Crossfire

Anna didn’t have to hear what they were saying. She saw Flint’s face, saw the color drain from it and the look he gave her.

His gaze met hers, then moved past to his men. “City hall. Possible hostage situation. Suit up.”

CHAPTER FOUR

8:02 a.m.

FLINT KNEW THE DRILL by heart: contain and control. The command center was quickly set up in the briefing room with a view of city hall out the window.

“Lock down that building,” he ordered into the high-tech headset that let him communicate with the tactical force.

Behind him, Max was barking out orders, as well. “Get me blueprints. I need an exact location of the meeting rooms on the second floor, all air-conditioning vents and the phone panel.”

Techies raced into the room with TV monitors, both visual and audio devices and phone systems. Outside, barricades had gone up and the streets were swarming with firefighters and policemen. An ambulance pulled through the barricade. Just a precaution, he told himself. Just like Anna being here.

He couldn’t believe Anna had chosen this day to begin work. All his fears seemed to be coming true. He had to diffuse this situation stat before someone got hurt and Max wanted to send Anna in.

Max pulled him aside, moving the two of them to the northwest corner of the room to look kitty-corner across the street at city hall. Normally they would have set up the command center across the street from the incident. But with the police station so close, it made sense to set it up here.

From the window Flint had a good view of the right wing and part of the back of the building. The large, old, white-stone building, U-shaped and three stories high, glistened in the sun, the windows like mirrors. Even at this angle, the back employee entrance was partially hidden from view by the oleander hedge. Nothing looked amiss. Nothing gave them any indication that a siege was going on inside.

“I’ve ordered an evac of the area and the perimeter cleared for four blocks,” Max said.

Flint looked at the chief in surprise. “Four blocks?”

“We have the aide to the city council, Lorna Sinke, patched through dispatch. She says one of the subjects has an assault rifle.” He met Flint’s gaze. “The other has a homemade bomb duct-taped to his chest. I’ve put the bomb squad on notice. Unknown type.”

Flint felt his heart drop. Oh, yeah, Anna had picked one hell of a day to start her new job. It would be a miracle if he and his team could defuse this crisis without anyone getting hurt and needing a paramedic.

“Do we have any idea who these guys are or what they want?” Flint asked.

“So far all we know is their names. Kenny and Lee. But Sinke says she thinks Lee’s name is Harper. She thinks he’s been at the city council meetings the last couple of months talking about the loss of his wife…blames the city. She said she got the impression he wasn’t well. We’re trying to find out just who all is in the building. Thank God this is happening so early in the morning, but once the media gets wind of it…. I’m going to put Sinke on the speaker phone as soon as the techies get everything hooked up.” They would be able to hear her, but Max would talk to her on a private line. “Bradley is out with the flu, the other negotiators are on vacation, so I’m taking this one myself.”

Flint glanced over at him, but Max gave no indication he was doing it for any other reason. Like the fact that it was Anna’s first day and he wasn’t taking any chances because of it.

Sirens blared outside as police and fire departments responded to the call. Fire Chief Dan Egan reported in that he had the four-block area secured.

Overhead came the whoop-whoop of a helicopter taking off from the pad on the roof.

“Building perimeter secure,” came the report from one of the tactical teams. “Marksmen observers in place. Tactical team in position. Waiting for orders to breach building.”

Flint looked over at Max. Every incident was situational. No one thing was ever the same. That meant each incident was handled differently. Facts were gathered as quickly as possible, then a rational decision was made based on what approach would cost the least number of lives.

There was always a risk. Flint had been in explosive domestic situations that turned violent. He’d confronted armed subjects holed up in alleys, barricaded suicidal subjects and hostage situations involving drunks, crazies, suicidal maniacs with sawed-off shotguns and crying little kids being held by doped-up, drugged-out parents.

Every situation had the potential to blow up in your face at any moment. This one wouldn’t have been any different from all the others—if it hadn’t been for Anna being here.

Flint looked up, as if sensing her presence. Anna entered the room and came toward them. Five years hadn’t dulled his awareness of her any more than it had his feelings.

Their eyes met for a moment, then Anna pulled away. Flint swore under his breath and Max looked up. “Anna, good. I want you in on all of this so we know what we’re up against if you have to go in.”

Unlike the other SWAT team members now securing the perimeter of city hall, she was dressed in fire department paramedic gear except for the Kevlar vest over her short-sleeved shirt. She carried a jump kit with the basic paramedic supplies and stood, waiting for orders. The hostage takers would think she was just another paramedic. Flint swore under his breath as he realized how vulnerable she would be. This was exactly what he’d feared five years ago.

Max listened to dispatch on his headset, nodding. A frown furrowed his brows increasing Flint’s concern.

“Sinke isn’t the only civilian in the building,” Max said when he got off. “The mayor’s out of town, but one of the councilmen home sick with the flu that’s going around said there was an early morning meeting to discuss an employee problem. The district attorney was in attendance, as well as the city attorney and three council persons.”