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operation like the one we will be conducting today.
        “The smugglers will be loading their illegal cargo onto one of the big sand barges somewhere down river.
        "The drugs will be buried under tons of sand --- if we didn't have the intel from our snitch, it would just look like another barge loaded with sand dredged from the river.
        "The barge will dock by one of the ports at the confluence of the Kaw and Missouri Rivers. Bulldozers will off load the sand containing the drugs to waiting dump trucks.
        "Once the barge is secured to the dock and the first dozer starts to unload, we'll hit them."
        One of the senior members of the DEU spoke, "Do we have any idea how many men we'll be facing?"
        "Our best estimate is fourteen. There will be four men on the barge, four dump trucks with a driver and a wingman and probably two high-ranking members of the cartel overseeing the operation.
        "A word of caution --- Mexican cartels employ hit men known as 'sicarios' and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports that these men are far more sophisticated and dangerous than any other organized criminal group in U.S. law enforcement history.
        "They use grenade launchers, automatic weapons, body armor, and sometimes Kevlar helmets. Some groups have also been known to use IED's, improvised explosive devices.
        "We'll have our hands full so be careful out there!"
     

     
        Ox and I, along with the other ten officers from our precinct piled into one of the troop carriers that the National Guard had supplied.
        Ox and I had been together as partners for my entire three years on the force and I trusted the big man with my life.
        I hated the fact that he couldn’t know that my impending death was not real. You just don’t lie to your partner.
        I tried my best to come up with something I could say to him to convey how I felt without tipping him off.
        Finally, I just said, “Sounds like it could get pretty rough out there today. I just wanted you to know that if anything should happen --- you’ve been the greatest partner ever.”
        “Geesh, Walt, that’s pretty gloomy. What could possibly happen? After all, we’re the Dynamic Duo.”
        I resisted the urge to give him a hug.
        The troop carriers stopped a few blocks from the dock.
        Ox and I were the only advance men in the squad. We were to make our way onto the barges on either side of where the Mexicans were to dock and just stay out of sight until the attack began.
        I crossed the open parking lot and climbed aboard my barge.
        There were bales and bundles of stuff loaded on the barge. I found a 55-gallon drum that looked pretty solid so I hunkered down beside it to wait for the action to begin.
        Then I noticed the words stenciled on the side of the drum, 'diesel fuel.' I made a mental note to ask Mark if he had any say-so as to what I might be hiding behind when the bullets started flying.
        As I waited, I watched the muddy water of the Missouri wrapping around the barge and I wondered what it was going to be like, diving into the swirling current.
        In about a half hour, four huge dump trucks pulled into the lot and backed up to the dock.
        A black SUV pulled in after them. I guessed those were the guys in charge.
        A few minutes later, I heard the chug-chug of a tug boat and saw the sand-laden barge plowing through the river current.
        I kept low and out of sight until the barge was moored to the dock.
        I heard the belch of the diesel engines as the front loaders came to life.
        The moment that the first loader buried his scoop into the sand, I heard the squeal of tires and the sound of sirens as the task force descended on the cartel.
        Moments later, what I was witnessing could have been a scene from Apocalypse Now.
        Automatic weapons from both sides erupted and I could hear the bullets as