Burke pointed to several of the heat signatures fanned out in the trees. “They’re patrols. We need to take them out. Looks like three more people are in the cabin. That gives us a total of nine Tangos to deal with.”
“They’re far enough apart from each other that we can take them out one by one,” Tessman said. “It’s these two up near the cabin that will be the problem. We can’t sneak up behind them, and they’ll see us coming if we approach straight on.”
“We lure them into the trees,” Burke said. “And if we can’t, we take them on at the same time. I’m thinking from the corner of the cabin. We should be able to get close enough to taser them before they can alert anyone inside the cabin to our presence.”
“Taser?” Wilson asked.
“Well, we’re not sure they are militia,” Burke said.
“They’re at a militia location patrolling the area with what looks like AR-15s. They’re militia,” Wilson said. He handed the drone controller to Rogers. “I’m going in. Keep her above our theater and advise us of all movements by our Tangos. But first,” he said, pulling his phone from his pocket. “I’m calling Ops in to monitor.”
“Ops, go,” Dupont answered.
“We found what we believe to be militia members at a cabin location we’re checking out. We’re getting ready to go in to see if our target is there. We want you online.”
“Affirmative. I’ll monitor. Good hunting, Charlie Team,” Dupont said.
The three men inserted their comms. They donned their bulletproof vests with no agency markings exposed and retrieved extra ammo for their handguns as well as three tasers from the back of the vehicle. Wilson also grabbed his sniper rifle. “I’ll set up in a tree with a view of the front of the cabin to cover you.”
“We’ll enter the woods here and take out the patrols from east to west,” Burke said. He slid on his NVGs and then unholstered his weapon.
The three men jogged across the gravel road and quickly disappeared into the trees. Their training took over as they soundlessly made their way through the gnarled underbrush. Through comms, Rogers gave them real-time updates on the movements of the four men patrolling around the cabin. As the three men neared the first man, who was on the way to where Wilson would break off from the two of them to find the best location to have a direct line of sight to the front of the cabin, they froze when headlights came at them. A car coming up the driveway was the source of the headlights.
The Jeep parked beside the two other vehicles in front of the cabin, and two men pulled themselves out of it. Burke reached up and turned the magnification on his NVGs to four timesnormal. One of the men was an African American. The other was Mark Ellison. They both went into the cabin.
“Positive ID on target,” Burke whispered. He switched the magnification back to normal mode.
With renewed determination, the three men continued. Wilson split off and continued towards the front of the cabin as Burke and Tessman reacquired the first of the men on patrol. They crept up on him from behind. While Tessman kept his aim on the man’s back, Burke slid his NVGs up onto his forehead and holstered his weapon. Then, he pounced on the unsuspecting man and performed a Ranger Choke on him, grabbing him around the front of his neck with his right hand while simultaneously grabbing him around the back of his neck with his left. He squeezed as hard as he could, choking off the man’s air and blood supply.
It didn’t take long for him to stop struggling as he succumbed to the lack of oxygen and blood to his brain. Burke twisted to his left and brought the man to the ground. He hadn’t gotten more than a gurgle from his throat. Burke secured his hands and feet in zip ties and pressed a piece of duct tape to the man’s mouth. He was merely incapacitated and should recover. One down, three to go.
“One Tango neutralized. Next location, Powder,” Tessman whispered.
Rogers gave them the location of the next closest man. Moving silently through the woods, the two men quickly approached his location. The man stood at least six-seven, and his body lookedsturdy. He faced sideways to their approach, stood with his phone pressed to his ear, and his rifle slung over his shoulder. They waited for him to finish his call, not wanting to take him down if he was on with someone inside the cabin.
“Target acquired. On the phone,” Burke whispered.
After nearly five minutes, besides wandering around the general area, nothing had changed.
“Today, gentlemen,” Wilson’s hushed voice said.
Tessman slid his NVGs up and onto the top of his head. “You take him down. I’ll take the phone and end the call.”
When his back was again turned to them, the two men rushed him. Burke again initiated a Ranger Choke as Tessman grabbed his phone, hitting the call-end button. Then he silenced it so that if the caller redialed, the phone wouldn’t give their location away.
The man landed a few solid blows on Burke. Burke twisted left and brought the struggling man to the ground. Once there, he kept a tight, choking hold around the man’s neck with both hands and thrust his knee into the man’s abdomen. It took a full minute for the man to succumb. Burke knew the chances that he’d caused irreparable damage were high. Damn-it! Tessman secured the man’s hands and feet while Burke placed a strip of duct tape over his mouth.
“Tango neutralized,” Tessman transmitted, his voice barely audible.
“Number three moved farther west by northwest,” Rogers reported.
“Number two may need medical attention, Powder,” Burke whispered.
“After the scene is secure,” Rogers replied. He gave the location of the third man, who was near the front of the driveway. He was the furthest from the house. “Try to get some answers from Tango number three.”
Pressing their bodies behind thick trunks, Tessman and Burke waited as he walked back towards them. He wasn’t very quiet on his approach. They knew exactly when to strike. It took little effort to overtake him and bring him to the ground. Burke’s hand over his mouth choked off any sounds he’d make. Tessman had his hands and feet secured in zip ties within seconds.
“Federal agents,” Burke whispered in his ear. “We’re not after you, and you can go free if you cooperate. We’re here for Ellison.”
