Hard Rain Falling (Walking in the Rain Book 3) by William Allen Page A

Germann didn’t even bother taking the colonel’s letter out of the bag.
    “Alright, here’s a little background while my men strip that SUV of everything of interest to our investigation. You can have it after that. We are on a tight time schedule in more ways than one. Why do you want the truck anyway, if you have a Humvee already on loan?”
    “I like to have options, Lt. Germann. The Humvee is a great but it’s just a loaner. That Suburban is also a diesel and has a better suspension, higher speed on the top end, and more hauling capacity than the Humvee. I think it’s armored up like a Hummer too. I’m also going to need those bullet resistant vests and personal weapons, if you please.”
    “And if I refuse?”
    “Then I am at your mercy, Lt. Germann. But you strike me as the merciful type. Plus, you guys don’t need the small arms, but we could sure use them. Starting a small business is often hard without sufficient startup capital… I learned that in my economics class. So if I am going to make a go of it as a security contractor, I need the tools. And please, you were about to tell me more about the situation we’ve wandered into?”
    “Sergeant Halloran and Private Sanchez died in the Humvee when it was struck by a Javelin anti-tank missile. The Javelin is state-of-the-art, Luke. It has infrared homing, lock-on before launch, and is self-guided. With a range beyond 2,000 meters, it is a fire and forget tank killer. We don’t have them. The Guard, I mean. Strictly controlled and in use by the U.S. Army and a few close allies. You don’t just find these laying around in some local armory. There has to be something bigger in play.”
    “Ah, now it becomes clear,” I said with a sigh. “Camp Gruber.”
    “That is what I personally suspect. And I’ll bet you once we get those two laptops in the front seat of the Suburban opened up, their screensaver will have the DHS logo.”
    Department of Homeland Security; just the kind of folks I wanted to avoid. Germann seemed like a smart operator, and a man who got things done.
    “No bet, Sir.”
    “How did you manage to get the drop on them, Luke?”
    I gave him the 30 second rundown, ending with my own conclusion.
    “They got sloppy. In a hurry it seemed. Nobody was minding the store, so I took the shot.”
    “Well, we need to get the hell out of here quick as well. Let’s go see what my technicians are finding.”
    Actually, they found quite a bit. Two more reloads for the Javelin in the rear cargo area, which would be going with the lieutenant, as well as multiple radios and communications equipment that looked capable of calling the International Space Station. Including the most current military issue SINCGARS radio preloaded with all the codes necessary to keep up with the frequency hopping mode.
    The young technician, a specialist, recited these and other facts about the radio system like the lieutenant had about the Javelin a few minutes earlier. I wondered if there was going to be a test. Then he mentioned that the Suburban had two GPS trackers he’d found so far, and that he thought there might be one more hidden under the hood.
    “Still want the SUV, Luke?” the lieutenant said in a slightly mocking tone. Despite the grim nature of the mission, he seemed to enjoy making me squirm a bit. I sort of liked that about the man.
    We were nearly done and getting the last of my booty packed into the rear cargo compartment of the SUV. We decided to ride together in the Suburban while Specialist Markum and another man would take our Humvee, now loaded with the Bradley components, on the short hop to McAlester. The footlocker was shifted as well and anchored in place by two cases of ammunition; one contained .45 ACP and the other held 5.56x45, stacked on either side.
    All four men were equipped with M4 carbines, fresh off the Colt factory floor with ACOG sights, and the UMP45s were close range personal defense weapons, according to Lt. Germann. I just