We took Highway 3 north to the container port. Because we couldn’t afford multiple passes of the port facility lest someone notice and get suspicious, we stopped along the way and bought a video camera.
I drove; Dox videotaped. When I took us along Cheung Fi road, the thoroughfare that leads to the Terminal Nine gate, Dox looked to the area opposite and said, “Well, this does look like fine sniping terrain. Fine, fine, fine.”
I glanced over to see what had elicited his reaction, and saw a series of terraced hills, rising to what I estimated to be about one hundred and fifty meters above the road and overlooking the terminal entrance. Some of the hills were wooded, some were grass, some were cleared and home to what looked like partially constructed apartment buildings. Dox would have his pick of ingress and egress routes, cover, concealment, and an unobstructed field of fire. He was right. It was perfect.
We went to a tea shop in Tsim Sha Tsui to talk things over. Dox was pleased about the terrain, but I was uneasy.
“The problem is that our information is limited,” I said. “Kanezaki says he’ll know from Belghazi’s sat phone when Belghazi is on his way to Hong Kong, so we’ll have some warning about that. And the time window is manageable, too-apparently, Belghazi conducts his business at Kwai Chung between oh two hundred and oh four hundred. But we don’t know what he’ll be driving. We don’t know whether he’ll get out outside the gate, or stay in the car and drive in.”
“What do you think he’s been waiting for? He’s been in Macau for you said, what, a week now?”
I shrugged. “Part of it probably really is the gambling. Part of it is the appearance he wants to cultivate for anyone who’s trying to figure out what he’s up to in the region-‘Oh, he’s just there to gamble.’ And maybe part of it has to do with whatever shipment is being handled at Kwai Chung. There might have been some logistical problem along the way, the ship could have been delayed. A lot of things that could have kept him in place longer than he’d originally planned.”
He was quiet for a moment, then said, “There’s another thing. You said he’s a careful man, and that he knows you’re after him so he’s extra nervous. What if he rents an armored vehicle for his little trip to the dockyards? A place like Hong Kong, with all the property magnates and such, would have armored Mercedeses and Bimmers available, I’m sure.”
That was a good point. I thought for a moment. “What about armor piercing ammunition?”
“Well, I could use some, it’s true. A 7.62 AP round will penetrate fifteen millimeters of armor at three hundred meters and take out a hundred and twenty millimeters of Plexiglas, too. But if I start capping these guys with that kind of ordnance, it won’t exactly look like some bodyguard who decided to open up with a pistol from close range. And you said that if it didn’t look like an inside job we might not get paid.”
“We’ve got some flexibility on just how much of an inside job it needs to look like. The main thing is that it should look less like an assassination, and more like an arms deal gone to shit. We’re going to have to play some of the details by ear.”
“Okay, I’m just thinking out loud here.”
“No, that’s good, and you’re right about the armor.” I thought for a minute, then said, “What about two magazines, one with armor piercing, one with standard? You’d only need a few seconds’ warning to switch as circumstances required, right?”
“That’s right, yeah. We could do that.”
I nodded. “All right, let’s break it down. We know that, one morning soon, Belghazi is going to be visiting Container Terminal Nine. It’s not reachable by train or realistically by foot, and the harbor approach is patrolled, so a boat isn’t likely. Meaning we can assume he’ll be coming in a car. The only approach is south along Cheung Fi road. Using that information, what do we need to do to make sure this is Belghazi’s last road trip?”
“Well, the first thing is, we need to stop the car. Once it’s inside the terminal or off Cheung Fi, we lose access to it.”
“Right. Can we count on it stopping in front of the gate?”
He nodded for a moment as though considering. “I can’t imagine the gate would already be open, not in the middle of the night. The car would have to at least pause outside it.”
“Probably, but not definitely. Belghazi could call en route. His contact could be waiting for him with the gate open. In which case he drives right through. Plus, once the car turns in, you’re looking at the vehicle’s rear. If you start shooting but don’t hit the driver, he’ll floor it, blow through the gate, and we’ll lose them.”
“Yeah, that’s true. Well, there’s the approach along Cheung Fi. That’s a quarter mile, so I’d have, say, fifteen seconds to take out the driver there. The problem is-”
“How are you going to know you’ve got the right car.”
“Yeah, I’d hate to take out the pizza delivery man, I really would.”
“So what we need to do is, I’m the spotter, positioned on the slope above Cheung Fi, but close to the road. I’ve got binoculars, I see the car coming. There won’t be much traffic at that hour, and I guarantee you Belghazi will be arriving in something stylish, whether or not it’s armored. It shouldn’t be hard for me to confirm that it’s him.”
“What if the glass is smoked?”
“It might be, I know. But if I see a car like that heading toward Terminal Nine at oh two hundred on the same day Kanezaki tells us Belghazi is on his way, I’ll be confident enough to take out the tires, and maybe the windows, and see what happens next. Also, it’s possible they’ll stop outside the gate, maybe roll down a window. In which case, even if I can’t see what I need to, I might get to hear it. I’m going to ask Kanezaki to send a parabolic mike, compatible with the rest of the communications gear I want-earpieces and lapel mikes.”
“I never used one of those parabolics,” he said. “They really work?”
I nodded. “A good one will bring in conversation from three hundred yards out. The new ones fold up small, too. I’ll be able to talk to you on one channel, then switch over and listen in on whoever arrives, then switch back.”
“All right, so either visual or auditory or both, now you’ve got positive ID.”
“Now I let you know, from my lapel mike straight to your earpiece.”
“At which point-”
“At which point, you take your first clear shot. Any place between where I confirm that the target has arrived and the entry gate. In fact, earlier would be better. If this goes down right in front of the entry gate, we might have terminal security personnel to deal with, too. I don’t want to take out bystanders, and the fewer witnesses, the better, anyway.”
“Makes sense. I start with the driver, then just work my way through.”
“Right. Count on a total of at least three-Belghazi, one bodyguard driving, one bodyguard passenger-but maybe more. And while you’re shooting from up high, I’ll be assaulting on foot with a sidearm. Anyone you’ve missed, I take out at close range.”
He grinned. “Partner, marine snipers don’t miss. By the time you reach the vehicle, all that’ll be left is for you to reach through the shattered glass and retrieve a bag stuffed with cash, all right?”
And all that’ll be left for you to do is take one last shot, I thought. Then the cash will be all yours and you can walk away clean.
I needed to find that opportunity to test him before the main event. I hadn’t managed it yet.
I nodded and said, “Sounds like a plan.”
OUR GEAR ARRIVED the next day. We had contacted Kanezaki independently with our requests for matériel, some of which was for commo gear and all of which was bound for Hong Kong, and he must have suspected that we were working together. But if he had any questions, he didn’t ask. The Agency had moved it all through the diplomatic pouch and had left it in a golf bag at a prearranged dead drop. I had to admit, they could move fast when they wanted to.