"Anyone can print a fake ID on a good cardstock," Reyes muttered, waving the wallet dismissively, though his voice lacked its former booming confidence. "Doesn't mean you're authorized on this crime scene. We got a multi-agency perimeter locked down. I haven't heard anything about a solo female agent showing up in jeans to take over."
"I am not here to take over your perimeter, Sergeant," Maya said, her tone as smooth and unyielding as polished steel. "I am here because your department was requested forty-five minutes ago to provide perimeter containment for a joint federal raid executing three search warrants on this block. You are currently blocking the primary access lane for the tactical entry team, which is forty seconds away from turning onto this street."
Right on cue, the low, thrumming rumble of heavy diesel engines echoed down the boulevard. A convoy of three matte-black armored vans, devoid of external markings except for small tactical numbers on their rear bumpers, rounded the corner two blocks away. Their dark windows reflected the overcast sky as they slowed, their path obstructed by Reyes's parked cruiser and the yellow tape stretched haphazardly across the asphalt.
The four patrol officers who had been laughing moments earlier stopped grinning. They looked from the approaching armored vehicles to Reyes, then to Agent Lin, who hadn't moved an inch.
Reyes swallowed hard, a sudden slick of sweat forming beneath his stiff collar. "Look, lady—"
"Agent Lin," she corrected, extending her right hand, palm up. "My credentials. Right now."
Reyes hesitated for a fraction of a second, his fingers tightening on the leather wallet. The young officer recording the scene hastily slipped his smartphone back into his tactical vest pocket, suddenly realizing that he had just documented a senior sergeant taunting a federal officer on camera. With a stiff, reluctant arm, Reyes placed the badge case into Maya's open palm.
Maya closed the wallet without looking at it, slipping it back into the inner pocket of her jacket in one fluid motion. She stepped forward, lifted the yellow police tape with her left hand, and walked cleanly under it onto the restricted side of the street. "Move your cruiser, Sergeant," she commanded over her shoulder, not bothering to look back at him. "Or the tactical team will move it for you."
Reyes stood frozen for a beat, his jaw clenched, before turning to his men with an embarrassed, furious glare. "You heard her! Clear the driveway! Move the damn cars!"
As the patrol officers scrambled to unlock their vehicles and clear the lane, Maya walked steadily toward the lead armored van, which had brought its heavy chassis to a halt just ten feet past the perimeter line. The driver's door swung open, and a tall, heavily armed operator wearing full tactical gear and an FBI HRT patch stepped out onto the pavement.
"Agent Lin?" the operator asked, pulling down his face mask to reveal a rugged, weather-worn face. "We received the update from regional command. What's the status on the target location?"
"Target location is 1412 Elmwood," Maya replied smoothly, pulling a folded paper map and a tablet from her jacket. "Local precinct was supposed to hold the outer perimeter quietly, but their sergeant decided to turn the arrival into a block party. The suspect inside undoubtedly knows there's movement outside by now."
The HRT operator cursed under his breath, turning to glance back at Reyes, who was currently barking furious orders at his men as they squeezed their cruisers onto the sidewalk. "Do we compromise and push, or hold for second stack?"
"We push now," Maya stated calmly, her dark eyes reflecting zero hesitation. "I'll take the rear alleyway with team two. Let's execute."
Within fifteen seconds, the rear doors of the three armored vans burst open. Over a dozen fully geared federal operators poured onto the street in disciplined formation, their boots striking the pavement with rhythmic precision. Weapons were checked, comms radios clicked with sharp bursts of static, and tactical teams split into designated assault groups.
Sergeant Reyes watched from the curb, his hands resting heavily on his gun belt, his face burning red as the entire operation moved past him as if he were nothing more than a street sign. Maya Lin didn't give him a second glance. She fell into stride alongside the secondary breach team, moving with an effortless, trained rhythm that erased any lingering doubt about who she was or what she was capable of doing.
The team cleared the front yard of 1412 Elmwood in absolute silence, fanning out across the overgrown lawn while two operators set up a heavy breach charge against the reinforced steel front door. Maya bypassed the front entrance entirely, slipping around the side of the brick building into a narrow, mud-slick alleyway flanked by tall wooden fences.