The Grey Zone

by Easton, Don

  “What about the phones of those who were arrested?” Lexton asked.

  “We think Llanzo Brown and Tarone Smith flushed their SIM cards down the toilet as they were about to be arrested,” Hawkins said. “However, Leo Ratcliffe was arrested at his residence, and his phone was seized intact. It’s early, but some numbers he called in Ontario belong to known members of the Devils Aces outlaw motorcycle gang. Many of the numbers haven’t been identified yet. It’ll take a few days.”

  “An outlaw motorcycle gang,” Lexton mused.

  “Yes,” Crimmins said, “Sergeant Taggart from the Intelligence Unit first put us on to this investigation after receiving informant information indicating that Derek Powers was involved in a kidnapping.”

  Taggart. Oh, Christ.

  “Actually it was Constable Alicia Munday who discovered the connection shortly after she was transferred into the unit,” Hawkins noted.

  “Did Sergeant Taggart or anyone else in the Intelligence Unit play a role in the investigation after providing you with the initial information?”

  “No,” Hawkins replied. “Sergeant Taggart only asked to be told if we heard that the Devils Aces were planning to open a chapter here. That and he was concerned about the Jamaicans hooking up with the bikers, as well.”

  I can’t believe I’m going to say this. “Considering how your investigation ended up yesterday, I think it would be wise to include the Intelligence Unit going forward. There must have been a leak somewhere for them to have known Constable Short’s real name.”

  “And I don’t think the leak was accidental,” Hawkins said bitterly. “Barry said everything was going fine until Peter Powers showed up. He believes Peter called someone who tipped him off. We have no idea who it could be. But God help the person if I ever find out,” he added angrily.

  “I trust, Sergeant, that you’re referring to the sentence that would be handed down once the perpetrator is brought to justice in a court of law.”

  Hawkins sighed. “Yes, of course.”

  “Have you considered the possibility that your surveillance from two years ago may have been compromised by the same individual?”

  “That’s something we’ve discussed,” Crimmins stated. “But there simply isn’t anyone whom we suspect.”

  “All the more reason to work with the Intelligence Unit — a fresh set of eyes without any personal relationships that might cloud judgment.”

  “We’re still optimistic about the kidnapping investigation and bringing the perpetrators to justice,” Crimmins stated. “If we’re successful, it’ll no doubt result in a lengthy trial. But it’s my understanding that the Intelligence Unit prefers not to be called to court to testify.”

  Lexton felt her anger rise. I don’t even want to think about what that poor man went through. Bleeding to death and clinging to life on a balcony eighteen floors above the ground. She glared at Crimmins.

  “What happened to our member yesterday was an atrocious act of violence! If the Intelligence Unit can assist in any way, I couldn’t care less whether they have to testify or not!”

  “Yes, uh, certainly. I agree,” Crimmins replied.

  Actually I don’t know of a case where Taggart has ever testified. His suspects generally don’t live that long.

  “I’ll call Sergeant Taggart to let him know,” Hawkins said. “He’s an undercover operative, too. I’m sure he’ll want to help.”

  Want to help? Those bloody operators are like a family unto their own. It’s how he’ll help that concerns me.

  Her intervention with Staffing had been well timed. Perhaps now I’ll discover what Taggart’s really all about.

  “I’ll also speak to Staff Sergeant Wood and make it clear to her that the Intelligence Unit is to co-operate fully,” Lexton said. “Where do we stand with the three accused who were arrested yesterday?”

  “Llanzo Brown, Tarone Smith, and Leo Ratcliffe are still in custody,” Hawkins stated. “Today is Friday and I expect they’ll be held over the weekend. After that, I’ve been told that the Crown prosecutor is confident that Brown and Smith will remain in custody, but there is a possibility that Ratcliffe could be released. His role in the matter was not as significant and his criminal record not as violent.”

  With Taggart involved, Llanzo Brown and Tarone Smith may be the lucky ones.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Jack was at his desk when Rose phoned. “My office. Come alone.”

