SHIFT EXCHANGE

Chapter 26

Jake eyed the 6 men in the circle with him as he listened to Officer Taylor's description of the layout of the building they were preparing to enter.

At first the young officer had been embarrassed to admit his teenage exploits had included trespassing, but that had faded as he'd realized the value in knowing what the inside looked like meant to the assembled officers.

"It's four levels on the south side and three on the north side," the thin, red haired man explained. "There are two metal catwalks that connect the upper levels, one on the 2nd level and one on the third. They were rickety at best back in the day and are probably on the brink of collapse now. I'd avoid going up if at all possible."

Jake chuckled inside. Taylors 'back in the day' was a mere 3 years ago.

The young man shifted the helmet under his arm. The upper levels are all metal grating. The bottom floor is concrete, but dirty with dirt and broken class. It's all open down below accept for the stairs, a hoist near the west wall, and random junk. They took out all the grain bins when they closed."

Jake glanced at the building in question. A ring of law enforcement watched every inch of its exterior. There was no way Baker's assailant had escaped. He waited inside like a trapped animal.

Trapped animals were desperate and he'd already proved he had no issue with killing one of them.

He'd been told Baker was in surgery. He prayed the other man would be ok. The thought reminded him of his purpose and he focused back in on Taylor.

"With the night vision goggles we'll have a definite advantage," his eyes came up and met Jakes. "Do you think he has more ammo or could he be out?"

Jake looked about him. It was a good mix of young and gung ho with just enough old and crusty to keep things sane.

"No way to tell. He fired at least 4 shots at the stop and 5 at Brixton and I. It only takes one bullet to ruin your day." He answered.

A couple of them nodded.

"Ok. Let's suit up and get this guy." He pulled the helmet out from under his arm and placed it on his head. The goggles flipped down and the remaining night around him lit up. God bless their sheriff and his push to outfit the SWAT team properly last tax season. "Keep your head on a swivel. No unnecessary risks."

Jake braced his AR against his shoulder as the team lined up along the wall and prepared for him to open the door for entry.

When all were in position he gave the signal and slid the rolling door back. No shots issued from inside so he took a breath, sent a prayer, and rounded the corner.

The ground floor of the old grainery came into view in shades of black and green. The NVGs took the ambient light and boosted it so that he could see almost as well as if it were daylight inside.

Tense and on alert, he stepped right and began to sweep search the western side of the building.

Silently, the rest of his team entered and split behind him as they discussed. He led his men along the west wall moving swiftly without a whisper while clearing every inch of interior as they went. The other team followed suit on the eastern wall.

A few 50 gallon drums and long forgotten, rusty machinery littered the work floor. Jake's eyes were in constant motion scanning for movement. They placed their feet carefully and kept their weapons at ready, each member of the team within visual of the other as they carefully fanned out.

Half way down the wall, the sound of rolling glass caused them to all freeze in position. It was ahead of them, too deep for the other team to have reached in that amount of time.