Enemies Within by Don Pendleton

Author:Don Pendleton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Worldwide Library
Published: 2017-12-27T17:30:11+00:00

Baltimore, Maryland

Established in 1922 as the White House Police, the US Secret Service’s Uniformed Division adopted its present name fifty-five years later, after a stint protecting foreign diplomatic missions in the District of Columbia and their occupants from outside attack.

The SSUD was regarded as a security force similar to the US Capitol Police or Department of Homeland Security Federal Protective Service, with a stated mission to safeguard facilities and venues secured for Secret Service protectees. Its agents were also detailed on occasion to escort shipments of currency, new or withdrawn, from their sources to secure final locations.

Like today.

This day’s escort included twelve men, four on each armored truck collecting mutilated cash, with four more in an SUV trailing behind to cover the bills slated for incineration on arrival in Richmond. Three drivers carried sidearms, the standard SIG Sauer P-229 chambered in .357 SIG cartridges, while backup weapons included futuristic-looking FN P-90 submachine guns chambered in FN 5.7 mm cartridges, more traditional Heckler & Koch MP-5 submachine guns, 12-gauge Remington 870 shotguns, and at least one custom-built .300 Winchester Magnum-chambered, bolt-action rifle, described in the ranks as JARs, for “just another rifle.”

The team had manpower, firepower and will to succeed, but its members had also been briefed on their opposition: five skilled US Army Rangers. That naturally put the team on edge while they collected the tons of money slated to be burned.

Leading the team on this day was a captain, backed by a lieutenant, two sergeants and eight officers. Throughout their run, they’d be in radio contact with an inspector, who reported in turn to a deputy chief at headquarters in Washington.

Captain Dillon Elsberry watched members of his team roll two loaded wooden pallets from the bank’s back door, received there by a forklift that relayed the pallets to the open rear doors of an armored vehicle. Ringed by small arms and wary eyes, the money swathed in shrink wrap disappeared inside the truck as more hands grabbed the pallets, hauled them out of sight, then slammed and locked the truck’s door from inside.

Above him somewhere, Elsberry first heard, then saw, a circling Bell 205 helicopter. More cover, he surmised since he’d been warned of an impending raid against the convoy this trip, damn near guaranteed.

And that was just exactly what he didn’t need, with nineteen years of duty underneath his belt and thirteen more remaining until mandatory retirement from the Service. Losing a cash shipment this size, whether to theft or by having it shot out from under him, would be a career killer. Elsberry wouldn’t be fired, more than likely, but he could look forward to assignments in the smallest, most remote field offices available—maybe in Anchorage, Alaska, or on Guam, where he could finish out his tenure filing, checking phony leads on fugitives and testing bills to see if they were counterfeit.

Don’t blow it, then, Elsberry thought. How hard is that?

The simple answer: he had no earthly idea. Facing a team of US Army Rangers, anything could happen, and he knew none of it would be good.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.