Week 19: Undercover Deals

Ray Carter was standing on the side of Gunther Holler, wearing a worn out flannel shirt and faded denim shorts. His work boots hung loose at his ankles, untied. A camouflage hat covered his bald head, leaving only a rim of dingy, orange hair showing. He scanned down the holler, expectantly. Nervously. His hands kept moving from his pockets to his face and back to his pockets. Now and then, he would remove his hat and rub the baldness of his head. 

After a few moments, an old red pickup pulled up along Ray and he climbed into the passenger seat. The man driving was younger, in his late twenties, wearing a baseball cap, grey sweatshirt and jeans. Ray had spoken to him several times in the past few weeks. “Mornin’, Ray. You ready to do this?” Deputy McElroy asked. 

Ray nodded his head and took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Yeah. Just nervous, I guess. Never done nothin’ like this before.”

The Deputy did a turnaround in the next driveway and started back out the holler. “Now, I want to be clear, you don’t have to do this. The agreement you and Trooper Joseph made to keep you out of jail stands with me. But if you want to call this off, I can take you in and book you right now and get it over with.”

“Naw, naw. I can’t be goin’ to no jail. Just walk me through it again.” Ray was grabbing his knees, breathing deeply 

Deputy McElroy reached into the back seat of the truck and pulled up a small, black container. He opened it to show a button attached to a wire and battery pack. “All you gotta do is go up to some folks we know are dealin’ and purchase some product. I’ve got the cash for you. We’ll wire you up with this.” He motioned with the black container. “And you’ll bring me whatever you can buy.”

Ray kept his gaze at the floorboard, both hands gripping his legs. He rocked back and forth, subtly. Finally, he nodded. “Yeah, I can do that.”

“Now, when you and Trooper Joseph talked, I think the arrangement was to do fifteen buys, and we’d cut you loose. Does that sound right?” He turned the wheel and pulled out onto the main road. 

He patted his chest, looking for a pack of smokes. “Yeah, I guess.”

McElroy handed him a cigarette and a lighter. “We’re gonna hit four today, if possible. How this’ll work is, one of our undercover officers will drive you to the dealer's house. I’ll be stationed within a mile of the purchase site. Sometimes, the dealer will want you to come inside the home to make the transaction. Others, you’ll do it right there in the driveway. You do your best to get everything on your button cam. It has a strong microphone on it as well. Once you purchase the drugs, leave the premises and when you are out of visual range, you will give the drugs to the undercover officer. Then, you guys will meet back up with me.”

Ray listened intently, trying to take it all in. He nodded along with each point, his mind racing at the potential dangers that lay in front of him.

“Now Ray, there’s something you need to know. We’re gonna have to strip search you before and after each buy. Just to make sure you’re not taking anything into the buy, or keeping any drugs you get from it. Is that clear?”

“Guess that makes sense. We won’t do it on the side of the road, though?”

Deputy McElroy couldn’t help but smile. “No pal. We’ll head back to he precinct between each purchase.”

A few minutes later, the old red truck pulled into the parking structure adjacent to the judicial center. The sheriff’s office had a loading zone underground for situations such as this, and Deputy McElroy radioed into headquarters that he was inbound for “The Vault.”

Ray was taken into an interrogation room where every nook, cranny, crease, and pocket of his clothes and his person was thoroughly searched. He felt vulnerable and scared as he stood there naked in the blank room. After Deputy McElroy was sure there wasn’t any contraband, they gave Ray a new set of clothes, already fitted with the hidden camera and mic. “These should be your size,” he said, handing Ray a shirt. 

Once dressed, Ray followed the deputy back to The Vault and crawled into the cab of the truck. The pair drove to an abandoned strip mine about twenty minutes from town where a blue Trans Am was waiting. The pair exited the vehicle as a tall man with tan skin, a scraggly beard and Rebel Flag bandana exited the Trans Am. He wore mirrored sunglasses and a denim jacket airbrushed with a skeleton riding a motorcycle on the back. “McElroy,” he said as he approached them.

“Ray, this’ll be your ride for the rest of the day,” the deputy said, motioning to the newcomer. 

“Pleasure,” Ray said, nodding toward the man. 

“Name’s Raul,” he said as he lit a hand-rolled cigarette. 

Deputy McElroy handed Raul an envelope. “Eight hundred total. Two for each. You know the drill. Rendezvous after each buy, then back to HQ for search.”

“I been doin’ this a lot longer than you, pal. I think I know how it’s done,” he growled. Raul motioned for Ray to climb into the Trans Am. Ray looked toward the deputy for reassurance. McElroy nodded and headed back into the red truck. After a moment of indecision, Ray slinked over to the blue sports car and climbed in. 

“You undercover, huh?” Ray asked, trying to make conversation.

Raul looked over at his traveling companion with a disdainful sneer. “Let’s get one thing clear here, maggot. We ain’t friends. We ain’t gonna be friends. You are a lowlife thug and my job is to get shit like you off the street. Now, you just a little guppy swimmin’ in a big sewer. So you get to be the bait we use to catch a bigger fish. That’s all you is. So shut your Gotamn mouth and let’s get this over with.”

