CHAPTER ONE

"MARK, SET, GO"

Sergeant Samuel E. Stone was working as Administrative Sergeant for the Kingston County Sheriff's office. It was a job he despised, but one he had been stuck with for the better part of the last two years. He considered himself a cop and a good one. His current assignment placed him as nothing more than a flunky for the Sheriff and his political assistants. It was two days before Christmas 1988. The wind was blowing and the rain pouring, as the Sarge drove downtown to catch a bite to eat. He had less than an hour before his scheduled meeting with the Sheriff. As he turned the corner onto Main Street, he observed three patrol cars with their emergency lights flashing. He pulled in behind the last patrol unit and parked his car. The Sarge was dressed in plain clothes rather than a uniform, but was known to the officers at the scene.
"Hey Sarge, what brings you here? Did you decide to get in on the action?" One of the young officers asked as he greeted the Sarge.
"No, I'm just going to lunch, but since I'm here, what's up? What do you have going on anyway?"
"Well, we have a subject with a gun holding the people inside the restaurant hostage. We're not sure why, but we know there have been shots fired and we've been told there is one man down. We've set up a perimeter around the scene. Now, we're waiting for the shift commander to arrive and take charge."
"Very good, keep up the good work." The Sarge remarked as he walked past the officer and headed toward the front door to the restaurant.
"Where are you going, Sarge?"
"I already told you. I'm going in for some lunch. When the watch commander arrives, tell him I'm inside." The Sarge smiled as he opened the door and stepped into the eating establishment.
"But, but you can't . . . " The young officer yelled, but it was too late, the Sarge had already made the commitment and disappeared into the eating house.
It was a dimly lit, elegant, high class restaurant; the type which caters to lawyers and business executives. The Sarge sauntered slowly down the main aisle, as if he was on a leisurely Sunday afternoon stroll and didn't have a care in the world. He walked up to one of the front tables and sat down as he glanced about the room. The suspect was over in front of the bar holding a waitress. He had his arms wrapped tightly around her chest and his gun pointed at her head. Off to the right sat a man slumped over a table in a pool of his own blood. It appeared he had been shot to death. About the room were seated panic-stricken patrons each fearing they would be the next victim, the next one to die.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" The armed man screamed as he waved the gun about.
The Sarge smiled as he extended his index finger in a "come here" motioned toward the man holding the woman hostage. Keeping his hostage firmly in front of him, the man walked over to the table where the Sarge was sitting. He peered down at the Sarge with a puzzled look on his face.
"Who is the dead guy?" The Sarge asked pointing at the man sprawled lifelessly over the table across from him
"That was my wife's attorney. He handled our divorce for her. The asshole really did a number on me, but I showed him."
"So you're done here, right?"
"Who the hell are you, anyway?"
"I'm the cop who came in here to arrest you. So give me the gun, you're finished here. There is no need for anyone else to get hurt. Now, is there?"
"Back off, or I'll kill you, or I'll kill her." The gunman screamed as he waved the gun about.
"Okay, take it easy. I tried to do this without hurting you." The Sarge remarked as he aimed the derringer he had concealed in the palm of his hand at the suspect's foot and squeezed the trigger. Bang! The sound rang out like a cannon exploding in a major war scene, as the startled patrons sat frozen in their seats, gasping for air.
The bullet penetrated the suspect's right foot, causing him to scream in pain as he released his hostage. He threw the pistol he was carrying to the ground as he grabbed for his foot. The Sarge was on top of the suspect in seconds and had him placed in handcuffs. He checked the victim the gunman had shot and determined that he was, in fact, dead. The Sarge motioned for the officers securing the perimeter to come inside. He turned the investigation over to them. The officers immediately began obtaining statements of what had occurred from the witnesses present.
The waitress who had been held at gun point turned to the Sarge.
"Thank you, so very much, you saved my life! Would you like some lunch or something?"
"No thanks, I don't think I can afford to eat at this restaurant; it's a little above my budget. But, I'm glad you're all right and we were able to take that guy in custody without anyone else getting hurt," the Sarge replied as he walked out of the building and back over to his unmarked patrol car.
