50

THE TEAM MET in a conference room at Dino’s precinct. There was a pile of equipment near the door, and men, and a couple of women, were milling around, talking.

“Okay, everybody, settle down,” Dino said, setting a blowup of a floor plan on an easel. A blown-up photograph of Trini Rodriguez was pinned to a wall.

People took seats or leaned against the walls.

“We’re lucky on this one. The building’s under renovation, so current floor plans were filed for the new building permit. What we’ve got is a five-story walk-up, just like the ones on either side, with a fire escape down the back. We’re lucky, too, that the fire escape on our building has been removed, pending replacement, so there’s no way down, except the main staircase.

“The phone number we tracked down belongs to the top-floor apartment, though there’s not supposed to be anybody living in the building while the fire escape is down, but the neighbors say there are still people living there. The building is owned by a Muslim charity, and the tenants appear to be Muslim, too, so we should treat anybody inside as noncooperative but not hostile, unless they behave that way.

“It’s possible that, if the occupants see us going up the stairs, they might give the alarm, and that would make this work more dangerous, so anybody who sees us should be hustled inside his apartment and told to shut up. Anybody who tries to give the alarm should be arrested and gagged until we’re done.

“We’ve got a twelve-man team. I want four on the roof-you can access it from the building to the east-and eight going up the stairs. We’ve got two officers from a Florida department who have a fugitive warrant for Rodriguez, and they’ll be bringing up the rear, so I’ll keep them with me.

“According to the neighbors across the street, there are a lot of people living in each apartment, so you should expect there to be as many as half a dozen people in the apartment. They should all be immediately restrained, unless they point weapons at officers, in which case you should respond with armed force. Any questions?”

“Yeah,” said a burly young man sitting at the table. “You have any idea what they might be armed with?”

“My best guess is handguns, but you should be ready to deal with automatic weapons.”

“If automatic weapons are a possibility, then I suggest we use a stun grenade before going in.”

“Negative,” Dino said. “There may be women or even children in there, and since that incident last year when the woman died of a heart attack after a stun grenade was used, we can use them only in dire emergencies when we’re certain who’s in there.”

“Have we used any listening devices on the place?”

“We’ve pointed a mike at an upstairs window from across the street, but the blinds are drawn, and all we’ve heard is a kind of low muttering, which we take to be men’s voices, and not much of that. We think they may be sleeping.”

The man nodded.

“Anybody else?”

The SWAT team leader walked to the easel and pointed. “Going in, try to confine any shooting to this direction, to the east, because we’ve got a double-brick wall there. If possible, avoid shooting toward the walls, here and here, that have windows. Even though we’re using frangible ammo, I don’t want any rounds going through an open window and flying around the neighborhood. Clear?”

Nobody said anything.

“Is the search warrant here yet?” the leader asked Dino.

“It’s on the way,” Dino replied. “We won’t go until it’s in hand. It’s for the whole building.”

“Do we have arrest warrants for anybody but Rodriguez?”

“Not specifically, but anybody in the apartment should be arrested for harboring a fugitive.”

“Women, too?”

“Yes. There’ll be a couple of people from Children’s Services on hand to take charge of any children in the apartment, and one of them is an Arabic speaker.”

“One of my people speaks Arabic and Urdu, too,” the leader said, pointing at one of his men. “He’ll do all the talking until we’ve established who speaks English.”

“Trini Rodriguez speaks English,” Holly said.

Everybody turned to look at her.

“He might pretend not to, and I’d suggest that if he’s armed and he’s slow obeying commands in English, somebody shoot him.”

“This is Chief Barker from the Orchid Beach, Florida, PD,” Dino said. “She’s had considerable experience with Rodriguez. Anything else to offer, Holly?”

“He’s a stone killer,” she said, “and he’ll do anything to avoid being arrested, including shooting police officers. He won’t hesitate, and neither should you.”

“Okay,” Dino said. “We’ve got four detectives in the block observing the house, two in the building across the street on the same floor as our target apartment. We’ll be in two vans, and we’ll stop on the avenue and check with them before moving in.” He looked around the room. “You guys look ready to me. Let’s go!”

The men picked up their equipment and filed out.

Dino walked over to a pile next to the door. “This is our stuff,” he said. “Let’s suit up. We’re aiming for entry at six p.m.”

51

IT WAS HOT in the van in which Stone, Holly, and Dino were riding, and the heavy equipment made things worse. It was past six p.m. A few of the SWAT team were exchanging macho banter, but most were quiet. Stone wiped sweat from his forehead. “I’m going to need a shower after this.”

“Me, too,” Holly said.

“Hey, driver!” Dino called out. “Crank up the AC, will you?”

“It’s going full blast, Lieutenant,” the man called back.

A minute later, the van pulled to a stop, and Dino picked up a handheld radio. “Ricardo, you there?”

“Yes, Lieutenant.”

“What’s happening inside?”

“Some women in Muslim dress went into the building carrying groceries, but I couldn’t tell what floor they went to.”

“Anybody leave?”

“No, sir.”

Dino looked at the SWAT team leader. “We’re good to go.”

“Okay, everybody,” the leader said, “fast across the sidewalk, slow up the stairs. I want complete silence from everybody except me and Lieutenant Bacchetti, and we’re using earplugs with the radio.”

Somebody opened the door, and men from both vans spilled onto the sidewalk and ran up the stairs to the front door, while four others ran to the building next door to gain roof access. Somebody defeated the lock to the street door, and everybody crowded inside, with Stone and Holly bringing up the rear. Stone and Holly had earplugs for their radios, and they could hear any conversation between the SWAT team leader and Dino.

The first element of the team made their way slowly up the stairs, being as quiet as possible, but there was some noise-equipment brushing against the banister, the occasional slip of a boot. They climbed the stairs like a giant caterpillar, snaking around the landings and making their way inexorably upward.

Stone and Holly, right behind Dino, were on the fourth-floor landing when the team leader spoke.

“Stop,” he breathed into the radio. “Dino?”

“Right here,” Dino whispered.

“There are two doors on the fifth floor.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Could be two apartments.”

“That wasn’t in the plans.”

“I know.”

“Then let’s go in both doors.”

“We’ve only got one ram to take out the doors.”

“How tough do they look?”

“Heavy, brand-new, only got primer on them.”

“Okay. Knock on one door, say it’s the plumber. As soon as somebody cracks it, knock down the other one and go in both.”

“Okay. Hang on, one of my men will have to unsuit so he’ll look okay through the peephole.”

“Okay.”

They waited as patiently as they could on the landing, and then they heard a knock.

“Plumber,” a male voice said. “I gotta turn off the water for a few minutes.” A pause. “Look, pal, the landlord says I go in there right now. You aren’t even supposed to be in the apartment, so let me in.”