Winter Counts(54)

“All right,” said Charley, “I’ve amended the agreement to show that my client is willing to take part in two buys—one controlled, one uncontrolled—and that his criminal charges stay in the juvenile system even if the suspects won’t sell to Nathan, for whatever reason. We all good?”

The AUSA looked like he was sucking on a lemon, but he signed the agreement, followed by Nathan and myself.

“Now we need something from you,” said Dennis. “Nathan, I need you to say out loud that you are cooperating with us willingly in this investigation. It’s just a formality, but I need you to speak into this thing.”

Nathan nodded and said the words into a little tape recorder. I didn’t understand why they needed a verbal statement as well as a written one.

“Okay, let’s get this deal going. You ready?” Dennis said to me.

I nodded.

He took out a cell phone and gave it to Nathan. “This is a burner phone, can’t be traced to anyone. You don’t call anyone else with this phone. There’s one phone number programmed in there: mine. We need you to start frequenting with the dealers again. Talk with them, hang around or whatever, but don’t be obvious. Just act normal. You see them lately?”

Nathan shook his head. “No, they usually kick it on the picnic tables behind the football field. Since I got back, I been going straight home after school.”

“All right, start visiting with them again, but ease into it. When you’re ready, ask to buy a small amount—one hit. Don’t ask to buy heavy weight. Then call me the day before the buy so we can get everything in place. I’ll give you some money, go over a few things. You won’t wear a wire for that buy, but I’ll need to get a statement from you after it’s done. Also, whatever you buy from these guys, save it and give it to us for evidence.”

Nathan had a bored look on his face.

“And one more thing. You can’t get in any more trouble, so don’t take any drugs. No pills, no junk, no pot—from anyone. You get busted again, we can’t do anything for you.”

“I’m done with that stuff,” Nathan said. “I told you, it was only one time!” I knew he’d fooled around with weed in the past, but I’d talk to him later and make sure he kept clean.

“Just letting you know. After you do the first buy, you’ll set up the next one. Maybe go back a few days later, ask if you can get more. That’s what they want, they’re trying to get regular customers. Call me on the burner after you talk with them and we’ll meet again. We’ll give you the device then. It’s not actually a wire, that’s just in the movies.”

Dennis held up his hand. “Okay, last point, and it’s important. If there’s a problem or you need help, anytime, you call me on this phone and say, how about, ‘Going to a friend’s house,’ and we’ll come right away. Got it? ‘Going to a friend’s house.’ That’s the emergency code.”

I didn’t like the sound of this. “What kind of problem? What do you mean?”

“Standard procedure, it’s just a way to signal us if there’s a need. The deal will go smoothly, but we always build in a way for a CI to contact us. Think of it as added protection for him. Like an insurance policy.”

This sounded like Trust us, Indian people again, but what could I say? The wheels were turning as Nathan began his transformation to criminal informant.

“Will I be able to listen in?” I asked. “In the van, or whatever you guys use?”

Dennis looked at the prosecutor. Stan made a little movement with his head.

“All right. Because I know you and given that he’s a minor, you can ride along. But we’ll need you to keep your mouth shut.”

We’d see about that.

THE NEXT DAY, MARIE came by the house right after Nathan had gone to school. I wanted to tell her about the meeting with the lawyer, but something in her face made me wait.

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be at work?” I asked.

“No, I’m driving out to Pine Ridge. Got a meeting with a buffalo company—one of the biggest ranches around. They’re willing to sell us bison! For the commod boxes. Remember, the grant we got?”

I threw away the last bit of my toast. “Yeah, I remember. That’s good news. Did you sign a contract?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m waiting on Wayne from the tribal committee to approve the deal. But there’s no reason not to go with these guys. They’re giving us a great price and it’s grass-fed bison, humanely slaughtered. And they’re a minority-owned business—could be a tax break. Looks like we’ll finally get some decent meat in the boxes.”

I toasted her with my coffee cup. “Nice job. Maybe they’ll make you the manager of the program, get rid of Delia.”

“I hope,” she said. “Hey, you mind if I put on some tea?”

She took out some of the tea she had stashed in her bag. I wondered if something was up besides the buffalo meat. Back in the day, whenever Marie had wanted to sit down for a talk, she’d brew some funky tea, a blend called Sparrow’s Tears her mother had bought in San Francisco. She said the tea calmed her. I knew we were in for a long discussion whenever I saw the bird tea come out. Now it was steeping in the little pot.

“You want some?” she said, pointing with her lips at the tea.