Chapter 26 — The Shoot-Out (Black)
A line of unmarked police cars and police cruisers pulled up behind the large black SUV. They were on a dead-end road that serviced several small industrial businesses and Superior Solutions was about six blocks straight ahead. Captain Barr and the two FBI agents climbed out of the SUV and resumed their argument.
“Look, Captain Barr. I am the agent in charge here and I want us to advance our position to the east side of the warehouse.” Black did not like local yokels sticking their noses into his business and was quite animated as he spoke Barr knew he was between a rock and a hard place. He was already on shaky ground with the Milford mayor and for the sake of his career, he needed to be cautious how he played this. “I understand, Agent Black, but we were on a speakerphone when our orders came in. There is a Milford policeman and a federal security contractor who have infiltrated this operation and we are to remain here unless instructed otherwise.” He didn’t want to piss off Black and get a bad report from the Feds, but if one of the good guys was killed from friendly-fire the mayor would probably dismiss him.
Black kicked himself for using the speakerphone. It was stupid of him to show off for these assholes. His mother always said that pride would be his downfall. He had to do something to turn this situation around. Maybe he should give up on diplomacy and switch to intimidation.
“You know, captain, I’ve, um, been fighting terrorists for most of my career while you’ve been pushing paper and dealing with runaway children. And it is within my, um, discretion to override those orders if I believe it is necessary for the success of the mission. And I am telling you now that I believe it is, um, necessary!”
“You do whatever the hell you think is best, Agent," Barr fired back, “but my men will remain on this road to prevent the truck from reaching the freeway, as we were instructed.” People rarely got fired for following sensible orders.
Well, that didn’t work. Black wondered where Barr’s spine suddenly came from.
Black desperately wanted at least one local officer to be on the east side with Agent Jones and himself. It was time to eat crow. “Okay, look captain, um, I’m very sorry I said that. It was just the, um, stress talking, okay? And we are all dedicated public servants here. How about if we compromise? How about if just, um, you and Agent Jones and I go into the woods on the east side so we can monitor what is going on?”
Barr thought about the political implications of this new idea. “Okay," he said. “In fact, I think it is a good idea. It will allow us to include first-hand observations in our report.”
Barr gave final instructions to his men. They were to remain here until they were contacted by the proper chain of command to move. They were to ignore any gunfire or other sounds they may hear. And if the truck tried to leave, they were to rip it to shreds.
Barr walked with the FBI agents down the road and into the woods on the east side of the warehouse. This was a new-growth forest, but the canopy was quite dense so there wasn’t a tremendous amount of undergrowth.
Agent Black slowly led them past the edge of the warehouse, carefully studying the trees, looking for the marked spot. He stopped about one-quarter of the way up the employee parking lot. “We’ll wait here and see what happens.
“Dude, shouldn’t we move up a little further?” asked Jones. Black just gave him an icy stare.
Captain Barr leaned against a tree, but then drew back when he realized he had gotten sap on his coat. Cursing quietly, he looked up and saw that someone had recently carved the letter X into the bark. “Fucking kids. I should find out who did that and make them pay for my dry cleaning.”
After about five minutes of fidgeting while trying to remain hidden, the three lawmen heard the truck startup. Agent Black immediately drew his gun.
“Put that gun away, agent. We’re just observing," protested Barr.
“I, um, want to be ready, just in case," replied Black.
Barr saw the truck round the corner and start down the gravel road. He heard the click when Black turned off the safety on his pistol. When he looked over, he saw that the agent’s finger was on the trigger instead of in the proper position in front of the trigger guard. Clearly Black was looking for an opportunity to shoot someone, and Barr began to regret he didn’t stay back with his men.
The truck slowly rumbled towards them. “We, um, need to shoot," said Black. “If we let it get close, um, and there are explosives in it then, um, we’ll all, um, be killed!”
Barr stared at Black and saw nervous sweat beading on his forehead. “Calm down, would you? I thought you were experienced at this.”
Just then there were three shots from just a little way north of their location, the whistle of bullets as they passed near them, and what sounded like small firecrackers to the south of them. The three men crouched low, then Black brought up his gun into firing position.
Barr reached out and pushed Black’s hand down. “I have a man out there. Do not fire your weapon!”
Black whipped his gun around and cracked the captain on the forehead. Barr went down in a heap. “God Damn I hate working with, um, Barney Fife.”
Agent Jones had his weapon drawn already, but when he saw Barr hit the dirt, he holstered it. He had never seen Black act this way before. Something wasn’t right, and he decided to sit this one out.
Eight more shots echoed from north of the three men. The truck slowly began to drift off the road and into the trees. Agent Black emptied his gun at the truck.