Tactical Pursuit

by Lynette Mae

  “You’re the SWAT master. You tell me.”

  “A good teacher knows when to let the student lead. But I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you my best recommendations and be with you every step of the way.” She reached out and squeezed Devon’s shoulder.

  Devon heaved out a huge sigh. “I say we hit the place with simultaneous entries from two teams. That way, he has no idea what’s happening. He’ll have to respond to one of the strikes, and that should give the other team the opportunity to get to either him or the...hostage.” Her voice broke on the last word.

  “Sounds like a good plan. Which team do you want?”

  “Nate and I will take the rear. We’ll blast an entry point through the south wall. You and your team come through the front at the same time. Hopefully, the explosion will make him move and he’ll run right into one of our units. If not, then we’ll all be inside with enough firepower to do the job.”

  “What about flash-bang grenades first? That’ll disorient him, maybe even stun him for a little bit.”

  “No. That’s too risky. We don’t know where he has Jessie in the house. She’s already hurt and we don’t know how badly. The concussion grenades would do the trick for him, but I don’t want to jeopardize her any further.”

  “Good thinking. I agree. See? That’s why you were my best student.”

  Devon’s voice was hollow. “We have to be right about what we do here tonight. We’re only going to get one shot. Jessie’s life depends on it. I don’t know what I’ll do if—”

  In the midst of all of her uncertainty and fears she searched Jillian’s eyes for a lifeline and miraculously found it. Jillian exuded strength and confidence, and Devon clung to that steady support. Somehow Jillian gave her hope. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

  “I promise you we’re not leaving without Jessie tonight.”

  From the darkness of the trees beyond them came the sound of a voice speaking through a bullhorn. “We can resolve this.”

  “Sergeant Gray?” A male voice called from the gathering behind them. “Everyone’s here, we’re waiting on your orders.”

  “Coming,” Jillian yelled back. She pulled on her helmet, leaving the chinstrap dangling. Crickets droned from deeper in the woods. Jillian pursed her lips and studied the destination in the distance before flashing Devon an encouraging grin. “Let’s go get your girl.”

  Devon went to give instructions to her team, and when Tampa SWAT rejoined the group, members from both agencies formed a semi-circle around Jillian who laid out the plan. “For ease of communication and familiarity, we’ll divide into two entry teams, by agency.” She put her boot on the seat of a metal folding chair and leaned forward with her elbow on her knee as she spoke. “My team will take the front door. Tommy, you got the ram?”

  A mountain of a man nodded and held up the tool in question.

  Jillian pointed to the map layout of the cabin, drawn by descriptions relayed from the recon team. “The front door is on the north side. Here.” She tapped the map and then drew her finger across the paper. “James’s team will take the south side. Here. Odds are that he has the hostage in a room on the west side. There’s only one small window in that room and the shade is drawn. We’re making that assumption because we don’t see any signs of them in the rest of the place.”

  Jillian pointed at Reinhardt. “Bert, you’ll have the shield. I’ll take the cover position with you as we make entry. Snipers are already in place on the perimeter.” She turned to Devon and Nate.

  “You two all set with your team?”

  “Yes.” Devon stepped forward. “I sent my explosive guys to set charges at that back window. Before we move in, I want the advance team to kill the generator that’s powering the cabin. The last update indicated he’s only using candlelight in the back room, but I want to ensure we have complete control. Everyone remember, this is a rescue operation. We’re going with a dynamic entry because time is working against us. When Sergeant Gray gives the go, we’ll detonate. That should open up a hole big enough to drive a truck through. Then we’ll meet you inside.” Her attempt at a smile failed under the tension, but Jillian was steady enough for both of them.

  “We’ll go with our two teams of six,” Jillian said. “The object here is to breach the back wall and front door simultaneously. The explosion should be a surprise to him. We have to capitalize on that. The breach must be swift and efficient. Keep moving forward. Teams will join inside the structure and immediately begin clearing. I want this to be one chain reaction event. He feels the explosion, and then we’re kicking in doors until we reach the hostage. Once we deploy, we do not stop until the objective is reached. Resistance will be overcome forcefully. Everyone has a green light. Shoot if you have to, but be mindful of the hostage’s safety.”

