Authors: Jarkko Sipila
The baldy hesitated a moment, but apparently judged the situation hopeless.
“Put your hands up!”
“Fucking pig. You’ll regret this,” he said, then turned and put his hands on the roof of the car.
Nieminen had already gotten out and was kneeling next to the man on the ground. “Bad leg wound here. Looks like he’s been shot.”
Partio kept his gun trained on the driver of the Audi. He was about to tell his partner to alert the hospital staff about the wounded man, but just then, a stout male nurse in a white coat came out of the entrance.
The glass doors opened outward. “What’s going on here?” the man asked, looking at Partio’s drawn gun.
“This man has been shot,” said Nieminen. “At least for now he’s more your client than ours.”
Partio felt there was something familiar about the men, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. They both looked like criminals, in any case. “Check him before they take him in.”
As the nurse went to get a gurney and some help, Nieminen patted the man down for weapons.
“Nothing,” said the younger officer.
Larsson was standing with his hands on the roof of the car. Nieminen walked over and scanned the interior of the Audi. “Partio, there’s a gun in there... And another one in the back seat with a knife.”
Partio kept his gun sight locked on Larsson. ”Okay, that makes three weapons then.”
Larsson said nothing. The nurses wheeled a gurney to where Steiner lay and muttered something about a possible gunshot wound.
“Sorry,” said Partio to Larsson. “You guys look familiar. Why don’t you tell us your friend’s name so they can patch him up.”
Larsson didn’t respond. With Nieminen’s help, the nurses counted to three and hoisted Steiner onto the gurney. A dark red blot remained on the concrete.
“If you don’t tell us his name, they can’t treat him,” Partio bluffed. He had to get the bald man to talk.
“Rolf Steiner,” Larsson mumbled.
“What’s that? I didn’t hear.”
“Rolf Steiner!” Larsson bellowed loud enough for both Partio and the nurses to hear.
Now Partio remembered. That was the Skulls’ resident maniac and this other must be Tapani Larsson, the gang’s second-in-command. I’ll be damned, he thought. He’d been hearing about these guys over the radio all evening, but fatigue had numbed his brain.
The gurney was wheeled inside and Partio told Nieminen to go along with the patient.
“Alright,” said Nieminen. At the entrance, he turned and glanced toward the Audi. “You’ll manage?”
Partio nodded and the nurses disappeared inside.
Larsson turned to look at Partio. “So you think you can manage me,” he sneered. It occurred to Partio that the guns were still inside the car.
“Stay where you are, please,” said Partio, his gun fixed firmly on the target.
“Please, please, please. What the hell are you squealing about, pig. I don’t please anyone.”
Partio wondered if Larsson was psyching himself up for an attack. Perhaps sending Nieminen away had been a mistake. Suddenly, he realized he had made another. He hadn’t told Nieminen to call for backup. The next screw-up could be fatal.
“Get on your knees, please,” Partio commanded.
Larsson turned away from the car and took half a step toward Partio, who was rooted in a wide firing stance next to the squad car. The span was about ten feet, an adequate distance. Larsson wouldn’t be able to surprise him with one motion, but he shouldn’t be allowed to slink in any closer.
“You’re afraid of me,” Larsson said, and remained standing. “There was a time when you would’ve bashed me in the back of the knee with a nightstick and then choked me with it. Now you just wave that piece of Austrian plastic at me. What’s gotten into you guys?”
“On your knees. Now. Please.”
“Jesus Christ, didn’t I already tell you to quit that
please
shit?” Larsson took another half-step forward.
Partio backed up a couple of feet. “On the ground now, or I’ll put you in there next to Steiner.”
Larsson was amazed. He had thought the cop would just continue with the warnings. That’s what they were taught to do. Verbal judo and the like, but now the cop had clearly threatened to shoot. Maybe taking off wasn’t such a good idea after all. You never knew about these types. Still, they’d never shoot a fleeing man in the back.
“Yeah, right. If you shoot an unarmed man, you’ll be charged and lose your badge,” Larsson shouted. If he only had his gun, he could test his speed. But it was inside the car.
Partio pulled the trigger. The bullet struck the back door of the Audi and made Larsson flinch. The shot echoed down the street. A small hole surrounded by chipped paint had appeared in the car door.
“On your knees. Now. Please. The next one won’t miss.”
