Authors: Michael Genelin
T
hey drove to Svyatoshyn, the area where Veza had taken refuge, parking around the corner from the block of buildings where he was hiding. Seconds after their arrival two truckloads of Special Response Group police, bulked up with battle gear, squealed to a stop. The SRG team piled out and trotted to predesignated positions. The main group headed directly to the target’s address. Jana noted with satisfaction that they appeared to be well trained, single-mindedly going about their tasks.
Jana and the two Ukrainian officers she’d come with dogtrotted behind the main body of SRG cops, watching them again break up into small teams as they reached the building. The flat they wanted was on the top floor of the six-story apartment house and, within minutes, elements of the assault unit were on the sixth floor of the building, signaling from a window that their people were in place.
Cziuba led the way into the structure, Jana and Bilyk following. Cziuba nodded at the two police officers who had secured the entry hall, and went to the elevator. Another police officer was inside it, at the control panel; he held the door for them, then punched the button for six. The car slowly ascended.
“This is your last opportunity to wait for us downstairs,” Cziuba remarked.
“The elevator is already going up,” Jana pointed out.
“Would you have taken my suggestion if I’d asked you before the doors closed?”
“No.”
“So, what’s the difference? The difference is this: if you now get killed, I can write in my report that I gave you the choice, you chose to go into danger, and I will have satisfied everyone who reviews the record. They’ll know I tried to keep you safe.”
“Brilliant foresight. I’m pleased that you did your best to keep me safe.”
The door to the elevator door opened. They drew their guns as they got out. The SRG team had taken up positions in the corridor, having already knocked on most of the doors, removing the occupants from their apartments and taking them down the stairs. They were clearing the line of fire, protecting the residents from stray bullets.
“It might have been easier and safer to just kick in the door,” Jana pointed out. “The sounds of people moving around will have alerted them.”
“There was no choice. At least one of them inside is a shooter.” He pointed to the metal door of an apartment they passed. “Their door is metal, too. Lots of people have metal doors now in Kiev; harder for thieves to break in.”
“Thieves who are afraid of other thieves. I like that thought.”
They reached the apartment door. A sapper was taping explosives around the frame, getting ready to blow it.
“Very efficient.”
“It comes with experience.”
“Are we sure that the two men we want are inside?”
“Surveillance confirms that they haven’t come out.”
“Are you just going to blow it without talking to them?”
“We blow the door, the entry team throws a pair of stun and flash grenades inside, and then we rush them.”
“Since they probably know we’re here, and there’s no element of surprise, it won’t hurt to talk to them first.”
“They’re armed. My guess is that they won’t want to surrender.”
“You used the word ‘guess.’ Let’s take that out of the equation and reason with them.”
Cziuba looked over to Bilyk, who nodded his approval, then handed Jana his cell phone. Jana had Veza’s number from the telephone tap and punched it in. It was answered immediately.
The voice on the phone was so excited and disturbed that what he gabbled into the phone was unintelligible.
“Veza.
Volam sa
Jana Matinova.” It calmed people down when you formally introduced yourself. Jana waited for a response. There was none. “Talk to me. Speak to me in Slovak, Veza.”
Veza spoke again, quickly but articulately. “I am not afraid. Killing me won’t be easy. We have weapons. Stay out!”
“Veza, we’re the police. Why would we want to kill you? Listen, I’ve come all the way from Slovakia to talk. So let’s talk.”
“Don’t fool with me. I know who you’re from.”
“Who am I from, Veza?” There was silence on the phone. “I’m not from the ones trying to murder you. I’m trying to find them; you’re trying to get away from them. That’s a perfect reason for us to cooperate. If we cooperate, we can each get what we need: we’ll protect you; then you’ll tell us about them, and we’ll make sure they we get them before they get you. What do you think of this offer?”
There was another long silence.
“Veza, if you want, I’ll come into the apartment alone so we can meet and talk things out. You have a gun. I’ll leave my gun outside. How’s that?”