  Jillian’s commander cleared his throat and motioned her over to him. Jill indicated Devon should follow. “Yes, sir,” Jillian said.

  The captain was obviously disturbed. “The suspect isn’t talking with the negotiators. They tried to leave a portable phone for him to talk, but he wouldn’t take the bait. When they asked him to come out over the bullhorn, he shoved the wounded officer in front of the window.”

  Devon’s heart jumped. “Is she—?”

  Helms raised his hand. “She’s alive. They couldn’t tell more than that. The officer held a piece of paper that was obviously the suspect’s message: ‘My father’s work ends tonight. Tell the reprobate whores I’m waiting.’ The negotiator asked what he meant. He said it meant to come and get him. ‘Fuck off,’ was the last thing he said.”

  “We have to move, Captain,” Jillian said. “She’s alive. We can’t waste any more time.”

  “You have the go ahead,” he said. “I’ll be monitoring from the CP and you’ll have air support for added security. I know I don’t have to tell you, Jill, but be careful. I’ll see you when it’s all over.”

  Devon was already stalking back to the team, relieved that the ridiculous wringing of hands and agonizing delays were over. Jessie was alive, but for how long? All of the long days of drilling and perfecting their roles came down to this.

  Devon pulled on her fingerless gloves and snapped her chinstrap to her helmet. A final ammo check. She sighted the assault rifle one last time, running the ops plan through her mind, glad her training was automatically kicking in. Jessie needed a controlled team leader, not a hysterical lover. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply to focus.

  “All right people, let’s do this,” Jillian addressed the group with urgency. “Everyone switch to the interagency TAC frequency. I don’t want our target listening to what we’re doing. I’ll be Team Leader One and Corporal James, Team Leader Two. Concentrate on your execution, folks. Remember, there’s an injured officer inside.” Devon flinched as Jillian continued, all business now. “Getting her out in one piece is our main objective. Our target is armed and obviously dangerous. We get the hostage out and arrest the bad guy—peacefully if possible—but that’s his call. I’m concerned with Officer Kilbride’s safety and our own. That is our only focus tonight. You all have your assignments. We move in five.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  “GET UP.” HONEYCUTT jerked Jessie to her feet, shoving her through the main room toward the back of the house. He paused momentarily to peer out the corner of the side window into the darkness, careful to keep his body behind the wall. No way was he going to let this all end with a lucky sniper shot. He scanned the darkness for signs of the police response that he knew was building. The unmistakable sound of helicopter rotors steadily droned overhead, and every so often the glare of the spotlight lit up the cabin. McKinley.

  “I could have been an army chopper pilot,” Honeycutt groused. “They screwed me, saying their fucking aptitude test showed I’d be much better suited as a combat engineer.” The fact that one of those dykes would be good enough to be an army aviator, while he was denied, was injustice on a grand scale. “Now they’ll be sorry. I learned a few skills
that’ll be pretty handy tonight.”

  He turned to see his captive standing to his left, directly in front of the window, apparently looking for any sign of hope. An instantaneous flash caught his eye from the darkness beyond, so brief that he wondered if he actually saw it, but he trusted his instincts. “Get away from the fucking window.” He seized her arm with a vise-like grip, dragging her behind him down the hallway to a back bedroom where he had set the stage for the final showdown. If James got through all of the other surprises, then it would come down to the two of them. Well, it would be the two of them once James watched the little bitch die.

  The room contained only a single straight-backed wooden chair that sat in the center with a length of rope coiled on the floor beside it. He shoved her in the direction of the chair. “Sit.” Without warning, she kicked at him, connecting with his left knee and nearly knocking him off balance. She made a feeble attempt to get away, but he easily caught her before she made it to the door. He delivered a hard, open hand slap that rocked her head to the side, splitting her lip. She moaned.