"Hey Sarge, the Chief of Detectives was calling for you on the radio. He wants you in his office as soon as you can get there. How was lunch?" The Watch Commander yelled as he exited his patrol car.
"Not all that great, I'm still hungry." The Sarge shouted back to the Watch Commander.
Sergeant Stone drove back to the Sheriff's office and proceeded directly to Chief Logan's office.
"You want to see me, Chief?"
"Yeah, I do. What the hell were you thinking? You're the Administrative Sergeant, not some one man army who goes out and takes situations in his own hands. You were way out of line in the manner in which just handled that hostage situation. You're fortunate no one but the suspect got hurt and you are especially lucky you didn't get yourself killed. You hear what I'm telling you? Beside, you missed your meeting with the Sheriff and he's upset."
"So what are you guys going to do? Fire me from Administrative work and put me back on the road as a cop? Go ahead I've been saying for two years, you've been wasting my time and experience having me follow the Sheriff around being his flunky. Besides, as secretive as the Sheriff is from time to time, I'm beginning to think he might be a crook himself. So maybe you better fire me before I have to arrest his ass. Ha." The Sarge laughed.
"Now, I'm serious, no more heroics, Okay? Do we have an understanding? You know we go way back. and I think you're a good cop but let's face it. Sometimes you just go too far and take too many risks."
"All right, Chief, you made your point. Anything else?"
"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I have a new assignment for you, if you're interested?"
"Anything to get out of the Administrative Sergeant position, I'm going crazy up there!"
"Well, I need you to set up another undercover operation. This time, however, you are not going to be working it. You will just oversee the operation. I want you to set up all the background stuff, you know, their undercover identities and all. I'm also depending on you to make sure the officers we put undercover are doing their job and, more importantly, keeping themselves out of trouble. Are you interested in the job?"
"Yeah, it sounds great, Chief."
"But like I said, you will not be working undercover, yourself. I know from the last time you worked undercover how much you enjoyed undercover work. Do we have an understanding? Are you going to be able to handle being on the sidelines directing, as opposed to being the one actually doing the work?"
"No problem, I can handle it."
"Okay then, I want you to spend the rest of December getting everything in order in the Administrative Sergeant's position so we can move you out and someone else in come January.
As of the first of the year, you'll be back in the Detective's division again. Between now and then, I need you to kiss up to Sheriff Johnston. You know how he doesn't like us working drug cases. He worries about the liability. In fact, that is why we haven't worked any drug cases since you worked undercover in the Topless club operation, which, . . . my God, was more than seven years ago. We need to get on his good side, so he'll let us do this. I need your help. Between the two of us, hopefully, we'll keep the Sheriff happy and will be able to pull off a successful operation without him prematurely pulling the plug on it. Anyway, you know what to do, so I'm counting on you, Sarge."
"No problem Chief, you can count on me, but I do have one major concern and I think you know what it is. I'm worried about Chief Halsted. I still believe he's dirty and he's the one that blew my cover when I worked the Topless club. I don't want him to know anything about this operation. In fact, I don't even want the Sheriff to know too much; you know what a big mouth he has, especially when it comes to bragging to other department heads. You also know how close he and Chief Halsted are to each other."
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone any more than I have to. I want this operation to be successful just as much as you do."
The rest of the month of December seemed to drag on and on for the Sarge, with each day lingering, as he patiently waited in anticipation of his new assignment. Finally, January 2, 1989 arrived, and that morning the Sarge was sitting in Chief Logan's office drinking coffee when the Chief walked in.
"Well, here I am, ready to get started, Chief."
