The Big Thaw (37 page)

Good point. One I somehow was sure Gabriel hadn’t overlooked.

“Let’s get boat security up here,” said Hester. She spoke to Art. “Get our bosses informed, and get supervisors and hostage negotiators on the way. Get a second TAC team, too.”

“Maybe,” said George, “we should call the bank like Gabriel suggested we do?”

George always comes through in a pinch. Volont just nodded at him. George waved his hand at Sally. “What’s the number of the bank?”

Sally, who was on the phone to our office, getting everybody heading our way, simply reached over and threw the phone book at him. In itself it was no big thing, inasmuch as the phone book for all of Nation County is less than an inch thick. But it was the thought that counted, and it helped to break the tension. Especially since George was caught off guard, and missed the book.

Our secure radio came back to life. “CP from Alpha Two? Two things, up there. One is that, ah, we have
another
truck backing toward the bank. And there seems to be a problem on that gambling boat…” Alpha 2 was about 100 yards closer to the boat than we were. They apparently could see her, anyway.

“Yeah, and Alpha Mobile has the new truck, too. Straight truck, double axle, with a lift gate.”

Maybe they were going to take the change as well. Regardless, it sure looked like they weren’t worried about time.

“I’ve got the teller on the line,” shouted George. Since nobody else was talking at the time, it sounded sort of strange. “She says,” he said, in a more normal tone, “that everybody is just fine, and that they are going to set off another explosion.” He held his hand up for silence. Nobody was talking. “Uh-oh, I’ve got a fireman coming to the phone now…”

“Calm down,” said Volont.

George looked surprised. He hadn’t realized he was shouting. “I see … I see … yes, that’s very considerate, isn’t it? Yes…”

He looked up. “The firemen say that they’ve been allowed to watch, and that the bad guys are going to take out a section of wall with explosives, so they can load straight into the truck on that side. That they will seek shelter in the vault, and that the firemen are supposed to be ready in case of fire.” He was back on the phone. “Right, all right. Yes, we will…”

The secure radio came back up. “Alpha Three can see inside the new truck… and it looks like they have one of those … oh … portable forklifts… a dolly forklift? It’s near the back of the truck, and they seem to have like fifty-five gallon drums in the back…”

“Jesus,” said Art. “They gonna blow up the whole bank?”

Volont turned on him. “Of course not. The drums are likely empty and will be used to contain cash. So the fork-lift can move them quickly.” He spoke to Sally. “Tell the units to expect a section of wall to go with a minimal explosion. That we’ve been forewarned.”

“CP to all units,” she broadcast, “we have been informed that the suspects intend to blow a hole in the bank wall. They say not to worry about anybody inside.”

Well, that was to the point.

“Tell Alpha Chase to have the fire department roll toward the bank,” said Volont, “and have a pumper go near the boat. Tell ’em not to cross the river road, but to stand by right close.”

Sally did as she was told. Cool, calm. It was absolutely necessary for her to be that way. Any sign, even the slightest, of panic on the control net, and things could go to hell in a basket. As if they hadn’t already.

“You were right about him needing money,” I said to Volont. “Looks like they’re going for the coins, as well.” I paused, waiting for a response. None came. “You’re going to have to tell me just why he’s in such goddamned desperate need of cash,” I said. “This is ridiculous.”

“Greed” was all he said.

“‘Greed’ my ass,” I replied. “He’s risking or threatening hundreds of people here. That’s not just greed. That’s a hell of a lot more than just greed.”

“We’ve got activity at the boat,” said Hester, using her binoculars. “A stretch van is backing up to the riverbank.”

We peered into the fog, and could just make out the van as it crossed the railroad track and stopped about ten feet from the river’s edge. There was no real riverbank there, but large chunks of rock had been used as riprap, with the paving running right to the water’s edge. The hull of the
General Beauregard
was about six feet from the paving. Some vague figures appeared—they must have gotten out of the van on the side away from us—pulled two sections of what looked like some sort of ramp from the rear, huddled over them, and then bridged the gap between the shore and the bow weather deck of the
Beau
. In the swirl of the fog, I thought I could make out a shadowy figure crouching near the van, with what looked like a shotgun.

