Volont wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of an answer. "I am," I said.

"Well, I don't give a f.u.c.k about you. You're just a deputy in Nowhere County. Agent Volont's the one who's important here. Aren't you?"

Believe it or not, Volont sort of brightened up at that. "I've taken down all you've said."

"Then pay even closer attention to this. We are in constant communication between each other. If my men from the bank, or from the boat, are followed, the boat goes down. With all the pa.s.sengers."

"Got it," said Volont.

"Good day," said Gabriel, and the conversation was over.

"And who the f.u.c.k was that?" asked James, of boat security.

We kind of told him.

Our radios came to life again.

"CP, Alpha Foot's over by the boat, now. We're in a good position for the van."

"CP, Alpha One has a clear shot at the pilothouse, if you need it. We and the top of the boat are in lighter fog..."

They sounded very professional. Well, they should have. They were. And that got me thinking about professional versus amateur. Us versus them, as it were. We were pros. Even us deputies from "Nowhere County." I have to admit, that p.i.s.sed me off. Besides, there were about a half-dozen deputies from "Nowhere County" on the way. Along with several state troopers and a state TAC team. And a federal TAC unit in a Huey Resources. A bunch of 'em.

"Hey?" I interrupted at least two conversations. "Listen up. We're pros, right?"

"We don't need a pep talk," snapped Art.

"Just think about it for a second. Who are these people Gabriel is using for his troops? Think about it."

"So?" Art was having none of this.

"He's got one guy in the bank who knows explosives, right?"

"At least one," said George.

"I'd bet one," I said. "Maybe two on the boat, but for sure one. That's three sharp dudes out of fifteen. Who are the rest of them? Amateurs he's picked up. n.o.bodies, not when it comes to this stuff."

"They seem to be doing pretty well so far," said George.

"But they haven't encountered any resistance. All the real troops we have are being held on a tight leash. Gabriel counts on that. He knows n.o.body wants a hostage hurt, so he's betting one hundred percent that he gets a cakewalk, courtesy of us. Right?"

"But, Carl," said Hester, "he's right. We can't risk a hostage. Especially with Gabriel on the boat. He will will do the deed, and we know that." do the deed, and we know that."

"Think this way. He's got, what, three guns, two or three drivers at the bank, right? That's six of them, with five questionables, against four to six really professional, really capable FBI TAC team members." I looked around. "So, we got 'em outcla.s.sed at the bank. Just tell our people there to take out the drivers of the trucks as they leave. We already know he isn't going to leave any of his people behind at the bank. Right? No point."

"But the boat is full of people ..."

"Right. But look. We hit the trucks as they leave. n.o.body at the boat can see the people at the bank. Not in this fog. So, what do we have there? We shoot, and anybody left alive in the truck either has to sit in the driver's seat and get himself shot, jump off the unit, or hunker down in the d.a.m.ned thing and hide. Piece of cake. We can scarf them up."

"Pointless," said Volont. "That just leaves six hundred or more people on the boat."

"But, unless Gabriel stays behind on the boat himself, if his peons hear that we just took off six of their finest, what are they going to do? Sink the boat? For what purpose? It's tied up at the f.u.c.kin' pier, for G.o.d's sake. All the pa.s.sengers have to do is walk off!"

"We always figure seventeen feet under the bottom," said James. "That would swamp the oh-one deck, so all the pa.s.sengers and crew would have to go to the second and upper deck. That could take some time."

"But not enough for her to turn over, is there?"

"No, I don't think so ... look, let me get one of the captains here. He lives just up the street. Five minutes, and he can answer all your questions." He picked up one of the phones.

"Anyway," I said, "he can't sink her instantly. To do that, he'd have to open up the whole bottom. Boom Boom. Probably blow the boat right out of the water if he did that, and he'd kill and injure lots of people. Including the members of his own team. Even himself."

"We can't count on that." But Volont was coming around.

"I think we can," said George. "He's not bluffing. But he'll sink her slowly, because he has to. I mean, fifteen minutes, even ... right? Getaway time ..."

"That's what I think," I said. "And with them tied up at the pier for the winter months, all they have to do is walk off. What I'm saying is that I think it's a risk we might be able to take. With the shock effect of taking out the trucks as they leave the bank."

