Stone Barrington 06-11

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.”
    They heard a chain rattle, then the door opening, then all hell broke loose. They heard the ram hit the second door.
    “Police! On the floor, everybody!” Other voices added to the din. Shots were fired, then the shooting stopped.
    Dino ran up the stairs, followed by Stone and Holly. Both doors were open, one off its hinges, and the hallway was empty. Dino ran through the second door.
    Stone and Holly were right behind him. The scene that presented itself was of half a dozen men, all dressed in white, lying on the floor with their hands secured behind them with plastic strips. One man lay faceup on the floor, his chest a mass of blood and holes. He didn’t appear to be breathing.
    “Is he here?” Holly asked.
    “Hang on a minute,” Dino said, “we got another door.”
    A team member was swinging the heavy ram toward what appeared to be a bedroom door. The steel tool struck the door and bounced off, leaving a dent.
    “We got a steel door,” he said, “and it’s braced.”
    “Keep at it,” the team leader yelled.
    The man continued to batter the door, then gave up the ram to a second, fresher man.
    “This ain’t working,” the team leader said. “Bring up the saw.”
    A team member carrying a large black nylon bag unzipped it and produced a battery-operated radial saw. He went to work on the walls around the door, slicing through the timber studs, then he stood back.
    “Once more with the ram,” the team leader said.
    A man picked up the ram and swung it at the door with all his might. The door skidded off the timber bracing it and fell into the room, creating a cloud of dust, and the team poured through the opening, shouting. A moment