  A moment later he entered Rose’s office and shut the door behind him. “What’s up?” he asked, taking a seat.

  “Lexton called and told me she just had a meeting with Crimmins and Hawkins.”

  “That’s no surprise after what happened yesterday.”

  “No, but what caught me off guard is she told MCU to include us in their investigation. She said she’s particularly concerned that the bad guys called Barry Short by his real name; she suspects there’s a leak. She also mentioned the possible biker involvement as a reason for us to get involved.”

  “You don’t believe her?” Jack questioned.

  “She’s upset over what happened and wants to find out how Barry’s cover was blown, but …”

  “But?”

  “Considering the reason we think Alicia was selected to come into our section, I can’t help but question whether Lexton has an ulterior motive for including us in the investigation.”

  “Maybe there is, but Lexton’s not the only one upset. I’m glad for the opportunity to get involved. Someone must have tipped off Peter Powers.”

  “No doubt, but MCU doesn’t want to heat up Peter yet. The Chung kidnapping is still their priority.”

  “I agree with that. My gut feeling is that Derek Powers has a connection who tipped him off, and he then warned his brother. Considering the type of work Derek does, I’m sure he has police connections. Makes me wonder if Alicia really was burned two years ago or if she was simply the fall guy.”

  “Then perhaps you should start off by focusing on Derek.”

  “Believe me, I hardly slept last night. If he’s not already in MCU’s sights, he sure as hell is in mine.”

  Rose stared at him for a moment. “I suspect you’re also in Lexton’s sights. Remember to tread carefully.”

  * * *

  Later that morning, Jack received a call from Hawkins.

  “I already heard,” Jack said. “Lexton wants us to assist in whatever way we can.”

  “Yes, she made that clear to me and Crimmins when we spoke to her.”

  “I suspect Derek Powers had a hand in what happened to Barry. I’m thinking Peter called him when he saw Barry in the apartment.”

  “I agree,” Hawkins replied, “but who told Derek who Barry really was? And was this leak the reason we blew our surveillance with Chung two years ago?”

  “That’s crossed our minds, as well. Anyone in your office you think is capable of it?”

  “No one,” Hawkins replied. “For the last week we’ve had wire on Derek’s office phone, but his brother hasn’t called him. We don’t have a personal cellphone number for either Derek or Peter.”

  “They likely use disposable phones that they change regularly,” Jack replied.

  “That’s what we figure. We did get Leo Ratcliffe’s phone. When he left the apartment, he went home, and we bagged him there by surprise. Got some numbers that he called in Ontario identified. A couple came up on the system as being connected to the Devils Aces. Lots of other numbers we don’t know about yet. I was wondering if you could help us with that?”

  “I’ve got a contact in the OPP Biker Squad. I’ll see what I can do. First, though, do you want to get together and discuss a strategy for how to proceed?”

  “Today’s not good — we’re still giving statements over everything that happened yesterday and trying to piece it together. Next week would be better.”

  “I don’t mind coming in with my people this weekend. We could sit down tomorrow.”

  “Uh, no, this weekend isn’t good
, either. I’ll email those numbers to you, then call you early next week to arrange a meeting.”

  Why are you stalling?

  * * *

  It was 2:00 p.m. on Monday when Hawkins called Jack again. “Are you free to have that strategy meeting today?”

  “Yes,” Jack replied. “We can be there in a jiffy.”

  “Stay there. We’ll come to you. I talked it over with Inspector Crimmins. We don’t want anyone in here to know what’s going on unless they have to.”

  Good.

  Forty-five minutes later, Hawkins and Bradley arrived. Rose then wheeled a chair in from her office to join the meeting.

  “Does your meeting us here mean that you suspect the leak came out of your unit?” Rose asked.

  “Not necessarily, but we decided not to take any chances,” Hawkins replied.

  “How’s Barry doing?” Jack asked.

  “Still in hospital,” Hawkins replied. “They’re worried about infection, and he can barely move without triggering more pain. Says he’ll never work UC again.”

  “I don’t blame him for that,” Jack replied. “Just to let you know, I don’t yet have any feedback on those phone tolls you gave me for Ontario.”

