Jack met Greg Dalton at a predesignated area in the Vancouver International Airport. He wasn’t hard to spot. Greg was wearing a black Harley-Davidson T-shirt, a wallet attached to a chain on his belt, and several silver rings on his fingers, one of which was a skull.

  “Hello, Greg. Welcome to Vancouver.”

  Greg smiled and shook his hand. “Glad to be here.”

  Jack sized him up. Greg was slightly shorter than himself, but had black hair pulled back into a ponytail and was sporting a moustache that grew down into his goatee. He guessed Greg to be in his early thirties and knew he’d be a good fit to play the role of Leo Ratcliffe’s brother.

  Moments later, they loaded Greg’s luggage into Jack’s SUV and headed out on the Trans-Canada Highway to Port Coquitlam.

  “Do you know Vancouver very well?” Jack asked.

  “Not really. I’ve been out to visit my parents a couple of times, but hardly left their house. If it’s okay with you, in a few days or so I’d like to pop in on my mother.”

  “That’d be fine.” Jack glanced at Greg. “You also worked with Sammy Crofton on Drug Section.”

  “Yes, but it was a quick in-and-out kind of thing. Back for court a few times, but that was mostly going from my hotel to the courthouse and back. Sammy did have me to his house for dinner a few times. He lives in Abbotsford.”

  “He spoke highly of you,” Jack replied.

  “Good. Better you spoke to him and not to the guys on my unit.”

  “Oh?”

  “Ah, I probably shouldn’t have said that. It’s nothing. I gave expert testimony in court recently and pissed off some of our guys. I testified that there was some doubt in my mind that the dope was for trafficking as opposed to personal use.”

  “You’re being asked to give your opinion. If you’re not completely honest, where’s your credibility?”

  “Glad you see it that way.”

  Jack felt sure he’d get along with Greg. “I’m taking you out to a motel in Port Coquitlam. It’s about forty-five minutes away. The motel is a bit of a dive, but Leo Ratcliffe, your new adopted brother, lives in a one-bedroom basement suite not far from there.”

  “Don’t worry about it being a dive. I’m sure I’ve stayed in worse.”

  “We’ve also got another room in the motel to use for debriefings and for you to make your notes. Anytime you’re in your room, day or night, somebody from the team will be in the debriefing room. When we get there, I’ll introduce you to two others from my unit, Laura Secord and Alicia Munday. Secord has been doing UC for years and knows her stuff. Munday only recently finished the course and hasn’t done any operations yet. She’s a few years younger than you and recently transferred in from MCU.”

  “Secord. She’s the corporal, right? Soon to be my boss?”

  “Once your transfer is completed and you’re working in our unit, you’ll answer to her, yes. As far as this operation goes, myself and Sergeant Ned Hawkins from MCU will be running the show. Hawkins will be in charge of any investigative decisions, and I’ll oversee any operational UC decisions.”

  Greg smiled. “In other words, you’re along to protect my ass.”

  “You got it. Hawkins is also handling Leo. He’ll bring him over to the motel to meet you this afternoon.”

  “Good. I’ll need to talk to him about siblings, parents, where we went to school, what bars we drink at. You mentioned he was from Hamilton? I did a UC there a few years ago, so I know it fairly well.”

  “Leo’s a bouncer at a strip club called the Hedonic Palace. He’s working tonight, so he’ll pick you up and you’ll go there with him. I know you’ll be tired, what with the time difference and the travel, but I’d like you to make an appearance.”

  “No problem. If he really was my brother, I would.”

  “Leo won’t finish work before two a.m. at the earliest, but you can take a cab back to the motel before then if you want. Tomorrow you’re to meet Peter Powers and talk coke.”

  “With the idea that eventually I’ll meet Derek,” Greg noted.

  “Exactly. He’s the number one target, although I suspect Peter had a hand in the kidnapping, as well.”

  “Got it.” He paused. “Is Leo an agent? Is he going to be testifying?”

  “No, he’s only an informant. Once you’re in tight with the targets, he plans on moving back to Ontario.”

  “So I’ll try to cut him out of things as soon as possible.”

  An image of Barry Short flashed into Jack’s brain, and he glanced at Greg. Just try not to get cut yourself.

  * * *

  It was 9:00 p.m. and the Hedonic Palace was crowded and noisy, its patrons becoming more vocal with catcalls and jeers the more they drank.

  Greg had opted for a table away from the stage. He sipped on a Guinness while Leo worked the door.

  Two short, overweight, balding men sat in what was commonly known as “pervert row” — the seats closest to the stage. Their plaid sports jackets hung open, and one had his tie loosened around his neck while the other one’s tie hung from a side pocket.

  As the stripper on stage finished her act, the man with the tie in his pocket abruptly stood, bumping the table and slopping his cocktail. He leaned over the stage, clenching a five-dollar bill between his teeth. The stripper obliged by cupping his face with her breasts to remove the money.

  “Hey, Larry,” his buddy chortled, “for that much money, ya should be able to bring her home … and meet the wife!”

  Larry appeared to think about it. “Think she’d mind?” he asked, before falling back into his chair.

