Chapter Ten

The  agents who made up the new task force were assembled at Bryan’s office officially ,for the first time. They had been brainstorming for the past hour with little result, despite having pulled their resources together from their previous investigations on the Blood gang and Italian mafia respectively.

His office had a few papers on the floor which had fallen  from the numerous ones  scattered across his desk.

The evidence board on the wall was empty, as there was no substantial information to pin on it .

“The gangs are constantly evolving. It’s much more difficult to apprehend these criminals because they are always finding new ways to evade us.”

Justin complained.

“Yeah. They’ve known most of the tricks in our books.”

Maggie supported.

“There will always be a loop hole somewhere.”

Bryan opined.

“So far there has been none.”

Jamal pointed out the obvious.

“Even though the Italian mafia and the Blood gang are rivals, I have this gut feeling that there is a connection between them.”

Bryan said.

“I could use a cup of coffee.”

Jamal said with a yawn.

“How about we go for a ten minutes break?”

Maggie suggested to which they all agreed.

They were all packing up the scattered papers into folders when Bryan’s phone buzzed. He brought the device out from his pocket to see he had a text message from Kimberly.

“I think we’ve got a break on the case.”

Bryan said loudly, with excitement in his voice.

The others looked at him with puzzled looks on their faces.

“What do you mean?”

Maggie asked.

“I just got a text message from an informant, which contained the address of a Bloods crib.”

Bryan explained.

“You mean a ‘potential ‘ Bloods crib.”

Justin corrected.

“You don’t have to be pessimistic always.”

Jamal taunted.

“Everyone know I’m a realist.”

Justin said in defense.

“Let’s just hope it doesn’t turn out to be a dead end. We really need some luck.”

Jamal said.

“One more thing. I’ll be the one in charge of the raid.”

Bryan said.

“That’s fair.”

Maggie replied, as the others nodded in agreement.

“So what’s next boss?”

Justin asked sarcastically.

“We get a search warrant from Judge Rooney, then we make a bust.”

‘It feels good to be in charge.’

Bryan thought with a smile.

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The convoy of three black sedans sped through the streets at the upper east side of the city as they made their way to the Bloods crib.

Timing was very important in busts like this, as there were always members of the gangs on the lookout. Failing to get to their destination on time meant that they’ll only be busting an ‘empty nest’ .

The first car in the convoy stopped a few meters from the grey apartment building entrance, while the other two followed suit.

The four DEA agents in the task force alighted from the first vehicle, followed by eight SWAT officers.

A  crowd had started forming, which gradually grew larger as more residents in the hood came outside their homes to witness what was happening.

Bryan immediately felt uneasy, as he knew a lot could go wrong at any moment.

“We’ll be moving simultaneously into the building from both entrances.”

Bryan announced.

“Jamal and I will proceed from the front door with you, you and you.”

Bryan said, while pointing out three of the SWAT officers.

“You two should remain outside to control the crowd.”

He said while facing two other SWAT officers.

“The others should proceed to the back door.”

“Alright people, let’s move fast and strike hard.”

The SWAT captain who was a burly man added as both teams made their way into the building.

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The SWAT officers who wore helmets on full combat gear, with M16 rifles were the first to enter the building, while the DEA agents who only had bulletproof vests on, with their standard issued pistols followed closely behind the tactical team.

The ground floor comprised of a large space, which could serve as a hall, was so quiet that Bryan could hear the sound of a leaking faucet, dripping water in one of the apartments on the upper floor.

Bryan suddenly felt his hopes diminishing as they made for the stairs.

They got to the upper floor to meet the other team on the other end of the  hallway,  which had seven apartments on either sides.

“Anything on your end ?”

Maggie asked.

“No. I take it that you guys got nothing also.”

Said Bryan.

“Yeah.”

Justin replied.

“Let’s leave no stone unturned.”

Bryan admonished his team before they went in twos into each of the fourteen apartments.

“That is odd.”

Jamal said while trying to open one of the doors.

“It’s the only one that is locked. Someone should be inside.”

He added.

The others who had finished searching the other empty apartments were now congregated in front of the locked door.

Bryan took point and spoke loudly at the top of his voice.

“This is the DEA. We have a search warrant for this building. Come out with your hands up.”

There was silence for a few seconds, before one of the SWAT officers kicked the door in and the rest swarmed into the apartment.

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Bryan entered the apartment’s sitting room to find it empty, save for a couch and a table.

He entered the bathroom and saw that the toilet was clogged with plastic which had little white residue in it .

Apparently someone tried to flush something recently.

He walked out of the bathroom and made his way to the kitchen which only had a cabinet and an oven.

He opened the oven, and saw a small bag, which contained some compacted objects in the shape of cuboids wrapped in black tape.

He picked one of them up, and peeled the tape off its edge, which revealed a white powdery substance similar to what was in the toilet.

He was already leaving the kitchen with the bag, when he heard a shout from the bedroom. He raced there to see a teenage boy with dreadlocks hiding inside a wardrobe.

“Please don’t shoot!”

The boy pleaded with hands raised as he came out from his hiding place.

“Look at what I found.”

Bryan said while holding the bag open for all to see, which prompted a few whistles from the SWAT team.

“I guess we’ve hit jackpot.”

Jamal said, while stating the obvious.

“Does this crib now have enough potential to you?”

Bryan asked Justin playfully who remained mute.

“I guess we can all agree that since we got what we came here for, drinks will be on Justin tonight.”

Maggie proposed to which they all agreed to.

They handcuffed the boy and made their way downstairs, and finally out of the building.

Bryan was now more than confident that they would be able to end the Blood gang and bring its members to justice.

Just like every other organization, all gangs always have a chain of command. All they have to do now, is to work their way from the bottom of the chain to the very top.