In the early morning hours of June 16, 2006, Captain Octavio "Ox" Gonzalez of the St. John Parish Sheriff's Office, Bureau of Narcotics, was ambushed, gunned down and murdered by one Johnnie Lee Cheeks. No conspiracy, no well laid plans: just a small time, dirt-bag somehow managing to get the drop on a much better man. However, "The Real Deal" is not an exploratory account of the incident in question. Rather than focusing on the gruesome details of Captain Gonzalez's murder, the author has chosen instead to focus on a series of unusual events which occurred in the months that followed; events that left witnesses both perplexed and inspired. Told from the author's perspective, "The Real Deal," recounts his rise to narcotics investigator and reveals lessons learned while serving under Gonzalez... both before, and after, the Captain's untimely demise.