“Harv, you’re on. Locate all the trash cans at the islands. Fill the gas tank and check out the restaurant and convenience store. You know the drill, make a mental picture of everything.” Nathan opened the door and stepped out.
“Ten minutes,” Harvey said.
Nathan watched his partner execute a U-turn and head east under the freeway overpass. He climbed into the backseat with Henning and looked at his watch. As he’d predicted, the dome light in the Crown Vic was disabled.
Harv was back in just over eight minutes and pulled in behind the Crown Vic. Making room for Harv, Nathan slid into the middle of the backseat. Harv climbed in and asked for a notepad and pen. Grangeland passed a legal pad from her briefcase. Ferris held a small penlight to illuminate the pad as Harv drew a quick sketch of the site, circling areas of potential threats. There were five: The transient truck parking area. The roof of the main building. The customer parking area. The truck-washing bays. And a warehouse building across the street to the north. Harv told them he believed the greatest threat came from the truck parking area because it was dimly lit and noisy. It would be easy to hide between the rigs, especially if their occupants were sleeping.
“We have a difficult assignment,” Nathan said. “We have to cover each other without looking like it. If Ernie’s already here, he’s looking for plainclothes undercover agents. Grangeland and Ferris will act like a couple and take up a position inside the restaurant. You guys will watch Amber’s every move and report anything she does except her normal restaurant duties. Henning will drive the SUV in case Ernie’s already seen Harv come and go. Harv will be in the front seat, I’ll be ducked down in the back. Henning will pull up to a fuel island, pretend to fill the tank, and then park in the customer parking area and go in for a cup of coffee and return a few minutes later. We’ll disable the dome light in the SUV to keep the interior dark when the doors open. We’re at a distinct disadvantage here, we don’t know when or where Ernie will show, if he shows at all. If nothing’s happened by zero-thirty hours, I’ll make an appearance to draw him out.”
“He might a have NV weapon scope,” Harvey said.
“It’s a chance I’ll have to take. I’ll be relying on you guys to cover my back.”
“Nathan, we can’t watch every square foot of this place. It’s spread out over ten acres. It’s impossible.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to it, but we may have to force his hand. Amber told me he’s bugging out tonight. That’s the one thing I did believe. If we don’t get him, we may never get another chance. Grangeland and Ferris, you go in first, we’ll follow in few minutes. Use the radio if Amber makes a move. One last thing. Lansing had a couple of agents watching Amber. They’re probably still around. Let’s try not to get killed by friendly fire. Good luck, everyone.”
“You too,” she said.
Henning, Harvey, and Nathan got of the Crown Vic and piled into the SUV. Grangeland made a U-turn and drove under the overpass. In the backseat, Nathan used his knife to remove the plastic cover of the dome light and disconnect the bulb. Henning disabled the driver’s-side dome while Harvey got the passenger side.
Two minutes later, Harv made a U-turn, crossed under the freeway, and parked the SUV in the northeast corner of the property, fifty yards from Grangeland’s Crown Vic. Even though he couldn’t see much from his hidden position in the SUV, Nathan sensed this place encompassed a huge area. From the map Harv had drawn, he knew the restaurant where Amber worked was in the same building as the convenience store. There were three gas-pump islands for noncommercial traffic and five diesel islands designed to handle large commercial trucks. The truck-washing bays occupied the southeastern corner of the property. Just north of the washing bays was the transient truck parking area. Harv also said there were dozens of trucks lined up in rows, many of them with their engines idling. Nathan heard the collective drone of their motors rumbling across the asphalt.
Per the plan, Henning stepped out and walked into the convenience store and served himself a cup of coffee. He returned two minutes later. “It’s all quiet in there, I was the only customer. We might have a problem. Amber’s daughter’s in the restaurant. I saw her when I walked past the connecting doors.”
“Did she see you?” Nathan asked.
“No, she was looking in the other direction, toward the gas pumps.”
“This complicates things,” Nathan said.
Amber Sheldon grew more and more annoyed by the minute because she couldn’t keep a constant eye on the gas pumps. Janey was watching them, but she might not recognize Ernie. Between seating new customers, waiting and bussing tables, and acting as the cashier, she was earning her pay tonight. When a lull in her duties came, she asked her supervisor if she could take a smoke break. He reluctantly agreed, giving her five minutes. She walked over to Janey’s table, informed her she was going out for a cigarette, and told her to stay put.
Nathan’s radio earpiece crackled to life. It was Grangeland. “Sheldon’s on the move, she’s walking out the front door.”
“Copy,” Nathan said.
“You see her?”
“She’s lighting a cigarette and walking toward the rear of the building,” Nathan said. “I’ve lost sight of her. Can you pick her up?”
“No, she might make us.”
“Can you make it look like you’re using the bathroom?”
“No,” Grangeland replied, “it’s the wrong direction.”
“Okay, go through the convenience store in case Janey’s watching. Go the opposite way around the building. Watch yourself, Ernie might be back there.”
“Copy.”
Nathan watched Grangeland exit the convenience store and turn right. She disappeared from his line of sight. “Grangeland, report.”
Five seconds went by. Silence.
“Grangeland, do you copy?”
A few seconds later, her whispered voice came through the radio. “She’s leaning against the rear wall smoking. She’s alone.”
“Okay, hang back and stay in the shadow of the building.”
“If anyone pulls in the main driveway, their headlights will light me up.”
“Get out of there then. Harv will take over from this side. He can use the landscaping and block wall for cover. Wait thirty seconds, then head back into the restaurant.”
“Copy,” she said.
Nathan estimated the light fog had reduced visibility to just under two hundred yards. It was thinner in some areas and thicker in others. He knew as the dew point and temperature closed in on each other, it would only get worse.
Harv slid out of the passenger seat and stayed low amid the parked cars. Nathan peered out just above the passenger windowsill and watched his friend work his way to the north edge of the property and dash across the driveway, where he vanished in the shadows of a head-high concrete block wall screened by mature oleander bushes.
“Harv, report,” Nathan said.
“I can smell her cigarette, wait one.”
Nathan waited through a long fifteen seconds of silence.
“She’s leaning against the rear wall of the restaurant with her arms crossed, smoking. She keeps looking left and right.”
“Okay Harv, stay with her. Grangeland?”
“I’m back inside with Ferris. Her daughter hasn’t moved.”
“Copy,” Nathan said.
“She’s on her way back,” Harvey reported. “Grangeland, I’ll lose sight of her as she rounds the corner. Let me know if you don’t see her within the next five seconds.”
“Copy,” Grangeland confirmed. “I’ve got her. She’s reentering the restaurant through the convenience store.”
Using field glasses, Nathan watched Grangeland approach the convenience-store checkout counter. She was purchasing something to cover her absence from the table, a DVD or paperback book, he couldn’t tell which.
Nathan conducted a 360-degree sweep of his surroundings with the handheld thermal imager. The HHTI could pick up the heat signature from a vehicle at over 2,200 yards or a man-sized target at 800 yards. The HHTI used in tandem with night vision became an extremely effective combination. Although a person could hide from the night-vision scope, they couldn’t hide their thermal signature. The HHTI nailed them every time. Sure enough, it had no problem seeing through the light fog obscuring the area. The truck parking area shone extremely bright from all the heat signatures of the engines. In the open field behind Nathan it picked up eight to ten cattle lying several hundred yards distant. As he turned the device off, he keyed the radio.