WASHINGTON, D.C.
FRIDAY, 6:49 A.M. EST
Light it up,” Viper One team leader repeated into his earpiece.
Battering rams simultaneously blew open the front and back doors of the target’s house. Flash-bang grenades were tossed inside each entrance, which exploded with harmless pops intended to blind and confuse. Next came a flood of officers in midnight-black assault gear, pouring through the doors and windows like a mudslide swallowing a house.
“Lower floor clear. Moving to the second level,” the Viper One team leader announced into his headset. Then “Go, go, go!” directing his team up a grand winding staircase.
Once on the upper floor, the team leader silently pointed for two men to position themselves at each of the six bedroom doors. Once they were all in place: “Go!”
Six bedroom doors blew open in unison. Five were empty. But in the main master bedroom, officers found the target sitting up in bed, furiously trying to punch numbers on the bedside phone.
“Target acquired,” the radio reported.
The officer snatched the phone from the target’s hand and set it down gently in the cradle.
“This is an outrage!” the target fumed. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with! You have no right to be here! I’m calling—”
The assault team silently swallowed the noise with a hood over the head. Hands bound behind the back. Body shuffled quickly downstairs and bundled into a black van with blacked-out windows.
“Target in custody,” the Viper One team leader reported. “Quick and clean, ma’am.”
“Move the target to location Foxtrot. We’ll take over from there.”