There was a lull in observable activity.

“I can’t tell for sure, but I think I count a minimum of nine suspects that I actually saw get out of the van…” said Hester, in a monotone of concentration. “Plus at least three or four already on the boat, one per deck, probably more. Say … about”—and her voice began to pick up inflections again—“fifteen? Total, with a guess at the number in the van…”

“At least,” said George.

“And we’re … what, until reinforcements arrive?” We all looked at the roster. Counting the two local cops, we were nineteen.

“Well, shit, we’ve got ’em outnumbered,” I said.

“Easily,” said Volont.

“What about the other boat agents?” asked George. “How many are working now?”

“One,” said Hester. “Let me check where he is … shit … he should have headed toward the boat when the fire alarm went…”

Harmon James, chief of security for the
General Beauregard
, came flying into the office, face red, and eyes wide.

“Jesus Christ, they’ve stolen the boat!” He held up his little pocket walkie-talkie. “I don’t know who these people are, but they’re talking to me on my own radio!”

The mystery voice was saying, “… like I said, your security people are all tied up right now…” and uttered a short laugh.

He stopped waving his walkie-talkie and looked at the group of us. “Well, why aren’t you all doing something!”

At that point there was a rolling, basso profundo
boom
that rattled the windows. We all looked at the boat, and there was nothing. But over at the bank… there was a large area of fog that was slowly turning reddish brown. “Wow! Uh, Alpha One has an explosion at the bank.”

It took me a second. “That’s gotta be brick dust…”

Sally was up on the normal fire frequency, talking to the Frieberg fire chief. “Negative, we have contact with the people in the bank and they will be fine. There are bank robbers in the bank, and there are … are … pirates on the boat. Just get close and stand by.”

George and I both said, “‘Pirates’?” at the same time.

“Well, what would
you
call them? Boat robbers?” She was embarrassed, but not about to back down. She had a point.

“They’re hauling stuff off the boat,” said Art.

Sure as hell. The van had turned on its fog lights to light the way of two figures pushing a two-wheeled garden cart across the plank.

“Tell me what you have onboard for security,” said Volont to James, the security chief.

“Six security officers. Two female, on this shift. One of the officers is a trained emergency medical technician. Not armed. By law.” He looked disgusted. “Why, you want us to retake the boat?” He stared at Volont. “Who are you, anyway?”

I held up our little diagram. “We have FBI snipers at four locations. The bad guys have hostages in the bank, and they have hostages on your boat. About five in the bank. How many hostages can we figure on the boat? Five hundred?”

“Closer to six hundred right now, maybe six hundred and fifty.” He looked at the diagram, and went up in my estimation about three notches. “You knew about this yesterday, didn’t you?”

“Not about the boat. Just the bank.”

“That’s almost worse,” he said.

“Sally get an ETA for the reinforcements, would you?” Hester pulled her service weapon, and checked the chamber. A Glock 9 mm. “I think we should act as soon as possible.”

The phone rang. Sally put it on speaker. It was Gabriel.

“So,” he said, “now you know how it’s going to go. We won’t hurt anyone unless it’s absolutely necessary. We will proceed according to our plan, and you can just watch.” I could tell he was grinning.

Before Volont could answer him, I just said, “Well, okey-dokey.”

There was a brief pause. “Who was that?”

“Houseman,” I said. “Hello again.”

“Ah, my favorite deputy! Haven’t seen you since you snooped around Borglan’s. I’m honored.”

“Thanks.” The fuzziness in my photos must have been Gabriel hightailing it out of there. Confirmation of my paranoia…

“I fear this won’t look good on your record, Deputy.” He had to be still grinning. “What brings you here?”

“I’m here to arrest you for murder.”

“Ah. A sad business. But business can be risky, sometimes. Let me speak with Super Agent Volont.”

“I’m here,” said Volont.

“I know you’re there, you sad bastard. I just hope you can remember what I’m going to tell you. Are you listening?”

Silence.

“I know you are. So. We will leave the boat, first. Well, most of us. One or two of us will stay behind. For a while. Long enough to ensure you don’t do something silly when the rest leave the bank.” He paused. “Are you getting this?”

Volont wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of an answer. “I am,” I said.