  Nobody noticed a moment later when Larry pretended to sip his cocktail … instead whispering into his sleeve.

  * * *

  Jack sat behind the wheel of his SUV, parked in a grocery store parking lot a kilometre away from the Hedonic Palace. Beside him sat Hawkins. Laura, Alicia, and Bradley were in the car parked next to them.

  The phone rang. He was surprised to be getting a call so soon from Special O … and even more surprised at what they told him.

  “What’s going on?” Hawkins asked after Jack ended the call.

  “Peter showed up. Leo is introducing him to Greg now.”

  “Even though the meeting was scheduled for tomorrow,” Hawkins noted. “Maybe that’s good. Shows Peter is anxious.”

  “Or suspicious and wanted to check him out right away,” Jack replied.

  At 11:00 p.m., Greg left the club and hailed a cab. Jack and the others went on to the motel and were waiting when Greg tapped on the door.

  “Peter showed up,” Greg said, upon entering.

  “So we heard,” Jack replied.

  “He was still there when I left, but said he’d be heading home right after he finished his beer. Leo doesn’t expect he’ll be done work before three a.m.”
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  “How’d it go with Peter?” Laura asked.

  “I think it went well. He was friendly, but he was checking me out. Wanted to know if I was ready to meet and do a large one tomorrow morning.”

  “A large one?” Bradley asked.

  “A full kilo. I turned him down, of course.”

  “But we’ve got the money for that. It was already approved,” Bradley said.

  “I told him I didn’t have the cash yet.” Greg glanced at Jack. “The story is I’m putting out to buddies from the interior, right?”

  “Right,” Jack replied. “Seeing as he’s only just arrived,” he explained to Bradley, “it’s unlikely that he’d already have met his guys and arranged for a delivery.”

  “Oh.”

  “I’m sure he was testing me with that,” Greg said. “I told him I had enough for a couple of ounces as a sample, but it’ll take four or five days to get the rest of the cash.”

  “Perfect,” Jack replied.

  “He wants to meet me tomorrow morning to do a deal for two ounces.”

  “That’s really, really good news,” Hawkins stated.

  “Hopefully it turns out. He asked if I was staying with Leo, and I told him I was staying here ’cause Leo only has one bed and he snores. He said he’d swing by about ten thirty a.m. Don’t know if he’ll have it with him or if we’re going somewhere else. It’s too early for Leo to be getting up, so Peter expects it’ll be only the two of us.”

  “The sooner you can cut Leo out, the better,” Hawkins said.

  “So far that’s not a problem. Leo was too busy tonight to be in on any pertinent conversation, anyway.” Greg dug out his wallet and handed Hawkins a piece of paper. “Peter gave me his cell number. I told him I hadn’t had time to pick up a phone yet, but that I’d buy a burner phone tomorrow, and also pick up a rental car.”

  Hawkins glanced at the number and handed it back. “Same number that Leo gave us already.”

  “He started to warn me about saying anything on the phone, then laughed and said seeing as Leo was my brother, he didn’t need to counsel me on that.”

  “Sounds like he trusts you,” Alicia said.

  “Greed or trust — either one works for me,” Greg replied. “He also mentioned he has a girlfriend in Abbotsford he’ll probably be staying with tonight.”

  “You get a name?” Hawkins asked.

  “Nope … it wouldn’t have been cool to ask.”

  “Any calls between Peter and his brother?” Laura asked Hawkins.

  “I checked with the monitors on the way over. None that we know of.”

  “Listen guys, I need to make my notes,” Greg said. “After that I’ll need some sleep. It’s three a.m. in Toronto, and I’ve still got about three hours of work to do.”

  “We’ll get out of your hair,” Hawkins replied. “Bradley will stay here tonight.”

  “Special O and the rest of us will be in the vicinity by nine a.m.,” Jack said. “Good luck tomorrow.”

  * * *

  At 11:45 a.m., Peter arrived at the motel and went to Greg’s room. A minute later, Special O reported that Greg was sitting with Peter in his red Mustang, talking. The two men then went to the trunk of the car and then, seconds later, Peter drove away. Greg went straight to the debriefing room and grinned as he entered, then held up an ounce baggie of cocaine in each hand.

  “Yes!” Alicia exclaimed, clapping.

  “I agreed to meet him on Wednesday to buy a kilo,” Greg said.

  “Four days from now,” Jack noted. “Where?”

  “We’re supposed to meet at noon for a drink in New Westminster, at a place called the Paddlewheeler Pub.”

  “I know the place. It’s alongside the Fraser River and you can sit outside. Great place for beer and appetizers. It’s a public spot, which is good if that’s where the deal goes down. How do you intend to handle the cash?”

  “I told him I’d rent a room nearby and that he wouldn’t get the cash until I saw the dope. I told him I didn’t care if he was packing a piece, because I’d trust him not to rip me off once I saw the dope. He said it’s not his style to pack a gun and he has no problem showing me the dope first. I don’t think we need to worry about a rip. Once I see the dope, we could complete the deal in the hotel room.”

  “Sounds good,” Jack replied.

