“You would have to have no contact with anyone. It would be like a mini vacation away from work, family, friends,” Green shrugged. “You’d sit around and watch television all day. Or read. Whichever you fancy.”
“What about my wife?” Max frowned.
“What about her?” Green asked. “Most people like a vacation from the missus.”
“She would know where I am, right?” Max looked a little concerned. “She needs to know the whole deal and I’d have to be able to phone her each day.”
“Generally, that wouldn’t happen,” Green responded. “We need her reactions to be genuine.”
“Then I can’t do it,” Max shook his head and folded his arms stubbornly. “I’m already on two strikes with her for omitting things when I first met her. I promised to tell her the truth up front and I’m not going to break that promise. I won’t lose her.”
Great, he was ruled by the wife, Drew thought darkly.
“Is she any good at crying? Can she act?” Green asked. “Otherwise we’ll just have to say she’s too upset to go in front of the press. You have any other relatives who might be able to read a statement to the press?”
“I have two brothers and their families,” Max frowned. “I suppose you wouldn’t let them know about it?”
“No,” Green said firmly. “If we let your wife on, that will be enough. If you have any kids, they can’t know that you’re not missing. I’d hate for this entire operation to go bust just because Timmy lets something slip at daycare.”
“Fine, only Piaget will know,” Max responded. He didn’t like keeping his family in the dark about this, but he also wanted these guys caught. It wouldn’t be right to just let these men walk free when they could be behind bars if Max cooperated with the police. “How do we do this? Is there anything that I do that will help in the investigation?”
“Stay out of the way, stay bored, and keep your wife from spilling the beans,” Drew stated dryly. He nodded to Green while pointing a finger at Max. “Where are we going to house our co-conspirator?”
“I figure he can board with you,” Green smiled a little maliciously. “He looks like you and if any of your neighbors see him, they’ll just think it’s you.”
Drew wasn’t amused. He really wished the commanding officer would go back to smoking. He was a lot easier to deal with and didn’t come up with ideas like making Max Drew’s new roommate. “And when I’m gone and working? Who looks after him then?”
“I’ll put the rookie on babysitting duty,” Green leaned back. “It’ll help polish his skills.”
Drew sighed. “Great.”
“It’s just for a few days,” Green assured them both. There was no real way to tell just exactly how long it would really be for, but he wasn’t about to let Max know that now that he had the man’s cooperation. “Colborne, you’d better get back out there and find out where those drugs are going to and who the supplier is. Once we know when the next drop is, we can move.”
“Yes sir,” Drew got up and would have left except the boss stopped him.
“He’ll need a key for your apartment,” Green said.
“Miguel has one,” Drew responded before he left. He’d have to get a cab to go back to the building to see if Red and the gang had gotten everything cleaned up. If they had, he hoped that they would contact him. As a newer member of their gang, he had no way of getting hold of them. It was a simple security measure they used. It was also effective. If they dropped him now, Drew would have no means of contacting them or finding out what they were up to.
Drew grabbed a tarp out of the supply closet to throw over Max’s truck. He didn’t want anyone to see it sitting in the police lot. He’d drive it in further to the impound area, cover it and give Miguel the keys before going back to the abandoned building.
He sure hoped Max and his wife would make this work. If she wasn’t convincing, if something slipped out and everyone learned that Max Ramesly was alive it was Drew’s life on the line.
