Burke pulled into the parking garage beside the ten-story office building on the ring road surrounding the large Woodfield Mall. Their headquarters occupied most floors in the building, with several legitimate businesses or medical providers on the lower floors. They drove deep into the garage, through a security gate and two secure garage doors, which required a security pin code and a palmprint scan to enter. These security measures separated the private Shepherd Security parking area from the rest of the garage.
Jimmy ‘Taco’ Wilson, Charlie’s team leader, had just parked his blue pickup truck across from the elevator and entrance to the stairwell. He was crossing over towards the elevator when Burke’s SUV pulled in. He stopped in front of the door to the stairs and waited.
The two men grabbed their backpacks and then joined Wilson at the door. “Hey,” Burke greeted as they approached. “It’s nice to have our team back together for this mission.”
The organization had been growing and taking on new types of cases over the last year, and many of the teams, including Charlie Team, had been split up to work with other teammembers for cross-training purposes. Plus, many of the new cases required six people to adequately carry out, and it seemed as though Charlie Team was the team most often split to staff those cases with other teams.
Wilson nodded. “Yes, it is, but the training we’ve all done has been beneficial, and it’s optimal to the organization to have a more flexible team structure.”
Burke led the way to the door. He entered his code and pressed his palm to the scan pad. They entered and went through the landing area of the stairwell, and then through the back hallway. From there they entered the Team Room to find the fourth member of Charlie Team, Carter ‘Moe’ Tessman, was already inside, gathering his gear from his locker.
Tessman glanced up as the three men entered. “Hey,” he said with a nod. “Good timing. Wilson, do you know what will be approved besides sidearms?”
Wilson shook his head. “I assume rifles given the mission.” He saw that Tessman already had the bag with his body armor out as well as extra ammo. “I’d say we pack them. We can always return them to our lockers if Shepherd doesn’t authorize their use. We have ten minutes before we’re due for our briefing. I’ll bring one of the SUVs up near the door to pack.”
Burke watched Wilson go to the key cabinet on the wall near the door and select a set of keys to one of the agency SUVs. Then he left the room. Burke went to his locker and pulled his equipment out. While his teammates preferred to carry SIG Sauer P226 and P229s, he favored his Glock 19 and opted for 147-grain jacketedhollow point rounds while operating domestically. He was ready before Wilson returned. Wilson quickly grabbed his own gear as well.
The four men brought their equipment and backpacks out into the garage and placed them in the back of the SUV. Then they returned to the stairwell and mounted the stairs, taking them to the fifth floor of the building where the pre-mission briefing would take place in Shepherd’s office.
Shepherd’s office door was open, and he stood behind his stand-up desk when they exited the stairs on the fifth floor just outside his office. “Come,” Shepherd called, seeing them in the hallway.
Burke was the first to enter; the others followed. He went directly to the conference table.
“Thank you for being prompt, gentlemen,” Shepherd said, which of course was a pleasantry. Lateness was not tolerated and would show disrespect for Shepherd and his time. “You have all worked at least one DVR case with Woods, so you know the priorities and protocols of the mission. You’ve all had a chance to review the particulars of the case. As you know, this one is unique in that Valerie Butler, the woman who contacted the helpline, claims her husband is a member of a prepper group that is more like a private militia. In addition to getting this woman out, if appropriate, confirming or disproving this group’s existence is your second mission. No federal agencies have her husband or anything regarding this possible group on their radar.”
“Which is the first priority: getting her out or getting intel on this possible group?” Burke asked. He knew that with most dual missions, sometimes only one could be accomplished.
The corner of Shepherd’s lip tipped up. “You’ll have to make that decision when you’re onsite based on the threat you perceive. If you determine this group exists, you’ll try to infiltrate it and get actionable intel. If you need additional resources, I can send appropriate backup.”
“Hopefully, that won’t be the case,” Wilson said. “I know our resources are spread thin this week.”
“Echo Team may wrap up their case by the end of the weekend, and I can send them if needed. Or I can send Smith if a fifth team member will suffice.”
Burke knew that Shepherd wanted to rotate Caleb ‘Hound dog’ Smith into missions occasionally to keep his skills sharp, and Smith was always eager to go into the field. He was invaluable in Ops and as a member of the Digital Team, but he’d proven himself in the field. As far as Burke knew, Smith hadn’t worked on any of the Domestic Violence Rescue cases in the field yet. He’d just provided support from Ops or pulled info on their subjects during the research phase of the mission.
“What are our directives regarding local LEOs?” Tessman asked.
“Avoid if possible. Reveal your creds only if absolutely necessary, followed immediately by a call to Ops. If this group exists, there’sno telling if there is local LEO involvement with it.” Shepherd paused, his gaze sweeping the table. “Questions?”
“The intel we have on our client and her husband is thin on anything that gives credence to her claims of being in danger from him,” Burke said. “There are no police reports, no medical records with any injuries to her at all, not even something passed off as falling down the stairs. They’ve been married for twenty-two years and have no children. She works full time as an advanced nurse practitioner. She’s educated and has the means to support herself, so she has the means to get herself out of an abusive relationship, unlike a lot of women who do not.”
“Her husband is an emergency room doctor,” Rogers chimed in. “He certainly could treat any injuries he caused.”
“The couple is active in the community. They attend church regularly and even act together in community theater. They don’t fit the profile. Even Woods agreed. Many of the victims we’ve worked with on these cases are practically hiding in their homes. Even Smith said that every other case we’ve taken since Woods and her DVR Cases came under the Shepherd Security umbrella has had more points to substantiate domestic abuse and danger. And this claim about this prepper-militia group just seems so wild. Maybe if it was in the Deep South, but northern Wisconsin?” Burke said.
“I agree,” Shepherd said. “Woods reviewed this one, and had it not been for the claims of the prepper-militia group, it would have been declined. That’s why Woods deployed with another team to the priority DVR case in Utah. That one is substantiated with an order of protection and hospital records.”
“If this group does exist, it needs to be substantiated so that official government entities can follow up on it,” Wilson said. “I’d say this is the perfect case for Charlie Team.”
“Any more questions?” Shepherd asked.
All four men shook their heads.
“Rifles and sidearms are approved for this mission,” Shepherd said. “Keep me apprised of your findings.”
The four men knew they’d just been dismissed. They all came to their feet and filed out of Shepherd’s office, passing and greeting the four members of Delta Team in the hallway, who were waiting for their pre-mission briefing with Shepherd.
Charlie Team descended the stairs and exited into the parking garage. Burke slid into the back seat, Tessman taking a seat beside him. Wilson drove from the garage and pointed the vehicle north for the four-hour drive to Red River, Wisconsin. Thankfully, there was no snow in the weather forecast, just seasonable temperatures in the mid-thirties.
