LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter One

      Winchester, TennesseeFriday, August 9

      Sadie Buchanan had never been to Winchester before. The closest she’d come was Tullahoma and that had been years ago when she was first assigned to the Nashville area. A joint task force conference at the Arnold Air Force base had required her attendance for a day. Frankly, it was unusual for an agent to end up in this area, much less request a retrieval. The kind of trouble that required her participation rarely happened in small towns. Most of her assignments took her to the larger metropolitan areas around the state or deep into the desert or the mountains.

      In any event, whenever an agent was in trouble, she went in.

      She parked in front of the Franklin County sheriff’s office. Extracting agents from dangerous situations hadn’t exactly been a part of her plan when she started her career, but within two years of her first field assignment she found herself doing exactly that after one particular mission. The assignment as well as the agent involved had been high profile, garnering her the full attention of the powers that be. During that fateful mission she as well as the Bureau discovered her knack for getting in and out with particular ease. From that point forward, she had been focused on training for moments like this one. It wasn’t the sort of task just any agent felt comfortable doing. Success required a very particular skill set.

      Go in, attain the target and get out alive.

      Her father always said that everyone had a gift. Evidently, this was hers. It hadn’t failed her yet. She had no intention of allowing it to start today.

      Inside the brick building that housed the sheriff’s department and county jail, a female desk sergeant greeted her.

      “Special Agent Sadie Buchanan.” Sadie showed her credentials to the other woman. “I’m here to see Sheriff Tanner and Agent Ross.”

      “Good morning, Agent Buchanan. Down the hall and to the left,” Sergeant Rodriquez said with a gesture toward the long corridor beyond her desk. “They’re waiting for you in the conference room, ma’am.”

      Sadie thanked the sergeant and headed in the direction she’d indicated. One thing she had noticed about Winchester already and it was barely ten o’clock in the morning—it was a couple of degrees hotter than Nashville. The town was attractive in a quaint sort of way, surrounded by a lake and bordered by hills and woods. Most folks would see those hills and woods as nature’s perfect landscape. What Sadie saw in all that natural beauty were places to hide. Lots and lots of potential hiding places.

      Not a good thing when attempting to locate a target.

      She opened the door to the conference room and walked in. Four people waited for her but only one that she recognized: Special Agent Deacon Ross. He, too, was assigned to Nashville. They’d only worked together on one occasion, but he had a stellar reputation. The last she’d heard he had taken an extended leave of absence.

      Maybe the rumors that he might not be coming back were just that—rumors. He certainly appeared to be involved in this case.

      “Agent Buchanan,” a tall, dark-haired man at the head of the table said as he stood, “I’m Sheriff Colt Tanner. We’re glad you could come.” He extended his hand.

      Sadie gave his hand a shake. “Happy to help, Sheriff.”

      “This is Chief of Police Billy Brannigan.” Tanner gestured to another man. This one had brown hair and eyes and looked as much like a cowboy as the sheriff.

      Brannigan extended his hand across the conference table. “Good to meet you, Agent Buchanan.”

      “Likewise, Chief.” Sadie accepted the gesture and turned to the next man in the room. “Agent Ross.” She offered her hand.

      Ross gave her hand a shake and then turned to the woman at his side. “This is Cecelia Winters.”

      Sadie extended her hand once more, this time toward the petite woman with the fiery mane of red hair. “Ms. Winters.”

      Winters brushed her palm briefly against Sadie’s but didn’t speak. Since she had the same last name as the target, Sadie assumed she was a wife or other family member.

      “Why don’t we have a seat and get started,” Ross suggested.

      Sadie pulled out a chair and sat down as the others resumed their seats. A couple of files and a stack of maps lay on the table. Not exactly the typical setup for a tactical mission briefing but she’d gotten the impression this one was different than her usual assignment. She didn’t have a problem with different. As long as it didn’t get anyone killed. Sadie was yet to lose a target once she had attained him or her.

      “I imagine,” Ross said, “you were briefed on the situation we have.”

      “I only just returned to Nashville late last night from an assignment in Memphis. I’m afraid the details I received are sketchy at best. I assumed I would be fully briefed when I arrived.”

      This would certainly be her first briefing with a civilian present who was totally unrelated to the official aspects of the investigation. She had a feeling this assignment was going to become more and more unusual.

      “A particular group of extremists in the Franklin County area was pinpointed more than two decades ago. Gunrunning was suspected to be a major part of this group’s activities. Over the past few years suspicions of their involvement with kidnapping, possibly related to human trafficking, have surfaced. My former partner, Jack Kemp, investigated this group when it was first discovered but at the time there was not enough substantial evidence that the members were involved in anything criminal or illegal to pursue any sort of operation. Just over nine years ago that status changed, and Jack came back for a second look. During the course of that assignment he disappeared. Recently, new information about what happened to him has come to light. In part, that information was obtained through a civilian informant. Like most of us, Jack worked with a number of civilian informants.”

      “One of those informants is Levi Winters,” Sheriff Tanner added. “Levi has recently gone missing and we suspect this group may be involved.”

      Brannigan didn’t add anything. Sadie was undecided as to whether his continued silence was a good thing. Perhaps his involvement was only for informational purposes. The target was likely outside his official jurisdiction.

      “Is the Bureau opening a new case in the area?” Seemed a no-brainer. But Sadie was not up to speed on the happenings in Franklin County. The more Ross talked, the more she understood that he had friends in high places and that was why she was here. “Or is this one off the record?”

      The men in the room exchanged

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