Read Online The Circle of Eight by J Robert Kennedy - Free Book Online Page B

button on the control panel in front of her.
    “This is
the Ops Center Chief. Send in the secondary team, I need more resources.” She
pressed another button. “Colonel Clancy to the Ops Center.”
    She
turned to Dawson and pointed to the tech she had assigned.
    “He will
assist you. Anything you need.”
    Dawson
nodded in appreciation as he and Red took up positions over either shoulder of
the tech. On the screen they could see a map rapidly drilling down until it
reached street level, a red dot indicating his sister’s car.
    “Put up
the nearest police stations.”
    A flurry
of keystrokes, and several police stations, all several miles away, appeared.
    “Map the
closest based on current traffic.”
    More
keystrokes then a blue line appeared and a set of instructions appeared on the
side of the screen.
    “Sis,
you still there?”
    “Yes!
Yes Goddammit! Where the hell would I have gone?”
    He knew
telling her to calm down would set her off even more, so he chose to ignore it.
    “Take
your next right at the intersection, okay? If you have to go through the red or
take the sidewalk, you do it. Just make sure you don’t get hit by any oncoming
traffic, okay?”
    “Okay.”
There was a pause. “Oh God, they found us!”
    There
was a crashing sound and the call went dead.
     
     

 
     
    Hull Street, Richmond, Virginia
     
    Sylvia Dawson-Biggs screamed as the SUV slammed into the back of her
car, throwing her body back into her seat, then forward, the only thing saving
her from slamming into the steering wheel her seatbelt. Jenny was screaming,
but she didn’t have time to comfort her as she looked in the rearview mirror to
see doors open on either side of the dark black vehicle, it huge compared to
her Mercedes C300.
    Two men
were now approaching, one on either side. A small group of onlookers had
gathered on the sidewalk, lookie-loos who delighted in other’s misery. She
looked for the phone. It had flown out of her hand and was nowhere to be seen.
She grabbed her purse and felt the gun inside as there was a tap at the window.
An ID was being shown to her.
    FBI?
Were these the same people from earlier? Was it the same vehicle?
    “Thank
God!” she exclaimed, deciding it couldn’t be, pushing the button to roll down
her window. “You’ve got to help me. Two men tried to kill me and my daughter
earlier.”
    “We’re
aware of what happened, ma’am.”
    “Did my
brother send you?”
    “Yes he
did, ma’am. If you’ll come with us, you’ll be perfectly safe.”
    “Of
course, yes, of course!” she cried, joy and relief spreading through her as the
adrenaline high she had been on began to slowly subside. Her happiness seemed
to extend to Jenny who smiled at her and handed over the phone Sylvia had
dropped in the crash.
    It rang.
    She
answered it as she unbuckled her seat belt.
    “Hello?”
    “Sis,
are you okay.”
    “Oh
thank God, yes. It was the FBI. They’re here now!”
    “What
was the FBI?”
    “That
hit us from behind,” she replied, then paused. “You know, you sent them.”
    “Sis,
listen to me very carefully. Is the car still running?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then I
want you to put the phone down, put the car in gear, and get the hell out of
there. Take the sidewalk if you have to!”
    “Why?”
she asked, her voice quavering as her fear began to build again.
    “Because
I didn’t send any FBI to help you, and FBI don’t ram the vehicles of the people
they’re trying to help.”
    The
phone dropped from her ear and between the seats. She reached for the gearshift
when she felt a hand on her left shoulder. She yelped, reached over for her
purse and pulled the gun as the man on the passenger side pulled his. She
raised the weapon, the loop of her purse draped over the barrel, and squeezed
the trigger. The man flew backward, a new hole in his stomach as those gathered
screamed, rushing in every direction but hers.
    The hand
on her shoulder slid up to her neck and squeezed. She swung the gun