Cameron Andrews Box Set

Chapter 4-2

“And the other?” Cam asked.

“Put him in there as a guard.” There was a short pause. “Knife through the heart.”

Cam willed herself to continue her stare into Deems’ eyes as she tried to calm her own heartbeat. Then, she finally took a sip of her coffee and put the mug back down on the table thoughtfully.

“And what makes us think you’ll do better?” Maggie read her mind.

Cam smiled. Thank God that Maggie was there.

It was Wendell who answered. “We want to approach this with such deep cover it can’t leak. Obviously there are moles all over the place on this one. We want as little exposure as possible. We can’t use someone already in the Department. If there’s a mole here, she’d be too easily recognized. We’re so blind on this case that we don’t even know if there’s some of our own people in on it. The only people who’ll know you’re working for us are in this room.”

“And I should trust all of you?” Cam looked across the faces, stopping at Deems. He sat back under her stare.

“Yes,” was all he said.

Cameron thought about it for a minute, taking another sip of coffee. She trusted Craig, and she liked Maggie, but Wendell she was unsure of, although she had a good feeling about him. He’d been a good teacher and she knew he was close to Craig. If Craig trusted him, why should she question it? But, what about Deems? Could she trust her life to him?

Finally she put her empty coffee cup back on the table. “What’s the protocol? Who has the final word on what I say or do?”

Deems looked at his associates. “Dr. Thomason will be your control. If she says “no” then we pull the plug. You will have a certain amount of autonomy, but she will keep an eye on everything to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand.”

Cameron smiled into the table, then up at Maggie. Maggie patted her hand reassuringly.

“We need you to go through some more training,” Craig stated. “It will be hard inside a prison. We want you fully skilled. I know you’ve done some work at the Department and some more these past weeks with Wendell, but you’ll need more. Did you put in for three weeks’ vacation like we discussed?”

Cam nodded.

“You sending her down to Quantico?” Deems asked.

“No. That’s taking a bigger risk that someone will see her there and recognize her later. Also, we really don’t have time for her to go through a twelve week course. This calls for personal training. I’m sending her to the Caribbean.”

Deems nodded his head thoughtfully. “Who’s training her?”

“Charlie Harris is available,” Wendell answered.

Deems nodded again, impressed. “Good choice. Strong man.”

“Charlie Harris?” Maggie sat forward. “I haven’t seen him in a couple years. Not since he left Pennsylvania.”

“I didn’t know you knew him,” Wendell said congenially. “He’s been on a, well—a sabbatical. Said he was facing burn-out. Moved to Canada. He raises and trains guard dogs now. How do you know him?”

“I worked with him when we were trying to de-program Torrey Wallcot five years ago. I really like the way Charlie works. He’ll be a good challenge for Cam.” Maggie gave Cam’s hand a reassuring pat.

Wendell turned back to Deems. “When I explained the situation and the secrecy needed, Charlie also suggested Michael Gauchet for martial arts training.”

“Who’s he?” asked Deems.

“No. She. Michelle Gauchet. She pronounces it ‘Michael.’ She’s Canadian, from Montreal with a sixth degree black belt in Judo or Jujitsu or one of those disciplines. One of the best. She’s the supervisor in charge of the training program for the upper ranking Mounties. They say she’s been asked to do a lot of the stunts in those new Kung Fu movies. I’ve heard that there’s not a man in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that can beat her.”

“We saw a demonstration she did at that seminar in Ontario, last year. She is impressive,” Craig answered. He looked Cameron. “What do you think?”

“I’ll leave that part up to you. You tell me what I need to learn. I’ll trust that.”

Everyone around the table concurred.

“Okay. Next step. How do I get in? What’s the plan?”

“Well, we could set you up with a new identity. You’ve still got a Boston accent. We could say you were transferred in from somewhere in New England…” Deems started.

Wendell interrupted. “I’m sorry. I know we discussed this but I still don’t like it. That’s the way we set up Kathy and look what happened.”

A thought flashed through Cam’s mind. “And what if I run into someone I arrested? What if someone inside knows me. I’m sure there are several women in Hagerville that I arrested. Or, what if someone gets suspicious that I’m a plant? You said you don’t know who’s on the outside. What if someone starts checking? If I go in, I have to go in as me. Not even a hint of a cover.”