The phone in the apartment was mute, except for the muffled voices Jana could hear arguing, an argument that went on for minutes before Veza finally came back on the phone.
“You can’t come in.”
“Your cousin doesn’t want me inside, right?”
“ . . . Yes.”
“Tell him to get on the phone.”
His hand came back over the phone, with another muffled argument taking place. Veza came back on. “He doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“Tell him that you’re both dead men if he does not get on the phone.”
The muffled argument that ensued was much louder and sharper. The cousin finally took the phone.
“Fuck you,” were the first two words out of his mouth. “Fuck your mother,” were the next three, all of them screamed into the phone. Jana waited, hoping the man would calm down. After a long silence, she began again, introducing herself, then asked his name.
“None of your business. Get off the phone and go to hell.”
“I presume I am now talking to Mr. Omelchenko. Just listen to me, dear cousin of Veza. I think Cousin Veza is now my friend. If you listen to me like Cousin Veza did, you too may become my friend. Even better, you may still be alive at the end of the day.”
Jana could hear Omelchenko’s heavy breathing. At least he had stayed on the line.
“Here is what’s going to happen if you don’t do as I suggest. There are a dozen police officers on this floor. There are a dozen more in various places in the building. If you refuse to let them in, they’ve set explosive charges on the door and they will blow it open. It’s possible that the charges are so large that they may blow you out into the street below. That would kill both of you.” Jana waited, listening again. Omelchenko’s breathing was louder. “When they blow the door, they won’t wait for you to shoot at them. They’ll toss in grenades. These aren’t generally lethal grenades, although you could be killed by some of the small shrapnel particles.
“Our special operations group may choose to come in at that time. Needless to say, if you shoot at them they’ll fire back at you with their assault weapons, probably killing both you and Veza immediately. If you’re only wounded, they may take you into custody and you might survive if you get the correct medical treatment.”
Jana waited for a moment to let all the implications of what she had said to sink in.
“A few more things to consider while you’re deciding what you should do.” The heavy breathing on the phone was now erratic. “If you’re alive to shoot it out with the police, the police may simply roll a real grenade inside the room after they gain access. That will only leave pieces of you. Police don’t arrest pieces of a person, so you’ll save yourself from being arrested. If you shoot it out, and the police shoot their way in, which they eventually will, and if any of their comrades have been wounded in the fight, they’ll assuredly take no prisoners. Either they will simply kill you on the spot, or maybe they’ll just shoot you in the belly and watch you die slowly, in agony. But, either way, you die.”
Omelchenko finally got a few words out. “Who are you?”
“I gave you my name.”
“Can you speak for the police?”
“Who do you think I’m speaking for?”
“You guarantee my safety?” He was panting with fear. “I need your word.”
“Cousin Omelchenko, I’ll even guarantee your cousin’s safety.”
“I want to talk to Veza about this.”
“Fine. Now I’ll hang up.”
“Why are you hanging up?” There was genuine fright in the man’s voice. “I may want to talk more.”
“No more conversation. In the next two minutes you knock loudly on the inside of the door to let us know you’re coming out. You wait thirty seconds, then open the door and come out with your hands on your head. You walk to the opposite wall of the corridor and stand facing the wall. We’ll then handcuff you and take you safely to jail. Of course, if we see you with a gun or any other weapon, we’ll shoot you dead.” She paused, letting the tension build. “Oh, I forgot something. There are snipers in the building across the street. I hope they don’t shoot you before you come out.”
Jana hung up.
Within two minutes they heard banging from inside the door. Thirty seconds later the two men were in custody. Cziuba and Bilyk were only slightly disappointed that they had not been required to shoot their way into the apartment.
When they got back to the police building, Alexi had already been informed. When he saw Jana, he kissed her on both cheeks.
The only one who seemed annoyed was Veza. He now had second thoughts about talking to Jana. He didn’t want to talk to Cziuba or Bilyk, adamant that he didn’t want to talk to any police. He wanted to be put in a cell and left alone.
Alexi had Cziuba take Veza to an interrogation room despite his protests. As Cziuba left, he winked at Jana before closing the door behind them.
