Mitch scanned the faces in the boarding line at the airport looking for Nick. He spotted him.
Good, all going to plan.
He followed his team on board, lowering himself into a seat next to Ellen.
“I hate flying, especially take-offs,” she said.
“Really? That’s bad luck. We’ve got a stopover and you have to do this twice.”
Ellen opened her eyes. “I know. I guess to a pilot, hating flying’s pretty hard to imagine; but when you think about being so far from the ground with only a piece of metal between you and death.”
J.J. looked over. “Thanks for that.”
Ellen laughed.
Mitch looked across the aisle to Samantha on his right.
“Sam and Marco, huh?” he teased her. “No wonder you’re always keen to drop tapes to Information Technology.”
“Well, a girl would die waiting for a date with you,” Samantha rolled her eyes.
“I’m available,” J.J. piped in.
Samantha laughed. “It’s OK, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?” Mitch asked.
“You know, work regulations and all that. It’s OK that we see each other?”
“God, yes! It’s hard enough meeting someone with the hours we work without limiting the pool of talent even more.”
J.J. passed Mitch the gold plane schedule for next week.
“I hope it matches the version Nick’s going to give you,” J.J. whispered.
Mitch scanned the document. “Great job, J.J. – we’ll soon know.”
At Elko, Mitch adjusted his watch back three hours from D.C. time, as Ellen drove them to their hotel in Eureka. He turned, saw Nick following at a safe distance in his own hire car, and swiveled back in the seat.
“This is it,” Samantha confirmed, recognizing the hotel she and J.J. had stayed in.
Ellen pulled the car into the visitors’ parking lot. They waited as Samantha went to reception to check them in and returned with individual room keys.
“Pizza and beer for dinner?” J.J. asked.
“It’s tradition,” Samantha agreed handing out the room keys.
“Sounds good. I’ll see you in my room in ninety minutes.” Mitch grabbed his bag and scanning the doors for his number, headed towards his room.
Mitch entered the room, inhaled its musty smell and threw his bag on the bed. He pulled out his running gear and got changed. Taking the key, he hit the road, running through the main street doing surveillance and pushing the frustration from his body. With a glance at his watch, he turned back at the thirty-minute mark and mixed in some sprinting for the remaining distance to the hotel.
Mitch called Nick’s room. “It’s all clear. Are you coming in?”
“On my way,” Nick said.
Soon after Mitch heard a knock at the door, opened it, letting Nick pass, and introduced him to the team.
“Take a seat next to Ellie,” he suggested.
Nick dropped into the spare seat and accepted a beer from J.J.
“Is Johan arriving here tomorrow?” Mitch asked.
“Yeah, he managed to stall the investor tour,” Nick confirmed.
“So, the gold heist is to happen this week?” Mitch pushed the pizza towards him.
“Friday. It’s been confirmed.” Nick reached for the tropical combination.
“The Mexican’s better,” Ellen said with a mouthful.
“Do you reckon?” Mitch said. “It’s too spicy.”
“You’re a girl, Mitch,” Nick grinned. “You never could hack the hot stuff.” He reached for a slice of the Mexican.
“Hey!” Samantha frowned.
“At least I can handle my beer,” Mitch shot back. “I’m not the one drinking light.”
Nick looked at his beer. “Yeah, I have two words for you: Aloha Hickam!”
Mitch laughed. “Hickham!” he repeated and looked at Nick. He broke up laughing again.
Nick sat back joining in.
“In-joke,” Ellen declared, “you have to explain it now.”
“Sorry,” Nick turned to her, “it’s classified, but it’s safe to say it has something to do with where we were stationed at Hickam Air Force Base.”
“Hawaii?” J.J. asked.
“Ah, yeah, it’ll keep,” Mitch cut off the discussion.
“We’ll find out yet,” Samantha threatened.
“Nuh, selective amnesia, he’ll never tell,” Nick shook his head. He took a bite of the Mexican pizza.
“Spicy my ass,” he shook his head at Mitch.
“OK,” Mitch straightened up and pulled out his copy of the flight schedule for Friday. “I’m calling this meeting to order. Got your flight schedule, Nick? Talk us through it.”
Nick pulled his schedule and map from his jacket.
“Friday is the biggest haul day, which explains why we’re doing it. We’ve got a few biggies booked in – and we’ve got to visit some of the smaller ones who are still worth a look at if they haven’t had a collection for a couple of weeks.” Nick moved the map closer to the center of the table.
“There are five, all up,” he continued. “We start with Twin Creeks and Lone Tree, which are in the Humboldt County. From there, we go to Eureka County where we pick up a load at Meikle and Carlin East. Then across to Phoenix in Lander County, and then we land in Vegas where it will be stored,” Nick pointed out the locations on the map. “We may get a last-minute call to do Round Mountain in Nye County, but we won’t know until the day.”
“That’s a lot of miles,” Mitch said.
Nick nodded. “We depart at nine from the courier headquarters. We alert each mine as we begin our descent. When we land, one of our officers stays on the plane; the other will be on the tarmac to meet two security officers from the mining company. Still with me?”
Mitch nodded and Nick continued.
“The gold transfer will take place from their security van to the plane. Their storage containers will be locked in our vaults that are purposely built to hold them. They get them back empty next week once the transfer has taken place. Our security guy on board and one from the mining company sign that the transfer took place and we take off and repeat the same process at each of the locations, finishing up around noon.”
Nick sat back, taking a mouthful of his beer.
Samantha exhaled. “It’s a huge exercise.”
“Mm,” Nick agreed.
“What’s the plan if anyone gets in the way?” Mitch asked. “Drive them into the bush and leave them for dead?”
