Firebreak

4

On the one hand," Elkins said, "it's tougher, because now the law is there, and they know there's something to look for, and they're looking for it. On the other hand, it's easier, because there's only the two guys up there, no eyes to watch the monitors."

'They're in the lodge," Parker pointed out. "Not in the staff house. They're sitting in there on top of the paintings."

Lloyd said, "With full communication with the outside world."

"Sog," Elkins commented.

"Not just Washington," Lloyd told him. "They're in touch with the state police in Helena, and the local police in Havre."

They had brought all four chairs into Wiss's room in the motel, but none of them were seated. It was after eleven at night, the television in Wiss's room was on to the news with the sound turned off—just in case a picture of the lodge or somebody connected to it would appear—and they were deciding how to deal with the changed playing field. They all paced while they talked, stopped or walked while they listened.

Parker said, "We've got to go in there soon. It isn't gonna get better up there. In the next day or two, they'll find the architect, they'll get their hands on the plans, they'll figure them out, they'll find that little private gallery, they'll call in the choppers."

"We're not gonna do it tonight," Elkins said.

Lloyd said, "We almost could. It's quieter up there than it's been for quite a while."

Parker said, "What about daytime?"

"When they see us coming," Wiss said, "they call for reinforcements."

'They've still got those lights," Elkins pointed out, "they'll see us no matter what time we come in, and that's the time they'll make their call." He turned to Lloyd. "What can you do about that?"

Lloyd shrugged, as though the answer were easy. "Divert," he said.

Wiss said, "Larry? What do you mean, divert?"

"It's the equivalent of a wiretap," Lloyd told him. "In the old days, you'd just tap a phone, listen in, that's all there is to it. Once the lax came along, they had to work up a technology so they could divert the incoming fax to their own machine, print it out, then send it on where it was supposed to go in the first place, without any footprints on it from the diversion.

The feds were doing that with the stock market swindlers for a long time before anybody caught on. And now the same kind of concept works for e-mail. Divert it so you can read it, then send it on as though nothing had happened, with only the original sender's track on it."

Elkins said, "What good does that do us?"

"Up till now," Lloyd said, "I've been diverting, then sending on, because all I wanted was to read what everybody had to say. Now, I don't send it on."

Wiss grinned. "Like shutting off a faucet," he said.

"Something like that," Lloyd agreed. "And from now on, if an answer is needed, I put together the answer myself, using all their passwords and technical footprints from their previous messages."

Parker said, "So that's what you can do. If they send out an SOS, it comes to you and nobody else."

"By any means they want to try," Lloyd said.

Elkins said, "Except smoke signal."

"That's somebody else's department," Lloyd agreed.

Parker said, "And the answer to the SOS they get is from you, but they think it's from their friends."

"Exactly," Lloyd said. 'They say SOS, strangers approaching the lodge, I say help is on the way."

"Then we go in," Parker said, "and they don't send any more messages."

"But I do," Lloyd said. "They're making hourly reports, up to eleven at night and starting at eight in the morning, what they're doing, what they found, what the situation is. Nobody wants to feel isolated up there, so they're in touch with every level of command from Havre to DC."

Wiss said to Parker, "And Larry does that, too, sends in the reports, long as we need to."

Parker said, 'Tomorrow morning, we buy orange coats. Tomorrow afternoon, we go hunting."