A burial ceremony was in progress not far from their mausoleum target. They drove to a quiet place on the opposite side of the cemetery and waited with binoculars until the interment ended. The cemetery clean-up made everything easier to see.
Max trained the binoculars on the thicket of bushes next to the mausoleum and wondered aloud to Wade, “Could the maintenance crew have discovered the cases? What do we do if they’ve been removed by the operatives?”
Wade paused, unsure how to answer Max’s question. “Let’s take it one step at a time.”
“In other words, you don’t know?”
“Of course I don’t know, and I don’t want to spin my wheels thinking about it until I know. It won’t be long.”
Max kept his binoculars trained on the attendees and made mental notes and descriptions of the guests and their vehicles. His glasses moved back and forth between the departing funeral guests and the service road that ran behind the mausoleum.
Both men knew Stephan had to perform the same assessment if he intended to pick up the cases. It wasn’t long before attendees made their way to three waiting limousines parked in a row followed by another dozen private cars. After the funeral procession left the cemetery, all was quiet again. The two men looked at each other.
Max asked for clarification. “How long do you think we should wait?”
“I would give it at least another half hour. I want to recheck the observation positions we previously identified before we go in.”
“What are your thoughts regarding whether the cases are or are not there?”
Wade showed a little frustration with Max’s question, because he hadn’t thought that problem out. “I told you I don’t know. If the cases are still in place, it only means Stephan has determined they’re safer here than in his possession. That could be because the contents inside are very dangerous or too sensitive to handle. They probably don’t want to risk getting caught with them. If the cases are gone, Stephan probably has them, which means we need to track him down, which we’d have to do anyway.”
Max agreed with that logic. “That’s the way I see it also.”
Wade shook his head from side to side in frustration. “You asked me that question so I could tell you that you were right?”
“No. Don’t ever tell me I’m right if you don’t think it’s true. It’s just that we think alike.”
“It must be the same training.”
“Or the same devious minds.”
Wade couldn’t argue with that.
After scanning potential observation positions, Wade drove slowly onto the service road as Max scanned the surroundings in all directions. Each had their 9mm semi-automatic pistols with silencers loaded, with Parabellum rounds lying on the front seat.
Craning his neck, Wade scanned the dense bushes as he stopped the car. He couldn’t be sure. The thick shrubbery created a black cave pressed tightly against the mausoleum’s side wall.
With his weapon in hand, Wade left the car and approached the shrubs as Max stood watch. The two cases were still in place. He motioned to Max to join him.
“Gently lift up that case and check out the handle and locking mechanism.”
Max complied, but he also jiggled the case a bit, making Wade more than a little nervous. He immediately cautioned Max about the danger.
“Don’t do that. It might go off!”
“Didn’t you say these cases made it to Belize on an airline flight all the way from Panama?”
“Yes, but for all I know, Mashburn activated them before he put them here.”
“They’re heavy. My guess is some kind of equipment or explosive device.”
Wade’s nerves were on edge. Max seemed more relaxed, like he had a better understanding of what he was handling. His hand slowly moved around all sides and the bottom of the case. He studied the locking mechanism up close, as though he could see past the rows of spaced cylinders into the case itself.
Finally, to Wade’s relief, Max set the case on the ground. Wade looked at Max and said, “We need to put them back where we found them.”
To Wade’s surprise, Max responded, “If it’s all the same to you, I’d prefer that you put them back.”
“Not a problem.”
Before returning to Belize City, they spent some time going over the Belmopan map and driving past important administrative buildings. Max spotted something between two of the buildings.
“Look over there. It looks like construction workers assembling stands for the ceremony.”
Wade quickly picked up on Max’s observation. “The person in the yellow hard hat looks like a construction superintendent.”
“Let’s stop. We might get some good information on the ceremonies.”
Suddenly Wade thought about an approach. “We need a cover — and it can’t be that we’re tourists, or we won’t get any information. Let’s think. Who might be out here doing an inspection from America?”
An idea came to Max while the superintendent moved closer to their car. “Why don’t you roll up those maps we have to look like building plans? We can act like we’re construction inspectors for the U.S. You take the lead. You probably know more about construction than I do. I’ll be looking at the buildings for sniper angles.”
The two men walked over to the superintendent with plans under their arms like old construction hands.
“Good day, sir, I’m Bill Morris from Collins Construction. The Embassy asked me to come by and take a look at your progress. How far are these stands going to extend?”
Pointing with both hands, the superintendent showed Wade where the stands ended on both sides. “They’ll go another fifty-five feet in that direction.”
“Have you calculated your weight loads yet?”
“Yes, sir. The metal scaffolding and stands will hold over 140 pounds per square inch. A lot more than the required minimum.”
“We always want to be sure. What did you use for the attendance figures?”
“Just under 1,200 people. I don’t have the exact number.”
“I see you’re going five high. Did you use five high to compute your weight loads?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll recheck the numbers when I get back to the office. I may be low on the attendance.”
“Where will you locate the stage? And how many dignitaries did you calculate for that load?”
Pointing, the superintendent explained, “The stage is going right over there. Including the Prime Minister and his Cabinet members — there will be about forty people on that raised section.”
“That looks about right. How are you handling the electrical?”
As Wade continued his conversation with the superintendent, Max checked for trajectory angles from the high surrounding buildings and landscape toward the stage. He identified at least five positions within 300 yards that would make ideal sniper hides.
Max wanted to check out each space for possible ingress and escape routes. He envisioned the viewing area packed with visitors and the enormous confusion a shooting sniper would create.
After the discussion, the superintendent gave Wade his card, and then watched as Wade and Max moved over to the side stairs for a discussion. It looked like they were checking plans against what the superintendent had just told him.
Wade rolled out his papers and pointed. “Pretend we’re talking about the plans. I can’t believe how much information I just got from the superintendent. I have the whole layout, number of attendees in the stands and on the stage, even where the lighting cables are going to be run. What were you able to discover?”
“I have a pretty good idea of possible firing positions I would take if I were going to sniper this target. We’ll have to check out each position, but there are several good options. Now I just need to figure out which ones have the best extraction routes.”