Free The Circle of Eight by J Robert Kennedy Page A

she put her arm
around Jenny. “I didn’t know! It’s not my fault!”
    “Ma’am,
we then pursued you, stopped your vehicle, and identified ourselves, yet you
then proceeded to shoot and kill another one of my agents.” The man stepped
forward. “Ma’am, can you please stand up?”
    She
rose, trembling, Jenny clinging to her leg.
    “Sylvia
Dawson-Biggs, I am placing you under arrest for the murder of two federal
agents, and the attempted murder of two others. You have the right to remain
silent…”
    The rest
simply became words among the fog of her misery. She had shot innocent FBI
agents, men just doing their jobs. Her jaw clenched as she realized why.
    “Burt!”
she muttered. It had been his message that had caused this. His message that
had caused her to panic, to get the gun, to shoot the strange men.
    “Burt!”
she cried as she was led out of the room, Jenny holding her pant leg. Dozens of
faces, none with any detail, stared at them, voices murmured, the doors opened,
sunlight glared down on them as they descended the steps and were helped into
the back of a black SUV.
    As the
door closed, her mind suddenly cleared.
    “Wait!”
she yelled as the door slammed shut, her eyes pleading with the detective who
turned and took the steps two at a time.
    The FBI
agents climbed in the front seats and the vehicle pulled away. She didn’t know
where she was going, but she knew who she wasn’t going with.
    FBI
agents.
    Her
brother’s voice echoed in her head.
    I
didn’t send any FBI to help you!
     

 
     
    Operations Center, The Unit, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
     
    “Report!” barked Colonel Thomas Clancy as he burst into the Op
Center, pencil clenched in his teeth. Red turned to explain as Dawson continued
to try his sister’s phone, the screen showing the phone stationary.
    “Sir,
Sergeant Major Dawson received a call from his sister. She and her daughter
were being pursued by men posing as FBI agents. She shot several of her
attackers and escaped. GPS in her phone has her at the police station, but we
haven’t heard anything since.”
    “The
phone’s moving!” announced the tech.
    Clancy
motioned toward a large screen on the right.
    “Put it
up there.”
    The
screen flashed and suddenly they were all looking at the map of Richmond,
Virginia, a red dot slowly moving away from the police station.
    “Why
would she leave?” asked Dawson, more to himself than anyone else.
    “She
wouldn’t,” said Clancy. “She’d call you first.” He turned to the tech. “Can you
get us eyes on target?”
    The man
shook his head.
    “No
birds are in that area right now. I need authorization to access traffic
cameras—”
    “Do it.”
    “Accessing
traffic cameras,” said the tech, his fingers flying over the keyboard. Moments
later they had a shot of an intersection. “She should be coming through here
any moment.”
    “What
kind of car are we looking for?” asked Clancy.
    “Silver
Mercedes. C300 I think. Unless she’s got a new car.”
    “I
pulled her registration. She’s still driving a 2008 Silver Mercedes C300.
License plate—”
    “There
it is,” said Dawson, pointing at a tow truck that had just entered the frame,
the silver Mercedes hanging off the back of it. He punched the table,
straightening up and spinning around as he tried to cool his jets. “We’ve been
tracking a damned empty car for the past fifteen minutes!”
    Another
tech spoke up.
    “Sergeant
Major Dawson, I finally have Detective Lewis on the line.”
    Dawson
grabbed the phone.
    “Detective
Lewis? This is Sergeant Major Dawson. Do you have her?”
    “We did,
Sergeant Major, but we had to hand her over to the FBI.”
    “You did
what?”
    Dawson
could feel the rage build inside at the stupidity of what he had just heard.
    “I had
no choice. They had the proper credentials, claimed they had been at her house
at your request when she shot and killed one of them. I’m afraid Sergeant Major
that they arrested her for murder