Alpha #2
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 jacketed hollow 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’s no 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.
“So, Red River has a population of about fifteen hundred people,” Burke read from his phone.
“It’s just south of the Menominee Reservation and near Jung Hemlock-Beech Forest State Natural Area, which covers about eighty acres and looks to be the largest wooded area in the vicinity, excluding the reservation.
Though a lot of the area is intermittently wooded. ”
“Yeah, we’ll rule out the reservation for the potential site of this alleged prepper group, as I think we’re all on the same page that they’d have some sort of site, if even it’s just some buildings or shelters someplace most likely hidden in the woods or someplace else that’s remote,” Wilson agreed.
“Well, looking at the topography of the area, it all looks remote,” Burke said. “There’s no big towns nearby, so I’m not sure where these supposed preppers are coming from, unless it’s a tiny group.” He shook his head, feeling as though this mission was a waste of time.
Four hours later, as they arrived in Red River, pulling up into the little parking lot of the Red River Tavern on County Highway A, they discovered how remote it was.
There was little else in the area where Google Maps had proclaimed they were at their destination in the town of Red River.
Angel booked rooms for them at a motel ten minutes away in the city of Shawano, which had a population of around nine thousand and was the largest town nearby.
From the tavern, they easily found the address of the client, forty-one-year-old Valerie Butler.
Wilson pulled to a stop across from the ranch home, which was set back from the road a good hundred yards.
Its long gravel driveway curved around a few mature oak trees in the front yard.
The nearest neighbors on both sides were nearly half a mile away.
Behind the house was a large outbuilding with a field of planted crops behind it.
“Well, so much for surveillance of the residence,” Wilson said. “We can’t very well park on this road to observe anything.”
Burke looked around. Across the street was a field which looked as though it had been planted with low to the ground winter wheat.
There would be no concealing a person there.
“We could set up a motion-sensor camera pointed at the house in the field. It’s unlikely the farmer would be visiting the field until spring,” he said.
“And we could put a camera at the turnoff of Highway A onto this street as well,” Tessman added.
“Yeah, we could probably install the camera at the intersection now but will have to hold off until nighttime to plant the one in the field,” Wilson agreed.
“We could look in some windows tonight too,” Burke said as Wilson slowly drove past the house. “And when we know it’s vacant, we could get a few bugs planted inside, maybe a camera or two as well.”
“First, I want to try to make contact with our client,” Wilson said. “To get her story face to face.”
“And see if it’s obvious that she’s either lying or batshit crazy,” Moe added.
“A person would have to be really shitty to lie about something like this,” Rogers said. “Either trying to jack a guy up or set up some weird ass drama.”
“Well, one thing’s for sure: we’re going to stick out in this area, as I’m sure they all know each other. The file says our client works at a medical center in Shawano. We’ll have a better time blending in there,” Burke said.
“Agreed,” Wilson said. “We’ll go to Shawano and try to acquire our client at her place of employment.”
They did stop at the intersection and quickly planted a motion sensor camera on the stop sign. This would give them a good idea of the comings and goings on the road where the client’s house was. Then Wilson pointed the car east towards Shawano.