Jana sat across from Veza at the small table in the middle of the interrogation area, simply looking at the man. He wouldn’t meet her eyes. Andreea, Veza’s girlfriend, was right: Veza was a coward. So was his cousin. Maybe it ran in the family.
Within five minutes, Veza was chattering, telling her everything he knew. It was not much information, but it was vital.
The next morning Jana flew back to Slovakia.
The trip had been worth it.
She couldn’t wait to get back to Bratislava. She didn’t even mind the aerobatics the pilots put the plane through.
W
hen the plane landed in Bratislava, Trokan was waiting. He would not have come to pick her up if it had not been important to see her immediately. His grim face told Jana he had bad news. She had her own car in the parking lot, but one of her aides would pick it up later. It was obviously imperative that she go with Trokan now. Aside from saying hello, Trokan and Jana did not exchange a word until they’d left the pickup zone.
“A fruitful trip?”
“I have more evidence to work with now.”
“I’m happy we didn’t waste the country’s money.” He braked to avoid a car that darted in front of them from an intersection. “An old person. Driving that way because he’s night-blind.”
“Just careless.”
“I was wondering if you’ve been careless. Perhaps ‘thoughtless’ is a better word.”
“Rotten traits in a police officer.”
“Unhealthy qualities.” He put the brakes on again; the car that had pulled ahead of them had slowed, then swerved off onto a side road. “That man is careless and thoughtless enough to get other people hurt.”
“I drive carefully.” Jana decided to stop being oblique. It was getting on her nerves. “Let’s get to it: am I in trouble?”
“Your house is a mess. They searched it. I checked before I came by for you. You’ll have a hell of job cleaning it up.”
Jana’s heart sank. She’d forgotten Trokan’s warning. Jana felt the small lump the diamond made in her brassiere to reassure herself that it was still there.
“They also searched your office, and your adjutant’s.”
“I thought Seges was working with them.”
“He is. They wanted to make it look good for him. He played his part afterward, loudly stating that he could not understand what had raised their suspicions about you, and therefore, him.”
“I would appreciate your letting me ship him somewhere.”
“Nobody wants him.” He groaned. “I talked to Captain Bohumil. He wouldn’t tell me what they found, or what they were looking for. Under the circumstances, I couldn’t press for the information. I’m reasonably certain they took nothing from your office. You’ll have to determine if they took anything from your home.”
“There was nothing to take.”
“Bohumil wanted to pick you up at the airport. I dissuaded him by agreeing to bring you to him as soon as you landed.”
“We’re going to headquarters? I just got back from a long flight.”
“He’s interrogating other people. He doesn’t want you to talk to them before he talks to you.”
“Not so stupid.”
“He’s a decent investigator.”
They rolled into the city proper and were approaching the main police building. Trokan pulled the car to the side of the road next to a small park.
“I have a sudden need to relieve my bladder. If you feel the need to relieve yourself at this time of whatever it is you have to relieve yourself of, I suggest you do so as well. I’ll be gone for a very brief time.”
He got out of the car and walked into the park. There was no doubt what Trokan wanted Jana to do: hide the diamond so it was not on her when she was questioned. Jana pulled it out of her bra and felt around under the seat, then found an opening at the edge of the cloth above the springs and tucked the diamond inside. She could retrieve it later. Within a few seconds Trokan emerged from the park and got into the car, sighing in satisfaction.
“Now I feel better. I trust you do too.”
He drove her to the police building. Very politely he wished her a good night, and left.
The policeman at the entrance saluted her when she came in but didn’t exchange any of the usual pleasantries, keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead. The word that she was the subject of an investigation had gotten out. She would have to expect the same treatment from the other officers, perhaps worse. She would be a pariah.
