The lead on Jamal Khoso's Blue Area apartment had turned cold faster than a Margalla night. Al-Noor Plaza, Flat 42, yielded only dust, stale air, and the unsettling realization that Jamal Khoso had vanished well before the court ordered his arrest. The forensic match had flushed him, but he was already deep in the warren of Islamabad.
Haroon's team, working with furious intensity, tracked Khoso's digital footprint – burner phones discarded near Pir Sohawa, ATM withdrawals in Rawalpindi's Raja Bazaar, and finally, a credible tip from a nervous informant: Khoso was holed up in a fortified, newly constructed but unoccupied apartment complex in Sector F-10, acting as a temporary "security chief" for a dubious property developer – a perfect cover allowing him armed guards and isolation.
**Scene 1: The Sting Turns Feral – Ambush in F-10**
Dusk painted the skeletal high-rise in F-10 in long, deceptive shadows. Haroon, leading a handpicked team of eight plainclothes officers, approached the designated unit on the 3rd floor. Intelligence suggested minimal guards. They moved with practiced stealth, breaching the outer door silently with a hydraulic ram.
**Haroon (whispering into comms):** "Alpha team, breach inner door on my mark. Beta, cover rear exit. No surprises. Non-lethal takedown priority. Go!"
The inner door splintered open. Instead of a startled Jamal Khoso, they were met with a withering hail of automatic gunfire from two well-positioned guards behind makeshift concrete barricades inside the bare apartment. Muzzle flashes lit the dusty gloom like malevolent strobes.
**Officer Ahmed (yelling, diving for cover):** "AMBUSH! HEAVY FIRE!"
**Haroon (pinned behind the doorframe, returning fire with his pistol):** "CONTACT! MULTIPLE ARMED HOSTILES! REQUEST IMMEDIATE BACKUP! DOLPHIN FORCE! SEND DOLPHIN FORCE!" He barked the location into his radio. "Alpha, Beta, SUPPRESSING FIRE! DO NOT ADVANCE!"
The confined space became a deafening hellscape of ricocheting bullets and flying concrete chips. One officer cried out, clutching his leg. Another scrambled back, his vest saving him from a torso shot. Khoso's guards were well-trained, disciplined, and fighting desperately. Haroon realized this wasn't just protection; it was a last stand.
**Scene 2: The Cavalry Arrives – Wings of Wrath**
Fifteen agonizing minutes crawled by. Haroon's team was pinned, exchanging fire but unable to advance without suicidal risk. Just as the guards seemed to be maneuvering to flank them, the distinctive *thwump-thwump-thwump* of helicopter rotors vibrated through the building. Searchlights speared through the windows, blinding the guards momentarily.
**Voice over loudspeaker (amplified, authoritative):** "ATTENTION INSIDE! THIS IS ISLAMABAD DOLPHIN FORCE! CEASE FIRE IMMEDIATELY! LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER! YOU ARE SURROUNDED!"
Simultaneously, the thunderous crash of breaching charges echoed from the building's roof and the main ground entrance. Black-clad figures, moving with terrifying speed and precision, rappelled down the building face and stormed the stairwells. Stun grenades (flashbangs) detonated inside the apartment with concussive *BANGS* and blinding light.
**Dolphin Force Commander (over comms to Haroon):** "SSP Khan, Dolphin Force has control of upper and lower levels. Engaging hostiles in your sector. Stay down!"
The tide turned instantly. The guards, disoriented by the flashbangs and facing overwhelming, professional force, panicked. One dropped his weapon, hands flying up. The other, wild-eyed, spun towards the balcony, perhaps considering a jump.
**Scene 3: The Price of the Hunt – Lead Finds its Mark**
Haroon, seeing the second guard distracted and vulnerable, surged forward from his cover, shouting. "DROP IT! NOW!" He needed to secure the guard to get to Khoso, who must be hiding deeper inside.
The guard, startled by Haroon's sudden movement and the Dolphin Force breaching the room from the hallway, whirled around. In his panic, he squeezed off a wild burst. Haroon felt a sledgehammer blow slam into his left shoulder, spinning him around. White-hot pain exploded, followed by a terrifying numbness. His pistol clattered to the floor. He crashed against the wall, gasping, vision blurring, his right hand instinctively clamping over the searing wound, feeling the warm, sticky blood seep through his shirt and jacket.
**Dolphin Force Sniper (calmly, over comms):** "Hostile neutralized." A single, precise shot from the helicopter above took the guard cleanly in the shoulder, dropping him screaming.
**Scene 4: The Monster Dragged into Light – "Jamal Khoso, You're Done"**
As Dolphin Force operatives swarmed the room, securing the wounded guards, Haroon, teeth gritted against the pain, blood staining his hand and sleeve, pushed himself off the wall using his good arm. He ignored the medic rushing towards him. His eyes scanned the smoky, debris-filled apartment. A closet door in the far corner trembled.
**Haroon (voice raw with pain but laced with iron):** "THERE! The closet!"
Two Dolphin Force officers wrenched the flimsy door open. Cowering inside, eyes wide with primal terror, was Jamal Khoso. He looked nothing like his sharp NADRA photo – unshaven, sweating, reeking of fear.
**Dolphin Force Officer (yanking him out):** "On your knees! Hands behind your head! NOW!"
Khoso crumpled, sobbing incoherently, begging. Haroon staggered forward, flanked by the medic trying to stem the blood flow. He loomed over the kneeling man, the Dolphin Force searchlights casting long, harsh shadows.
**Haroon (breathing heavily, each word dripping with cold fury):** "Jamal Khoso. Look at me." Khoso flinched, unable to meet his gaze. "Sadia Khalil. Fourteen years old. Remember her face? Because I see it every night. Your DNA. Your fingerprint. Your hell." Haroon winced, the pain flaring. "You're done hiding. You're done running. For Sadia... you're *done*." He nodded to the Dolphin Force Commander. "Take this garbage away. Secure him. Medic... now." His knees buckled slightly as the adrenaline surge faded, replaced by the insistent, agonizing throb in his shoulder.
**Scene 5: Aftermath – Pain and a Grim Satisfaction**
Haroon was loaded onto a stretcher, the Dolphin Force medic applying pressure and starting an IV. As he was carried out past the flashing lights of police vehicles and the watchful Dolphin Force securing the scene, he saw Jamal Khoso, handcuffed and shackled, being roughly shoved into an armored police van. The man's face was ashen, stripped of all bravado, finally facing the abyss he'd created.
The ride to PIMS Hospital was a blur of pain and flashing city lights. Through the haze, Haroon felt no elation, only a grim, bone-deep satisfaction. Sadia's real killer was caught. The science had led them astray initially, but it had also led them truly in the end. The Khalils wouldn't get their daughter back, but they would get the monster who took her. Siddiqui's role would be unraveled later. For now, the primary objective was achieved.
As the ER staff swarmed around him, cutting away his blood-soaked uniform shirt, Haroon managed to grab his phone with his good hand. He dialed Maryam, his voice weak but clear.
**Haroon:** "Maryam... got him. Jamal Khoso. In custody. Took a nick... shoulder. PIMS. Don't panic... routine. Tell Ubaid... tell him the bad man is caught. Tell him... Abbu's okay." He closed his eyes as the pain medication started to bite, the image of Jamal Khoso in cuffs the last thing he saw before the world softened at the edges. Justice, delayed and paid for in blood – his own this time – was finally within reach. The fortress had held, but the battle had left its mark.