“We will,” Jean said. “Thanks.”
“That’s why I’m here, kid. Good job.”
Benny finished taking pictures and digital fingerprints with Sammy at his side. When the first police cruiser drove onto the scene with sirens blaring, Jean, Sonny, and Quinn had their FBI and US Marshall credentials out. The police were briefed about the operation by their Chief, but as Nick surmised, it would be a mistake not to make sure the first on scene police officers did not see any weapons in evidence. The two officers kept lights flashing but turned off the siren. The young woman police officer left the passenger seat, saw Squiggy’s corpse and went for her weapon. Jean sighed but kept hands in the air as did her companions. Benny kept Sammy behind him. The woman’s older partner, a man in his mid-forties, called out to her.
“Suz! These are the FBI agents the Chief explained would be handling this sting. Don’t draw on them!”
“This is nuts, Jim! They blew that kid’s head off! What kind of crap is that?” Suz moved around her door with weapon now pointing at Jean. “You four get on your knees. I don’t give a shit what kind of ID’s you have!”
Jim looked closer at the dead Squiggy before moving over to Jen with a cautioning hand. “They didn’t kill him, Suz! They have backup.”
Suz glanced at her partner. “What are you talking about? They’re-”
“We have a sniper in place, Officer Bently,” Jean interrupted. “The perp on the ground went for an ankle gun. Our sniper killed him. You know how dangerous this area is nowadays. We don’t take chances when asked in on an operation.”
“Get on the ground.” Bently walked in on Jean.
With a twisting hand grip move too fast for Bently to see, Jean was holding her weapon. Sonny made a calming gesture at her partner who nodded. Jean popped the clip and cleared the chamber. She then jammed it into Bently’s holster with attitude before handing the stunned officer the clip.
“Put this in your breast pocket and don’t touch your weapon again.” Jean patted Bently’s shoulder. “I made a mistake today too. I didn’t frisk the dead guy like I should have. That’s why he’s dead. My companions and I are with a special branch of the Justice Department. We have credentials with the FBI and the US Marshal’s office. Your Chief knows us very well. Let’s wait for him, huh? I’m US Marshal Jean Salvatore. This is my husband, US Marshal Sonny Salvatore, and my brother, US Marshal Quinn McCarty. I’ve worked with you before, haven’t I, Officer Furlough?”
“I think so,” Jim Furlough held out his hand to Jean who shook it. “The ‘Posse’ gang bust, right?”
“That’s the one,” Jean acknowledged.
“Your Dad… ah… Nick McCarty. He’s a good friend of the Chief’s and he’s your backup sniper, isn’t he?” Furlough turned to Bently. “Jean saved your life, Suz. Her old man holds badges with every agency in existence. He’s like his kid here, he prefers US Marshal McCarty. The ‘Posse’ drew down on us with automatic weapons. McCarty killed every ‘banger that reached. His two partners, Nason and Groves arrived with a woman they called ‘Cleaner’ to take the gang into custody. I think they were illegal aliens because I never heard anything about the gang after that. Did they get extradited?”
“Ah… yeah, they did,” Jean lied. To hell maybe and Cleaner Cala’s freezer. “Listen, we don’t have to tell the Chief about Bently’s misunderstanding, right Jim?”
A look of relief flashed over Furlough and Bently’s faces. “Nope. Thanks for your understanding, Jean. I see you’ve corralled this lot with weapons and drugs.”
“They confronted our inside source, my brother Benny. He has all the weapons bagged with the drugs each perp had on him. They’ve all been digitally fingerprinted and recorded with what they carried along with their pictures. It’s all been sent to Chief Dickerson’s private e-mail file. Benny will testify at any trial if the DA doesn’t get them to plead out. We’ll back him.”
“How do you people get away with this?” Officer Bently, still stung by the way Jean easily disarmed her, couldn’t let the incident fade. “You could be charged with-”
“Shut up!” Jean held a cautioning hand in Bently’s direction. “A thank you would have been fine, but since you’re too stupid to put this into perspective, just hold your tongue until Chief Dickerson gets here. You’re beginning to bore me.”
Red faced, Bently surged toward Jean. Her partner missed his holding attempt. Jean finger locked the officer to her knees, exerting pressure until Bently cried out. Jean smiled. She decided a more impressive lesson was needed.
“Jean,” Sonny murmured quietly. Jean paused at the sound of her husband’s voice, but incrementally increased pressure while trying to calm the heat inside.