  “Those aren’t urgent at the moment,” Bradley said.

  “I do have a suggestion for how you could proceed,” Jack noted.

  “Oh? What would that be?” Hawkins asked.

  “Have you thought about a UC operation on Derek, direct?”

  “How would you go about that?” Bradley asked.

  “By hiring him. Have an operator pose as a major drug dealer and say he wants Derek to check out some guys he’s about to do business with. Then set up a situation where it looks like he was ripped off for a large amount of cash, and see if Derek takes the bait. If he does, I doubt he’d use a bunch of criminology students. I think he’d bring in whoever was involved in the kidnapping.” He glanced at Rose for a response. She gave a nod.

  “Well … maybe that’d work,” Hawkins said, “but as of yesterday, we have a better idea.”

  Yesterday? Sunday? They cut a deal. That’s why he wasn’t in a hurry to meet us last Friday.

  “We met with Leo Ratcliffe and he rolled,” Bradley stated.

  “He’s a member of the Devils Aces,” Jack noted. “Bet that wasn’t an easy decision for him.”

  “You’re right about that,” Hawkins replied. “He has a sister who waitresses in some bar they hang out at. He’s pretty concerned about her and said that if word leaks out to the Devils Aces that he rolled, they’ll kill her if they can’t find him.”

  “If word leaks out to Satans Wrath, he risks getting whacked, as well,” Jack noted. “I’m surprised he’s even out here.”

  “He told us he wants out of the club, but with the war on back east that isn’t possible. His idea was to distance himself by bullshitting his buddies that he was going to do a little recon on Satans Wrath over here. He told his buddies that the Satans Wrath chapters in B.C. wouldn’t be as paranoid as their chapters back east and suggested it might be easier to do reprisals out here.” Hawkins frowned. “Then again, he might be bullshitting us and really he is doing recon for the Devils Aces, thinking about opening a chapter, as well.”

  “That’s always a possibility,” Jack replied.

  “The good news is he’s willing to do a straight introduction to Peter Powers,” Bradley added, “and he has Peter’s cellphone number. With that, we’ll discover Derek’s number and maybe find out who the leak is.”

  “Is Leo in tight enough with Peter to do an intro?” Laura asked.

  “He says he is. He told us that, prior to last week, he’d already told Peter that his brother Ricky is coming out from Ontario, and that Ricky wants to put out coke to some guys he knows in the interior.”

  “Isn’t Leo concerned that if he does a direct introduction, the Devils Aces might find out?” Jack asked.

  “He said he wasn’t worried because Peter doesn’t have any connections back east,” Hawkins replied. “He also said that if a rumour did start, the Devils Aces would take his word over Peter’s.”

  “I see.”

  “But do you think Peter will still deal with Leo after what happened?” Alicia queried.

  “Yes,” Hawkins replied. “Leo was released this morning on his own recognizance. An hour ago he met Peter, and they went over what happened. Peter says he’ll never do business with the Jamaicans again, even if they do get out of jail, and he told Leo that he was right to try and stay out of it.”

  “So Leo is still in tight with Peter,” Rose mused. “That’s excellent.”

  “I wouldn’t say he’s trusted completely,” Bradley said. “They met in a park and Peter scanned him for bugs first. Still, he did warm up to him after he found out that Leo didn’t get involved in the torture and that he took off soon after they started. Leo says Peter is still anxious to unload the kilo he didn’t sell last Friday.”

  “Does Leo have any idea how Peter found out about Barry?” Alicia asked.

  “No, but Peter did give him his cellphone number,” Hawkins said. “Maybe Peter will phone later to check out whoever Leo introduces him to.”

  “Which park did the meeting take place in?” Jack asked.

  “Nelson Park,” Bradley replied.

  “I know it,” Jack said. “It’s close to where Derek and Peter live and also to Derek’s office. I’d be extra cautious with any surveillance in that area.”