Larsson stalled for another moment; at least this guy wasn’t afraid to shoot. “No,” he said.
Officer Nieminen dashed outside with his gun drawn. He saw Partio holding his gun and Larsson still standing by the car. “Everything okay?”
“Pretty much. Call for backup first and then put the cuffs on this piece of shit.”
Nieminen marveled at his partner’s choice of words. He certainly understood who the piece of shit was, but Partio had always, even in the most difficult situations, been calm and overly courteous. Nieminen took out his radio and notified dispatch that there had been a threatening situation at the Töölö emergency room. Shots had been fired, but the situation was under control. He then asked for additional units. “10-4” said the dispatcher, and the first sirens were audible before Nieminen could make it over to Larsson.
“Well, shithead,” Nieminen growled. “Here are your cuffs.”
He twisted Larsson’s arms behind his back, and forcefully slapped the cuffs on the man’s wrists. Nieminen knew the impact was painful, and would leave bruises for weeks, but the gangster should have complied in the first place.
“Anything else?” said Nieminen.
Though Nieminen was directly behind Larsson, Partio kept his gun aimed at the gang boss.
“I told him to get on his knees, but he didn’t.”
Nieminen pulled a telescoping baton out of his utility belt. With a quick snap, the spring steel club extended to about a foot and a half. Without a word, Nieminen struck Larsson in the back of the knees. The bald man fell to his knees with a grimace.
“Anything else?” asked Nieminen with a wooden expression. He glanced over his shoulder as the first squad car swerved around a distant corner with its lights flashing. He patted Larsson down, but didn’t find any weapons. Partio had no doubt that if Larsson’s gun had been in his pocket, rather than in the car, he would have tried to use it.
“That should be about it,” said Partio. Suddenly, he remembered the mugging victim in the back of the squad car. “That guy with the gash is still in the back seat.”
Nieminen still had the baton in his hand and he tapped Larsson lightly on the ear with it. “I’ll watch this piece of shit—you take him inside. Ask about Steiner while you’re at it. According to the doc, his oxygen levels were really low.”
The arrangement suited Partio, but he wondered if he should interrogate Larsson about the source of Steiner’s gunshot wound. But Partio let it go. They could leave that for the VCU—those guys had to earn their pay somehow.
He holstered his Glock and went to the back door of the cruiser, which couldn’t be opened from the inside. Partio pulled the door open to see the mugging victim curled up on the back seat. He looked up at the officer. “What the hell is going on out there?”
“Nothing to worry about. Just had to take care of some urgent police business first, but we’ll get you in line for some help soon.”
“Who fired?” the man asked as he scrambled to his feet.
“I did. Now get up, and quick.”
In three seconds, the man was out of the car. Partio pointed him toward the entrance to the clinic.
The approaching squad car killed its sirens a hundred yards before the hospital. As the cruiser came to a stop under the canopy, the roof lights went out too. Since the roof lights would quickly drain the car’s battery, they were used sparingly.
Two big officers stepped out, keeping their hands on the butts of their guns. Nieminen greeted them both, but kept the baton by Larsson’s ear.
“Who fired?” asked one of the officers.
“Partio.”
“At who?”
Nieminen waved his baton toward the hole in the side of the car. “Just the poor Audi. Unfortunately.”
“Aha.” The big officer glanced back at the kneeling Larsson and recognized the Skull. “Well, your partner should work on his marksmanship.”
CHAPTER 27
TUESDAY, 6:30 A.M.
PASILA POLICE HEADQUARTERS, HELSINKI
Takamäki sat in his office and smelled the coffee. At this hour, it was either very fresh or it had sat in the pot overnight. Though it was still too hot to drink now, judging by the aroma, it was fresh.
The lieutenant was reading a report on his screen about the early-morning incident at the ER. It matched what he had heard from the night-shift lieutenant in a 5:00 A.M. phone call, though the report described the events in greater detail. Sergeant Partio himself had written it.
“Morning,” said Captain Honkala as he took off his overcoat. The NBI captain was wearing the same gray suit as yesterday and his short hair was neatly combed.
After the night-shift lieutenant had awakened him, Takamäki had phoned Honkala, and the two had agreed to meet in Takamäki’s office at half-past-six.
“Anything new?”
“Details, mainly,” answered Takamäki, and he relayed the main points of the incident at the ER.
“I wonder who shot Steiner, and where the shooter is.”