The Darkness of Evil (Karen Vail #7)(70)

“Any other activity?” Vail asked. “People going in or out, cars or trucks that don’t belong?”

“I’ve been tied up with a case I’m litigating. I haven’t really paid that much attention.”

“You know that your neighbor’s been out of town?” Ramos asked.

“I only moved here five months ago. I haven’t had time to go door-to-door meeting people.” He made a show of checking his watch. “If you don’t mind, I’ve got a conference call in five minutes. Assuming the shooting doesn’t start up again.”

For all our sakes, I hope that’s the case.

“And do us a favor? Stay inside until we get the situation under control.”

He gave a nervous laugh. “You don’t have to ask twice.”

They thanked him and started back toward the house just as SWAT arrived. The armored Bearcat—it looked like a cross between a tank and a truck—pulled in front.

Hurdle and Vail used the vehicle as a shield as they briefed the commander, whose uniform tag read “Morales.”

“We did our best to put together a breach plan on the way using Google Earth images and what we could pull up on county records for the house’s blueprints. What can you give us on the occupant?”

“Suspect’s a squatter,” Vail said. “Owners have been out of town for several months.”

“Far as we know,” Hurdle said, “there’s no one else inside.”

“Check that.” Ramos waved a thumb over his right shoulder. “Neighbor back there saw a young male enter a few days ago.”

“He thinks he saw,” Vail said.

“So there could be two occupants,” Morales said. “A hostage?”

“Potentially. Suspect said he had people in there and was going to kill them. But it could’ve just been bullshit to keep us from going in.”

Morales absorbed that, then said, “What do we know about your guy?”

“Buster Gaines,” Vail said. “He’s got a sheet, in and out of trouble with the law. Domestic violence, drugs, assaults. Nothing over the top. His buddy’s the fugitive serial killer Roscoe Lee Marcks, so it’s possible Marcks is also inside.”

An officer emerged from the SWAT vehicle with a K-9, who was outfitted in a black tactical vest, leading the way.

“That’s Rex,” Morales said. “Belgian Malinois.”

“SEAL Team Six used one of those on the bin Laden raid,” Hurdle said as he and Curtis joined them behind the Bearcat.

“Affirmative.” Morales glanced around at the cul-de-sac. “Other than that one neighbor you talked with, have you done a canvass?”

“Only had time to hit a couple houses,” Vail said. “The rest of us were holding our positions, all entrances and exits.”

“You guys going to breach?” Curtis asked. “Or are we looking at a barricade?”

Morales chewed his bottom lip. “You think he’s a talker? A negotiator?”

Ramos laughed. “No sir. Definitely not.”

“Tried that,” Vail said. “He answered with a burst of automatic rounds.”

“Okay. He may have a young male in there, he’s shown extremely violent tendencies, and he’s volatile. I think we’ve got exigency. Better to assume that’s the case than do a time/talk/tactics approach and have a hostage get killed.”

“Time, talk, tactics?” Curtis asked.

“Methodical approach. We try to negotiate by phone, bullhorn, throw phones, anything that’ll get him to communicate with us. If that doesn’t work, we shift to annoyance tactics. Breaching windows, shutting off utilities, deploying flash bangs to get his attention and eventually tear gas to try and drive him out. We might even get a robot in there to get eyes on or send Rex in. All else fails, our team goes in. Very time-consuming. Could be an all-day—or more—affair.”

“We’ve got Marcks out there,” Hurdle said. “We can’t afford to dick around with this guy.”

“I’ve got other considerations,” Morales said. “But I understand the pressure you’re under.” He gave the structure a once-over. “Gaines’s not the homeowner, so I doubt he has authority to deny us access. We’re going in. I’ll deal with the consequences. If there are any.” He then turned and conferred with his mission leader, a younger man with a crew cut. Morales brought the radio to his lips and issued orders to the other ten officers, who had already taken up their positions.

“Can we follow you in?” Ramos asked.

Morales gave Ramos a look that bled disbelief. “No.”

Hurdle checked his watch. “How long?”

“I know you guys want to get in there ASAP. We’ll do our best. But you gotta understand, it’s a slow, systematic process.”

As Morales moved off, Ramos frowned and said something to Hurdle. Vail did not hear it but she picked up Hurdle’s response. “It was the right call, Rambo. If we knew for sure there’s a hostage in there? We would’ve gone in. But he’s got a semiauto and we had no good reason to enter.”

“Seven of us and one of him,” Rambo said. “That’s all I’m saying. We could’ve handled this.”

“I can do the math. Let it go.” Hurdle kept his focus on the SWAT team as it deployed. “Take a breath. And stay on your toes.”