"Alpha Two?" It was as though Sally had been waiting for just that call. "CP, we've got a brown Toyota four-door with Illinois plates, who's just started his third pass by the bank in five minutes."
"Alpha Two, Alpha One, is he eastbound? All we have is headlights."
"Ten-four, eastbound."
Silence. The tension was back.
"Uhh, Alpha Mobil hasn't seen any Toyotas."
"And Alpha Two has the suspect vehicle back on the street facing west… and they seem to be stopping to speak with a female subject walking east… on the north side of the street…" There was a silence of maybe ten seconds. "And she's in the car, and I think she should go for about twenty-five bucks…"
"A hooker?" I couldn't believe it. "Right here in River City?" I started to laugh.
"We've had rumors a couple of them are trying to work around the boat," said Hester.
"Well, I think you can mark those 'confirmed,'" said Art.
A flurry of activity like that, and now everybody was pumped with nothing to do. You don't want to leave the area, in case you miss something. So you just hang in there and fidget. And think.
I tried watching TV. My favorite, the Weather Channel, showed the blue and pink worm arching almost above us. Fantastic. Warmth, and on schedule.
By 0540, we were no longer pumped. Hester called down to the buffet, and ordered a bunch of rolls and orange juice.
By 0630, it was getting light, and Alpha 1 was stood down for a thirty-minute break.
I think we'd all reached that scratchy stage, when the sun comes up and you haven't slept, and you've had so much coffee that nothing would feel better than to brush your teeth and take a long, hot shower. And then pull the shades, and get into bed.
"Hey," said George, brightly, "only seventeen and a half hours of Sunday left."
With the sun coming up, the boat looked gorgeous. The sky had some high cirrus clouds, and was all pinks and grays. Out on the Mississippi, steam was coming up in the ice-free area around the Beauregard, and also out in the open main channel.
"I hate sunrise," said Hester.
There were large vertical pillars of steam coming off the ice. They were fun to watch, and lent a spooky air to the whole thing.
By 0700, the sun was theoretically rising. I say theoretically because those neat tendrils of steam were turning into a thick fog. Over everything. Visibility was dropping.
"Would you look at this shit?" said Art. "We're not gonna be able to see a damned thing." He turned from the window. "Well, they'll call it off, now. You can't see well enough to make a getaway in this crap."
I should have realized this could happen. The land and the river were very cold, and damp. The warm, moist air coming up from the Gulf was causing the problem. The jet stream. The problem was that there was almost no wind. Maybe 5 to 7 mph. Just enough to keep the warmer, wet air moving over the river and the land. Not enough to blow the fog away. Visibility was down to 500 feet.
Volont shook his head. "No, they'll do it. They have to."
At first, I thought he meant that "had to" because we were all ready for them. But the more I thought about it, the more it began to sound like Gabriel and company were not about to stop for anything.
"He must really need the money," I said.
"He does."
At 0828, the radio rasped again. "Alpha Two has a female subject approaching the bank."
It turned out to be the odd-hour teller. The first clue was when she produced a set of keys and unlocked the door. I was glad they could see her. In the fog, we couldn't even see the bank anymore.
"She's alone?" asked Volont. It appeared so. That wasn't part of the plan, as she was to have been joined by a young FBI agent who was going to pose as an apprentice teller.
Volont got busy on his radio. He looked up. "My man seems to have gotten lost in the fog," he said. "He thinks he made a wrong turn…"
No plan, as they say, ever goes as written. Volont got on the secure radio, and had one of the team members on street level get out of his gear, lose his FBI jacket, and hustle to the bank as a customer. He'd just have to stay there until the "apprentice teller" got himself unlost.
No problem, really. Just like the first scratch or dent in a new car. You simply hope it's a small one.
By 0910, I was tired, hungry, and bored out of my mind. I had thought that, if any time was best, it would be just before the bank opened, but after the tellers had arrived.
At 0912, Alpha Foot called on the radio, and advised they'd "go for a walk." That meant a general reconnaissance about the area of the bank, on foot, that would probably take thirty minutes. Volont called, and said the lost "teller" was now assigned to a team, and left the other agent in the bank.
At 0914, Sally, George, and I went down to the buffet, and played like we were just tourists. Scrambled eggs (special no-fat variety), and bacon, with pancakes and butter and syrup, and orange juice and coffee and toast. Like I said, I was hungry.
We ate in silence for a few moments. Looking out the windows, at the Beauregard in the fog. You could still see her fairly well, but we were only about 200 feet from her at that point. Visibility was down to about 300 feet, here at ground level. The garish lights were creating a pinkish haze around her, in the dim light of day. It seemed to be getting thicker.
"Well, only fourteen hours to go," said George, with false optimism.
I raised my hand to attract the waitress who was roving with the coffee. "Piece of cake," I said to George.
By 0940 we were back in Hester's office. I looked out her office window, and could barely make out the Beauregard. "Hell, we can't see shit from here." I looked at my watch. "I think I'll take a walk over toward the bank. Anybody else want to come?"
No takers. I double-checked my walkie-talkie, put on my green windbreaker, was just starting out the door when everything started to go to hell.
"All units, Alpha Mobile has ten-thirty-three traffic. Alpha Mobile has three armed suspects getting out of a tan Chevy van in the bank parking lot!"
23
The presence of the armed suspects was confirmed almost instantly by Alpha 2, who added, "And Alpha Two has the van moving toward the bank, right behind the suspects… I think… I can barely see it…"
The fog now began to play more of a part in the proceedings.
"Alpha Three can't see anybody…"
"Alpha Four no viz at all."
"Tell everybody to hold position," said Volont, straining with the rest of us to look out the window.
Sally's voice crackled over the radio. "All units hold," she said, as if she did it every day. At the same time she picked up the telephone and looked at Volont. "Time to wake up Conception County?" It was a good question. If the suspects headed off over the bridge, we'd have maybe seventy-five seconds before they were in Wisconsin. He nodded. She began to dial.
This was a very critical time. We didn't want them to know we knew they were in the bank, or that we were anywhere around. This was a time to build the robbers' confidence, and lure them into the open. Well, that's what the book said.
"Hello, Betty," said Sally, into the phone. "We're up, but not running."
Then, for a time, nothing seemed to happen.
"I can't believe this shit," said Art. "They just walked in. From nowhere. Didn't check it out or anything."
"It's the fog," said Hester. "Nobody could see 'em coming for more than a block… they could have been around for a while."
We were all in a state of amazement. I don't think anyone in the room had ever seen a bank robbery actually go down before.
"Remember," said Volont, "we let 'em come out."
"Sally," said Hester, "why don't you check on the other banks? See what they have."
I thought that was a good idea. Apparently, Hester hadn't been as mesmerized as I had been.