Chapter 20 Quebec #3
One of the men was at the turn into the hallway that ran to the front of the house. He ran out of sight. The three other men spun, facing Wilson and Rogers. Two of them reached for weapons. The third, after seeing the two armed men, dove towards the hallway to follow the fourth man.
“Drop them!” Wilson warned, staring down David Greenwalt and Edgar Forsander as they un-holstered their weapons.
“You have incoming!” Rogers yelled.
Tessman and Burke each grabbed hold of one of the girls and held them tightly as they made them stand, facing the door. Each man used one of the girls as a shield, his weapon held at the ready.
Francisco Oliveira ran into the room first. He was unarmed. He stopped two steps in and raised his hands. “Let them go! Don’t hurt them!”
“Frisco!” Zoe yelled.
“Federal agents!” Burke yelled. “On the ground, facedown.” When Oliveira hadn’t moved, he yelled, “Now! On the ground!”
As Oliveira dropped from behind him, they saw Roderick Forsander run up behind him. He stopped outside of the room and backed away and out of sight.
“Be smart, Forsander!” Tessman yelled. “Come in here and assume the position!”
On the first floor, Wilson disarmed Greenwalt, who was closest to him, knocking his weapon from his hand as he brought it into firing position. Then Wilson brought Greenwalt to the ground. He straddled him and pressed the barrel of his weapon into the immobilized man’s neck. “Freeze.”
Rogers held his weapon trained on Forsander, who froze and held his pistol out to his side in a half-surrendering gesture as Wilson brought Greenwalt to the floor. “Toss it,” Rogers instructed Forsander. “Now!” he yelled when he didn’t comply.
Finally, Edgar Forsander tossed it aside. “If anyone hurts my sister, you’ll fucking pay,” he warned.
“No one hurt her,” Rogers said. “Now get on the wall. I know you know the position.”
Upstairs, Rod Forsander realized that neither his brother nor David had followed him upstairs. He was sure they’d been captured by the agents downstairs. He stood in the hallway, indecision crippling him.
“Zoe, are you okay?” Oliveira called to her from the floor where he still lay face-down.
“She’s fine,” Burke said. “We just want to talk to her. I told you that! And we can do that and end this once you come in here, Forsander!”
Tessman pushed Elly away from himself. “Get down next to him.” He pointed to Oliveira.
Elly held her hands up and immediately did as she was told. Tessman stepped over them and rushed out the door, overtaking Forsander in the hallway. He body checked him into the wall, startling Forsander. Then he turned him and threw him face first into the wall.
“Assume the position, asshole.” After Tessman had patted Forsander down, he grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the room. “Now join them on the floor.”
Through comms, they heard Wilson’s voice. “Two secured.”
“Located target and have the others secured,” Burke transmitted as Tessman pulled three zip ties from his pocket with the intention of securing the three of them on the ground.
“Please don’t hurt them,” Zoe pled. “And don’t make me go back.”
“Zoe, we just want to talk to you and hear from you what’s going on,” Burke said.
Elly lifted her head from the ground. “Tell them, Zoe. You have to tell them.”
Tessman had Forsander’s hands secure, and he moved over to Oliveira.
Burke spun Zoe, so that he looked her in the eye. “Tell us what?”
Just then, Oliveira jumped up and tackled Tessman. Tessman repelled him and brought him back to the floor quickly.
“Don’t hurt him!” Zoe cried out. She twisted in Burke’s grip and pulled loose. She rushed to Oliveira and covered his body with hers before Tessman struck Oliveira a second time.
Tessman pulled her off Oliveira. “Stop!”
Oliveira rolled over and reached toward Zoe.
“Fucking stop!” Burke barked as Oliveira pulled Zoe into himself. “Both of you, come sit on the bed. Moe, guard the door.”
Oliveira helped Zoe up, and the two of them stood there, their suspicious gazes going back and forth between Burke and Tessman.
“Zoe, first, are you okay? Did you come to this house willingly?” Burke asked.
“Yes,” she insisted.
“Tell them, Zoe. He said he could help you,” Elly repeated. “You can’t hide here forever.”
“Whatever it is. I promise you, we can help you,” Burke said. She looked afraid, and Burke could see she was rolling it around in her head. “Please.”
“She had to disappear for her own safety,” Oliveira said.
Burke nodded. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“I saw something I wasn’t supposed to,” Zoe said. Her frightened eyes stared at Oliveira’s. He nodded. “At the salon.”
“What did you see, Zoe?” Burke asked gently when she didn’t continue.
“A man handed my boss, Orlando, an envelope full of cash, like a thick envelope.” She positioned her fingers, so they were two inches apart. “After Orlando handed him a flash drive.”
“So, your disappearing had nothing to do with the fights with your mom?” Burke said. “Why didn’t you tell your parents about it and ask them for help?”
“You don’t understand,” Zoe moaned. “My dad gave me the flash drive the previous weekend when I was home to give to Orlando. And it wasn’t the first time I brought stuff to Orlando for my dad.”
“What do you think was on the flash drive?” Burke asked her.
“I thought maybe it was porn or something like that, so I spied on Orlando after I gave it to him, but only because he made a huge deal out of me not getting the flash drive to him right away.”
“Was that what it was?” Burke pressed. “Porn?”
Zoe shook her head. “Orlando told him it was the guidance system. My dad works for a defense contractor, weapons systems, top-secret stuff. Orlando gave the flash drive to this Chinese guy who’s been in the salon before after I’ve delivered a flash drive to him from my dad.
I’m pretty sure my dad and Orlando at the salon are selling secrets to the Chinese and have been for a long time.
I wanted to quit my job there over the summer and find another job, and my dad told me I couldn’t, that I had to stay there.
He didn’t want me to quit because he was using me to deliver the flash drives to Orlando. ”
Burke and Tessman exchanged long stares. “Did you hear all that, Ops?”
“Roger that, Handsome,” Smith’s voice replied. “We’ve notified Big Bear.”