“Yes. They both have offices in Belmopan.”
Wade paused while he made notes.
Megan broke the silence. “I need to ask you a personal question.”
“Sure.”
“Why are you doing all this? I mean, why are you once again in the middle of something that sounds dangerous? I don’t even know what it is, but I know you. Why don’t you just turn it over to the authorities and come home?”
“I thought you understood this when we talked before. I didn’t come down looking for this problem. The whole thing came to light while I was here on the Lockhart investigation. I’ll turn it over to the proper authorities when I feel it’s safe to do so. Why do you think I’m asking you for the names of contacts down here? And by the way, I can’t wait to come home.”
“Well, that’s good to hear. I know you’re trying to do the right thing. It’s just that unsanctioned activities are not very healthy for you or your career. You should let the proper foreign authorities handle it. It’s not your battle.”
“That would be great — if I knew who to trust.”
“Just be careful.”
“Thanks for your help. I miss you.”
“Miss you.”
After his call, he went into the library to check the most recent newspaper articles. Local news was full of stories on the peace ceremonies and lists of arriving dignitaries. Max soon joined Wade, and they spent the evening digging through the articles trying to find some link that might pinpoint a ceremony for the target event.
Nothing in the news jumped out at them. No single event seemed more important than any other. It didn’t make their job any easier that the target could be any one of five separate ceremonies over the next four days. The two men devised a chart listing the times, ceremony, locations, and expected attendees. It seemed Stephan had his choice and was probably weighing the alternatives.
In Belmopan, international media personnel were already arriving from different parts of the globe. Each broadcasting company was setting up equipment and pulling communications cables under and around the raised stage and podium area.
After dinner, the men made another run to check the cemetery. The cases were still in place exactly where they’d left them.
Today was the expected arrival date of the second operative. Max wanted to do more research on shooting angles and extraction points on-site, while Wade followed Stephan to the airport.
Already in disguise, he positioned himself where he could observe the gate for arriving passengers. Two structural posts supported one side of the baggage claim area, so Wade put one of them to good use as a hide. He waited for the loudspeaker to announce the flight number of arriving planes.
Stephan had already driven past the baggage claim pick-up area twice and was circling again. Wade wasn’t sure whether Stephan would park and come in, or wait at the curb. After passing the no-parking baggage zone for a fourth time, Stephan’s car disappeared, presumably to park.
A few moments later, Wade spotted Stephan coming toward him. He stopped and turned only six feet away. Looking through the line of arriving passengers, Stephan’s cold steely eyes dissected each one as if undressing them. He acted like the passengers were his subjects, each with their lives hanging on his approval.
A new thought crossed Wade’s mind. One hand remained on the trigger of his 9 mm silenced weapon, under his tan trench coat, ready to take the man out now and escape before a crowd could gather. For the first time, Wade sensed a power over Stephan that he hadn’t felt before. His feeling of control made his opponent seem a little less mysterious.
Restraining himself, Wade knew that if Stephan was removed now they would only send someone else. Then Wade caught himself as Stephan nodded to someone he recognized and started moving toward him. Remaining in the shadows, Wade repositioned himself to get a good look at the new arrival. Stephan and the newcomer exchanged formal, businesslike greetings. Unlike Stephan, the new operative was a barrel-chested, stocky man with curly hair.
It was easy to see the two had previously worked together, but were definitely not close friends. For no particular reason, the name “Boris” popped into Wade’s mind, and at that moment became the code name for the new operative.
Boris clearly acknowledged Stephan’s superior position with his subservient body language. Walking behind and to the right of Stephan, Boris carried his own luggage and waited for directions from Stephan before crossing the street. Wade headed for the same parking lot and followed their car back to the safe house in Belmopan.
Wade and Max spent most of the remaining day identifying possible sniper positions and extraction points. The most obvious shooting positions were discussed and replayed many times. The rooftops of the administrative buildings in Belmopan were no longer unfamiliar to Max; each had been assigned a number and recorded on the map.
Side doors led to stairwells and stairways to roof doors for access at different times during the day and night. Positions were sighted through their scopes from the rooftops to the ground to understand what effect light and angle would play on targets at different times during the day and evening.
Distances were checked and recorded and evacuation routes confirmed. Several hides, some which worked better than others, depending on the time of day, were recorded along with wind direction and speed to account for the afternoon trade winds.
They performed the same calculations from different buildings in order to accommodate longer shots and different angles of drop. Wade assumed Stephan had already done the same target analysis or was still involved in site assessment. In fact, Max and Wade wondered if they might run into each other during the location search, but that didn’t happen.
Back in Belize City, Wade and Max had a working dinner over sea bass. After the meal, Wade turned to Max.
“What did you come up with today?”
Max paused before he responded. “I’ve narrowed my sites down to the three most likely shooting locations.”
Wade was quick to interject, “Before you tell me, let me try to guess. I assume you took into account that the three shooters are paid assassins and not on a suicide mission.”
“That’s correct.”
Wade continued, “I’ve assumed the same thing, which means extraction points and cover for egress are paramount to their site selection.”
Max agreed. “You bet.”
Wade continued. “I further assume there will be military presence and police surrounding the ceremony area to block off exits after the incident.”
“Right again.”
Wade took out his map out and with a pencil marked the streets police would likely barricade. Max was intently watching how closely Wade had come to his own conclusions. When Wade finished his mapping, he looked up at Max and asked, “Did I miss anything?”
“No. I think you’ve covered it all. So what sites did you pick?”
Wade looked back at the map, paused, and then numbered his target sites from most likely to least likely. Neither was surprised that they both picked all but one of the same sites, and all in the same order. Max smiled as he went over the selections. Wade wasn’t quite as happy.
He shook his head. “I have an uneasy feeling that we’ve been too predictable. I think Stephan is just too good for that. We’re missing something.”
Max responded like his reputation was on the line. “All you can do is try to get into the mind of the shooter. You know that as well as I do.”
“Don’t take my comment the wrong way. You’ve done exactly what I think we should be doing, and you did it very well. What I’m talking about now I can’t put into words. It’s just a feeling that something isn’t quite right.”
Max heard the uncertainty in Wade’s voice. He wasn’t sure what else they could do, though, except give Wade more time to think.