Chief Logan smiled as he poured himself some coffee and walked over, closing the door to his office. He proceeded to his old oak desk and sat down. The two of them spent the entire morning discussing the goals and objectives which the Chief wanted the undercover operation to achieve. Crime had been running out of control for sometime in Kingston County, with burglaries and violent crimes all at record highs. The Chief was convinced that the drug epidemic plaguing the community was directly responsible for the increase in crime. His plan was for the Sarge to set up a store front and run an undercover operation out of the store. The design was to create a commercial enterprise which appeared shady, but legitimate. He desired the business to be located in the center of the County. It would afford the undercover operatives a more realistic opportunity from a geographic standpoint to become engaged in drug transactions from all over the entire County. He wanted the officers working the operation to become involved in purchasing drugs, as well as buying stolen property. He hoped by the end of the operation, the evidence obtained would be so overwhelming and would result in so many arrests, it would put a significant impact on local crime.
The Chief gave the Sarge three months, to get organized and get everything he needed. After that, he wanted the store front up and running. He set the dead line of April 1, 1989, as the date he wanted the doors to the store open for business. The operation would then have one year in which to make drug purchases and develop cases, before it would be closed down.
After the Chief finished telling the Sarge all that he wanted and expected out of the operation, the Sarge came back to the chief demanding some personal restrictions.
"I'm looking forward to setting up and handling the overseeing of this operation, but I have to tell you right now, from our past experience together, I need complete control over the daily operations, in order for this to succeed. I cannot be worried about pleasing you or checking with you on every little thing. Do we have an understanding? Are you willing to give me the control I need and trust me to get the job done? Also will you be able to keep the Sheriff off my back so we can get the job done?"
"In answer to your questions, yes, yes, and I'll do my best to control Sheriff Johnston, but you have to understand, he's the boss and we work for him, so there is only so much I can do in that respect."
The Sarge nodded that he understood where the Chief was coming from in regards to the Sheriff.
"Oh, and one thing I want from you, Sarge. I want your word that all investigations will be done under the "buddy system." In other words, I don't want any one officer, out in the field by him or herself, working on an investigation. Undercover work is too dangerous to have an officer out God only knows where, by him or herself and then it turns bad. I don't want to lose any officers. I know you worked by yourself in the past, but that was then and this is now. Do we have an understanding? I'm not going to budge on this. I'm totally committed to the 'buddy system.' Agreed?"
"But . . . "
"No buts, this is not negotiable. Now do we have an understanding?"
"Yes, I understand and we will practice the 'buddy system' and there will be no exceptions."
The Chief proceeded to assign two deputies who would be working undercover for the Sarge. The first was a female officer, an eight-year veteran of the department, by the name of Teri Willis. She had been used to work short undercover operations during her first year on the department and had handled herself well in an undercover capacity. The second officer was Doug Wiggins, a ten-year veteran, who had no undercover work experience. He did, however, have a very independent sort of demeanor, one which, Chief Logan felt would be an asset to undercover work.
The next morning, the Sarge met with Teri Willis and Doug Wiggins. The three of them spent the day discussing the upcoming operation and attempting to decide what type of business they would open. It had to be something simple with a low overhead. The Sarge had a hundred- thousand-dollar budget for the operation, but he wanted most of that money to be used for the purchase of drugs and stolen property. He knew from past experience, the money would go quickly, once the officers began purchasing drugs. They needed some sort of merchandise, which they could get cheaply or for next to nothing. They tossed around the idea of an antique store and the three of them were somewhat sold on the idea when the Sarge got another idea.
"How about a military surplus store? I have this close friend, who is Congressman Robert Bender's personal aid. His name is Dan Roberts. He used to be a cop himself. In fact, I worked with him on many cases. We can trust him, and I'm sure he could get the Congressman to pull some strings and get us all the military surplus we need, most likely for nothing."

"Sounds like a great idea." Willis and Wiggins both replied simultaneously.
The very next day, the Sarge contacted Dan Roberts and the Congressman. They were both receptive to the idea and even somewhat excited with the possibilities. The Sarge was able to make arrangements through them to obtain all the military surplus they would ever need for as long as the operation lasted. It was agreed that after the operation ended, if it was successful, the Congressman would get credit with the news media for assisting the local law enforcement in their efforts in the war against drugs. However, if the operation flopped or resulted in negative publicity, the Congressman's involvement in the operation would never be mentioned. The Sarge realized that in politics, everything had a price, but felt it was a small amount to pay for all the military surplus they would ever need during the span of the operation. He now needed to find just the right building in which to operate the storefront. They had to have a building before they even began thinking about collecting the surplus items.