Jana needed the exercise, so she walked up to the fifth floor, passing from what was a mostly deserted building into a beehive of activity. There were uniformed police, investigators, clerks, civilians, a number of politicians she had seen on television, as well as people she had never seen before, sitting hunched on benches. There were surprises as she recognized some of them. Sila Covic, the Red Devil, was there glaring at everyone. Jana recognized a man from the finance ministry she knew slightly, and another minor official from the ministry of justice. On one end of the crowded benches sat Ivan Boryda, and on the other end sat Sofia, each of them looking unhappy, both of them trying hard not to look at the other. She was walking toward Sofia when she was intercepted by Sabina Postova, the police officer who had followed her to Switzerland.
The woman was stiff, still angry, and pleased with herself for being in a position of command now. “Jana Matinova, you’re to come with me.”
Jana ignored the slight implied by the omission of her rank. She needed to remain calm and clearheaded, ready to dispel any notions they had developed about her in relationship to whatever it was they were investigating. Sabina walked her down the corridor and into the inner offices, finally selecting one in which another policewoman was waiting. Trokan was right to have Jana get rid of the diamond: she had to undergo a strip search.
Sabina enjoyed every second of what she perceived as Jana’s humiliation, dragging it out as long as possible before permitting Jana to put her clothes back on. Sabina even gave Jana a slight push as she left the office.
“Sabina, one more push and you will regret
both
of them.”
“Go ahead, tell me that you’re innocent! I can’t wait to hear that coming from your mouth.”
The other officer tugged at Sabina’s arm, muttering a caution, trying to calm her down.
“She was responsible for Ludovit’s death,” Sabina hissed. “You know that, and I know that, and she should be made to admit it.”
The other woman kept talking to her, pulling her back into the room. She was forced to step in front of Postova to stop her from going after Jana as they walked to the captain’s office.
Jana knew Captain Bohumil. It was impossible for Jana not to know everyone who was in the police hierarchy in Bratislava. But she did not know Bohumil well enough to predict his moods. They were not social friends, but each was aware of the other’s reputation. Bohumil was solid, perhaps too solid; not inventive, but honest. And, of all the things Jana had going for her, she was still a commander in the police, and Bohumil was a captain. He could not forget that.
When Jana walked in, Bohumil had a recording unit on his desk and made a great show of activating it, perhaps to make her nervous enough to blurt out something incriminating. He waved an unhappy Sabina out of the office, asking Jana to sit down, motioning the other officer who had brought Jana into the room to sit in a chair that had been strategically placed to one side, in back of Jana.
“I’m Captain Bohumil.” He recited the date and place of the interview for the benefit of the recording machine. “Please state your name for the record,” he requested. Jana gave her name and police rank. Bohumil then related the rest of the required prelude to the questioning to set the stage for the interrogation. “We’re here today to discuss an investigation of official corruption, violation of customs laws and regulations, bribery, money-laundering, and official misconduct.” He droned on, citing at least a dozen felonies. At last Jana had some idea of what the investigation was about.
“Do you admit or deny any of these allegations?”
“I deny all of those charges, and any other charges. For the record, I protest the indignities I’ve already been forced to go through, and I’ll report them to both the general and the minister.”
“Your denial and protest are on the record.”
He made a notation in a notebook he had on his desk, then closed the book with a snap. “I’ll be frank. For the past six to eight weeks, we’ve been working on a case involving the smuggling of contraband both into the country and out of the country. Agencies from the other European states have been cooperating. The United States, Canada, and countries in Latin America are interested as well. Before we started the actual gathering of evidence, we heard rumors of an international criminal ring being involved in this. We began slowly gathering evidence, but it was not until six weeks ago that a credible source informed us that you were involved.”
Jana wondered who this
credible
source was.
“Captain, I have been involved in the investigation and prosecution of crimes for years. There are lots of people out there who would swear that I’ve committed criminal acts just to get back at me. They’d do that without a qualm, despite the lack of truth to their charges.”
“I said ‘credible,’ not ‘criminal.’”
“Obviously it’s someone who has a grievance against me.”
“I’m sure this person doesn’t.”
“Who is the person?”
“That’s confidential.”
“Then tell me what the person said.”
“That you have consistently given this criminal group inside information so they could avoid prosecution.”