"Well, we better hurry," said Hester, "whatever we do. I do know that those little b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are about as busy as they can get, moving that money into the trucks. We aren't going to have much more time, and we need the fog on our side for a while. I don't know how long that stuff will last."

Sally informed us that the chopper with the TAC team would be above Frieberg in two minutes. They reported zero visibility really near us, but could land on the bridge deck, which was above the fog ceiling.

Volont had been getting hold of himself gradually, since Gabriel's first call. He began to speak with his old decisiveness.

"Have them set down on the bridge." He indicated the playground that had been built for the kids who came with the gamblers. Summer only. "A two-man sniper team to the bridge ramp where they can command the best exit from the bank. Four to the boat. Have Alpha Chase pick 'em up. Leave the rest with the chopper." He smiled. "Wouldn't want anybody to steal our Huey."

"I think they might be done at the boat," said Hester. "We're gonna need a decision pretty soon ..."

I really thought that Volont was ready to take out the trucks. I really did. And he might have, if Gabriel hadn't had another little surprise for us.

Twenty-five.

Sunday, January 18, 1998, 1221 They're pullin' their ramp away from the boat," said Hester. "I counted seven suspects coming off with the last load. They're all getting in the van."

Suddenly, there was a loud, double-cracking sound. It was accompanied by what looked to be a momentary ripple in the fog all around the General Beauregard General Beauregard. Weird sight.

"Jesus!" said Art. "They're sinking it!"

"No ... no ... no, they're not! Not yet, anyway." Hester pointed, but I couldn't make out what she was looking at. Not at first. But, then, as I watched, I could see the bow of the Beauregard Beauregard slowly pull away from the pier, as the boat herself slipped slightly sternward, with the current. They had blown off the bollards and cleats from both ends of the boat. The thick cables attaching her to the pier, with no grip on the boat, slowly slid off her open weather decks and dropped into the icy waters of the Mississippi. slowly pull away from the pier, as the boat herself slipped slightly sternward, with the current. They had blown off the bollards and cleats from both ends of the boat. The thick cables attaching her to the pier, with no grip on the boat, slowly slid off her open weather decks and dropped into the icy waters of the Mississippi.

"Where can she go?" I asked.

James watched, horrified. "There's sort of an ice-free area around the hull... warm water from bilge pumps, stuff like that. She can go a ways out into the water, but she'll hit the ice in a little ways, and stop, I think..."

As he spoke, the stern of the General Beauregard General Beauregard disappeared into the fog, while she came around by the bow. She stopped, her bow about 100 feet from the riverbank, and about 90 feet from the pier. Out of reach. No engines to propel her. disappeared into the fog, while she came around by the bow. She stopped, her bow about 100 feet from the riverbank, and about 90 feet from the pier. Out of reach. No engines to propel her.

Art said something that, in other circ.u.mstances, would have had me rolling on the floor. "That rotten b.a.s.t.a.r.d really does think of everything."

"It's time to do something," said Volont. "We can't let him call all the shots..." He moved Sally aside, and picked up her mike. "Alpha Mobile, get down to the intersection and block off the street before the bank. Alpha Chase, do the same on the cross street and keep that stretch van where it is." He fumbled for a second. "How the h.e.l.l do I talk to the fire trucks on this thing?"

Sally pressed one of the frequency keys.

"Fire units, bring a truck into the exit from the bank parking lot and stay there. Use any auxiliary light you have to shine on the building. Bring a truck to the boat landing, to the dock, and park there and try to keep the public away. Shine your floodlights toward the boat." He looked at Sally again. "Now the police cars?"

She pushed another b.u.t.ton.

"We need some units to block the bridge approach, some to surround the bank." He took a deep breath. "We need three or four squad cars to block the road north and south of Frieberg. And Twenty-nine, Twenty-nine, you go to the bank and provide support for the fire truck."

That was good. That was very good. The north-south road through town was bordered by bluffs for two or three miles each way. No side roads. No turnoff except to a vacant summer dock area to the south. No way to go around a roadblock.

And 29 now had something useful to do.

Actually, it looked like it was just a matter of whether or not the cop cars could get here before the bank trucks were ready to pull out with all the money.

I watched Volont give Sally back her microphone. "Try for some ETAs for us, see when the cavalry is going to get here," I said. "And make sure Conception County has the other end of the bridge blocked."