The Sarge spent the next three weeks hunting for the right location for the storefront. Finally, he located the perfect spot. It was a commercial building which was located next to a busy highway in the center of a business hub and to the Chief's liking, it was in the middle of Kingston County. It was perfect, exactly what Chief Logan wanted the storefront to be. The Sarge rented the building immediately upon inspecting it. He signed a one year lease with the owner at which time he paid the first and last month's rent in advance along with a healthy deposit. The Sarge portrayed himself as a businessman from California who was in the process of relocating. He explained how he was moving into Kingston County and would be having his associates running the store front for him.
It was already the end of January, and there was still a lot to do before they would be ready to open the store. The Sarge had to take Deputy Willis and Deputy Wiggins to the state capital so they could each be issued undercover driver licenses and untraceable undercover vehicles. Before that could be done, however, they had to come up with real physical addresses which could be used on the undercover licenses and vehicle registrations. Everything took time, but was done, one item at a time. Nothing was rushed, including getting the phony business license. The Sarge did not want to make any mistakes, especially mistakes made in haste.
The daylight hours found the squad running about, picking up this or that, while the evenings were spent building walls and remodeling the store front to fit the needs of the operation. The Sarge and the two officers built a false wall inside the store which would conceal a hidden room. A room where they could hide a safe, which would serve as a storage area for their paper work and drugs they would purchase. It would serve as a portable evidence locker, until they were able to turn the items in to the Sheriff's office evidence room. The hidden room had to be a large area, spacious enough so that it could accommodate a desk, to work on their reports, those reports involving the drug cases they would be investigating. The room was additionally set up to house a hidden camera, along with a VCR and monitor, so they could record drug deals as they took place out in the store front. The video recordings would be held as evidence. The three of them worked around the clock and while they physically worked, they also discussed backgro und information concerning their undercover identities. They needed to be comfortable with their undercover names and background information. The Sarge had them refer to each other under their new undercover identities. Teri Willis was known as TB Reynolds and Doug Wiggins was known as Don Taylor or Weird Don. They made a game out of it, quizzing each other over background information they were to know about each other and adjusting to the names, until it became second nature.
The storefront was actually divided into four different rooms. The first room was the office and lounge area and was located off to the right of the front door leading to the street. This room contained a hidden camera with a remote switch allowing the squad to make video recordings of transactions which took place in the room. The second room was the store itself. It, too, had hidden cameras strategically located about the room. It was a large open room, filled with rows and rows of shelving which would be used to display the military surplus items for sale. The shelving alone took hours and hours to build. The third room was the bathroom and the fourth room was the hidden room, which no one except those working the operation, would ever, even know existed.
The three of them went by the local thrift stores and purchased furnishings for the office and lounge area. They found everything they needed from an entertainment center and couch to a desk and chairs. They also picked up a television, VCR and microwave for the lounge, so they could sit around and watch movies while entertaining the potential drug dealers who might stop by to visit. They needed to make everything appear real, and as if it all belonged.
The Sarge showed TB and Weird Don how to make crack cocaine from powdered cocaine. He got some cocaine which was marked to be destroyed out of the evidence locker at the Sheriff's office. He mixed the cocaine with baking soda and ammonia in a glass bowl. He placed the mixture in the microwave. He turned the microwave on high for ten second intervals, each time taking the mixture out and checking for a boil. Finally, the mixture was cooked.
"Look here, see how this gummy substance has separated from the liquid. This is the pure cocaine. It will harden into a rock, which will no longer be soluble in water. It will be a rock without any impurities and can be smoked in a bowl. It's supposed to be the ultimate high, but I recommend you don't try it. They say once you try it, you automatically become psychologically addicted to it. The high is so good, you instantly want more and the irony of the situation is that the high, itself, destroys the little pleasure sensors in the brain making it impossible for that person to ever achieve that great of a high, again."
