Special Talents (36 page)

"Sure," said Jeremy. "Janet, Conrad, and Simon are with me now."

"Bring them," said Scarborough said. "They may be needed."

"We'll be right there," said Jeremy. "What's the address?"

Scarborough gave him the address and Jeremy hastily paid the bill. As they headed to his car Janet asked what the situation was.

"I don't know exactly," said Jeremy. "Richard only said it was a standoff situation and that we were needed. I guess we'll find out when we get there."

When they arrived at the address they found the entire block cordoned off with Silver Spring police cars. Dozens of officers sat perched behind their cars with weapons pointed at a small house that sat in the middle of the block. A group of residents were gathered up the block and stood behind police caution tape. Jeremy showed his Homeland Security ID and they were immediately let through. In less than a minute they had located Scarborough who was standing next to a police officer wearing lieutenant's bars.

"What's going on?" Jeremy asked.

"Supervisor Agent Jeremy Sloan, Lieutenant Glen Peters, Silver Spring police department," Scarborough introduced the two men. "I got a call from Glen about an hour ago. He said they had a suspect cornered and thought it would be of interest to me."

"A concerned neighbor called the station earlier this evening," explained Peters. "She said that the man in that house seemed to have visitors at unusual times of the night and thought he might be dealing drugs out of it. So we dispatched a unit to investigate."

"The man is Jackson Hampton," said Scarborough. "He moved in about 6 months ago and stays pretty much to himself. Before coming here he lived abroad. He seemed to move around a lot and the last place he lived was Italy."

"When the officers arrived, Hampton opened fire without provocation," continued Peters. "One officer was hit and went down. The other one was able to get back to his unit and called for backup. We think the officer who was hit might be dead. He hasn't moved and we can't get to him. Every time we try the officers come under fire."

"I don't understand," said Jeremy. "It seems like a routine drug bust. Why call us in?"

"We've tried to assault the place three times," said Peters. "There are innocent civilians around and we want to end this as quickly as possible. But each time we make our move, he's ready for us. It doesn't matter which side of the house we move for he's there. It's almost like he knows what we're planning."

"Now you see why I called you," said Scarborough. "We know there's only one person in there. But each time he's right where the officers are making their assault."

"The last time I tried a two-prong assault," said Peters. "Several officers move toward the front of the house to draw his attention. At the same time several S.W.A.T. members moved in from the back. As the officers in the front moved up, two shots rang out. They fell back which was part of the plan as the ones in back moved in."

"But they didn't make it," said Scarborough. "After those two shots the perp moved to the back of the house and opened fire on the officers at the back. It's like he knew the officers at the front were a decoy."

"Interesting," said Jeremy. "Can I get a look at the man in the house?"

"Just keep watching," said Peters. "Every few minutes he looks out a window. But it's never the same window. Our snipers don't have enough time to get a bead on him."

Jeremy turned and began to watch the house. Nothing moved in the house. Suddenly he saw someone stick their head in an open window. There wasn't much to see but it was enough for Jeremy to identify that is was a person. And the person's aura told him the man was using an ability. He pulled Scarborough aside.

"This Hampton has some kind of special talent," Jeremy said. "He's using it right now."

"Any idea what it is?" Scarborough asked.

"None. But you said he seemed to know what the lieutenant was doing."

"That's right. Every time Glen instructs his men on an assault Hampton seems to know exactly what they're planning. He's ready for them."

"Any chance he's getting outside help? Maybe someone nearby using a radio or something to let him know what's going on?"

"No," said Scarborough. "All of the nearby houses have been cleared. And Glen doesn't use the radio. He instructs his men personally. There's no chance anyone could overhear what he's saying and let Hampton know what's going on. Any ideas?"

"Well," said Jeremy, thinking. "If he does know what's going on he's getting his information from somewhere. You once told me that each standoff is different. That the person in charge decides what actions to take based on the situation."

"That's right. There are standard protocols for handling a standoff but no two are the same. The officer in charge has to make decisions based on the situation at the moment."

"So there's no way Hampton could know what Peters is doing. He can't have access to a guidebook of sorts and know what decisions Peters will make."

"No, none. As I said, Hampton seems to know exactly what Peters has planned. No one else knows what he's doing until he tells them."

"But Peters knows what he's going to do," said Jeremy. "Maybe Hampton can read his mind. Know what he's going to do before he relays his orders to the men."

"That would make sense," said Scarborough. "If Hampton can read Peter's mind he'd know where the officers are going to make their assault. And he'd know that the last one was a decoy meant to distract him."

"Which also means," said Jeremy, "that whatever Peters decides to do, Hampton's going to know about it. Even before Peters issues orders to his men."

"So what do we do about it?" Scarborough asked. "How do you deal with a situation where your perp knows exactly what the guy in charge is going to do the moment he decides?"

"That's a good question," said Jeremy. "That's a very good question."

Several tense moments passed as they tried to decide what to do. Suddenly Jeremy's face lit up. He pulled Scarborough aside and spoke to him privately.

"Okay," said Jeremy. "We have a standoff because apparently Hampton knows what Peters is planning. Maybe it's telepathy or maybe it's something else altogether. The point is that each time Peters forms a plan, Hampton knows what it is."

"Okay, that makes sense," said Scarborough. "Which makes it difficult to do anything if Hampton knows what the guy in charge plans to do."

