The Milestone Protocol by Ernest Dempsey (best books to read in your 20s txt) 📕

asked. She looked over at the kids sitting around the table in the corner. They all seemed to be preoccupied with their own conversation.

“Yes,” Alex said, catching a quizzical look from his wife, who’d been unaware of the text message he sent. “He’s a former Delta Force guy. His name is Dak Harper.”

29

Atlanta

Emily stopped her sedan on a hill just out of view from the Ellerby home around the corner. She stepped out of the car and tightened her trench coat against the cold. The action pressed the pistol firmly against her hip. She didn’t want to use the firearm, not in a civilian setting like this. Bullets, however carefully placed, had the tendency to ricochet or sail on occasion, even by the most accurate shooters. The last thing she wanted was a stray bullet flying into someone’s home and striking an innocent person.

She would handle this a different way, if possible.

June exited her car right behind Emily and strolled up next to the Axis director. She followed Emily’s stare around the darkened house on the corner, looking down at the Ellerby residence, where two men in dark jackets stood guard by the front door.

“How many?” June asked, turning to face Emily. Her blonde ponytail whipped to the side with the movement.

Emily’s hair was likewise done up in the same style. She’d found it the most efficient way to maintain control of her hair while in the field, without cutting it shorter.

“Two out front, obviously. Safe to assume two covering the back as well. No sign of any others in vehicles around the perimeter. It’s likewise a good assumption that there are more inside the house, watching the hostages.”

June kept her gaze locked on the house. “That’s what we’re calling it?”

“Two people being held against their will by a group pretending to be federal agents? Not sure there’s another name for it.”

“I thought you said they’re legit.”

“The agents? Could be.”

“So, we’re going to attack federal agents?” June half turned toward the director.

“I did a little checking just to make sure. The bureau didn’t send anyone out here tonight. Which means this group is something else, or they have actual clearance and are working off the books. Either way, whatever they’re doing, it’s not good. And we can’t risk anything happening to innocent people if we have a chance to stop it.”

Emily raised her cell phone and pointed the camera at the house. The phone had a black device clipped to it. When she flipped on the attachment, the screen instantly switched to a thermal view of the home.

The two figures on the front porch appeared in bright reds and yellows, evidence their outerwear wasn’t doing much for them against the cold.

Emily swept the camera to the left and discovered six more figures inside the house, as well as two beyond the back door—as predicted.

“Looks like four of them inside with the family,” Emily said. She leaned to the left so June could look at the screen.

“Sounds like they brought in reinforcements. We’ve seen worse.”

Emily agreed with a short, “Indeed.” She lowered the phone and removed the thermal scanner from it, stuffing the phone in one pocket and the device in another.

“How do you want to play it?” The anticipation in June's voice was palpable. When in the field, she’d always felt a shiver of excitement and apprehension just before an assault of any kind. This one was no different in that regard, but the tactics they would need to implement certainly would be.

“No guns if possible,” Emily said. “Only if absolutely necessary.”

“Snub suppressors?”

“Yes, in case we have to discharge our pistols in the house. We don’t want to go deaf. The family, either.”

June acknowledged the information by reaching into her black trench coat and pulling out a 9mm with a small black box attached at the end. After showing Emily the pistol, she stuffed it back in the holster.

“Good. So, we go to the back door first, take out those two, and then circle around front.”

“You make it sound so easy,” June joked.

Emily twisted her head and winked. Her playful side was something that very few people ever got the chance to see. With agents’ lives in her hands nearly every day and untold numbers of civilians depending on those agents’ success, the amount of stress Emily endured must have been overwhelming. She never complained, though, and carried her burden like a consummate professional.

“Come on, June,” Emily said. “What’s the fun if it’s too easy?”

June snorted a laugh as the director started down the sloped street toward the Ellerby house. June caught up and strolled next to Emily, just a couple of housewives out for a mid-evening stroll in the neighborhood.

“Some game coming up this weekend, huh?” Emily said as they rounded the corner and continued past the Ellerby property.

“Yeah, should be a good one,” June half agreed.

“I don’t know if the Falcons have a good enough defense to stop the Packers. Their quarterback is so good.”

June chuckled. “Yeah, I’d say it’s doubtful. Unfortunately. Tommy is a grouch when they lose, which is way too often.”

When the front porch was out of view, they cut the conversation and muted their steps by walking on toes instead of heels. They turned onto the grass along the side of the house and quietly opened the gate to a black aluminum fence that wrapped around the front and back yards.

Emily held the gate open until June had passed through and then eased it shut. Thankfully, the hinges were well oiled and didn’t make the slightest squeak. June sauntered to the corner and then peeked around. She immediately pulled back. Emily looked at her with the question June knew she would ask.

June held up two fingers, confirming what they’d seen on the thermal screen just minutes before.

Then she mouthed, “Thirty feet away.”

Emily grimaced at that last bit of information. They couldn’t approach the two guards without being noticed, and going in guns blazing wasn’t an option.

June breathed into the cold air, her