After taking Exit 181 into a sparsely populated area, the Gold team parked behind a shuttered restaurant. They opened a steel armory case and distributed weapons. The seven Ruby Red and Opal operators took Glock 37 pistols, Tony Fizzale received another Glock and checked it, and Mrs. Sigsby and Winona Briggs took compact Sig Sauer P238s. Tom Jones produced HK37 assault rifles and flash-bangs. Dr. Evans refused any weapon and stated he was present under protest, objecting to killing Luke Ellis, drawing a profane rebuke from Alice Green.

Mrs. Sigsby formally handed command to Denny Williams, who gathered the team in the heat and reviewed a tablet map of DuPray. He identified the Sheriff’s Department on the single main street between the Town Office and the DuPray Mercantile Store and designated parking behind a closed movie theater. He planned to verify Luke Ellis’s presence via Mrs. Sigsby’s source before acting.

Denny outlined a low-profile reconnaissance: he and Michelle Robertson would pose as a married couple touring small southern towns, strolling up the street to assess officers and positions, possibly entering the station to ask directions. Team members briefly bantered about small-town life, and Denny dismissed using the local contact for scouting due to lack of trust and the contact’s civilian status.

Denny then set the rules of engagement: if a firefight occurred, Luke would be killed on site; if not, the team would abduct him to minimize cleanup and make the scene look like an abduction. Meanwhile, Mrs. Sigsby stepped aside to contact Tim Stackhouse for updates.

Stackhouse reported that Mr. Hollister had just seen Sheriff John Ashworth arrive at the station and was likely now meeting Luke. This confirmation tightened the timeline. Feeling a surge of determination, Mrs. Sigsby ended the call with orders to proceed and the expectation that this operation would resolve their crisis.