Forced Induction: A John Tyler Thriller: John Tyler Action Thrillers, #5 by Tom Fowler

Author:Tom Fowler
Format: epub

27

Leon Sharpe frowned at the report on his desk.

The Baltimore Police Department captain read a lot of similar write-ups each week. It came with overseeing violent crime enforcement in a city with no lack of material. This particular case was different. Four officers engaged in a shootout with several assailants behind an abandoned row of houses. Not unusual on its own. Three of the gunmen died, and two officers went to the hospital with injuries.

Unfortunately, even these facts didn’t make the report stand out.

The shooters used unknown weapons, and none were recovered at the scene.

Ballistics couldn’t match the rounds to any weapon in the database. Even aftermarket modifications left recognizable patterns. Whatever these guns were, no one knew about them. “The last thing we need is assholes with advanced weapons,” Sharpe grumbled to his empty office. The more he looked at the pages in front of him, the more something seemed familiar.

As an Army veteran, Sharpe could access sites off limits to the general public. None of them displayed classified information of course, but he didn’t come across anything on advanced weaponry. He felt sure he’d seen a story in this vein, so he kept looking. “Bingo,” he said as he found what he wanted. CRATES OF WEAPONS MISSING FROM FORT BRAGG, the headline announced. The article accompanying it proved short on details. This meant the rifles couldn’t be talked about in public yet.

Sharpe dialed the medical examiner’s office and waited for the chief. Eventually, Doctor Greg Stephens came on the line. “I didn’t process those results,” he said when Sharpe pressed him for details.

“I’m aware” the captain said. “I don’t like unknown weapons making their way into the city. Did you read the report?”

“I did.”

“And?”

“And I wish I could help you, Captain. We can only work with what we know. In terms of wounds on the bodies, they weren’t unusual. Anything else is something you’ll need to take up with forensics.”

“I will,” Sharpe said and hung up. He waited a few more minutes before being connected to the city’s head of forensic science.

“The report is right,” Doctor Daniel Kile said in his nasal baritone.

“I need more than an unknown. I see your team did the work a few days ago. Anything new come in?”

“Both our jobs would be easier if shit worked so fast, Leon.”

“I know,” Sharpe said with a wry chuckle. “Humor me.”

“All right.” The sounds of a clacking keyboard filled the line. “Hang on. A guy in the county saw the same thing. We talk about weird things like this . . . try to keep each other in the loop, you know? His report’s pretty vague, and I don’t know what led him to the hypothesis he made, but he seems to think it’s a new variant of the classic Em-Four.”

“Interesting.” Sharpe glanced back at the report which omitted many details of the missing weapons. Stolen from Fort Bragg, the training ground for much of the Army’s Special Operations groups. A new M4 variant would be right in their wheelhouse.

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