  “Don’t fuck with me.” He breathed heavily as he shoved her into the chair and secured her to the seat, tying her body and each leg separately.

  “No matter what you do to me, they’ll kill you,” she said through wheezing breaths.

  “Fucking bitch,” he growled and stomped out of the room. He didn’t have time to engage in verbal judo with her. He had to move quickly. The thumping of the helicopter was louder, hovering closer. That meant they were coming soon and didn’t care if he knew it anymore.

  He carried a small lantern with him to the main room and worked methodically, ensuring that all of the connections were made, double-checking the placements for maximum impact. Strips of duct tape secured the final sections and he stepped back to survey his handiwork. It was sort of a shame that he wouldn’t be able to see the look on their faces right before it happened—in that second of realization that they were screwed. But really, he was counting on James being a more worthy adversary. He doused the light. The two of them had a rendezvous with destiny tonight, and in the end truth would prevail.

  “ALPHA ONE TO Team Leader One,” the advance team corporal called. Devon and Jillian were going over the final plans before heading out with their entry teams.

  “Team Leader One, go.” Jillian’s voice was calm control. Her eyes were darkly serious and her body language communicated only confidence and certainty. Seeing Jillian at the SWAT school had given Devon a new perspective on the person Jill had become, but it wasn’t until now that she truly appreciated the transformation. She was on top of every singular detail of this operation. Her team keyed in on her behavior and responded not only to her directives, but to every inflection and nuance of tone. This was a woman to be reckoned with, and Devon was grateful beyond measure to have Jill running things tonight.

  “We have movement inside at the rear of the residence on the west side. My spotter says someone moved the curtain in the corner room. They stayed off to the side, so we couldn’t get a look at that individual, but a minute later, we got a visual confirmation of the officer in the window.”

  “Did it look like he was using her to try to make contact?”

  “Negative. Looked like she did it on her own and then was jerked away from the window. Just thought you’d want to know. She obviously wanted to be seen. Smart.”

  Jillian glanced at Devon. “Ten-four, that’s good news. We’ll be moving shortly, Alpha One, stand-by. Good work. Team Leader One out.”

  “Tampa Air One to Team Leader One.” Mac’s voice gave Devon another measure of reassurance.

  If Jillian felt the same, it didn’t show. “Go, Air One.” Her voice was just as controlled when she answered Mac.

  “Everything is quiet down there, Sergeant. Nothing moving between the advance team and the house. I’ve got the north side and your chopper has the south. We’ll keep a watch with the infrared until you make entry. If you need more visibility before that, just give the word and we’ll light that place up like noon.”

  “Thanks, Air One.” For a split second Devon heard a touch of affection in Jill’s voice, but she was certain nobody else would notice.

  “Anytime. I’ll be keeping an eye out. You two be careful.” Mac’s response was undeniably warm and both Jillian and Devon automatically looked skyward.

  “Roger that, ma’am.” Jill smiled in spite of herself. “We’ll see you on the ground in a little while.”

  The two SWAT teams approached the edge of the property together. Devon and Jillian both carried M16 assault rifles, and like the rest of their teams, wore heavy vests with the highest ballistic level. They would make entry immediately after the breaches at the designated points. Jillian’s shield bearer walked just to her left and Nate just to Devon’s right. The remainder of their teams followed behind in a column of twos. About two hundred yards from the house the teams split, Jillian’s team taking the front and Devon’s taking the rear.

  “Give me an extra couple of seconds to make sure our charges in place,” Devon said to Jillian.

  “We’ll be in position. Just advise when you’re ready and I’ll give the order for entry.”

  “When you hear the blast, you’ll know we’re coming.”

  Jillian smiled at her. “See ya inside.”

  Devon and her team moved with quiet, stealth precision to the rear of the cabin, assault rifles trained on the darkness ahead. Devon’s explosives man had placed C4 charges around the rear window frame that would be their point of entry. Scanning the rear of the structure, Devon realized that had to be the window that the Alpha team had seen Jessie looking out from. The spotter had also said she was pulled away from the window, but not which direction.

