Above the Law Read Free Page A

about to become the doorway to his prison cell.
    Dale glanced back at Mary and the rest of the group. Everyone was amped and ready to charge, no matter what danger lurked on the other side. She’d carefully chosen the team with her today, purposefully not including a few of the task force members she’d been working with over the past year. The events of the last week signaled someone was leaking valuable information, and until she figured out who it was, she was on high alert.
    “We’ll go in from both sides with flashbangs. The object is to take Vargas alive. Do you understand?” She waited until each of the dozen agents nodded before saying anything else. “Everything by the book. If he resists, take him down, but no unnecessary force. And don’t get hurt yourselves. I can’t spare you, and I don’t have time for the paperwork.” She flashed a grin as she delivered the last words and led the way to the barn door, certain everyone on her team would follow.
    When they were all in place, she shouted, “Federal agents. Come out with your hands in the air. You have five seconds to respond or we’re coming in.” She held up her hand and started ticking off the count on her fingers. When she reached five, she closed her hand in a fist and pointed to the door. Two agents were ready with a battering ram, but stood down when Mary tugged on the door and it opened.
    Dale tossed a flashbang into the room, bracing for the loud noise and the acrid smell of smoke. Hoping the suspect’s visibility was impaired, she crouched down and stepped into the room, sticking close to the wall while she tried to get a read on anything moving inside. The rest of her team followed with the exception of Mary, who was assigned to secure the door in case Vargas somehow made it past them. Even if he did escape, he wouldn’t get very far. The sniper on the roof of the house next door was poised and ready to take the shot.
    Through the haze, Dale detected a chair in the center of the room. Someone was seated in the chair, and as the smoke cleared, Dale saw that his hands were in his lap, held close together, and his head was covered. What the hell? She raised her gun and stealth-walked the short distance until she was standing directly behind him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the other agents approaching from the left, and she shook her head. With the gun still pointed at the guy’s head, she sidestepped around to the front of the chair and issued a command. “Put your hands in the air. Right now!”
    The guy shoved both hands skyward immediately. She was close enough to see everything clearly now. His hands were tightly bound together with twine and his head was covered with a burlap sack, most likely a castoff, found in the barn. His legs were bound to the chair with heavy rope, tied tight. If this was Sergio Vargas, someone had beaten them to him. Before she found out if they’d captured their intended prey, she shouted to the rest of her group. “Report.”
    Responding shouts of clear came from the front door, the stables, and the loft. Dale waited until everyone had reported in before waving Mary over. “Go ahead and unmask him.”
    She kept her gun trained on what she imagined was the spot right between his eyes, as Mary carefully lifted the sack from his head and, as every inch was revealed, Dale scrambled to make sense of what she was seeing. Finally, she could no longer deny the truth.
    “Who the hell is this?” Mary said as she laid the bag on the ground. “Dale, what is it? You look white as a sheet.”
    Dale stepped closer, as if reality would change upon closer inspection. No, not a chance. The man they’d captured wasn’t the highly sought Sergio Vargas, but someone she and others had been looking for. Someone she wasn’t altogether sure would be welcome now that he’d been found. The sense of familiarity was like a punch in the gut. She leaned down and removed the gag from his mouth. “Not sure what to