MAGGIE AND ANDREW WATCHED FROM A DISTANCE AS THE BLACK PANEL VAN AND DARK CROWN VICTORIA CAME TO A STOP AT THE ISOLATED CABIN. The Director had really come through for them. He had talked Fagan into discussing more details of the plan to get rid of Ackerman. Then Stan had taken the vague information that Fagan had reluctantly provided—a Gulf War veteran with a remote cabin in rural Virginia who had fallen on hard times—and worked his magic. Stan had narrowed the list of possibles down to three names. The first man was out of state. The second possibility was in the county lock-up for a drunk-and-disorderly. And the third man worked at a nearby cement plant and had taken the day off to spend some time at his cabin.
“You don’t have to do this,” Maggie said as she handed the binoculars over to Andrew.
“He’s my best friend. If Ackerman knows something, then we have to take a chance.”
“Chances are that Fagan will have us arrested for this. Or even killed. At the very least, it’ll put an end to our careers.”
Andrew shrugged. “It’s no fun without Marcus, anyway. Besides, if we find Ackerman Sr. from this, Fagan will at least have to admit that he was wrong. After all, it’s our jobs to bend the rules in order to catch the bad guys, right?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think anyone wanted us bending the rules against our own people.”
“These bastards aren’t our people. They’re more like Ackerman than they’re like us. They’re murderers.”
“And what are we?”
“Now you sound like Marcus again. We both know that sometimes there’s no other way, and I’m not sure that Ackerman doesn’t deserve every bit of what they’re about to give him, but there has to be a line somewhere. And we have to search our hearts and be objective enough to know what that line is and stop ourselves before we cross it. These guys enjoy crossing that line. They probably don’t even have a line. We sometimes do bad things in order to protect good people. And then only if there’s no other way. These guys are a different breed. You can see it in their eyes.”
With a shake of her head, Maggie said, “I guess you’re right.” Then she pulled her Glock 19 pistol with her right hand and a two-shot TASER X2 with her left. “Let’s do it.”
They approached the house with ease. The mercenaries, not expecting any kind of attack, hadn’t stationed a guard outside. Maggie ascended the front stairs of the cabin and took up position to the right of the door. It was a routine they had practiced over and over. Andrew would kick in the door. She would sweep in first with him at her heels. She’d take right. He’d take left. Simple, efficient, and effective.
Andrew didn’t wait for any signal. They both knew they were as ready as they would ever be. He kicked the door with a smooth, practiced movement. The wood always gave at its weakest point, which in this instance was the casing. The door flew inward, and the rusty lock plate, which had just been torn from its housing, skittered across the floor with a thud and a rattle. Inside, they found the five targets and Ackerman. They were all gathered in a convenient circle around Ackerman, who seemed to be sitting unconscious in a battered wooden chair. Craig and one other dark-haired man stood to Ackerman’s left. The two other mercenaries were on the killer’s right. And standing in front of him was a short wiry-looking man with glassy eyes and a double-barreled shotgun in his hands.
“Nobody move!” Maggie yelled. Her focus was on the man with the double-barrel. He seemed scared and confused, the most immediate threat to them and Ackerman. “Everyone drop your weapons!”
“You’re making a big mistake here,” Craig said calmly.
“I said put them down!”
The man with the double-barrel shifted his gaze back and forth between Maggie and Craig. Each movement of his eyes grew more jerky and rapid. Then he swung the shotgun toward Maggie. She squeezed the trigger of the TASER X2. The barbs sliced through the air at high velocity and struck their target dead-center in the chest, sending a precision-shaped pulse of electrical energy into his body.
He convulsed, swung away from her, and involuntarily squeezed the trigger of the shotgun. It discharged into the face of the mercenary beside Craig. The man’s skull exploded, splattering blood over the wall behind him and covering Craig’s face.
Craig screamed and pulled his gun. Then all hell broke loose.