The Sarge paused, looking at TB and Weird Don. It was the first time he actually felt he really had Don's undivided attention. From the beginning of setting up the operation, it was obvious to the Sarge that Don resented the fact that he, the Sarge, was in charge. Don wanted to run the operation himself and felt that he was perfectly capable of handling everything which needed to be done. He was constantly questioning everything the Sarge said, in order to express opposition to his authority. The Sarge was well aware that supervising Don was going to be the ultimate challenge of his career as a supervisor. He attempted to pretend that it did not bother him, but the fact was that it did disturb him.
For appearance sake, the Sarge placed a box of baking powder and a bottle of ammonia on top of the microwave. He also put a box of lactose on top of the microwave. Lactose, commonly used in baby laxative, is also used by drug dealers to cut cocaine and thereby increase their profit margin. The Sarge was constantly hammering home to TB and Don that working undercover was much like being a magician.
"The greater the illusions you create that you're involved in drugs, the easier it will be for the drug dealers to believe you are involved, and that is your goal. You want them to believe."
It was March already. Time was quickly moving closer to the April first opening date for the Military Surplus store. Congressman Bender expedited the paper work releasing the surplus to the Sarge. Over the next two weeks, the Sarge and Dan Roberts spent the days hauling truck after truck loads of military surplus from the Army base located some seventy-five miles away. They picked up a variety of merchandise from camouflage clothing to combat boots. They grabbed helmets, canteens, web gear, backpacks, blankets, sleeping bags and tents, everything imaginable which was used by the military and would fit into the back of their pickup truck. With each load, they filled more and more shelves in the store front, and it began to look like a real surplus store.
It was around two in the afternoon, on a Thursday, when Dan and the Sarge arrived with another load of surplus. Dan followed the Sarge into the store, each of them carrying boxes of surplus. They were both immediately taken aback, to see Don in the middle of completing a transaction of purchasing a baggie of wet bud marihuana from a young couple, in the process of smoking a joint.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing? Take that shit into the office and close the door, what do you want to do, get us busted before we even open our doors up for business?" The Sarge yelled in a rather abrupt tone.
Don immediately motioned the young guy and girl into the office, closing the door behind him. The Sarge shook his head as he looked over at Dan with a disgusted look on his face. The two of them went back to work, but it wasn't long until the door to the office opened and the group walked back out into the open area of the store. This time, at least, they did not have the marihuana joint burning or visible.
"Willis, this is Trixie and JoJo, they are our new friends. We told them how we just moved here from California and really don't know anyone. They offered to introduce us around." TB remarked, with a nervous smile on her face.
The Sarge acknowledged their presence and excused himself, advising that he had to get back to work. He and Dan then went back to hauling boxes from the truck. As soon as JoJo and Trixie departed, the Sarge locked the door behind them. He motioned for TB and Don to step into the office.
"What the hell were you two thinking? We are not supposed to open for business, until the first of the month and then only after I'm out of here. I'm not supposed to work undercover with you guys, just oversee the operation. Now you have me identified as one of the players. If I disappear, it will look suspicious from the start. And where did you get the name Willis?"
"I did not know who to introduce you as, so I just used my last name, it was the first name which came to mind," TB remarked in a reluctant voice.
"Frankly, I'm getting tired of playing carpenter. I'm a cop and I'm supposed to be working undercover and buying drugs, so I got the ball rolling. I met these guys and made our first drug buy. So, we really don't even need you here anymore, so thanks for everything. Why don't you go back to the office and we'll keep you informed?" Don yelled, as he puffed up his chest, challenging the Sarge.
The Sarge took a deep breath in an attempt to maintain his composure. He motioned to Dan and TB to leave the room, closing the door behind them. He turned to Don.
"Listen, you son of a bitch, I'm the one in charge here and you work for me. If you don't like it, you can leave right now. If you ever attempt to undermine my authority again, you won't have a choice in the matter, you'll be out of here, like it or not. Do I make myself clear?"
Don didn't say a word, but rather just glared at the Sarge. Suddenly, there was a knock at the front door to the business. The Sarge and Don exited the office, just as TB opened the front door. It was Trixie.