He’d been getting ready to leave when he overheard a conversation between one of the waitresses and a customer.
“Hey, Ginny, what time is Kelsey staying open till tomorrow?”
“Hey, Mr. Parker. Kelsey’s planning to close around noon, sharp,” the waitress said. “That ought to give us enough time to get set up over at the community center for the shindig there at four.”
“That’s fine, then. I’ll bring myself here for breakfast and then get dinner over at the ceremony. Don’t ’spect she’ll be posting a sign about the closure, will she?”
“She said she was going to, even though most folks in Lusty will be attending the ceremony anyway and will figure she’s closed.”
“Well, she’s still new to town, even if she is a Benedict now.” Then the customer snorted. “But then, I asked, didn’t I?”
“Yes, sir, you sure did. Can I get you some dessert, Mr. Parker?”
“Now, Ginny Rose, when you going to get around to calling me Albert?”
“Oh, I can’t do that, Mr. Parker. I was raised to show respect to my betters.”
Preston wondered what kind of tip the old geezer was going to give Ginny Rose. Hell, if it weren’t for the fact that it would draw attention to himself, he’d leave her a big one himself.
Instead, Preston had paid his bill, left a moderate tip, then gotten in his car and headed back to the motel.
Now, nearly twenty-four hours later, they were going over all their intel and putting the final touches on their plan.
“It’s like the entire freaking town is shutting down for whatever the hell it is going on today at the community center,” Dennis said.
“It’s a wedding, from what I gathered,” Jimmy said. “One of the clerks at the grocery thought I was a friend of the groom who apparently isn’t from around here.” He tilted his head to one side. “It would seem they do things differently here in Lusty.”
Preston waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. He wasn’t particularly interested in how they did things in Lusty. His only concern was working out the best plan for getting into that hangar and getting his hands on Ramos’ property without getting caught.
“So it’s just an afternoon affair?”
“No, from what I gather it’s going to last most of the night and on into the morning,” Dennis said. “It was the person at the hardware store I spoke to, and he assumed I was a friend of the groom, too.”
“Yeah, that’s the impression I got, that the party would run late,” Jimmy said. “As to the rest of the town, there’s a sheriff’s office, fire hall, clinic. That’s the sum total of the high-tech institutions Lusty can claim. Not a very big place, from what I could see.”
Two sharp knocks sounded on the door followed by two more. Preston nodded, and Dennis opened it and let Lorne in.
“Well?”
“I found a way onto the airfield that doesn’t have us using the gates. That’s the good news. The bad news is we’ll have to hoof it a good mile from there. Here.” He came over to the table and looked down at the map. “There’s this road, here, and right about there,” he pinpointed a spot, “we can park and walk through that copse of trees, and we’re on the field.”
“Good. They’ll have the hangars wired for security—likely the gate, too, which is why I’m glad we won’t have to use it.”
“It’s such a Podunk town, maybe they won’t have it wired,” Dennis said.
“There’s a brand new-looking Learjet in that hangar next to the Piper. Bet your ass it’ll be wired, and wired well. Jimmy?”
“I’ll do a search online and see if I can come up with any specs on their security setup. We’ve got a few hours, so I can hit a couple security companies, hack into their systems. Otherwise, I think I can get us in if we take our time. Easiest way would be to put a stint into the power lines leading to the installation, but that would leave us in the dark inside. I’ll know best what to do in an hour or so.”
“I don’t want to risk any more encroachments, either at the airfield or in the town.” Preston got up, poured himself some coffee from the small in-room pot. “The fact that you two were asked if you were there for the wedding tells me they take note of strangers. So we’ll let Jimmy do his computer magic while the three of us head into Waco to get the equipment we’ll need for tonight. We can’t assume there’s no on-site live security, so we go in hot. And we do that a couple hours after dark.”
“Wait for the party to get into full swing and the partygoers to be on their way to getting drunk,” Jimmy said.
“Yeah.” Preston met his second’s gaze. “And when we do go in, I want just Jimmy and me on the inside.” Jimmy was the only one besides him who knew exactly what they were looking for, and where to find it. Preston trusted his other two men, to a certain extent. But then, he’d trusted the Piper’s pilot, too. “Dennis, you and Lorne will be outside and perimeter security. Maybe this will come off without a hitch. But I’m not making any more assumptions.”
“How do you want us to handle any nosy Nancy’s who poke their noses in?” Dennis asked.
“Quietly, and if possible, without killing anyone. I mean it, Dennis. I don’t want any more accidents like the one you had with Frank West. We’re businessmen, not murderers.”
Dennis looked uncomfortable with the reminder that he’d fucked up. Good. If at any time things went south, they didn’t want the specter of a death sentence staring them in the face.
He turned to Jimmy. “You get busy. The rest of us will head into Waco.” He took a moment to meet the gaze of each of his men. “We can’t
