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COVERED IN SPADES
715 Gibbons Street in Alexandria, Virginia
The mixed residential, small-business district was reminiscent of so many similar neighborhoods in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. The residential building was a two-story complex, complete with dormer windows characteristic of the architecture of the neighborhood. The exterior was all brick that alternated in color, the first few condos a natural brick, the next few painted white, then back to brick again.
At 4:58 a.m. the pounding on the front door began. By the time Lyle Branson awakened, it sounded like a stampede of cattle. He looked out his second-floor bedroom window into the strobing of blue lights to see two Ford Crown Victorias, unmarked official vehicles, on the street below.
“What the hell?” Branson sai