  “We were,” Hawkins said. “Nobody but Crimmins and those of us in this room know that we cut a deal with Leo.” He eyed Bradley and added, “Only the two of us were in the vicinity of the park this morning, and we stayed well back.”

  “Good,” Jack replied.

  “Our next step is to get a UC operator for Leo to introduce as his brother,” Hawkins stated. “We also want to run the UC operation without anyone else from our office knowing about it.”

  “I might have the perfect guy for you,” Jack said. “Greg Dalton. He’s currently stationed on Toronto Drug Section, so that’ll help if he’s questioned about details or locations back east. He hasn’t been out here except for a one-week UC about three years ago on some Lebanese brothers, so he’s basically unknown and won’t have to worry about bumping into anyone who’d know him. I checked him out about a month ago with our Drug Section, and he was highly recommended.” Jack paused. “There’s only one problem: he’s being transferred to our unit.” He looked at Rose. “I don’t know how you feel about it, because if he’s successful, he’ll be going to court afterward.”

  “Well —” Rose started.

  “I can assure you, that isn’t a problem,” Hawkins stated. He gave Bradley a bemused smile. “Inspector Crimmins spoke to Assistant Commissioner Lexton an hour ago to tell her about Leo Ratcliffe and what we intend to do. She suggested using Dalton herself. For him, having to testify isn’t an issue.”

  “Lexton knows Dalton?” Rose questioned.

  Hawkins shrugged. “I don’t think she knows him per se. All she said was that she’d heard your unit was getting a UC operator transferred in from Toronto, and what with our need to keep things secret, maybe he’d be suitable. That and it’d be more cost-effective down the road not to have to pay for someone to fly back and forth for court; by then he’d be stationed here.”

  “Let me phone him,” Jack said. “He has his house on the market, so he may be hesitant to do it.”

  A moment later, Jack connected with Dalton and told him MCU was looking for an operator for an informant introduction.

  “This have anything to do with the member who was tortured on Friday?” Dalton asked.

  “Yes. Word spreads fast, considering it never made the news.”

  “I doubt there’s an HQ number in Canada who hasn’t heard about it,” Dalton replied. “Of course I’ll do it. I’d be honoured.”

  “Aren’t you and your wife trying to sell your house?”

  “Sally doesn’t need me to hang around for t
hat. She’ll be glad to get me out. I can’t move at home without her cleaning up or polishing something behind me.”

  Jack gave Hawkins a thumbs-up.

  “When do you want me?” Dalton asked.

  “As soon as possible. I want you to get a fake Ontario driver’s licence in the name of Richard Ratcliffe. The informant, who’s with the Devils Aces, is passing you off as his brother, Ricky.”

  “I’ll contact the UC coordinator — could get it tomorrow. I’ve already got lots of Harley shirts and the like. I could be there by Friday.”

  “Hang on.” Jack looked at Hawkins. “Friday?” Hawkins nodded. “Friday works.”

  “Good, I’m looking forward to working with you,” Dalton stated.

  Jack briefly filled Dalton in on the rest of the situation, then ended the call.

  “So it’s a go,” Hawkins said. “Maybe set it up to have Leo do the intro on Saturday?”

  “There are some things I’d like to discuss,” Jack said. “First of all, it’s obvious we can’t have Dalton wired. At the same time, we can’t have a cover team close enough that they’d actually be of any use if he did need help.”

  “So how do we protect him?” Bradley asked.

  Jack grimaced. “I don’t think we can. In my mind, having a cover team, whether in the air or on the ground, could jeopardize Dalton more than if he’s on his own. It certainly hasn’t worked so far.”

  “Policy won’t allow us to send him out there on his own,” Hawkins said.

  “Yes … and policy can get you killed.”

  “Lexton is also concerned,” Hawkins said. “She told us she’d see to it that Special O teams are available to assist. They’re the experts when it comes to surveillance.” He paused. “We can’t have Dalton going through what happened to Barry.”

  “Or worse,” Bradley said.

  “My thoughts are to let Special O take charge of Dalton’s personal security, and the rest of us stay clear,” Hawkins said. “They have enough people that the same faces won’t be showing up.”