  “The only bad thing is there’s no hint of his brother being involved yet.”

  “No worries,” Hawkins replied. “It sounds like Peter’s in your pocket. That’s all I’d hoped for at this point.”

  * * *

  Hawkins was glad to hear that they finally had Peter placing a call to his brother’s office an hour after he’d left the motel. Unlike their cellphones, which were encrypted, the office phone wasn’t, so they were able to listen in on the conversation. He wasn’t pleased when he heard the gist of the call:

  “Hey, bro, what you up to?” Peter asked.

  “Working. Some guy screwin’ around on his wife. Took a few pics.”

  “I tried your cell.”

  “What? Oh, I must have left it in the van. Where’ve you been? Stay at your girlfriend’s last night?”

  “Yup. Got some good news, though. Got someone to take that, uh, big set of golf clubs off my hands.”

  “What? Who?” Derek asked testily.

  “Leo’s brother. He arrived from Ontario on Friday. Took two clubs from me this morning to try ’em out.”

  “Jesus fuck, Peter! Why didn’t you tell me? You pull a stunt like that right after …” He paused. “After you know what.”

  “No, no. Leo was talking about his brother moving here long before last week. This isn’t new.”

  “You still should’ve told me about it first.”

  “Maybe, but I need the bread. The clubs were, uh, on consignment.”

  “Where the hell are you?”

  “At my girlfriend’s.”

  “Get over here. We need to talk!”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  It was 5:00 p.m. on Saturday when Greg called Peter to give him his new cellphone number and to let him know that he’d picked up a rental car.

  “What’re you up to tonight?”

  “Still a little bagged from jet lag. Thought I’d have an early night.”

  “We need to talk about something. Are you at the motel?”

  “Yup.”

  “I’m at home, which is in downtown Vancouver. How about we meet halfway? Say at the Starbucks at Brentwood Town Centre. You know where that is?”

  “My car has GPS. I’ll find it. Want to meet now?”

  “No, uh, let’s meet there in two hours.”

  “Yeah, okay. See ya then,” Greg replied. A moment later he went to the debriefing room, which was being manned by Laura.

  “What was his tone like?” Laura asked.

  “He was cordial, but not as friendly as before. Judging by that call between Peter and Derek that Hawkins told me about, I think he caught shit. Hopefully he’s not having second thoughts.”

  “He’s already sold you two ounces,” Laura noted. “A little late to be backing out. I’ll phone Jack and alert the troops,” she said, reaching for her cellphone.

  “Maybe Derek wants to check me out personally,” Greg suggested. “This might turn out to be a good thing.”

  * * *

  Thirty minutes prior to the meeting, Special O was in position. As before, Jack was in his SUV with Hawkins a kilometre from the mall, and Laura, Alicia, and Bradley were parked beside them. They soon discovered that Derek was indeed attending the meeting — but not in the way they’d hoped.

  Jack was alerted to Derek’s arrival in a call from the Special O member in charge of his team. His name was Brian Rhodes, but he’d been nicknamed Bumpy due to acne scarring on his face from when he was a child.

  “We’ve got a target vehicle that entered the lot and parked,” Bumpy reported. “It’s the blue Ford van belonging to T-1. The driver hasn’t exited the vehicle.”

  Cr
ap. “Hang on,” Jack said, then turned to Hawkins. “Derek’s van showed up and nobody got out.”

  “He’s doing countersurveillance,” Hawkins stated.

  “For sure, but with what gadgets?” Jack replied. “In his line of work he could have cellphone detectors, bug detectors, radio-frequency detectors, you name it.”

  “We’re looking at a busy mall on a Saturday evening,” Hawkins replied. “There’s bound to be a lot of cellphone usage.”

  “Yes, but how much coinciding with Peter or Greg’s arrival, then their departure?” Jack turned his attention back to his phone. “Tell your team they’re not to report anything until after the van has left, unless it’s an emergency.”

  “I heard your concerns,” Bumpy said. “No problem. I’ll put out the word to cease all chatter and hold positions until after the van is gone.”

  Jack updated the occupants of the other car. Everyone waited in silence.

  At 7:45 p.m. Bumpy called again.

  “Okay, the HQ arrived on time, and T-2 arrived five minutes after in his red Mustang. They had a quick coffee, then came out together, got in their cars, and left. We can confirm that T-2 headed west on the Trans-Canada and HQ went east. The van waited for five minutes, then left heading west, as well. We also confirmed that T-1 was driving.”

  “Good, thanks. Did you have an eye on HQ’s car the whole time?”

  “Yes. Nobody went near it. Should be safe from bugs and trackers.”

  “Great. I’ll call you back in a minute,” Jack replied. He called Greg.

  “Hey, Jack. Don’t know if you know, but only Peter showed up. He said he was worried about whether I’d be able to get the cash together for Wednesday and wanted reassurance, otherwise he’d sell to someone else. I told him I’d definitely have it together, but uh, I don’t know.”

  “Don’t know what?”

  “Seems a little fishy. I’d already assured him I’d have the money by Wednesday. And he knew I was tired. To meet just to reconfirm what we already talked about seems lame.”