The Manifest

Chapter 37

     Edgar watched as Devon did his best to look and act like every other delivery boy. The bait was set and he looked around the yards and driveways for any hint of someone who might take the bait. Edgar was no fool, he knew there was no way in hell packages or any other kind of mail would be delivered to a person in a relocation program without being screened first. So the mere presence of a package boy should set off some sort of alarm. At least that's what he would do if he was trying to keep someone underground. The question is, are the people watching Mrs. Johnson just as paranoid or was Jerome finally getting to him? Edgar kept looking around, wondering if he would ever get what he was looking for. He didn't have to wait long, as two men in rather cheap looking suits, scrambled out of a car that had heavily tinted windows and ran across the street and to where Devon was located. They didn't even bother to try to talk to his partner as both men drew their weapons and ordered Devon to drop to his knees, which was all that Edgar needed to hear. He pounded the wall behind him.

     "This is it! Let's go!" Edgar called out.

     Cyrus was in the back, as was his entire crew. His men darted out of the truck and started to quietly scramble onto the yard where the two men were standing. Devon was doing a great job to keep their attention. He co-operated with them by dropping to his knees but as they walked closer he started to talk to them, saying he was just a package boy and what not. This kept them oblivious of the men that were quietly approaching. Edgar watched from the truck as Cyrus was the one who finally broke the silence to inform the two suited men of his presence.

     "Freeze!" he bellowed as loud as he could, "I want your firearms on the ground and your arms as high as they will go, right now!"

     Edgar watched from a distance as the two men turned around to see how screwed they really were. Standing on the lawn behind them was fifteen heavily armed men, dressed in what could only be described as a full S.W.A.T gear and armed with some badass automatic weapons, complete with silencers. With faces masked, wearing full kevlar and helmets that made every one of them virtually bullet proof, the men in suits suddenly realized exactly what was going on: they had run headfirst into an ambush.

     "Federal agents!" Allen screamed as he held out a badge, "We are..."

     "I don't care what you claim to be!" Cyrus called back from behind his mask, "If you do not drop your weapons in the next ten seconds, we will use reasonable force to take them from you. I'm not going to ask you again: either you drop the guns or we'll drop you! Now!" when Cyrus has said 'now', all fifteen men raised their weapons to eye level, and waited the word from Cyrus or action from their targets to authorize firing.

     The two suited men stood there like statues, not sure what to do. Eventually it was the elder of the two who made the first move. Allen raised a hand up, "Alright. We are dropping our side arms."

     "We are?" Davis said, not sure what to do.

     "Yes we are and that's an order." Allen snapped back to Davis as he put the weapon on the ground. After Davis did the same, four of the men in front of them lowered their weapons and came forth while the other eleven stood there with guns still in the air, providing cover. Two of them grabbed the guns on the ground while two others two took the men into custody and cuffed them both with their hands behind their back.

     Allen didn't seem impressed, "Do you have any idea what you have just done?" he spit out with a very harsh and annoyed tone.

     Cyrus walked over to the man and looked him right in the eyes, "I know exactly what I'm doing. My employer has paid a lot of money for the right to speak with you and I intend to deliver."