Heat

Chapter 55

At lunchtime on Tuesday, Jesse made what he was sure would be his last call to Kip Fuller.

“Kip, it’s Jesse. What’s happening?”

“Jess, we need another day.”

Jesse felt anger replace the dread. “Well, you can’t have it.”

“Listen to me, Jess; we’re going to do it the way you wanted; the army is sending in a battalion of Rangers, the best they’ve got. But they need a little more time to get things in place.”

“Well, they can’t have it. They’re just going to have to get their asses in gear and get it done very early on Thursday morning.” He looked at his watch. “That’s thirty-odd hours, and they’d better not be late.”

“Let me tell you the plan; it’s very close to what you suggested.”

“Okay, tell me.”

“The Rangers are being transported in a fleet of trucks — everything from a UPS van to eighteen-wheelers.”

“That’s good, I like that.”

“At one A.M. on Friday morning they’re going to simultaneously hit the police station and the telephone exchange. Ten minutes later, a specially reinforced truck carrying a heavy load of ballast is going to crash the gate at the top of the mountain; follow-up vehicles will discharge a company of Rangers, and at the same time, electric power will be cut to the whole town. This is very close to what you wanted.”

“It is, and it sounds right.”

“The Rangers will then take the weapons emplacements outside the main fortification, and when they’ve secured the ground-to-air missiles, the choppers will come in and put another two companies on the mountaintop.

“Right behind the troops at the main gate will be three heavy-duty swat teams of specially trained U.S. marshals; they’ll hit the homes of Coldwater, Casey and Ruger at the very moment that the truck crashes the gates.

“Headquarters will be in another specially equipped eighteen-wheeler; when they get word that the big three are in custody and that the Rangers are on the mountaintop, they’ll send in four C-130 aircraft, each of which will hold an armored personnel carrier and a complement of troops. Your airport at St. Clair has a forty-five hundred foot strip, and there’s a thousand-foot grass overrun, winter-hard, at one end of the runway. That’s enough for the C-130s. At the same time, other troops will arrive in unmarked cars and begin a door-to-door sweep of the whole town. We’ve arranged the biggest federal search warrant in history; it’s good for the whole county. We reckon that by dawn the town will be ours, and we’re counting on minimum casualties.”

“Kip, I think your plan is good. But it has to happen Thursday morning.”

“Jess—”

“Kip, shut up and listen to me. Tell them to hit at three A.M., not one. These people are likely to still be awake at one. I’ve got a shot at keeping Coldwater and his people out of the fortifications; if it hasn’t happened by three A.M. it won’t happen, and they’ll have to take their chances on a security leak that could give Coldwater some warning. You better pray I make it.”

“I don’t understand — what’s the big deal about another day?”

“The deal is, I can’t last another twenty-four hours. I’ve hardly slept at all since Sunday, and I’m starting to come unglued.”

“Come on, Jess, you’re tougher than that.”

“Kip, I don’t have anything left, and that’s the truth. I’ve planned for tomorrow night, and tomorrow night it is. Can this phone reach you at that time?”

“Yes, I can use call-forwarding to route your call to the headquarters truck.”

“Is there any way for you to find my position by backtracking the telephone?”

“No, we can only tell what cellular service area you’re in, and all of the area in the Idaho panhandle is in the same service area. We’ll have to depend on position reports from you.”

“I understand. Remember, now, hit the police and telephone buildings at three A.M., and not a minute before. I’m going to have a shot at paving the way for you, but I can’t promise anything, so don’t expect it.” He hung up before Kip could reply.

He hadn’t lied about his condition; he was a wreck, and he was going to have to get some sleep tonight, or he’d never make it.