Her answer told me she was still in top form. "Get me some coffee, would ya?"

I did.

What was happening now was that Gabriel's little army was actually being shown the opposition for the first time. We should begin to find out what they were made of real soon. I was betting on jelly, at least for the majority.

The growl of an engine, and the sound of the chopper blades as the Huey settled down on the bridge deck was a nice effect. We couldn't see them, of course. Neither could Gabriel and his people. But the noise was unmistakable.

None of us could see anything moving or changing at the bank, but at the boat, the headlights of the stretch van moved slowly up from the dock. Apparently, they saw the fire truck and the two TAC team agents from Alpha Chase blocking the road and the agents taking cover with their M-16s. The stretch van simply stopped. They didn't appear to have taken this development into consideration. Just what we intended, and just as I thought. Amateurs. Finally, I thought, things are beginning to move in a direction we've chosen.

Volont spoke into his secure radio. "This is Volont. If the van advances, you are authorized to use deadly force to prevent its leaving."

The van promptly backed up.

"What the h.e.l.l..." was Hester's first reaction.

"I'll be a son of a b.i.t.c.h," said George.

Art comprehended last. "They can hear us!"

Not only hear, but understand. They'd cracked the scrambled code of the secure radios.

"Well, now we know what they really needed all the computers for," I said. Another f.u.c.king surprise. Did his own download from the code banks. Slick. "Where did the FBI get those secure radios?"

"GSA, I suppose," said George. "Where the government shops..."

"From the Army," said Volont. "Via the NSA development people. d.a.m.n."

Gabriel, as an Army Special Operations soldier, quite likely was familiar with those radios before the FBI even purchased them. Even I knew that much.

"We'd better let the troops know," said George.

"Wait a second. If he doesn't know we know..." Volont was up to his old tricks.

"No." George glared at him. "No games. He's smart, and he knows. We have to tell our own people."

Volont came up with the ultimate leader's cop-out. "Then you tell them."

George knew it. h.e.l.l, George was an MBA. George had had all the "corporate think and manipulate" cla.s.ses you could name.

He reached in his jacket and pulled out his walkie. "CP to all units. The security on this frequency has been compromised. Repeat, this is no longer a secure frequency." He replaced his walkie-talkie, and looked out the window toward the boat. "There."

"Well," I said, "there goes my chance to say 'f.u.c.k' on a radio."

The phone rang. Sally put us on the speaker phone as soon as she realized it was Gabriel.

"Didn't think you'd have the b.a.l.l.s, Agent Volont. I planned for the eventuality, but I really didn't think you had them."

"Life," gritted Volont, "is full of surprises."

I didn't think that was a particularly good choice of words, all things considered.

"Oh, it is," agreed Gabriel. "Indeed. Now, I'd recommend getting your people out of the way of my people, or we're going to be producing victims." He paused, and then chuckled. "By the boatload, as it were."

Volont's face was several shades lighter than normal, but he stood his ground. "Completely counterproductive. Victims mean bad publicity. Victims mean no money for you. Victims, and your goals are done. Gone. Because with victims, we take out your whole team, and the horses they rode in on."

Yeah. Me too.

"I think I'll tell the crew to hand out the life jackets. You have five minutes," and the line went dead.

"... 'tell the crew to hand out the jackets,'" said Hester. "He is is on the boat." on the boat."

Nice.

Volont spoke to James of boat security. "All right. Get all your rescue units up and running. All lifeboats, all rescue craft. We're going to need them in a very short time."

James stared, and then barked out a laugh. "All available 'rescue' equipment is on that boat, out there. Two thousand PFDs and one sixteen-person inflatable boat."

"What?! What's a PFD?"

"Personal flotation device. A little half-a.s.sed life jacket that looks like a piece of gym mat with straps. As for 'units,' it's f.u.c.king winter, mister. The three rescue launches are in storage, with the oil drained out of the motors. They can't run on ice, anyway. That's all we have."

"My G.o.d," said Volont.

"It's just a d.a.m.n riverboat," said James. "In a river that's thirty feet deep. We meet all the Coast Guard requirements, and we don't put out from sh.o.r.e in the winter. What do you expect?"

"We can round up about a half-dozen iceboats," said Sally. "Maybe ten people each ... but it'll take time ..."