Chapter 41
Swann sat with his team, breathing in recycled air in the back of the police van.
This was where he loved to be, on the cusp of a discovery.
This was what he’d joined the job for. His phone was on silent, his senses heightened.
They were parked in the nearest car park to the suspect’s location.
He was the head of this operation, and he would not put a foot wrong.
He’d seen what happened when cases were botched.
The ones that made it to court didn’t go any further, as the perpetrator’s defence lawyers pulled apart the police procedure.
Frustration didn’t come close to describing it.
But there was a balance to be met. Time was of the essence, and, given the nature of the case, they had to move fast.
He had already performed a quick tactical briefing and now they were waiting for the go-ahead.
Adrenaline rushed through his bloodstream.
Whatever happened next would fall on his shoulders.
It had taken some persuading to get Elea to leave the suspect’s address.
Now she sat in the van with the rest of them, staring into space, fists clenched on her lap.
She was too professional to sulk, but beneath the surface there was a dark, brooding resentment at having to take a step back.
Had Swann thought children were inside the house, he would have smashed the door in himself.
But according to Sophie, her kidnapper was leaving the area when she escaped from his van.
The property was a rental, paid up to the end of the month.
But there was no vehicle on the drive, no signs of life, according to the officer who had discreetly posed as a delivery driver.
Firearms officers had been called down. The tactical team had been briefed.
It was highly unlikely anyone was still inside.
The question was: what awaited them? What had the suspect left behind?
Surveillance officers were still in place, discreetly dotted around the area, keeping an eye on all comings and goings relating to the address.
The last thing they wanted was the suspect being tipped off.
A search warrant had been obtained by Mitch in record time.
He had presented his findings to a local magistrate, explaining the urgency of the situation and the potential valuable evidence that could be disposed of.
Nearby uniformed officers were on alert, ready to act as backup if needed.
Swann went through the dynamic risk assessment one more time with his team.
They had already assessed the threat level and planned the safest approach.
The tactical support group was in position.
The time was almost upon them. This was a dangerous offender.
If the suspect were inside, he wasn’t getting away.
Swann listened to raised voices outside as people complained about the cost of the car park.
They had no awareness of what was going on within the confines of the police van.
“Bloody daylight robbery!” a woman exclaimed.
“It’s cheaper after six,” the man in her company concluded.
They seemed to linger for a moment. Swann listened as a cigarette lighter flicked, then they moved on at a steady pace. In his job he had always felt separate from ordinary life. If he wasn’t investigating crime, it was playing on his mind. He went over a mental checklist one more time.
A negotiation strategy had also been considered, included the likelihood of a hostage situation.
Had Elea been thinking clearly, these were all things that she would have considered, too.
They had planned a soft approach in order to preserve as much forensic evidence as possible.
Elea was allowed to tail along, but only on the periphery.
Swann’s muscles tensed as the call came in on his airwaves.
He nodded to his team. It was time to go.