Heat Lightning

you had some guys hiding off-road, south of the roadblocks, and if somebody turned and ran, they could block them south. Trap them.”
    “I thought of that,” Virgil said. “One problem: we’d have some dead cops. These people have no reason not to fight. They’ve already killed seven or eight people, they’re here illegally, and they could be considered spies. Probably would be. If we catch them, they’ll go away forever. So if they’re suddenly jumped by a roadblock, my feeling is that they’d go for it—they’d try to shoot their way through. And they might have any kind of weapons.
    “The other problem is, we’ve got Canada here.” Virgil traced the border on the satellite view. “They could literally swim to a country where we have no authority, if they could shoot their way to the river. If they get to Canada, I have a feeling we lose them.”
    “Probably would,” another of the agents said. “Their crimes are federal capital crimes. Canada wouldn’t extradite. We’d have to make some weird kind of deal. I don’t think the politicians would go for it—let Canada tell us what we could do.”
    “One more thing,” Virgil said. “They’ve been working this operation for a year. They’re not stupid; they’ll have alternative plans. I thought about things like, what if they ditched all their weapons down in the Cities and flew into Fort Frances? They walk through Canadian customs, pick up a prepositioned weapons cache and a boat over there, cross the river, hit Knox, cross back, and head out.”
    They all looked at the map, then Jarlait chuckled and said, “Wish you’d mentioned that sooner. If they did that, they could be here right now.”
    “No. Not on the alarm system,” Raines said. “We’ll see them coming—might only have a minute or two, but we’ll see them.”
    “Maybe they’ve got invisibility cloaks,” Bunch said.
    Raines said, “Well, then we’re fucked.”
     
 
VIRGIL SAT staring at the map until Bunch prodded him and asked, “What do we do, boss?”
    Virgil said, “Our biggest problem is that we don’t know the territory, and we don’t have time to learn it. Can’t see in the woods, but we can’t help it, because if they’re coming at all, they’re coming tonight. By tomorrow, they’ve got to figure they’ll be all over the media. That Knox will know that they’re coming and will get out. And I’ve set them up to think that I don’t know where this house is . . . if they’re still monitoring my truck. So: I think they’ll come in fast, but there aren’t many of them.”
    He looked at Jarlait and Bunch. “I want you two guys at the corners of the property, on the river, looking for boats.” He touched the two corners on the video map. “I want you deep under cover, I want you to literally find a hole, and then, not move. Nothing sticking up but your head. They’ve got starlight scopes and night-vision glasses. If they come in, I just want a warning so we can reposition everybody else.”
    To the Bemidji guys: “I want you three on the land side.” He pointed at the video display: “Here, here, and here.”
    “I want everybody on the ground, hidden. Your main job will be to spot these guys so we can build a trap as they come in.”
    “You mean, ambush them,” Whiting said.
    Virgil nodded. “That’s what it comes to. I’m going to ask Sean to monitor the security system. If anybody sees or hears anything, you call on the radio. Bunch of clicks and your name. That’s all. When they come in, you let them past and then get ready to close from the back. Sean will vector you in behind them. If they come in spread out, that means they’ll be hooked up by radio. If they’re operating as a sniper team, I expect at least two will come together, a spotter and a shooter. Gotta watch out for the third one.
    “If they come in from the river, I want the land-side guys to rally down here on the house; if they come in from the land-side, I want Jarlait and Bunch to rally up to the house,” Virgil said. “I’ll be here with Sean until something pops up, and then I’ll go out to face them. By staying here, I can go in any direction.”
    “And stay out of the mosquitoes,” Bunch said.
    “And drink beer and watch TV,” Virgil said. He looked at his watch. “I want to get us out and get spotted right now. So get armored up, get warm, get your head nets on, get plugged into the radios. Find a comfortable place to lie down and then check in with