“Well, I don’t give a fuck about you. You’re just a deputy in Nowhere County. Agent Volont’s the one who’s important here. Aren’t you?”

Believe it or not, Volont sort of brightened up at that. “I’ve taken down all you’ve said.”

“Then pay even closer attention to this. We are in constant communication between each other. If my men from the bank, or from the boat, are followed, the boat goes down. With all the passengers.”

“Got it,” said Volont.

“Good day,” said Gabriel, and the conversation was over.

“And who the fuck was that?” asked James, of boat security.

We kind of told him.

Our radios came to life again.

“CP, Alpha Foot’s over by the boat, now. We’re in a good position for the van.”

“CP, Alpha One has a clear shot at the pilothouse, if you need it. We and the top of the boat are in lighter fog…”

They sounded very professional. Well, they should have. They were. And that got me thinking about professional versus amateur. Us versus them, as it were. We were pros. Even us deputies from “Nowhere County.” I have to admit, that pissed me off. Besides, there were about a half-dozen deputies from “Nowhere County” on the way. Along with several state troopers and a state TAC team. And a federal TAC unit in a Huey Resources. A bunch of ’em.

“Hey?” I interrupted at least two conversations. “Listen up. We’re pros, right?”

“We don’t need a pep talk,” snapped Art.

“Just think about it for a second. Who are these people Gabriel is using for his troops? Think about it.”

“So?” Art was having none of this.

“He’s got one guy in the bank who knows explosives, right?”

“At least one,” said George.

“I’d bet one,” I said. “Maybe two on the boat, but for sure one. That’s three sharp dudes out of fifteen. Who are the rest of them? Amateurs he’s picked up. Nobodies, not when it comes to this stuff.”

“They seem to be doing pretty well so far,” said George.

“But they haven’t encountered any resistance. All the real troops we have are being held on a tight leash. Gabriel counts on that. He knows nobody wants a hostage hurt, so he’s betting one hundred percent that he gets a cakewalk, courtesy of us. Right?”

“But, Carl,” said Hester, “he’s right. We can’t risk a hostage. Especially with Gabriel on the boat. He
will
do the deed, and we know that.”

“Think this way. He’s got, what, three guns, two or three drivers at the bank, right? That’s six of them, with five questionables, against four to six really professional, really capable FBI TAC team members.” I looked around. “So, we got ’em outclassed at the bank. Just tell our people there to take out the drivers of the trucks as they leave. We already know he isn’t going to leave any of his people behind at the bank. Right? No point.”

“But the boat is full of people…”

“Right. But look. We hit the trucks as they leave. Nobody at the boat can see the people at the bank. Not in this fog. So, what do we have there? We shoot, and anybody left alive in the truck either has to sit in the driver’s seat and get himself shot, jump off the unit, or hunker down in the damned thing and hide. Piece of cake. We can scarf them up.”

“Pointless,” said Volont. “That just leaves six hundred or more people on the boat.”

“But, unless Gabriel stays behind on the boat himself, if his peons hear that we just took off six of their finest, what are they going to do? Sink the boat? For what purpose? It’s tied up at the fuckin’ pier, for God’s sake. All the passengers have to do is walk off!”

“We always figure seventeen feet under the bottom,” said James. “That would swamp the oh-one deck, so all the passengers and crew would have to go to the second and upper deck. That could take some time.”

“But not enough for her to turn over, is there?”

“No, I don’t think so … look, let me get one of the captains here. He lives just up the street. Five minutes, and he can answer all your questions.” He picked up one of the phones.

“Anyway,” I said, “he can’t sink her instantly. To do that, he’d have to open up the whole bottom.
Boom
. Probably blow the boat right out of the water if he did that, and he’d kill and injure lots of people. Including the members of his own team. Even himself.”

“We can’t count on that.” But Volont was coming around.

“I think we can,” said George. “He’s not bluffing. But he’ll sink her slowly, because he has to. I mean, fifteen minutes, even … right? Getaway time…”

“That’s what I think,” I said. “And with them tied up at the pier for the winter months, all they have to do is walk off. What I’m saying is that I think it’s a risk we might be able to take. With the shock effect of taking out the trucks as they leave the bank.”