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busted no fewer than fifteen Marines who were secretly drinking under age in the barracks. Over the strong objections of the Marines’ platoon commanders, his own naïve peers, the battalion commander had reluctantly disciplined the minors. Instead of being praised for his hard work in the successful raid, 2 nd Lt. Stricklin was reassigned to the armory, permanently.
    He served out his time with relative ease, despite having to go off to war with the battalion.
    The entire episode had shown Steve Stricklin that he was the only person who could and would determine his fate. With a glowing recommendation from a supply major he’d met in Saudi Arabia, Stricklin applied and was accepted to the FBI Academy. At the time, the FBI was looking for as many service members with practical experience as it could find. Although he didn’t get assigned to a field office as an investigating agent as he’d originally wanted, his appointment to Internal Affairs came with certain perks. He was allowed to make his own day for the most part, and whenever he visited a field office, he was given a wide berth. Steve liked the feeling of power that it gave him.
    After grabbing a soda from the staff lounge, he headed to his temporary office, a small but tidy corner office that gave him the privacy he liked. Logging in to his email, he scanned the various compartmental messages. An email from his supervisor sat waiting. Steve clicked on it.
    The message contained one of his department’s weekly updates that kept the entire IA team informed about ongoing investigations. Nothing peaked his interest until the update labeled FLOTUS ORANGE BEACH, ALABAMA . FLOTUS was the acronym used to describe the first lady of the United States. Just like the rest of Americans, Steve had heard about the attack on the first lady and the death of the vice president. The memo outlined the first lady’s itinerary in Orange Beach and then asked for two volunteers to augment the investigators doing local checks prior to the first lady’s appearance starting the next day. Orange Beach wasn’t far from Birmingham.
    Steve was surprised that the first lady was already coming out in public. Curious, he clicked on the link that took him to a secure web page where he could see if anyone had volunteered yet. There was one name. He didn’t recognize the agent. His interviews in Birmingham could be finished the same day if Stricklin kept the Birmingham staff at the office until he was done, which would probably be well past midnight. They couldn’t complain. It was his call to make. Even the special agent in charge of the division had to listen.
    Smiling, Steve entered his name to volunteer for the temporary duty in Orange Beach. He could be there by morning.
    +++
    “Is everything in place?”
    “Yes.”
    “I don’t want any mistakes this time.”
    “There won’t be.”
    “Good. Call me when you get to Orange Beach.”

Episode 2

Chapter 8
    En Route to Pensacola, Florida
    9:05am, December 17 th
    Cal tried to stretch his legs but cuffed his shin on the seat in front him.
    “Remind me why I don’t book first class again.”
    Daniel Briggs chuckled, not looking up from the Bible he was reading. “You always say you don’t want special treatment.”
    Cal gave Daniel an annoyed scowl and rubbed his leg. “How is it that you’re not uncomfortable? You’re bigger than me.”
    “Must be the sniper in me that got me used to squeezing and staying in the tiniest hides. This is roomy.”
    “You squirrely bastard.”
    They’d only been on the plane for a little over an hour. Daniel knew Cal’s unease wasn’t just about the limited legroom. His boss didn’t like going into an operation blind. They were all feeling the after-effects of the deadly mission in Wyoming months before, Cal most of all. Despite the perceived recklessness of their recent assassinations where they eliminated high value targets, every mission had been meticulously planned and prepped.
    The loss of