Nick gave Mitch a wry look. “We shouldn’t need to take anyone out. But, if we had to, I suspect Johan wouldn’t hold back. He’s taking this pretty seriously.”
Mitch nodded. “How accurate are they on the timing?”
“Spot on. Each company has its own transmission number. We change channels for each site and confirm we’re on schedule or advise the anticipated time of arrival.”
“Is it a secure transmission site?” J.J. asked.
“They think it is,” Nick said. “But is anything really secure?”
“What happens after the final pick up?” Mitch continued.
“After the last stop around midday, the plane goes straight onto Vegas. On landing, it’s met by three security guards – one stays inside the plane, the other two are on the tarmac. The safes are transferred to a high-security van and taken straight to a Vegas bank storage. Given they arrive mid-afternoon, they’re stored and not processed until Saturday morning, or sometimes Monday.”
“How did you get all this info? Who’s your insider in Vegas?” Mitch asked.
“Me,” Nick answered. “For the last six months I’ve been working with them, building trust, setting up networks,” he cut to the chase. “I’ve made a few drinking buddies at the Vegas end.”
“So, you’re scheduled on every Wednesday and Friday?”
“Not always, but as luck would have it, I am for the next month. I’ve done the route over a dozen times,” Nick assured him.
Mitch braved the Mexican pizza.
“Want some water with that?” Nick grinned.
“Ha! So, what’s going to happen after the final pick up this time?”
“After we do the final pick up, the substitute gold plane gets clearance for takeoff from Broad Arrow as a tourist flight and takes to the skies. It should be perfectly timed so as we take off from the last mine in either Lander County or Nye, the substitute plane takes off from Broad Arrow and takes over my coordinates, heading to Vegas in my place.”
“Won’t they be expecting you personally to land the plane in Vegas?” Mitch asked.
“The airport staff in Vegas don’t expect the same pilots each time – they’ve got nothing to do with the courier company so they don’t question who turns up. They’re expecting the load and the signed releases. Our pilot will land in Vegas, meet with a security van on the tarmac, wait while the load is transferred and then leave. He’ll find his payment in his account at the end of the day. He’s oblivious to the whole thing; he’s been hired to take the plane from point A to point B. The plane stays there on-site for the weekend. On Monday, the Vegas branch of our courier company does a number of runs for other clients, eventually bringing the plane back to home base and delivering the empty safes. In the meantime, I’ll be landing the real gold plane at Broad Arrow, picking up Maria and Johan and heading off to Venezuela. We’re long gone by the time they open the vaults the next day and find sand.”
“And who’s piloting the substitute?” Samantha asked.
“A pilot I’ve known …” Nick started.
“Me,” Mitch cut in. “Nick’s organizing it.”
“I guess I am,” he agreed.
“Only, there’ll be a change in plan. Nick you’ll continue to the bank as usual with the gold load and I’ll circle for the appropriate time and land back, empty in the hangar.”
“It’s going to be all out war when they see you and not Nick in the pilot’s seat,” J.J. said.
“That’s right, but you’ll be on board with me J.J., and Sam will be hiding in the hangar waiting for us. We’ve only got three on the ground to handle: the security guard, Johan and Maria. Is that right?” Mitch asked Nick who nodded confirmation. “Plus, I’ll wear the same gear as Nick. They won’t know it’s not him until I open the doors of the plane. Nick, can you get me a uniform?”
“Done,” Nick agreed. “You’ll need that anyway if you’re playing the part of an employee of our courier company.”
“What about the security officers on the gold plane – Nick’s plane? If they’re on the Aurum project’s side, won’t there be a mutiny when Nick heads to Vegas as usual?” Samantha asked.
“That’s where Nick and Ellie come in,” Mitch told them, “they’ll be securing that plane.
“So, who is this guy?” Johan Booysen asked again.
“He’s a pilot friend of mine, from my air force days,” Nick told him as they sat in a large office on site at Broad Arrow.
“I don’t like changing at this late stage. It makes me nervous,” Maria said. “It’s not against the rules it is?”
Damn! Mitch will pick that up. Nick panicked and glanced at the microphone device in his watch switched to the on position.
“No, it’s not, but I don’t like it either,” Johan scowled.
“None of us do,” Nick assured them, “but the pilot I picked for the changeover had to tend to family business; he couldn’t get out of it.”
“What sort of family business?” Johan pushed.
“His mother died and he’s gone back to Chicago for her funeral.”
“Some things in life are more important,” Maria nodded.
“So this new pilot, you’ve checked him out?” Johan tested Nick.
“I’ve checked him out and I know him. Besides, I’ve only told him what he needs to know. He thinks it’s a charter flight; he’s picking up a plane at Broad Arrow and delivering it at the other end to the Vegas landing strip.”
“Except he’ll be able to identify us,” Johan reminded him.
“There is no need for him to see you. Our security guy, Gamboa, can take him to the hangar downstairs to collect the plane; then he’ll fly the plane straight to Vegas. I’ll be returning with the gold plane.”
Nick saw Johan and Maria exchange looks.
“What’s his name?” Johan asked.
Damn, a name! Nick panicked. “Maxfield, John Maxfield.” One of Dad’s veteran friends, that’ll do. “He’s discreet, he’ll do the job and I’ve offered him double cash-in-hand if he says he only ever dealt with one person, no names exchanged.”
Johan nodded. “OK. I want to meet him.”
“No you don’t. There is no need for him to see either of you. Trust me on this,” Nick said.
Johan stared at him. Nick shrugged.
“Hey, if you want to meet him … meet him.”
“No, fine, just check him out thoroughly. We are so close to this and I want to win,” Johan lowered his voice. “I want it so badly, I can taste it.”
Nick gritted his teeth. Not again, shut up for chrissake! Mitch’ll be on my case as soon as I return.