Ray sat in silence, staring at the floor of the Trans Am, focusing on a piece of gravel next to his left shoe. At that moment, he would have traded places with that tiny speck of rock. Gladly traded. But here he was, riding shotgun on his way to God knows where, selling a little piece of his soul to keep his ass out of jail. The car pulled off of the strip job and onto the main road for about ten miles. Turning up into the Point Rock section of the county, they drove until turning into Grassy Holler. This was a notorious area that Ray knew well. There had been several killings in this holler over the years and many known drug dealers lived up and down this road. 

“You’re going to see Ash Jenkins. He’s been slingin’ pills for months now. We had him on a buy few weeks ago, but the file corrupted. You go get $200 worth and make sure you’re lookin’ at him. Don’t eff this up, or your ass’ll end up in County.” Raul was cold in his delivery, letting Ray take in every word so that his meaning was clear. “You remember your cover story?"

Ray nodded and took the cash and shoved it into his breast pocket. He opened the door and started for the house. The damp smell of spring filled his nostrils as he walked. He tried not to appear nervous, but scanned the area as he walked. The screech of a metal screen door forced his attention up onto the porch. Ash Jenkins stepped out of his house, wearing camo shots and a dirty white tank top. His curly salt and pepper hair shot out in random directions and the scruffy beard on his face ran all the way down his neck. 

“Ray?” he asked from his doorway. “What the hell you doin’ in Grassy?” His voice was high and shrill. 

Ray chuckled a little, trying to seem cool. “Billy Fenton says you’re holdin’ the good shit and ain’t chargin’ an arm an a leg fer it. Figured I’d head up and see fer myself.” 

“Billy send you up here?” Ash cocked his head to the side a bit. 

Ray was certain there was a hint of suspicion in his voice. “No, not directly. He was just saying he got some good shit off of ya. If you’re sellin’, I’m buyin’!” Raul had said to keep the chit-chat to a minimum and Ray was doing his best to get in and get out.

Ash scratched his beard and nodded. “What’chu lookin’ fer, exactly? Perc’s? Oxy’s? Suboxone?”

“How much fer the Oxy?” 

“I got 40’s for $35 a piece and I got 60’s for $50.”

Ray didn’t know if this was a good deal or not. Internally, he was screaming; mad at himself for being in this situation, mad at the cops for busting into his house three weeks ago and mad at the world for being like it is. Mainly, he was mad at Wendy Jenkins, because if it wasn’t for her, he’d be at the house playing CoD right now. 

Wendy was a beautiful girl in her early thirties who also happened to be neck deep in the drug trade. And for some reason, she took a shine to Ray Carter. She’d been shacked up at his place for a few days when some county boys busted his door down lookin’ for her. Had a federal warrant on her and everything. Well, Ray had just bought a big run of marijuana and shrooms that were just laying out on the kitchen table. And Wendy’s scale and baggies sitting next to them were enough to make it a trafficking charge, which sent Ray to county lockup. 

And now, he’s standing in Ash Jenkins’ front yard with a wad of cash, praying he makes it out of here alive. “I’ll take four 60’s if you got ‘em,” he said with a grin.

Ash grinned. “Hell yeah, bother. Give me a sec.” He disappeared back into the house and the world stopped spinning for a few moments. 

Ray didn’t know what to expect, but was sure that Ash was on to him. He thought about bolting for the Trans Am and saying the deal went bad before remembering that everything was being recorded. Did Ash know? Did he know it was a setup? His eyes darted from the door to the car. Sweat beaded on his forehead 

And just as quick, Ash burst through the screen door. He had a small envelope in his hand. “‘At’s $200, my friend.” 

Ray reached into his shift pocket and pulled out the cash. He made a show of counting it before handing it off to Ash. “Keep the change,” he said, hoping he sounded jovial.

“Take care, man,” Ash said with a wave. 

Ray turned to walk toward the Trans Am, parked just out of view at the bottom of the driveway. Once inside, Raul held out his hand. “Let me have the stuff.” Ray placed the small, white envelop into his hand. He shoved the packed into his coat pocket and peeled out onto the road. They drove around a mile to a bend in the road where Ray saw McElroy sitting in his red pickup. The deputy exited his vehicle and walked over to the Trans Am.

“Clean buy?” he asked.

Ray shrugged and nodded. He felt Raul’s hands fiddling with his shirt at the waist. In a moment, the undercover officer had pulled out a small USB cord Ray had never noticed before. Raul plugged it into a small tablet and the video of Ash appeared on the screen. “Pic’s good. Sound’s good too. We got it.”

Deputy McElroy slapped Ray on the shoulder. “‘At’s great man. Just great. But the day’s just gettin’ started. Gotta do another search, then onto the next target.”

Ray patted his arms and legs, looking for a smoke. Raul handed him one, followed by a lighter. “Alright. Who’s next?”

Raul flipped through his notes. “Looks like some asshole named Sam Anderson.”