If he didn’t, they would have to try again the next night. Storming the house was out of the question. The sun had set at about 5:40 P.M and the rural Maryland roads were crowded with commuters going home after work. The black BMW cruised along with traffic and then turned off the busy county road and onto one of the narrow and quiet streets of the Curtis Point neighborhood. Coleman was driving and had his night-vision goggles perched on his forehead. He reached up and pulled the microphone from his headset down in front of his mouth. “Hermes and Cyclops, this is Zeus, come in, over.”
He kept his eyes fixed on the road and waited for the response. “This is Hermes, over.”
“Are you in position, over?”
“That’s affirmative, we’re in position, over.”
“We’re about three miles out. Have the gate ready to go, and I’ll give you the word right before we round the corner. Check the road for foot traffic, and let me know if there are any cars coming from the other direction, over.”
“Roger, over.” Michael opened the glove box and pulled off the cover to the fuses.
Holding a small penlight in his left hand, he located the fuse for the car’s exterior lights and got ready to pull it. They continued to wind down the curvy road, passing the large houses. When they were less than a mile from the old estate, Coleman spoke into his mike again.
“Hermes, how does everything look, over?”
“The coast is clear, over.”
“Open the gate.” Coleman looked at O’Rourke and nodded. O’Rourke pulled the fuse, and the headlights and rear running lights were extinguished.
The thick cloud cover overhead, combined with the lack of streetlights on the narrow, wooded road, cut the visibility to nothing. Coleman pulled down his night-vision goggles
‘. and quickly adjusted his eyes.
He took his foot off the gas and coasted. They passed the main gate of the old estate, and Coleman put some pressure on the brakes. About 150 feet later, they reached the service drive, and Coleman turned hard.
The black car slipped onto the overgrown drive and squeezed through the encroaching trees and bushes, disappearing from sight. Stroble quickly closed the gate and wrapped the chain around the post. He stood guard for a minute, looking up and
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down the road waiting to see if anyone else approached, and then went down the path to join the others. When he arrived at the small shed, Coleman had already turned the car around in the tall grass so it was pointing back toward the road. Coleman, O’Rourke, and
Hackett were standing by the open trunk. Hackett handed them their MP-5s and Coleman and O’Rourke checked to make sure a round was chambered. When Stroble joined the group, Coleman checked his watch and brought everyone in. “What did you do with the
Zodiac?”
“We sank it about a mile offshore and swam in,” responded Stroble.
“Good. Let’s go over this thing once and then get into position. We don’t want to miss him. Stop me if you have any questions. What’s the status on the boat next door?”
“It has a full tank of gas, and the battery is fine,” said Hackett.
“Are you going to have to hot-wire her?”
“No, we found an extra set of keys under the seat cushions.”
“Good …. Okay, once from the top.” Coleman pointed at Hackett and Stroble. “You two move into position on the north side of the house.
Kevin, you’re in the same tree you were in last night. From there you can cover the entire backyard.
Dan, you are in your spot by the front of the house, and Michael and I are just opposite the patio on this side of the fence. When we get into position, the first thing all of us do is make sure our ropes are secure. Then we sit tight, watch the guards, and wait.
The surveillance reports that Michael got say he steps out for a cigar almost every night, unless it’s raining. Sometimes he stays out there for hours, sometimes for only a couple of minutes. The point being.
if he shows, we move fast.” Coleman looked up at the dark sky. “The forecast calls for possible showers, so we’ll have to wait and see. If he comes out, we wait for him to move to the edge of the patio, as far away from the house as possible, and then depending on what the guards are doing, we make our move.”
“What if he’s not alone?” asked Hackett. Coleman looked to Michael, who thought about it and answered, “I’ll make the call on the spot.”
“Back to the guards,” said Coleman. “If they stick to their routines, one of them will stay by the front door, and the other one will patrol the sides and rear of the house with the dog. There’s another one at the front gate, but I don’t think he’ll leave the guardhouse.
That leaves one more in the house, and after we take the cameras out, he’ll be blind.
“Assuming everything goes right, and Arthur steps out, I will ask the two of you if you
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have a clear shot. Kevin, you’ve got the guard in back and Dan you’ve got the one by the front door. As soon as I get a positive answer from both of you, I’ll say ‘bingo.”
Shoot the guards first and then the dogs. At that point, Michael and I
