Rule #1: Trust No One

Chapter 1-2

Lori seemed ecstatic that Cam would come up to Massachusetts for the weekend. She immediately began making plans for things they’d do together and talking about what changes were taking place in their hometown of Lexington, Massachusetts, that she wanted to show Cam.

“And if it’s a nice day, we can take the boys out to Walden Pond for a picnic!” she enthused.

“Gosh! I haven’t been out there in years! I’d love that.” Cam thought back to all the pleasant times she, Lori and Mom had had out there. It had been a “girls’ picnic” spot when she was a youngster: and a time for Dad and Benny to go to a ball game or some other vehicle for their male bonding.

“Good, then that’s settled. David usually has a lot of work to do on a Saturday so we’ll have that time to sit, watch the boys, and talk.” Lori already had the weekend scheduled, it seemed.

“What’s David involved with these days?” Cam asked. Her brother-in-law was a rising attorney at a major Boston law firm but he always had some little project up his sleeve. He was one of the few people Cam knew who never seemed to tire. He’d finished his undergraduate work at Boston College in three years.

“Oh!” Cam’s question seemed to light a fire in Lori. “Remember George Nelson? Benny’s friend?”

How could she forget the guy who had called her for her help when her brother was overdosing on cocaine and barbiturates?

“Of course I remember him. How’s he doing?”

“His youngest son just got diagnosed with leukemia. David set up a fund to raise money for treatment,” Lori told her. She was very proud of her husband for doing this.

“Doesn’t insurance pay for that?”

“George doesn’t have insurance. He’s trying to build his own construction business and just never got to the point that he could insure the entire family. This leukemia will wipe him out. He and his wife had just bought an old house, too. They haven’t even completed the renovations.”

“How many kids do they have?” Cam asked.

“Three. The first was a boy, then a girl, then little Tommy. George and his wife are devastated by this.” Cam heard Lori sigh deeply.

“How much do they need for Tommy’s treatment?” Cam asked.

“Several hundred thousand, I think.” Lori sighed.

“That’s a lot of money, but I’m sure something will turn up.” Cam’s mind was already churning.

Cam and her sister talked for another fifteen minutes before they said good night. Cam left Lori with the promise that she’d be there at the end of the week.

As Cam laid the receiver back in its cradle, there were car lights coming up the short driveway.

“Just in time.” Maggie smiled as she went to open the door.

Cam stood to greet the short, balding man who entered.

“Hi, boss.” She smiled.

“Andrews.” He nodded, acknowledging her presence. His communication was curt as usual. “I was glad to hear that you passed all the exams today.”

“Me, too,” was Cam’s response. “I hate these yearly things. I think I’d know if I was sick.”

“Just be happy you don’t have to pay for them,” Deems countered.

“All right,” Maggie intervened, “Before we get started, Richard, have you eaten?”

Maggie’s attention, the attention of a regular woman, seemed to relax Deems. He ran his hand over his balding head to straighten what little bit of gray hair that still remained there.

“Yes, thank you. I had something delivered to my office.” Deems smiled as he sat in the comfortable wing-backed chair near the window.

“Then can I offer you coffee? Or a drink? I believe you’re a bourbon drinker. Did I remember correctly?”

“Yes, I am a bourbon drinker,” he said, giving Maggie a small smile, the first time Cam had ever seen him do that. “But I think coffee might be more appropriate tonight, if it’s not too much trouble. We have a lot of work to do.”

“Well, just relax, Richard, and I’ll get coffee for everyone.” Maggie agreed as she went out into the kitchen.

Deems loosened his tie and turned his attention back to Cam, his smile disappearing. He took the files that Maggie had left sitting on the coffee table and, after checking to make sure the tabs on the top read Chameleon, Cam’s undercover name, opened them.

“Has Dr. Thomason told you about this assignment?” he asked Cam as she adjusted the pillows behind her.

“Not a lot,” Cam answered, sinking back onto the couch.

“I thought you wanted to have that honor.” Maggie smiled as she set a tray with a carafe of coffee and mugs on the coffee table. A sugar bowl and spoons had already been set there. None of them used creamer.

Deems chuckled at Maggie’s terminology, or at least Cam thought it was his version of a chuckle. With Deems, Cam never knew if he was making a comment or just clearing his sinus passages.

“Honor.” He shook his head. He never thought he’d be taking this much time and energy to brief an undercover agent. But this one was special, and effective, even if she was homosexual. Why did that fact always creep back into his mind? Maybe in a few more years…

“I think you might remember something about this designer drug that’s out. At first, we thought that it was cocaine laced with strychnine, but our scientists discovered recently that it’s a new drug entirely. It’s very close to cocaine and strychnine but it’s all man-made. Someone has done a lot of chemistry work with this. We don’t even have a name for it yet. It’s not coke. For lack of a better name, we’ve been calling it “croak” because the only thing we know is that it’s killed nine kids and one of our best agents. And we think it’s being made right here in Baltimore.”

“Nine? And it’s not coke?” Cam was surprised. She remembered her last case on the Baltimore police force and how the surviving teens hadn’t wanted to talk about anything.