"What if Peters wasn't aware of the full plan?" Jeremy asked. "What if he only knew part of the plan and the rest of it was kept from him?"

"I'm not sure that would work," said Scarborough. "Hampton is the officer in charge. He has to be kept apprised of everything so he can make decisions based on changing circumstances."

"I know that," said Jeremy. "But that obviously isn't working in this situation." He looked up at the house. "I have an idea. But it will mean you'll have to convince Peters to do something without telling him the entire plan. In fact, he can't even know there's another part of the plan for my idea to work."

"That might be difficult," said Scarborough. "It goes against standard protocol."

"And more than likely Hampton knows that," said Jeremy. "Here's my idea."

Jeremy outlined his plan to Scarborough who thought about it for a moment.

"All you have to do is get Peters to initiate his part of the plan," said Jeremy. "We'll fill him in later, if my idea works."

"I'll try," said Scarborough. "But I've known Glen a long time. He'll want to know what you're planning."

"Just try," said Jeremy. "I'll let Janet, Conrad, and Simon know what's going on."

"Glen," said Scarborough walking over to the lieutenant, "I'd like you to attempt another assault on the house. Similar to the last one. Send some officers in the front to distract Hampton and send some in the left side of the house to make the actual assault."

"We've tried that," said Peters. "It didn't work. I can't justify putting more officer's lives in jeopardy without a good reason."

"Trust me, Glen," said Scarborough. "You've worked with my brother for 15 years. And you know me. You know I would never put officers in the line of fire without a very good reason."

"What about our friends?" Peters asked, indicating Jeremy and the others. "You said they could help. What are they going to be doing?"

"I can't answer that. Please, just trust me on this one, Glen. I'll explain everything later. I just need you to make the assault. And have a sniper ready. No one is to fire but him, no matter what happens."

Peters thought for a moment. Finally he decided to trust Scarborough. He gathered his men to give them their instructions. Several minutes later several officers began to advance toward the front of the house. At the same time more officers advanced on the left side of the house. As before several shots rang out from the front room. As they did, the officers advancing on the front immediately began to move back.

A moment later several shots rang out from the left side of the house. As they did the officers making that advance suddenly turned and retreated back to the safety of the police barricade that had been set up there. Everything got quiet.

"Rick, you want to tell me what that was all about?" Peters demanded after a moment. "We didn't accomplish anything. All we did was put some of my officers in the line of fire and Hampton . . . .?

His sentence went unfinished as movement from the front of the house caught his eye. As he looked at the house what he saw defied belief. Simon stepped through the front door, which was still closed. He was holding Hampton and as they moved off the porch, Simon dropped Hampton to the ground and retreated back into the house; phasing through the door again.

"What the hell?" questioned Peters as everyone watched in shock at what had happened. "How the hell . . . ."

Suddenly Hampton stood up and looked back at the door to the house, a look of astonishment on his face. Then he looked around, realizing he was outside the house, standing on the lawn. He reached behind him and began to pull out a pistol. He never finished the move. A single sniper fired and Hampton went down, a bullet through the head.

Almost immediately officers began to converge on the body lying on the lawn. As they did, Simon tentatively opened the front door and stuck his head out. Seeing Hampton on the ground, he cautiously stepped outside, his hands in the air signifying he wasn't armed.

"What was that?" Peters asked. "How the hell did he do that?"

"Trade secret," said Simon, moving over to the people gathered on the lawn. "Afraid a magician doesn't reveal his secrets."

"He's dead, sir," said an officer, checking Hampton's body.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me what you had planned?" Peters demanded of Scarborough.

"I'm sorry, lieutenant," said Jeremy. "It was necessary. Hampton seemed to know everything you were planning. We figured the only way to end this was if you didn't know everything that was going on so he couldn't find out."

"But how could he know what I was planning?" Peters demanded.

"Sorry, Glen," said Scarborough. "We can't answer that. National security. But trust me. It was the only way."

"Well," said Peters, looking at Hampton's lifeless body, "we were able to end this with a minimum of bloodshed. And other than the one officer who was shot when they arrived, no one else got hurt. I'd say this was a successful end to the standoff."

"The house is clean, lieutenant," said an officer coming out the front door. "No one else inside and no sign of any drugs. Or anything else illegal that we can find."

"So if he wasn't dealing drugs," said Peters, "why did he open fire on the two officers that responded to the call? There weren't any returns on him so he wasn't wanted for anything. So why fire on two police officers when there's nothing inside the house?"

"That's not true," said Conrad. "There is something in the house."

"How do you know that, Conrad?" Jeremy asked.

"I don't know," replied Conrad, looking around in confusion. "I just know that there's something in the house. Something Hampton didn't want anyone to find."

Suddenly he looked down at Hampton's body. He seemed to study it for a moment.

"It's him," he whispered to Jeremy. "I'm getting information from him."

"You can read his mind?" Jeremy asked in puzzlement. "But he's dead. How could you be learning anything from him?"

"I don't know. But I'm telling you there's something in that house he didn't want found. I think I know where it is."

They followed Conrad into the house. He immediately went to a small library just off the living room. The library had several book cases built into the wall. As they watched, Simon removed the books from one of the shelves. The he pressed on the paneling on the wall behind the bookshelf. A section of the paneling opened exposing a small safe set into the wall.