Code 61 - Donald Harstad [152]
“You got rain gear?” She had guts.
“I'll make something work,” she said. “Go get your stuff on.”
I had a pair of waterproof winter boots in my trunk, along with my rain coveralls and a shelter half. Since it was impossible to dress in the car, by the time I got the stuff on I was wet all over.
I sloshed back over to Borman's car. Sally, being only about five feet tall, had been able to get most of his gear on while she sat in his car, so she was comparatively dry. She'd rolled up his coveralls, and looked totally lost in his hooded raincoat.
“How do I do my gun?” she asked.
“Keep it all under the coat, and when we get set up up there, unzip the bottom of the coat so you can reach the holster.”
“Got it.”
“You gonna be all right down here?” I asked Borman.
“Yes.” He was the irritated one now.
“I dunno just how long we're going to be up there,” I said, “but at least until three A.M. Don't go to sleep, and keep your car locked. You really don't want that bastard getting your car.”
The odds on that were very slim, but I figured it'd help him stay awake.
Sally and I sat on the right side of the hood of Borman's car, as he crept up the drive with only his parking lights on. That way, we could be deposited without any sound of closing doors.
A minute later, she and I were standing in the cold rain, watching the receding red glow of Borman's brake lights as he backed down the drive.
“Hope nobody sees that,” said Sally.
“Not likely,” I said. There were a lot of lights on in the house. Nobody looking our way from a lighted room would be able to see anything. “Let's go this way.”
I led us to the left of the gate pillars, following the shoulder-high wall. As long as the house was lit, it was going to be easy to find the wall. Our landmark.
We went about twenty yards, to where the wall blended into the slope, and the line of trees became the demarcation between the Hunley property and the State of Iowa. It was easier to see than I had anticipated, because the house was so brightly lit. I ducked down and signaled Sally to follow me under a couple of big spruce trees. It was fairly dry under there, and it kept us out of the wind.
I knelt down, and opened the big plastic case that contained the night vision scope.
“This isn't so bad,” she whispered.
“No, better than I thought.” I fumbled a bit, got it by the big handle, and felt for the switch. I peered into the eyepiece, and was in a very brightly lit world of green hues. I swept the area, quickly. We were about fifty yards from the house, on the southwest corner. I could see pretty clearly to the opposite tree line behind the house, although the lights on the lower floor tended to overpower the scope. I looked to my right, back the way we had come. Clear. To my left, I could see about fifteen feet before the trees and undergrowth blocked the view. Behind us, it was even thicker. Good cover. I hit the zoom button, and everything got twice as big. Cool. That was a handy feature, but it was a two-edged sword. If you zoomed, your field of view was so small; you'd miss a lot of stuff. The secret was to use the zoom feature only when necessary.
I shut the night scope off, and put it back in the box, careful not to engage any latches that might make noise.
“Comfortable?” I asked.
“Yep.”
“Good. Now let me tell you this … ” and I explained the elevator shaft to the mine to her.
“You mean,” she said, after I was done, “Peale could just pop up any time?”
“Yeah, sorta.”
“Jesus Christ, Houseman.”
“Don't get too worried. Just check around once in a while, that's all.”
“Just where is this elevator shaft?”
“Well, now that's a good question.” I grinned in the dark. “Somewhere to our right, I think, and a lot closer to the bluff.”
“You think?” she hissed.
“It's in with some of the old Kommune foundations. Not sure just where.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“Don't know why you're worried,” I said. “You've got the garlic.” I got a discreet kick for that one.
For the next twenty-five minutes, nothing changed except the occasional occupant moving from room to room in the house. I