Lacking the crowd confusion Stephan had expected, he had to change tactics. Wade tried to put himself in the mind of this rabbit who had gone from being in control to being on the run. Knowing Stephan was no longer on foot, Wade thought about routes Stephan might take to flee the city.
Wade knew Coverall had parked Stephan’s car far enough from the ceremonies that his route wouldn’t become congested after the attack. He assumed that Stephan would be on foot until he got to his car, so the car couldn’t be parked so far away that it was not easily reached.
Wade looked at his maps and plotted locations that met those criteria. He drove up and down the streets that made logical sense to him, but found no sign of Stephan or his car. Pounding the steering wheel out of frustration for missing his shot, Wade sat idle at a stop sign, having run out of ideas. His sights were now set on Stephan and nothing else.
Extraction Plan 2 meant Wade and Max would extract separately, following a specific protocol. The various extraction plans had been rehearsed so many times that Wade and Max could perform them in their sleep. Five different extraction plans called for each man to do designated tasks before leaving town. Each had a prescribed route out of the country.
For Wade, leaving the country now was out of the question. His mission was to find and eliminate his target, and he was on his own to accomplish that task. Wade took comfort knowing Max would be safely back in Houston in a few hours, assuming everything went as planned. Right now he was worried about losing his prey, and after driving past several possible locations, Wade had nowhere else to turn.
Then he remembered a service station at the intersection of two main highways going east and west away from Belmopan. The service station might be a good location to observe that entire intersection. There was only an outside chance Stephan would pass that point, but Wade had no back-up plan.
He backed into a parking spot reserved for cars waiting for repairs and shut off the engine. Scanning the intersection below him with his binoculars confirmed that it was a good plan. Clearly visible were all cars approaching entrances for the two highways, regardless of which direction they were headed. Maybe this spot was not such a bad idea after all.
If Stephan wanted the fastest driving route out of town, he would most likely pass this point. What Wade didn’t know was whether Stephan has already passed. He settled in for a long wait.
Looking down at the radio receiver on the seat, he called Max. “How did the extraction go?”
“Not a problem. I’m at the storage unit right now. Where are you?”
“Trying to find the Rabbit. I’m waiting at a service station I think he might pass. It’s all I could think of. I checked the bike location before I extracted. Both bikes were still in place. ”
Max had confirming suspicions. “I didn’t think he would try to use the bikes.”
“Why do you think Stephan hesitated?”
“I don’t know. I was concentrating on the operatives. I couldn’t tell when they failed to respond to his command or when his detonation device failed.”
Wade replied, “I think he decided at the last minute to go with the detonation first. When his men didn’t fire, he didn’t wait around to find out why. Unfortunately, I hesitated, which was my mistake. I think the Rabbit had an alternative extraction plan from the other operatives all along. He wasn’t leaving town with those guys. Remember, the original plan was to leave Mashburn’s body when they extracted.”
“I think you’re right. And I’m thinking I should stay and help you finish this job.”
Wade was firmly against Max’s request.
“That’s a negative, buddy. You follow Extraction Plan 2 and get out now. I’ll be fine here.”
“Your call, boss.”
Wade’s eyes opened wide. He was drawn to a vehicle he thought he would never see at that intersection.
“Hold on, I think I see Stephan’s car. I’ve got to run. You proceed with Extraction Plan 2. That’s an order.”
Max replied, wishing he were still with Wade.
“Happy hunting. See you back in Houston.”
Stephan drove past Wade’s position like he was on a leisurely Sunday drive. Instead of taking the south entrance onto Hummingbird Highway, he took the Western Highway west, a different route from the one he used to pick up the weapons.
This time Stephan didn’t seem to be in a rush. Wade followed staying five cars behind on a highway which seemed to have few exits. He was surprised that Stephan seemed to be in a docile mood, rarely checking his rear or side view mirrors. As Wade drove, he wondered how he could feel so confident. Perhaps Stephan hadn’t confirmed that his operatives were dead. Perhaps he believed the only thing that went wrong with the mission was that his detonation device had failed. Stephan didn’t seem concerned that anyone might be following him, probably assuming he had successfully extracted.
Wade wasn’t so calm. That was too simple an explanation of Stephan’s attitude. Perhaps Wade was falling into an extraction trap just the way Stephan had planned. He gripped the steering wheel as tension coursed like lightning through his body. His mistakes were his responsibility and he could only blame himself. He was as hard on himself as any instructor would have been as he went through each phase of the mission.
How could I have missed the bikes and let Coverall disappear?
I should never have hesitated taking my shot. It was my mistake, wanting to see Stephan’s face when he pushed the detonation device and nothing happened.
His training had taught him better. Chastising himself for waiting to see someone’s reaction, he remembered hearing his training instructor’s voice yelling: A split-second delay means the difference between life and death, or the success or failure of your mission!
As he drove, Wade focused on correcting his mindset. No more delays for dramatic moments became a mantra he repeated out loud for the next several miles.
He refocused his attention on Stephan’s car when he saw it move two lanes to the right. His car hugged the right lane after passing the Teakettle exit. Perhaps Stephan is not on this highway to reach the Guatemala border, as I first thought.
Wade allowed two other cars to pass before getting in the right lane. He wanted to make sure Stephan was going to take the exit and not veer at the last second. Holding his middle-lane position, Wade did one last check of his mirrors to see that he wasn’t being followed. The traffic thinned as Stephan’s car and then Wade’s passed the Spanish Lookout exit. Stephan’s car remained in the right lane.
Stephan was not looking in his rear or side view mirrors for tails — he was checking exits. After passing the Spanish Lookout exit, another exit was fast approaching. Wade couldn’t see the sign because of a large truck to his right. Stephan waited until the very last moment before sharply veering right across road reflectors to make the Chiquibul Road exit. Wade had to navigate an even tighter turn in order to make the same exit.
The first turn to the south put Stephan next to a beautiful river running parallel on his left. A sign showed the well-traveled but unpaved road headed toward the Tapir Mountain Reserve. Landscapes on both sides of the road were dotted with small banana farms bordering the river that ran west to the base of the foothills at the edge of the Reserve.
Stephan’s car was over a mile ahead but easy to follow. It turned left off Chiquibul onto an unmarked dirt road. Wade made the same turn and followed Stephan for another mile to another dirt road. Then he made a right turn on another unpaved road.