Cross

01 | The Red Wolves (CASE CLOSED)

"It's hard to believe in coincidence, but it's even harder to believe in anything else."  - John Green

               Chapter One

"Agent Riemann, do you have eyes on the target?"

Covering my head with the hood of my deep navy blue North Face coat, I wrapped my fleece-lined black scarf tighter around my neck. It was a little after three in the morning and the sun was nowhere to be seen. I shivered, rubbing my hands against my arms, as another wave of frigid spring air blew past me. March was coming to an end, but summer seemed like a distant future, always beyond reach. Despite the dreariness of a long, brutal winter and the lack of sunlight warming my face and heart alike, however, I felt the corners of my lips lift up into a proud smile. The Red Wolves case was as good as done.

Pulling up the binoculars dangling from my neck, I peered into the distance from behind a Trans-Bridge Lines bus. Meticulously analyzing each and every individual that entered the Port Authority Bus Terminal, I gripped my binoculars with my right hand as I pushed in my ear piece with my left to decipher the conversation taking place between a few of my fellow FBI agents and the NYPD.

"No sign of target yet, sir," Agent Riemann responded.

Similar conversations were repeated between multiple officers and agents as we all kept our eyes peeled for a familiar face. After robbing a closed City National Bank in midtown Manhattan, killing three key-witnesses at the crime scene at point-blank and engaging in a gang war with the notorious D3VILS gang, it was fair to say that Dimitrios' face was plastered on every newspaper and news channel. It was odd, to say the least, that the leader of the Red Wolves Gang, predominantly situated in East St. Louis, had traveled for twenty-four hours to rob a bank, but that wasn't the FBI's, or my, problem. For now, my mission was to capture him, alive, might I add, and once that was done, I could move onto analyzing his possible motives.

After waiting for more than two hours in the cold, dark night for him to show up, it was clear to see that everyone was becoming anxious.

"Officer Lee, are you sure the target will be arriving at this location?"

"It's possible, Agent McKee, that he might lean towards less popular methods of transportation, but we have officers lined up at every bus stop and train station heading towards St. Louis. He will not be able to leave the city undetected."

Before Agent McKee, my senior by two decades, could respond, I cut in.

"Dimitrios is itching to get back to his home turf, sir, I assure you of that. New York City is foreign territory for him and if he's anything like the last few criminals I have arrested, he will be leaving the city this morning. We just have to wait him out."

There was a temporary pause before Agent McKee spoke again.

"As long as we capture him, I don't mind waiting a thousand years," he said, and in the next breath, he continued, "Officer Lee, spread out with your men. I want eyes throughout the entire terminal within the next three minutes. The next bus leaves for St. Louis at 3:15."

While I was the agent in charge of this case, I couldn't help but be grateful that Agent Hook had assigned Agent McKee as backup for this encounter. His experience on the field surpassed mine by great margins and while I might have been able to capture Dimitrios on my own, with him by my side, I was more relaxed than I had ever been on a case.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a Greyhound Bus approaching the terminal. I quickly glanced down at my watch: only ten minutes to go. Although it was possible Dimitrios could be taking the next bus, my gut instinct leaned towards the one that was currently dropping off passengers. The next bus would come four hours later, after the sun rose, and experience has taught me that he, of all people, would like to leave in the veil of the night.