Coverall quickly stopped at the corner, scanning the area for tails, and then continued across the street to a residential area just outside government property. Wade picked up on his stopping pattern and kept several large trees in between himself and the target.
“Base to Sky.”
“Sky over.”
“I’m crossing Oakleaf Avenue just outside the compound to your west. Can you see me?”
“Roger. I have you.”
“Look across the street and up a block. Do you see Coverall? He seems to have slowed down quite a bit. I just want to make sure I’m not walking up on him.”
Max scanned with his scope before responding to Wade. “Hold on. I see Stephan’s vehicle parked about a block away on a cross street to the east.”
“Can you tell if anyone is in the vehicle?”
“Negative. No one in sight. It’s just parked. Your guy seems to be moving toward Stephan’s vehicle.”
“I’ll stay well behind him since you have a visual.”
“Sky to Base. Coverall unlocked the rear door of Stephan’s vehicle, and is moving a long object out of the back.”
There was a pause as Max watched Coverall’s activities from the top of one of the tallest buildings in Belmopan. “The object he just pulled out looks like some kind of ramp. Wait — he’s in back of the vehicle. He’s unloading a motorbike down the ramp. There seems to be a second bike behind it.”
“That answers our egress question.”
“Yep. They’re using small off-road motorbikes.”
“All the better to get around gridlock and police barricades.”
“He’s starting up one of the bikes now. Looks like he’s heading back in your direction. Take cover.”
“Copy, Base.”
Wade froze in position until Coverall passed, and then followed the bike another block to a dead end street. The rider stopped the bike and pushed it over the tall curb. He started it again and passed a concrete fence that led to a natural jungle setting. Coverall turned off the motor and rested the bike against a tree, out of sight from the sidewalk behind the concrete fence. He ran back and repeated the entire exercise with the second bike. Once the bikes were in place, Coverall returned to Stephan’s vehicle and drove out of the area.
“Base to Sky. I’m heading back in your direction.”
“You might want to consider disabling those bikes before you come back, just in case.
“Good idea.”
Within minutes of breaking off his tail of Coverall, Wade positioned himself on his designated rooftop. There had been no signs of Stephan up to that point. Five buildings separated Wade from Max. Each building had been selected to provide a direct line of sight to the maximum number of possible sniper positions. The morning sun had already cleared the mountain peaks and was burning off the gray mist that hovered over the ground.
Facing their targets with their backs to the sun and ceremonies, the waiting began in earnest for Wade and Max. The temperature was already rising. It was going to be a very hot day, lying prone across the white composition roof.
“Sky to Base. Over.”
“Base to Sky. Copy.”
“I have Jackson taking up position on Building 3. He’s armed.”
“Does he have a radio transmitter?”
“Affirmative. He’s setting up communications as we speak. The device looks military, with a large antenna. Over.”
“Any sign of the others?”
“Negative.”
“They sure are taking their time.”
“Do you think Coverall saw you?”
“Negative.”
“Base. I have movement on Building 1.”
“I see him. It’s Boris.”
It was still three hours before the afternoon ceremonies were scheduled to begin, and too early for the general public and distinguished guests to be moving into the visitor area. Television and press personnel were testing microphones and checking video camera cables.
The speakers for the day’s ceremony included the Prime Minister of Belize, the U.K. ambassador, military admirals from two countries, and U.S. Senator Charles Lanier, who would soon be sitting in the area reserved for distinguished guests. On the stage near the podium and distinguished guests would be the British Embassy staff, including Zara Wicks.
The long wait would soon be over. Max confirmed to Wade that his position was ideal for covering the two operatives. Wade’s position had been selected for the likely appearance of Stephan, but he was nowhere to be found.
“Base to Sky. What are our two operatives doing?”
“They’ve assembled their rifles and doping scopes for windage and distance. They’re also checking their communication devices. Over.”
“Are they talking to each other, or to someone else?”
“It’s hard to tell, maybe both. The transmitters are heavy duty. I would say definitely military.”
“No sight of Stephan?”
“Negative. I scoped the other side of the building to see if I could spot his car, but it’s no longer in the general area.”
Wade wondered if Stephan was going to show. The thought crossed Wade’s mind that Stephan might try to direct his operatives from a distant ground position. He wanted Max’s opinion.
“Do you think I should leave now to try to find him?”
“Negative. If he’s coming to this party, he’ll show up. Let him come to us.”
“Have you seen Coverall among the gathering crowd?”
“Negative. He’s out of the area. Probably by instruction.”
“What do you mean?”
“They probably had him leave the area in case he was spotted or detained. They won’t want a recognizable face near the target area.”
“I agree. He may be part of Stephan’s extraction plan. Remember there were only two motorbikes, not three.”
“I copy. I think their extraction might have them going in different directions.”
“There won’t be an extraction if we have anything to do with it.”
“Copy. I meant their intended extraction plan.”
Moments passed as the tropical sun heated up the roof surface. Max was the first to see movement and radioed Wade.
“Hold on. I think I just saw movement on Building 4, east side. It’s not where we expected him to be, but it’s Stephan. I don’t have a great shot from my angle.”
Wade rolled across the roof for a better spot to scope Building 4. “My location isn’t ideal, but it’s good enough. He’s much lower on that building.”
Max covered every inch of the Building 4 roof that he could see in his scope. “He’s got a lot of equipment stashed on that roof. How did we miss that?”
Wade’s angle was slightly better. He called out details while Stephan unpacked. “He’s got the green military sack from the plane.”
Max also had his scope on Stephan and saw something else he recognized. “You see that long antenna radio thing he’s assembling? That’s the activation device for the party favors. They would have had to program each case to a specific frequency to activate them this way. I guess my rewiring didn’t scare them off.”
Wade was now much more impressed with Stephan’s skills. “When the hell did they have time to do that? The cases were at the cemetery until this morning.”
“My guess is they picked up the cases sometime after we worked on them, did the adjustments, and returned them to the cemetery.”
Wade’s eyes remained focused on the target only to hear Max continue.
“Stephan’s going through a frequency check now. Looks like he believes they’re live.”
“That’s all that matters.”
“I have him in my scope. He’s setting the two detonation frequencies now.”
It wasn’t long before crowds started filing in. More cars searched for nonexistent available parking spaces. There was the feeling of an official gathering in the air as speakers played the national anthems of participating countries.