  “Team Leader Two, we’re in position, charges set.”

  “Ten-four,” Jillian said.

  “Alpha Leader, what direction did you say the officer was pulled away from the window?” Devon asked.

  “West. It looks like maybe a couple of small bedrooms on that side of the house. Shades are pulled tight now, so we can’t see anything.”

  “Copy.” Devon mentally formulated their interior search once entry was made. She turned to Nate. “When we enter and clear, we move immediately west. The rest of you guys fall in behind us. We hit the first door, the next pair immediately take the second. This has to be as seamless as possible. The element of surprise and confusion is only going to be in our favor a short time.”

  Nate nodded.

  “Team Leader One to Team Leader Two,” Jillian said. “All set?”

  “In position, standing by for your count,” Devon replied.

  “Ten-four.”

  Devon shouldered the rifle to lead with the muzzle when they broke through the wall. She drew a deep breath as Jillian’s count came through the earpiece.

  “On three. One…Two…Three.”

  Pop. The telltale sound of the bomb tech’s switch was her cue. “Go! Go! Go!” Their charge exploded.

  The team pushed forward through the blast, shards of glass and pieces of wood, metal, and concrete pelting their protective equipment. Nate and Devon advanced behind the shield bearer. Another deafening explosion rocked the night. The concussive force of the blast shook the ground. Devon instantly knew something was terribly wrong. A secondary detonation was not planned. Only the rear entry point was to be breached with explosives.

  Even as the thought of a booby-trap cascaded through her mind, the team surged forward. Their objective was to make entry and rescue the hostage. No time to worry about an unforeseen event.

  “No!” Mac shouted in her ear. “The front of the place just blew up! No—” The transmission stopped.

  Nate cursed. “That’s bad.”

  Devon moved forward anyway, forcing her mind to block out the panic that threatened to follow the agony in Mac’s voice. They still had a job to do. The hole they’d blasted was large enough for the team to scramble through single file. Static crackled in her ear
. Devon peered into the smoke-filled interior, trying to see the other team, but the cloud was so thick she could barely make out the muzzle of her rifle through her goggles. She and Nate moved as one, following the shield into the cabin. Devon listened with her free ear. The quiet was interrupted only by the sounds of dust and debris settling in slow motion.

  “Team Leader Two, entry made.”

  They continued on quickly according to plan. There was only silence in the cabin and her earpiece as they shuffled in tandem across the open space between the kitchen and the living area.

  “Clear!” Both she and Nate shouted, indicating the area immediately in front of them was safe. The other two-man teams fanned out to secure the remaining parts of the main room. She glanced sideways at Nate, whose puzzled expression mirrored her own. “Team Leader One?”

  No response.

  “Medic! Medic!” An urgent transmission cut across the static. “Team One has taken casualties. Repeat, Team One is down.” The fact that the voice was male turned Devon’s insides cold. Jillian was not speaking for her team. An image of Alex’s lifeless body lying in the desert flashed across her mind. For the briefest moment she paused, then moved forward with determination.

  They pivoted left toward the west side of the cabin. The smoke was dissipating, revealing the devastation. Thirty feet away, the entire front entry of the house was now a cavernous, smoking hole. Honeycutt had obviously set charges to detonate on the battering ram’s impact. Beyond the opening, Team One lay on the ground like six plastic action figures. Scattered, shattered, battered, and broken. Devon forced her eyes away from the scene beyond, where a figure was performing CPR in the middle of the bodies strewn across the ground. She forced her legs to continue forward as the seconds ticked by and Jillian didn’t answer. Focus on the task. Jessie’s life depended on it and for all she knew, Jill’s might, too.

  The chaotic sounds in her earpiece of the medical response battled for her attention. A voice yelled for an advanced life support response for Team Leader One. She couldn’t listen anymore, and reached up to flick the earpiece from her ear. She gripped the assault rifle tighter and set her jaw. Jessie was in this house. With Jillian down, the task of getting Jessie out now rested squarely on her shoulders. “Keep moving.” Her order was delivered with emotionless calm.