Alex Lukeman - The Cup

"I hear vehicles," Selena said.

Forsberg got up. Selena put scroll back in the box and took it with her as they followed him outside. Three cars and a van pulled up. A dark-haired woman wearing a red winter jacket got out of the lead vehicle.

"Wait here," Forsberg said. "I won't be long."

He walked over to the woman and began speaking with her. He pointed at the barn, then at the ditch, where the remains of the Volvo smoldered under a sullen sky.

Nick took out his phone. "I'd better call Harker."

Elizabeth picked up on the second ring.

"About time, Nick. Where are you?"

"Standing in the Swedish countryside looking at a wrecked car. It's been a busy couple of days."

He ran the events of the past forty-eight hours past her.

"The Swedes are going to raid that refugee center. I want us along."

"You think they'll have a problem with that?"

"I can't see them letting us go with them. For one thing, they won't give us weapons. They'll send in their SWAT team."

"Then let them go ahead and do the work," Elizabeth said.

"What if they miss something?"

"They're professional. KSI is small but they have a good reputation."

"Can't you pull some strings and get us on that raid?"

"What's your concern?"

"The government here is way over on the left and afraid of international opinion. The Muslim refugee issue is a mine field. Forsberg says he can get the raid approved but I'm sure that if something sensitive turns up it will be suppressed. ISIS is flooding Europe with stolen artifacts. The immigrant center is one of the distribution points and no one is monitoring them. There could be evidence inside that implicates someone in the Swedish government or identifies an important buyer, someone who's protected. If there is, I want to get a look at it."

"Mmm. It would be a big help if we could identify a buyer."

"That stuff isn't cheap. Whoever is paying for it is rich and that means he's got clout. If the buyer is Swedish, we're never going to hear about it unless we're on the scene."

"I see your point. I can't guarantee anything, but I'll see what I can do."

"Let me speak with her," Selena asked.

"Selena wants to talk to you."

Nick handed Selena the phone. "Elizabeth, we found something with the artifacts."

"Yes?"

"It looks like a lost book from the Bible, or at least part of one. I'd like to translate it before I have to give it to the Swedes. It's an incredible find. The government is sure to conceal it until they've had a chance to study it."

"And you want me to make sure you have the opportunity first?"

"Yes. I could take photographs but it will be more accurate if I have them in my hands. Can you make that happen?"

"That will be easier than getting the four of you on that raid," Elizabeth said. "With your reputation, I don't see why it should be a problem. You'd be doing them a favor."

"Wonderful. Thanks."

She handed the phone back to Nick.

Forsberg had finished speaking with his colleague. He started toward them.

"We're about to head back into town," Nick said. "Anything else, Director?"

"Play nice with the Swedes and keep a low profile."

The raid was on, but Forsberg had been warned in no uncertain terms against creating an international incident. If there was trouble and the government needed a scapegoat, he was going to be it. He'd decided the best way to head off potential problems was with a show of force.

Nick and the others had been allowed on the raid as observers. They still had no weapons. They were not allowed to enter the center until the Swedes had secured the building.

It was three in the morning, dark and cold. The air felt raw and smelled of coming snow. Nick, Selena, Ronnie and Lamont sat in a car parked three blocks away from the center, behind two Plasan sand cats carrying the Swedish SWAT teams. The SWAT vehicles had been designed in Israel and carried eight men each. The Plasan was basically an armored box slapped onto a shortened Ford F-350 platform. It was cheap, rugged and effective.

The cold seeped into the car in spite of the heater. The windows had fogged up with condensation.

"He's going to go in there hard," Ronnie said. "Did you see those guys? They're wired to the eyeballs."

"You would be too," Lamont said, "especially if it was your first time going into action."

"You think it's their first time?"

"Most of them look like they're about eighteen," Lamont said. "They don't have the look. You know what I mean?"

"What look?" Selena asked.

"The look that comes after you've been in shit up to your ears with people trying to kill you. You never noticed it in your mirror? "

"There might not be any real trouble," Nick said. "The Swedes are carrying assault rifles. You'd have to be stupid to go against those with pipes and knives or whatever you can find lying around."

"I don't think the people in that building are the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree," Lamont said.

"There were grenades in one of those cases at the barn," Selena said.

Forsberg had given them a handheld radio. Now it crackled with final comm checks. The two SWAT vehicles would head for the front of the building. A third group was on foot, concealed on the other side of the soccer field behind the center. The plan was for all three units to converge at the same time. Nick and the others had been ordered to stay back until the all clear.

Forsberg's voice came over the radio. "All units, execute."

"Here we go," Lamont said.

The two vehicles moved out in front of them. Nick cursed at the condensation on the windshield and wiped it away, then followed behind. In less than a minute they'd arrived at the refugee center. Men in black tactical gear carrying Heckler and Koch MP5s poured out. They split into three groups and headed for the entrances.

Nick pulled up and parked. They got out of the car.

"Sure wish we had our weapons," Ronnie said.

The doors to the building were locked. Battering rams came out. It took just seconds to smash the locks. There were shouts from inside the building as the men started in.

The sound of a pistol cut through the shouting like a hot knife. There was an answering burst of automatic fire, the unforgettable signature of a three round burst from an AK-47.

"That's torn it," Lamont said.

More gunfire came from the building. Nick heard the familiar sound of the MP5s, the hard bark of a heavy pistol, then two more AKs joining in. Windows shattered in the front of the building. Rounds whistled overhead.

They ducked down behind the car. The sound of an explosion rocked the night air, then another.

"Flash bangs," Lamont said.

There was another, different explosion.

"That was a grenade," Ronnie said. "They've got their hands full in there."

Selena pointed at the end of the building. "Someone's down there."

Three men carrying guns came around the corner and moved in a crouch toward the entrance where Forsberg had gone in. Two of them had pistols. The third cradled an AK. They weren't Swedish.

"I thought the back was covered," Ronnie said.

"Probably came out a side window," Nick said. "If they go in that door, they'll be behind Forsberg's and his team. We have to stop them."

Ronnie nodded in the direction of the building. "They don't know we're here. We can take them."

Nick tugged at the scarred earlobe on his left ear.

"Let's do it. Get their weapons."

The three men were intent on reaching the nearest entrance, twenty feet away. Nick and the others were almost on them when the man carrying the AK saw them coming. He shouted a warning, aimed the rifle at Ronnie and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He'd forgotten the safety.