Chicago, Illinois
Sunlight cut through the unseasonably cold September morning air and melted frost off the street-side café sign. Despite the low temperature, Richard Walburn fully intended to enjoy this Labor Day holiday by having coffee and bagels at Forno Vicinato with his wife and son. Besides, they were bundled into their fall coats, and it would warm up quickly according to WGN-TV’s weather forecast the previous evening.
“Morning, Silvi,” Walburn said as he entered the café.
Silvano Marchetti returned the greeting with a broad grin. “Rich, my friend. How goes it?”
“It goes.”
Marchetti nodded toward the silhouettes of Walburn’s wife and son, who’d taken seats at a table just outside the window. “I see you brought the family today.”
“You know it,” Walburn replied. “A day off is a rare treat in my world. You take all those moments you can—”
The blast rocked through the interior of the café with such force it blew out the front windows.
Later, witnesses would say they felt the sidewalk rumble as a piece of sharp metal seemed to erupt from the storefront and decapitate Kathy Walburn. Members of the forensic team had to collect various parts of young Daniel Walburn from the rubble.
Nobody inside the Italian café survived, and it would take hours for Emergency Management officials to confirm that Detective Richard Walburn, a fourteen-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, was among several people who had died in the blast.
* * *
That evening, Detective Sergeant Mick Brett of the warrant squad sat in his unmarked unit a block from the home of one of Chicago’s most wanted criminals. The PD’s Intelligence unit had known for some time the location of the US residence of Axel Madera, a man wanted on at least a dozen charges and most of them class A felonies. Unfortunately, they hadn’t been able to verify until recently that Madera even occupied the structure. Word had it he’d been lying low at some hideaway just across the US-Mexican border in Brownsville, Texas. Then an eagle-eyed TSA camera agent at McAllen Miller International had spotted Madera boarding a plane for Chicago, and the news came in to put a watch on Madera’s North Side Chicago residence.
“So, when are we going to get this show on the road?” asked Brett’s partner, Reginald “Iggy” Taylor.
“I’m still waiting for the call from Hillman.”
“What’s taking him so long?”
Brett looked at his partner with disbelief. “A holiday weekend and trying to find a judge awake at this hour?”
The cell phone buzzed for attention. Brett looked at the caller ID before answering and said, “Speak of the devil.”
“I finally got Judge Baker to sign off.”
“Took long enough.”
“I had to go to three other places before I got lucky enough to catch her at home. She said, and I quote, ‘Any chance to get this son of a bitch behind bars once and for all, I’m glad to put ink to paper.’ I’m on my way with hard copies, so go ahead and get into position. I’ll be there in less than five with the BearCat.”
“Acknowledged. We’re in position.”
Brett disconnected the call and said, “Let’s do this.”
Taylor nodded, then looked around at the deserted neighborhood street before drawing his .40 Smith & Wesson pistol. He eased the slide back partway to verify a round sat in the chamber, then put the semiautomatic weapon at half cock and engaged the safety.
Brett was out of the car and had the trunk open by the time Taylor joined him. The pair donned their bulletproof vests before each withdrew a Colt M-4 carbine. Unlike the M-4 A1, this variant only supported a safe/semiauto/3-round-burst trigger configuration. With a maximum effective range of 500 to 600 meters and chambering 5.56 mm NATO rounds, the M-4 had a muzzle velocity that exceeded 900 meters per second. It was an effective tool in a modern arsenal required to combat crime. Brett and Taylor were both fully trained and certified on the weapon as full-fledged members of the warrant squad.
As Brett closed the trunk he said, “Let’s take this bastard down once and for all.”
Taylor couldn’t resist flashing a sardonic grin. “You’re such a drama queen.”
His partner chuckled, and the two crossed the street to the sidewalk on the far side. Tall, immaculate hedges lined the walk and obscured their approach. To Brett’s surprise, they hadn’t seen any movement through the visible parts of the massive wrought iron fence surrounding the grounds of Madera’s palatial home. It annoyed the hell out of the detective when he considered Madera had the guts to live in such an affluent neighborhood. While others in this part of town were probably law-abiding citizens for the most part, and had worked to earn a nice home here, Madera had built his fortune selling drugs.
To rub salt in the wound, federal authorities had marked Madera as a person of interest in the murder of a US border patrol agent. They hadn’t gathered enough evidence to secure a conviction, but he was wanted for questioning. Brett hoped if they managed to make the arrest that the Feds wouldn’t swoop in and take charge. While murdering a federal agent was a serious crime, mere suspicion couldn’t trump the various drug-related charges accompanied by a mountain of evidence. That’s what would ultimately put Madera behind bars.
Brett and Taylor made it to the southwest corner of Madera’s property. The senior detective checked his watch, heart thudding in his ears with the surge of adrenaline. He looked down the nearby avenue, searching for the familiar shape of the armored BearCat LE. Manufactured by Lenco Industries and weighing in at almost nine tons, the BearCat could travel at highway speeds and boasted an inch of NIJ Type IV armor. CPD’s SWAT team had two of them in their fleet. Both featured running boards, battering ram, gun ports and a rotating roof hatch. The BearCat would be a formidable weapon against anything Madera could throw at them.
The vehicle passed beneath the illumination of the streetlight as it lumbered into view, its familiar lines sending a small measure of comfort through Brett’s gut. “Right on time, Hillman. Nice.”
Brett heard Taylor stir and turned to see what his friend and partner was saying, but abruptly Taylor’s reply became muffled as the big cop began to choke on his own blood, and a red hole seemed to materialize in his neck out of nowhere. Brett froze; he heard the pop emanate from somewhere, but between the broad street and vast grounds of Madera’s estate, he couldn’t really determine from where the sniper shot had originated. What he did realize, even before he saw Taylor grab at his neck and the spurts of arterial blood, was that they no longer had the advantage of surprise. Brett whirled toward his partner, intending to help his friend, who simply sat down as his lifeblood gushed from between his fingers.
Brett didn’t get far. A bullet slammed into
