The Fire Witness

104

A black van is being driven at top speed through the gates of the transit depot in Johanneshov. Dry gravel is churned up in a cloud of dust as the van swings around and stops in front of a green metal building.

After he talked to Dick, Joona called the provincial chief of police and told him that this could be a possible hostage situation. A SWAT team was immediately dispatched.

Five police officers climb out of the van, all of them heavily clothed in boots, dark blue overalls, bulletproof vests, helmets, protective glasses, and gloves. They are all armed and keyed up.

Joona walks over to meet the group. Three of them are carrying jade-green automatic rifles with non-magnifying reflector sights from Heckler & Koch. These weapons aren’t anything special but they are lightweight and can empty a magazine in less than three seconds. The other two men in the group are carrying sniper rifles.

Joona shakes hands with the SWAT team leader, the doctor in the group, and the other three men, and then explains that the situation could be urgent. “I’d like us to go in at once,” he says, “but since I don’t know what your run-through has been, let me emphasize that we don’t have a positive ID of either Vicky Bennet or Dante Abrahamsson.”

While waiting for the SWAT team to arrive, Joona talked with Dick Jansson, who gave him a map of the tunnel on which he drew the locations of the various subway cars.

A young officer, holding a sniper rifle, raises his hand. “Are we assuming that she’s armed?” he asks.

“Probably not with any kind of gun,” Joona replies.

“So we can expect to meet two unarmed children,” the man says, and shakes his head with a grin.

“We don’t know what we’ll meet. You never know what you’ll run into during a situation like this,” Joona says.

He shows them a picture of a subway car similar to Denniz.

“Where are we going in?” asks the SWAT team leader.

“The front door is open but blocked with one or two gas cylinders,” Joona explains.

“Are you all getting this?” The SWAT team leader turns toward the others.

Joona puts the map over the drawing. He points out the various sidetracks and the location of the subway cars.

“I think we can get this far without being discovered,” Joona says, pointing to a curve in the tunnel. “It’s hard to say for sure.”

The SWAT team leader nods.

“It’s not all that far, but I would like a sniper on the roof of the closest car.”

“I’ll do that,” one of the men says.

“And I can go here,” says the younger sniper.

They follow Joona to the steel door. One of the men checks his reserve magazine while Joona puts on his bulletproof vest.

“Our primary goal is to get the boy out of the car and our secondary goal is to get the suspect,” Joona says as he opens the door. “If you must fire, aim for the girl’s legs first and foremost. Otherwise aim for the shoulders or arms.”

A long metal staircase leads down to the tunnel where the subway cars wait for repairs. The only sound is the dull tramp of heavy boots.