“How many?” Bruneseau asked.
“Six. Half a normal team. Horner is afraid a full dozen would alert the Panamanians.”
“That will be enough,” Foch surmised. “Modern freighters don’t carry a large crew. Also I would think Liu would reduce that number further since he only has a small submersible to take them off after the ship is blocking the Gaillard Cut.”
“When do they arrive?”
Lauren bit her lip. “That’s where it gets a little sticky. Their plane touches down at Tocumen Airport at eight forty-five.”
Harry was at the mini-bar again. “Where does that put the
“She’d have just entered Miraflores Lake when they land.”
“How long does a ship like the
“About an hour and a half.”
“Jesus, that’s tight. Any delays at customs and we’re screwed.”
Lauren nodded. “That’s why I said it was sticky. It’s imperative that transportation at the airport is lined up and that a boat is waiting on the lake for them to use in the assault. There’s a small marina called the Balboa Yacht Club on Miraflores Lake near the Pedro Miguel Lock. That’s where we’ll stage.”
“Know anyone with a boat there?” Mercer asked.
“I’ll talk to Roddy,” she answered quickly. “From there, the commandos will be able to motor out to where the Canal Authority keeps a pair of spare lock gates anchored in the middle of the lake. They were put there when the waterway was built as one more redundancy to keep Lake Gatun from draining. Using the gates might give the soldiers a greater element of surprise.”
Mercer chuckled. “Exact same plan we came up with.”
“My father and I talked about it, General Horner agreed. This is the only way.”
“What about the destroyer?”
“The USS
“So if we need serious fire support we’ll have it,” Mercer thought aloud.
“Can’t imagine we’ll need cannons and Tomahawks, but yeah, we’ve got them.”
“What about choppers?”
“She carries two SH-60 Seahawks. They’re antiship platforms. The crew’s stripping equipment out of one to use as a troop transport if we need it.”
Mercer’s grave expression showed how much he knew they were dancing on a razor’s edge. Lauren’s father had come through with commandos, an obstacle that Mercer had doubts could be surmounted, but it seemed that didn’t bring them closer to success. Again, so much could go wrong. Something as stupid as gridlock coming from the airport could derail everything. And that would leave Mercer, Lauren, and six Frenchmen, one of whom, Bruneseau, wasn’t a soldier, to assault the
Looking around the room, he saw that everyone felt his level of commitment to carry out the attack if the Green Berets didn’t arrive in time. Remarkably, he noticed that Harry’s most recent drink was ginger ale with only a splash of whiskey for color. Even the old man seemed resigned to do his part if needed, not that Mercer had any idea what his part could be. Harry saw Mercer studying him and saluted with his tumbler.
No matter what they faced, there was no better team to back him up.
They called Roddy up to the suite to bounce their plan off him, using his knowledge of the country and the canal to refine it further. Thankfully, he had a friend who kept a speed-boat at the Balboa Yacht Club. “What can I say?” he said when telling them their good fortune. “I know a lot of people with boats. I’ve got one myself here in the city marina. A twenty-six-foot Sea-Ray. When this is over we can all go out together.”
“Oh, damn!” Lauren suddenly exclaimed. Everyone looked at her. “The weapons. I need ten grand to pay for them.”
“Ten grand?” Foch cocked an eyebrow.
“Ten thousand dollars.”
“Anyone have that kind of money?” she asked.
Harry chuckled. “I’ve got it.”
“You?” four voices said in unison. Mercer just covered his eyes, knowing where Harry had the money.
“I opened a fifteen-thousand-dollar line of credit in the casino at the Caesar Park Hotel. I couldn’t have gone through that much.” He didn’t add that he’d opened the credit line with Mercer’s Platinum Card. “I can close it out and take it straight to the cashier. Easy as withdrawing money from a bank.”
“Any idea of the interest rate on that credit line?” Mercer asked with trepidation.
“Stop bitching,” Harry said mildly. “You’ve got the money. Besides, you can keep the guns when we’re done. They’d make great souvenirs for the boys at Tiny’s.”
Mercer conjured a mental image of the guys at his neighborhood tavern with automatic weapons. An M-16 was almost as tall as Tiny, and in Mike O’Reilly’s beefy hand it would look like a toy. He shuddered. “I’ll consider it a business expense and write them off on my taxes next year, thank you very much.”
“Your call,” Harry breezed.
Mercer looked to Lauren. “How are you getting the weapons?”
“My contacts will bring them by-” she checked her watch “-in an hour.”
“Then I’d better get rolling.” Harry got to his feet and grabbed his cane.
“Don’t think for a second I’m letting you go by yourself.” Mercer moved to head off his friend, who was already halfway to the door. He turned to the others. “We’ll be back as quick as possible.”
“You’re paying for the cab,” Harry was heard telling his friend as the door closed.
They returned fifty minutes later to find three extremely nervous Panamanians huddled in the suite eyeing Foch, Bruneseau and two armed Legionnaires. None of them was over thirty and all had the lean look of desperation. On the sofas lay three large bags opened to reveal a trove of weapons, mostly surplus American arms left over from the Contra War. Lauren maintained a running monologue in Spanish as she inspected each weapon, checking actions, the tightness of magazines, the overall condition. Foch and his two soldiers gave the bricks of ammunition a similar professional examination.
“Damn,” Harry remarked. “This must be what Sly Stallone’s dressing room looked like when he made
“Rambo! Rambo!” the gun dealers parroted when they heard the name.
“Lauren, what are we paying for these?” Mercer asked, keeping the bag full of cash close to his body.
“The pistols are two hundred, M-16s are a thousand. Ammo and combat harness are negotiable.”
Harry had already blown three thousand dollars at the casino so there was twelve thousand in the bag, more than enough to outfit the Special Forces in addition to him and Lauren. Foch had arms left to provide for his men. Mercer asked if he needed ammunition.
“We could use some 5.56mm rounds for our FAMAS assault rifles,” Foch answered. “We’re okay with 9mm for our H amp;Ks.”
Lauren purchased eight pistols and rifles, and spent the remaining money on ammo and combat vests. The Panamanians seemed pleased with the transaction and joked with her as they packed up the weapons they didn’t sell.
Mercer moved to her side so he wouldn’t be overheard and asked, “How do you know they won’t go straight to the police when they leave?”
Lauren laughed and translated the comment to the arms dealers. They laughed even harder. One of them reached into his wallet and showed off his ID. He was a cop. They all were.
“Call this cross-agency cooperation,” Lauren explained.
“I promised Freddie here the arrest of anyone involved in the plot once we’ve stopped the
