“This is true. Bad idea.” I went on, “Okay, so, if you look at the map, you’ll see the generator house. See? Right there.”
“Watch the road.”
“Okay, now this is a challenge, because the house is made of stone, with steel doors and steel shutters. But the weak link is the chimneys-”
“Wasn’t this in the story of the three little pigs?”
“Yeah. But we don’t go down the chimney. We get on the roof from the top of this van, then we stuff our jackets into the chimney pots, which is what the stupid wolf should have done, and the smoke backs up, and the generators conk out.”
“I see three chimneys and two jackets.”
“There’s a blanket in the back of the van, plus enough other crap to fill six more chimneys. What do you think?”
“Well, technically, it sounds feasible. Did you factor in ten or twenty security guards with all-terrain vehicles and assault rifles?”
“Yeah. That’s why I bought extra ammunition.”
“Of course. So, let’s say this works, or doesn’t work. Do we still show up at the front door for dinner?”
“That depends on the results of the shoot-out with the guards. We’ll play that by ear.”
“Sounds like a plan. Where is this logging road?”
I think she was being sarcastic. There are advantages and disadvantages in having a female partner. The ladies tend to be practical and cautious. The guys tend to be stupid and reckless, which may account for the fact that there are fewer men than women in the world.
I said, “Well, it was just an idea.” I added, “I thought of it before we were invited to dinner.”
“I don’t know how you lived long enough for me to meet you.” She added, “I had hoped that evolution and natural selection had solved the problem of people like you.”
I certainly didn’t reply to that.
She continued, “But you bring up an important point. The ELF system. The weakest link in the ELF station is not the poles, wires, or the generator. It is the transmitter.”
“This is true.”
“I’m assuming the transmitter is in the lodge itself.”
“Most likely. It would be safe and secure there, and hidden from view.”
“Right. It may be in the basement. The fallout shelter.”
I nodded. “Probably.”
“So, if you want to shut down Madox’s ELF station, then that is where we shut it down.”
“Absolutely.” I suggested, “You excuse yourself to go to the ladies’ room-which Madox will know takes fifteen to twenty minutes-find the transmitter, and smash it.”
“Okay. And you can cover me by sticking the BearBanger up your ass and firing it.”
Ms. Mayfield was in a strangely humorous mood tonight. It must be her way of dealing with stress.
I said to her, “As I mentioned earlier, the real purpose of this visit is not social-it is to place Bain Madox under arrest for… give me a Federal crime that fits.”
“Kidnapping. He had to kidnap Harry before he assaulted him.”
“Right. Kidnapping and assault. The state tries him for murder.”
“Correct.”
Actually, if Madox provoked me in any way, he wouldn’t have to worry about any trial. I said to Kate, “It’s good to be married to a lawyer.”
“You need a full-time lawyer, John.”
“Right.”
“Also, to make an arrest, you need something aside from your suspicions.”
“If we don’t arrest him tonight,” I said, “do you want to be responsible for four nuclear explosions tomorrow? Or tonight?”
“No… but, legalities aside, an arrest is not that easy at the Custer Hill Club.” She pointed out, “There are only two of us, and many of them.”
“We are the law.”
“I know that, John, but-”
“Do you have that little card to read him his rights?”
“I think I can recite that without a card by now.”
“Good. Do you have handcuffs?”
“No. Do you?”
“Not on me.” I said, “We should have brought the duct tape. Maybe Madox has the shackles he used on Harry. Or, maybe I’ll just kick him in the nuts.”
“You seem very confident.”
“I am very motivated.”
“Good. By the way, why do we need these BearBangers? We have guns and shields. Right?”
“Well…”
“Yeah, well. Okay, John, I’m with you. But don’t get us into something you can’t get us out of.”
I may already have done that, but I said, “Just be alert, aware, and ready-like any other tricky arrest. We are the law, he is the criminal.”
She had two words for me: “Remember Harry.”
I looked at her and said, “Kate, that’s why we’re doing this alone. I really want to make this bust myself. Just me. And you, if you want.”
We made eye contact, and she nodded. “Drive.”
Kate seemed a little anxious about the evening, but she also seemed to be looking forward to it. I know this feeling very well. We’re not in this business for the money. We’re in it for the excitement, and for moments like this.
Duty, honor, country, service, truth, and justice are good. But you can do that from behind a desk.
In the end, you carry the gun and the shield out into the field for the sole purpose of confronting the bad guys. The enemy. There is no other reason to be on the front lines.
Kate understood that. I understood it. And, in about an hour, Bain Madox would also understand it.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
We passed Rudy’s darkened gas station and continued on into the state park preserve.
We approached Stark Road and saw a power-company truck parked on the side with its lights flashing, and I was sure this was the state police surveillance vehicle. I slowed down to be certain he saw us turning onto Stark Road.
As we continued on through the tunnel of trees, I said to Kate, “Okay, give the state police a call, and tell them that I need to speak to Major Schaeffer, and it’s urgent.”
Kate took her cell phone out of her bag, turned it on, and said, “I have no service.”
“What do you mean? Madox’s relay tower is only about four miles from here.”
“I have no service.”
I took my cell phone out and turned it on. No service. “Maybe we need to get closer.” I gave her my phone.
I turned onto the logging road, and Kate, holding both cell phones, said, “Still no service.”
“All right…” McCuen Pond Road was coming up, and I slowed down and hit my brights, hoping to see a stakeout vehicle, but there was no one at the T-intersection.
I made a left onto McCuen Pond Road and looked at my watch. It was 6:55 P.M. A few minutes later, we approached the lights and warning signs of the Custer Hill gate. I asked Kate, “Service?”
“No service.”
“How could that be?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Madox’s tower is having a problem. Or maybe he shut it down.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Let me think.”
“Oh… yeah. He really is a paranoid asshole.”
“A smart paranoid asshole.” She asked me, “Do you want to turn around?”
“No. And leave the phones on.”
“Okay, but no one will be able to pick up our signal here unless the cell tower at Custer Hill comes back on the air.”
“It could just be a temporary glitch.” But I doubted that. Now that we wanted to be located, we were electronically silent. Shit happens.
I slowed down at the speed bump, then stopped at the stop sign. The gate slid open a crack, and I could see my favorite security guard in the floodlit entrance to the property. He came toward us, and I stuck my Glock in my waistband. I said to Kate, “Be alert.”
“Right. Ask him if you can borrow his landline phone to call the state police to tell them we’re at the Custer Hill Club.”
I ignored the sarcasm and watched the security goon coming toward us at a leisurely pace. I said to Kate, “Anyway, I’m sure we were spotted by the state police stakeout.”
“I’m sure you were, Rudy.”