Chapter 38
THIRTY-EIGHT
They had a target location fast, but it was a few hours later before they were moving in. The property wasn’t far from where Paul’s body had been found in the Mannings’ cornfield in rural Prince William County.
Before heading out, Amanda called Jules to ask her to keep Zoe overnight.
She’d miss the girl but there was too much uncertainty about when this day would be over.
While Amanda took care of that, Trent did a background dive into the Mannings to search for any connection between them and Hernandez.
More for due diligence than out of suspicion.
As expected, there wasn’t anything tying the elderly couple to the drug kingpin.
Other prep work included a look into vehicles registered to Hernandez and his holdings.
There were no Ford Transits, but that didn’t sway him from being their focus. He could have gotten one from anywhere.
SWAT was accompanying Amanda and Trent, as was Russell Holden. The US marshal wasn’t taking no for an answer, and his argument was solid. He was the one who requested the warrant.
The buildings on the property included a large farmhouse and a red barn. Both were in pristine shape and surrounded by cornfields, which they’d use for concealment.
The plan was to approach with caution, anticipating that Hernandez would have people on the lookout.
If so, it was anticipated they would be armed and prepared to defend the kingpin and his property.
Their defense would be heightened even more if they were holding three people captive there.
It was why Russell Holden had gotten a no-knock warrant.
They wouldn’t need to announce themselves, and that would shift the element of surprise in their favor.
All officers parked down the road several hundred yards away. SWAT led the way through the cornstalks. There were no vehicles in the driveway, and it didn’t look like anyone was home. No lights were on inside either.
The SWAT leader signaled to his team, and they split up and moved in on the house and barn in sync. Everyone else, including Amanda, Trent, and the marshal were to hang back until given clearance. They, like the others, were wearing earbuds with mikes.
Amanda strained to hear anything, but at this distance, ducked down and peering through cornstalks, everything was silent and still. Unsettling. Were none of Hernandez’s people on site, or were they biding their time to reveal themselves?
A minute later, the SWAT leader’s voice came over the radio. “No perps present in the house.”
“Copy that, same goes for the barn.” Another officer.
“Detectives, there is something you’re going to want to see in the house. You are clear to proceed.”
Amanda rushed toward the house. She still used caution, her head on a swivel, ever ready to pull her gun if it became necessary.
But she and Trent made it to the house without incident.
Just before she stepped inside, she glanced up at the soffit under the eave and saw a solid green light.
It was small, easy enough to miss, but it sent an icy chill right through her.
A SWAT officer was waiting in the entry and prompted for them to follow him.
“Hold up a minute.” Amanda kept her voice low and pointed toward her discovery. “A camera. Recording as we speak. We can expect company soon.”
The SWAT officer spoke over the mikes, notifying everyone listening to expect party crashers. He stressed the need to exercise caution, to seek out tactical positions, and identify places of concealment. After he shared, he waved for Amanda, Trent, and the marshal before he set off into the house.
They followed him down a narrow staircase to an unfinished basement with a dirt floor and exposed cinder-block walls. This was the only part of the house that disclosed its age.
The officer stopped next to an opened door and gestured inside a cold storage room of approximately ten feet by ten feet.
There wasn’t anything in there except for a lot of blood.
Enough that it was unlikely the person would have survived.
They were probably looking at where Paul Archer had been murdered.
The marshal sucked in a breath through his teeth, and it had Amanda turning to look at him over her shoulder.
Rage flared up within her core. All of it aimed at him.
If he’d been forthcoming on his first visit, they might not be in this position.
It would have been too late to help Paul, but it would have given Abigail, Valerie, and Brooke a better chance of survival.
She talked herself down from lashing out at the marshal, trying to convince herself it was the frustration of the week overwhelming her.
She stepped back and addressed the SWAT officer and anyone else who was listening.
“We need to search the entire property for them or further signs they were here.” What she couldn’t put into words was look for their bodies…
She turned to Trent and said, “We’ll need to get Crime Scene here to collect blood samples and see if it’s a match to the Archers or Abigail McGee.
” She suspected that Abigail’s DNA had been collected from a personal item after her disappearance and was on file.
Trent pulled out his phone and made the call. While they had arrived with an ambulance in case they had found Abigail and the Archers in need of medical help, investigators were on standby. Amanda stepped out the back door and breathed in the country air.
Nothing but stillness. No sign of the SWAT officers who breached the barn. Were they preparing for war in case Hernandez or his people turned up? Meanwhile, Amanda continued to stand there, out in the open, vulnerable but too pissed off to care.
She turned, faced the camera, challenging Hernandez, letting him know she wasn’t afraid of him, and she wasn’t going to back down. Not that she had a death wish. Her need for justice was pushing her past her fears.
When she turned around again, her eyes traveled upward. In the sky, above the barn’s roofline, vultures circled.