Terror Rising: Book 0 – The Insurgence Read Online Free PDF

away in a station wagon.
Something was about to go down, I’m certain of it.”
    Dawson nodded. “I don’t doubt it. Who shot
first?”
    Angela tilted her head, finding offense in
the question. “They did, of course.”
    “ Agent Gannon,” Chief Drake’s booming
voice called out as he approached with Martinez at his side. She
turned and struggled to make eye contact with her clearly perturbed
supervisor.
    “ Yes, sir,” she replied.
    “ Captain Martinez said the men spoke
in Arabic. Were there any other things you picked up about them
before… well, before the two of you decided to play Dirty
Harry?”
    She looked at Martinez for guidance. He
nodded at her to answer. “It’s like I told Captain Martinez: the
unlicensed truck was the giveaway.” She then turned and glanced at
the body behind them. “As far as the men go, they look like
lower-level help. They came here to pick something up.”
    “ Or drop something off,” Dawson added
as the K-9 busily sniffed around the truck with Reynolds holding
the leash.
    “ Truck’s empty,” Martinez said with an
air of disappointment.
    Other Border Patrol agents
approached the scene, looking around with intense curiosity. With
all eyes on the truck and bodies lying next to it, Drake stepped
between Martinez and Angela, his voice low but tinged with
sternness. “I want to have a word with both of you at the station when we
get back. This entire incident is going to have to go beyond our
department. If these men are foreigners, we’ll have to bring in the
FBI. But I don’t want either of you saying a word of this to
anyone. Not until we get the facts out.”
    Martinez cut in. “Sir, these individuals
were operating right within our line watch. We were only responding
to the high alert that was issued by the department.”
    Drake whipped his head to
the side, further angered. “You can save it for the investigation,
Martinez. And yes, there will be an internal investigation into this matter,
and we will get
to the truth. All of it!”
    The K-9 hopped into the back of the truck,
going wild. Reynolds climbed up in with him, and Dawson
followed.
    “ Sir,” Angela said to Chief Drake, who
turned to her with an icy glare. “I have a good description of the
station wagon that fled the scene. I’d suggest we get an APB on it
as soon as possible.”
    “ Yes, Martinez told me all about it.
The APB has been issued, and if that wagon gets away, I’m holding
the two of you personally responsible.” With that he walked away
and joined the others at the truck, leaving Angela and Martinez to
ponder their fates. She had never seen him so angry, and didn’t
feel the least bit optimistic about it.
    Seeing the color leaving her face, Martinez
placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Agent Gannon. It’s
like I said. I’ll take the hit on this one.”
    “ I don’t think we did anything wrong,”
Angela said. Whether she was trying to convince him or herself of
that she wasn’t sure.
    “ The truck is empty. That’s what’s
wrong,” Martinez said. “Had there been at least a brick of
marijuana, we’d probably be in the clear.”
    But perhaps Martinez had spoken too soon.
From the inside of the truck, Rex clawed and whimpered at the
floor. Curious, the other agents gathered around, sticking their
heads inside.
    “ I need a flashlight and a crowbar,”
Captain Reynolds called out.
    Angela felt her heart beating faster.
Anticipation was in the air. Dawson hopped out of the truck, ran
past Angela and Martinez, and grabbed both a crowbar and a
flashlight from his trunk.
    “ This could get interesting,” Martinez
said, beckoning Angela to follow him to the truck, where everyone
crowded at the back. More thunder rumbled in the sky, but there
wasn’t a drop of rain. Dawson ran back with a long crowbar in one
hand and a flashlight in the other. He squeezed past two other
agents and hopped inside the vehicle.
    “ I need room here,” he said to Captain
Reynolds.