Deems shook his head. “No. Nor crank or crack. It looks like cocaine and it’s ingested the same ways coke is, but the molecular structure is different and the effects are very radical. We got a sample of it from the last agent on this case, so we know what it looks like.”

“And no one knows where the kids are getting it? That’s hard to believe.” Maggie said as she drew a chair up so she could observe both Cam and Deems.

Again Deems shook his head. “From what we’ve been able to glean, the kids thought they were buying cocaine. The sources are all different and it doesn’t show up all the time. We’ve followed dealers and have even gotten quite high up in the chain, but no one knows they’re selling this stuff or at least no one will admit it. I suspect that they’re all afraid they’ll be arrested on murder charges instead of just drug dealing. We haven’t found a pattern on who gets it, either.”

Cam thought it through as she reached for the pack of cigarettes that lay on the table.

“And the agent who was killed…how did that happen?” she asked, not looking into Deems’ face.

“Thomas Dealy. He said he had a lead on something but he never got to say what it was. They found his body in an alley over in the warehouse district, overdosed on the stuff. We’re not sure if he took it unknowingly or was injected forcefully. The autopsy favors the latter. They’re still working on that.”

“Then he must have been close,” was Maggie’s assessment as she pulled her chair closer to the coffee table.

“Did he leave any notes or anything?” Cam asked. It seemed unlikely that an agent wouldn’t leave notes for someone with info. They most likely were mailed to someone he trusted.

“Not that we’ve been able to find. We’ve had forensic experts going through everything he owned. There’s no trace of anything. He called his control to say he thought he had a lead and that was the last we heard from him.”

The three remained silent for a moment.

“Well, that doesn’t leave me much to work with, does it?” Cam sat back as she lit her cigarette and took a long drag.

Deems frowned. “All we know is that it’s coming from somewhere in the east of the city, near the inner harbor, probably near Fells Point or the Canton area. That’s where most of the cases are showing up. Patterson Park seems to be the dumping ground for drug-related murders, too.”

“Ah!” Cam exclaimed as a thought struck her. “The body of one of the women I was in prison with was found there. I remember reading it in the paper. Everyone thought I had blown the whistle about the drug connection within the prison. That is until her body was found. Then they started to assume it must have been her.”

“There have been quite a few murders there. Either people are too afraid to talk or else no one’s seen anything,” Deems continued.

“Probably a combination of both. Are there no leads at all?”

“They’ve been investigating for over three years,” Deems confirmed. “There’s something going on there, but nothing concrete. We know nothing, just hunches and circumstantial evidence. We have nothing on anyone. What we need is something that could be brought before a grand jury. That’s your job.”

Cam grinned as she bobbed her head.

“Well, we have some suspects, but nothing to make an arrest or even get a search warrant. And…well.” Deems hesitated. “The reason I’m giving this to you is that we know there’s a mole in the department. We don’t know where but a lot of information has leaked out. I have the feeling that it’s how Dealy was fingered. I hesitate to assign another agent who’s known in the department until we can clear that up. That’s why I asked Dr. Thomason if we could use this house for the briefing.”

Cam took a deep breath.

Deems stopped to take several photographs out of his briefcase. “There’s another obstacle.”

He spread some photos out on the coffee table in front of Cam. She looked at each photo.

“Isn’t this the mayor? And is this the councilman who’s making all the speeches about getting drugs off the streets? He’s the one that’s pushing that new anti-drug bill through. I’ve been keeping an eye on that.” She indicated the one photo of a handsome man in his late fifties. The thick, silver hair around the thin face gave him a very distinguished look. Many people thought he was positioning himself to make a bid in the next mayoral or gubernatorial election.

“Who’s the other guy?” The third man was slightly out of shape and had a very cherubic look to his young face. He was probably no older than Cam but his dark hair was thinning.

“That’s Nick Gardiner. He’s a media liaison and speechwriter. He works with both the mayor and the councilman.” Deems carefully pointed at the picture.

“Okay.” Cam continued on to the other pictures.

“But we’re thinking the drug problem may start somewhere in the mayor’s office or at least with someone close to his office. There seems to be a lot of stonewalling going on there. We don’t want it to look like we’re pushing that hard. If it is in the mayor’s office, that could force them to go into hiding. It may even be in the police department. We don’t seem to get much help from them. The only police chief we can count on at all times is your former police chief, Benjamin Shafer.”

“No one else is helping?” Cam asked, shocked.

“Not all the time. Sometimes yes, other times no. Everyone seems to be playing his or her cards close to the vest. We’re not sure who to count on.”

Cam studied the other pictures.

“Who’s Gardiner talking to in this one?” she asked.

Deems looked at the photo before he spoke. “His uncle, Maurice Gardiner. He’s a restaurant owner in the Canton District of Baltimore. He imports food from South America. Coffee, mainly, mostly non-perishable items. He’s one of the people we’re trying to get a handle on. Everything looks fine but there’s just something that’s not right there. That’s part of your assignment, too.”

“Are you thinking I’d make a good waitress?” Cam smiled.

“Maybe,” Deems said seriously. “Well then, what do you suggest?”