Jana straightened up, pressing herself against the back of her chair, fuming at the suggestion that she would compromise any case she investigated.
“Specifically, what cases have I investigated that I set out to destroy?”
“Not your cases, Commander.
My
cases.”
Jana was shaken.
“Impossible. I don’t know anything about your cases. How could I? Who would tell me?”
“Then how do you explain these reports that we found in your house after we searched it yesterday?” He took a folder from his desk and waved it in the air. “Not one case report, but three. How do you explain them?”
Jana gawked at the folder, making a huge effort to pull herself together, shaking her head in disbelief.
“Impossible. I didn’t take them from this building. I didn’t have them in my house.” She started to rise and felt the hand of the officer behind her on her shoulder. She sat back down, telling herself to remain calm.
“I want to see these reports,” she said.
“They’re confidential.”
“If I’d had them, I would’ve read them already, so the information they contain would no longer be secret. Consequently, there’s no reason not to show me the reports.”
Bohumil shook his head, refusing to let her examine the reports.
“Did you run the reports you recovered for fingerprints?”
Bohumil’s eyes glazed over, then snapped back into focus. “That’s none of your business.”
“Don’t be stupid. Of
course
it’s my business. If I had brought those reports home and examined them closely enough to give someone information about their contents, I would have left my fingerprints on them.” Jana couldn’t stop the anger from bubbling up inside her. “You dolt, if my fingerprints were on the reports, that would be conclusive evidence that I’d handled them, hence of my guilt.” Again, she was forced to calm herself. “As well, if anyone else in your department, or mine, or any other police officer handled the reports, their prints would probably be on them.”
The woman behind her finally spoke. “We’d also need to identify the chain of people fingering the reports from the time of discovery until now, Captain.”
Bohumil reluctantly nodded.
Jana turned in her chair to face the woman. “Thank you, Officer. Perhaps you have a nose for this work.” She turned back to Bohumil. “There’ll soon be a vacancy in my unit. Can you guess who it will be?”
The captain took a deep breath.
“It wasn’t Seges who informed on you.”
Each tried to outstare the other. Jana broke contact first, realizing how juvenile she was being. Another issue was also probably disturbing Bohumil. Jana had to deal with it.
“I didn’t have anything to do with the death of Ludovit in Switzerland, Captain. The Swiss police will tell you I couldn’t possibly have fired the shots that killed him. There was no reason for me to participate in a plot against him. I think Ludovit saw someone in the crowd, and they recognized each other. The person in the crowd was quicker to shoot. I think that person may have been after me, and Ludovit may have tried to stop him.”
Bohumil had a quizzical expression on his face. “You think he tried to save you?”
“I think he may have.” She waited for the information to sink in. “If that’s the case, if Ludovit tried to stop someone from killing me, we have to ask ourselves why the killer was after me. Then, perhaps, you may explain the presence of the reports in my house.”
“Are you saying that the shooter may have been after you because, in some peripheral way, you have something to do with this investigation?”
“Possible.” She thought through the events. “You searched my house to find an item you thought was there. Were you searching to find these reports, or was it some other piece of evidence you hoped to find, an object that you’d been told would be there?”
The captain fiddled with his pencil, not replying.
“A suggestion: you have insufficient evidence to take me into custody. There are leads that you have to pursue, and leads that I have to pursue. We each have to go ahead.”
The door to the office opened. Jana shifted to see who had come in.
It was Peter. He and Jana exchanged glances. Jana felt the earth giving way.
They said nothing to each other.
“I think we are finished for the moment, Commander.” Peter gestured toward the door. “You’re free to go now.”
Jana quickly looked around the room before she left. It was not apparent, but it had to be there. There was a microphone in the room, and Peter had listened to the conversation between Jana and Bohumil. That way, both men could hear exactly how she responded and would later compare their observations.
Jana did not look at Peter as she left the room. She took the stairs so she wouldn’t have to see the people who were still waiting in the entry hall. Jana wasn’t up to facing anyone. It was all she could do to walk down the steps without breaking into tears.