“I agree,” Craig said. “I’d hoped you’d see it that way. But, it is risky. Cam, we have discussed this part, but we’re not fully in agreement. You know that cops, and some security guards for that matter, look down on cops that burn the law. They’ll give you a hard time. The inmates won’t trust you. It’ll be hard. This part will have to be your decision.”

“But won’t it be safer than taking the chance that there’s someone outside who can find out I’m not who I’m supposed to be, or that someone inside remembers me? It might take a little longer to establish their trust, but won’t it be better?”

“It’ll mean that your friends and family will think you’re a criminal. It will completely ruin your reputation.”

Cam took a deep breath, tapping her coffee spoon in a rhythmic pattern on the table. She ran her fingers across her chin as she contemplated the enormity of the situation. Everyone waited silently for her to think it through. Finally she said, looking Deems in the eye, “If that’s what it takes…You did say deep cover.”

The other four exchanged glances. Had she convinced them? Or had they just manipulated her into convincing herself?

“Then you’ll want to get convicted of a crime. Not just sent there with the right papers. That’s another mistake we made with Kathy. She had no background. You’d have to actually break the law, get arrested and convicted.”

“How? Hold up a liquor store or steal some old guy’s Social Security check?”

Wendell smiled. “No. Seriously. It should be drug related or something that has to do with your job. We need to pin it down. But you’re the one that has to feel comfortable with it. We want to kick around some ideas and see what sits right. We’ve come up with a lot of ideas among ourselves but nothing seems to gel. One of the first ideas we had was to have you go off on a “brutality” rap but that’d put you in jeopardy once you got inside. Besides, with the system here, you’d have to get pretty mean to even get put in jail. You’d probably only get a wrist slapped and a couple weeks off with pay.” He stopped and smiled to himself.

“We’ve thought of having you caught at a party using coke, but that’d involve a lot of other people. If they’re in on the scam, you’re in trouble. If not, we’ve set up a lot of people.”

“We’ve thought of you buying, off duty, for your own personal use,” Deems interjected.

“That won’t work. My partner and just about everyone in my department knows how I feel about drugs. Hell, I b***h enough when I have to use for an undercover bust. I hate using the stuff.”

“Maybe that’s exactly why it will work,” Maggie added. “You know, the old I-think-the-lady-doth-protest-too-much routine.”

Cam shook her head. “No. I don’t think so. There’s got to be some other way. I’ve worked undercover for too long to think some of this would work. I don’t—won’t use, except when I’m making a buy to bust someone. But you’re right.” She looked at Wendell. “Let’s kick some more ideas around. It is my life we’re playing with. If I get inside, I don’t want anybody to be suspicious.”

For the first time, the cold wall of hardness melted from Deems face and he smiled.

“I better make more coffee.” Maggie rose and went to the sink to fill the coffee pot.

* * * *

It was almost 5 A.M before they had what they thought was a workable plan. There were still details to work out, but all felt it was the most plausible idea they’d come up with. Deems had stiffened when Cameron had brought up the idea of bringing one other person onto the team, but all saw the logic in it and if it made Cameron more at ease…well, it was worth a shot.

“Are you working tomorrow? I guess I should say today?” Craig asked as he drove her back to her car.

“No. I’ve got the next two days off. We’ve got a big weekend coming up. You know, end of the semester—just before finals. Every student in town will be out trying to find something to get them through.”

“Good. Sleep in tomorrow. You earned it. Call me Thursday morning so we can work out the terms of your employment.”

“You mean you’re going to pay me to do this?” Cam laughed, feigning surprise. “I thought this was just for the fun of it. You know old time’s sake and all.”

Craig returned her smile and chuckled as he pulled up next to her Toyota. “You did some damn fine work tonight,” he said, throwing the car into “park” and turning toward her. “He didn’t show it but I know you knocked Deems’ socks off. I’ll make sure that Maggie gets the files we had from Kathy and Dan’s investigations. Read them carefully.” He stopped for a moment, studying her. Finally he said, “You’ll be okay with this. I can feel it.”

“Thanks, Craig. It means a lot to hear you say that.” She closed his car door and walked to her own car. She was exhausted but her mind was racing, imagining all the possibilities. Yes. She knew she’d made the right decision. This was what it was supposed to feel like!

God, she thought, I hope it feels this good once I’ve slept on it.