These weapons hadn’t come in through the checkpoints. The people who had missed Robie’s knife couldn’t possibly have missed this. Either people had been paid off or, more likely, the weapons had been placed here before the checkpoints were set up.
Robie grabbed a few pistols, two subguns, and as much ammo as he could carry in his knapsack. Ideally, he could sabotage the rest of the weapons by knocking out the firing pins. But he didn’t have the tools to do so. And it would take too much time and make too much noise.
But as he looked down at the weapons an idea occurred to him. He took photos of all of them with his cell phone.
What he was planning to do with these photos was incredibly risky, but in the end, he deemed the risk of not doing it far greater.
CHAPTER
76
REEL WAS WAITING FOR ROBIE at a small inn they had chosen as their rendezvous point. They had taken one room, and when Robie knocked on the door, she peeked through the peephole and let him in.
From under his coat and his knapsack he pulled out the weapons he’d taken and dropped them on the bed.
Reel picked up one MP5. “How much did they have?”
“Enough to take down this entire town and then some.”
“How many men you figure?”
“At least two dozen, going by the amount of firepower. What happened with Kent?”
“He’s staying at the finest hotel in this little hamlet. I left him having a glass of sherry by the fireplace.”
“What do you think his role is? He won’t be in the attack itself. You said he was one of us, but that was a long time ago.”
Reel shook her head. “I think he was sent here to oversee things. He was at the building where the weapons were. He probably went over the plan with the troops and their respective assignments.”
“What do you think their exit plan is?”
“With the sort of firepower you saw, I would say they could easily shoot their way out of here. Private wings lifting off a private runway and they’re out of the country.”
“And Kent?” asked Reel.
“He probably has some official role here as a representative of the U.S. He’ll act as surprised as everyone else. He goes home, glad to be alive and properly mournful for all of the dead.” He paused. “So we still think the opening ceremony is where it will happen?”
“It’s in one big room, Robie. Open spaces, multiple firing lines once the security perimeter is pierced. No place to hide.”
“So they exit, fly away, and Kent goes home to report the success.”
“But if we stop it here?”
He said, “We have to stop it here. We’re the last line of defense.”
“A damn thin line.”
“I figure if they have two dozen guys nearly as good as we are, we can take out at least half of them, maybe two-thirds if luck and the element of surprise are on our side. That may be enough to save the day.”
She gazed up at him, a smile playing across her lips. “Not a bad legacy. ‘Robie and Reel; they saved the world.’”
“At the sacrifice of their own lives?”
“Nobody’s that lucky, Robie, not even the good guys.” She picked up a pistol, checked the mag, and stuck it into her belt.
“We’ll have to figure out where and how to hit them for maximum effect.”
“The tactic they’re going to employ will make that a little difficult.” He explained what he had found in the room along with the guns.
Before he’d finished Reel was nodding. “I get that. But it allows some opportunities for us as well.”
“Yes, it does.”
“So it’s a waiting game?”
Robie said, “Patience is a virtue. And tomorrow it’ll be the only thing keeping us alive.”
“You know we’ll have two sides gunning for us as soon as we show our hand.”
“We concentrate firepower on the target. They’ll show their hand and we can only hope the official security understands what’s going on.”
“When shots are going off all around and people are running and screaming? It’ll be mass confusion.”
“That’s why I said hope. We’re going to have to split up.”
“Two targets to shoot at.”
“Right.”
“But that means we dilute our fire concentrations.”
“Can’t be helped. Benefit outweighs the downside.”
“Then let’s pick our spots well.” She paused, studied him. “If we manage to survive this, I’ve got another set of problems. I’m a wanted woman.”
“Not by me. Not anymore. I’ll help you, Jessica.”
“You can’t do that, Robie. What you’ve done so far could be construed as treason. If you stop this, all will be forgiven. But not if you keep consorting with the enemy. And that happens to be me.”
“Extenuating circumstances.”
“Not proved. And probably won’t matter even if they were. You know how the system works.”
“You mean how the system doesn’t work.”
“Let’s just see how tomorrow goes. Things might just take care of themselves,” she added ominously.
“Okay,” said Robie. “They just might.”
CHAPTER
77
THE DAY BROKE CLEAR AND COLD. With each breath taken, tiny puffs of smoke rose into the air. The leaders of various Arab countries made their way to their official motorcades looking discomforted by the chill, their robes buffeted by the stiff breeze.
It was eight o’clock in the morning. People were tense. There was a collective feeling that the citizens of the town simply wanted this to be over. Their wish would come true shortly, but not in a way that they ever imagined.
There was only one way in and one way out of the building where the opening ceremony was taking place, which made it appealing from a security point of view. But it also had its disadvantages.
The motorcades drifted down the street with Canadian police providing the traffic security. There were a number of Canadian Mounties on their horses; they looked resplendent in their red uniforms. But they were also brightly colored sitting ducks when it came to an actual armed confrontation.
Reel’s and Robie’s plan had come together at five in the morning.
Neither of them felt the least bit tired. Adrenaline trumped exhaustion.
Reel was across the street from ground zero, just beyond the security checkpoint. That was a no-go for her because she was armed to the teeth.
Robie stood on the opposite corner, nearer the building but again beyond the checkpoint. Jersey barriers had been erected to prevent a truck bomb from getting close enough to drop the structure. Thus there was barely enough room to get a single car through at a time.
Bottlenecks like that could cause other sets of security problems, but on the whole Robie felt the plan had been well thought out.
He checked his watch. It was nearly time. He said into his mic, “Just about there.”