The sergeant was already at the Zoo drinking coffee, along with two other officers in Tac vests. “Constable Bathgate and Corporal Ajay, this is Auxiliary Sergeant Anderson, who is our boat captain today. Andy, you are already familiar with Frank.”
“My pleasure,” said Anderson. “Yes, Andy has been out with us a couple of times in the last month, and welcome, Corporal...ah... Ajay?”
“Just ‘Ajay’, sir. My first name is hard to pronounce, so I never use it!”
Sam brought over another coffee for Anderson and some cutlery. “The usual?” he asked Anderson.
“Please. You’re up early, Sam, even for you!”
“I had this little phone call from John last night, warning me of an early morning invasion of strange men in blue uniforms. Is this all of them, Sergeant?”
“Nope. I expect three more cars in about twenty minutes, with probably two officers in each, so six more people, plus Arnold.”
Anderson chuckled aloud. “I assume that ‘undercover’ is not today’s buzzword?”
“Nope, just the opposite. Today is a wide-open response, with maximum visibility. A very fast speedboat with two well-armed officers will be going straight to the boat launch by 07:00, and we will have two choppers and one fixed-wing in the air over and around the lake by 08:00. Every road around the lake will be road-blocked and we have an undercover detail watching that two-engine plane where it sits outside an industrial hangar at the airport in Ottawa. We want to force the suspect to come out of his hidey hole and into the open, somewhere.”
“And ‘command central’ is... where?” asked Anderson.
“The on-location command is your boat, and we have brought the mother of all police radios to install onboard and plug-in to your power system. I am in charge of the field operations on and around the lake, and back at Maple Falls we have the local office staff helping Superintendent Daniels and an RCMP Inspector, who are in overall command. This is planned as a joint operation, but the Mounties have deferred to our personnel and command structure, particularly out here. Daniels is jealous – he’d like to be out on your boat instead, but there are also a number of officers who will be making house calls on individuals we have identified as persons of interest, and that needs coordination and real-time intelligence analysis. We’re the blunt end of the stick out here.”
Anderson thought for a moment before replying. “So the plan... is to make as many bad guys as possible jump into the lake, and then we go fishing?”
“Yeah, that’s one way to put it! I also forgot to tell you that I am dropping off a handheld radio with Arnold. I asked him to stay home with Marion and Willy and the interns. I don’t foresee trouble there, but as we talked about yesterday they are all material witnesses. I’ve left the police patrol working the village until were done, and at least now Arnold can contact them by radio. Anyway, sorry about that – I commandeered your buddy and lead hand I suspect.
“No worries, good call I think. I have to head down to the dock and transfer some diesel from my slip-tank into the boat. Won’t take long, but I’ll swallow down my breakfast and get going. I’m just hoping you brought donuts!”
“And coffee, and Sam here is making the boat crew sandwiches.”
“You didn’t sleep much last night, did you!”
“Time to catch up later. Couldn’t have slept more than a couple of hours anyway... something about planning a high-profile operation under the watchful eyes of senior cops from two different forces, just doesn’t make for a peaceful sleep!”
Anderson left to fuel up just as the other three police vehicles arrived – one SUV and two half-tons. He waved and bellowed “Sergeant’s inside” then drove down the street to The Beaver, passing one of the night-patrol cars returning from the dock.
By the time the sergeant and his team had arrived just after 07:00, the launch was re-fueled, the mooring chain as unlocked and the spring-lines slipped, and the engines were running. Anderson had loaded the P229 and stowed it in the small waterproof Pelican case under the helm console where he kept the launch’s papers and his tickets. Ajay and Andy struggled aboard with a bunch of radio gear including a small antenna tower which they assembled with a handful of bolts and strapped to the port side of the wheelhouse. In less than ten minutes they had the unit tarp-strapped to the top of the navigation table, plugged in, powered up and had made contact with the office in Maple Falls.
The last things on board were a couple of Colt carbines and ammunition, and most important of all: coffee buckets and donuts from Timmy’s and sandwiches from the Zoo. “Ready to get underway, Frank?” asked the sergeant.
“Anytime, Sergeant. Andy, would you please let go the bow and stern mooring lines, and we’ll get this show on the road. Where do you want us to go, and how fast, Sergeant? You’re the guy with the plan.”
“I’d like us to be off the east shore about opposite Robertson Mines by 08:00... can we do that?”
“Yup, I’ll have to crank her up pretty good, but yes, we’ll be close. Are those guys with the speedboat coming soon?”
“It’s a Seaswirl, they tell me – pretty good little boats. I’ll call in and find out. I want them between our position and that big island where Willy saw that plane drop those sacks. We should be in sight of each other that way?”
“Yup.”
Anderson took the launch clear of the village harbour and pushed the throttle up past twelve knots. The 225 hp Volvo diesel growled happily but noisily. The day had dawned bright and sunny, but today there was a stiff breeze rising out of the west so once they were out in the open there was enough chop that The Beaver rolled a little as she headed to pass east of the Webster sister’s island then south along the east shore.
***
At 08:00 hours, traffic on the police radio suddenly went from occasional short conversations to an intense series of radio calls to and from police cars and the office at The Falls, and with the airborne units. The speedboat had been launched at 07:45 and was already well underway across the lake.
“Sergeant, I can see Robertson Mines up ahead and we’re about a mile offshore. We won’t get right opposite for ten or fifteen minutes... do you want me to keep going at this speed or cut back a little. We are actually about opposite that marsh and landing place where we got shot at.”
“Maybe cut back to half speed. We’re getting tossed around on the waves a bit and we should start scanning the shore more closely.”
“I can quiet that roll quite a lot by cutting speed back and putting the bow into the wind so she takes the waves head-on. Just tell me when.”
“Keep going for awhile. That Seaswirl will be having a bouncy ride out there but I imagine he’s still going full speed. My guess is he should be getting into position in about twenty minutes. And the choppers should be approaching each other inshore from north and south at and cross at 08:30. Ajay... can you ask the office where that airplane is? It’s a thing we chartered and I have no idea what it is or what it can do – just the pilot and our observer onboard.”
“Okay if I try to reach the Seaswirl on marine radio?” asked Anderson. Or are they running silent.”
“They’ll be running silent, in case the bad guys have radios too.”
Anderson could see Ajay was looking agitated all of a sudden, and he motioned the sergeant over to his radio and handed him his earphones. There was still too much engine noise in the wheelhouse to hear what was going on, but in a couple of minutes the sergeant handed back the headset and came across to the wheel. “Fuckin’ screw up already. The pilot managed to get tipped over by the wind on take-off and planted the damn airplane into a swamp, upside down. I guess both he and our observer are banged up pretty good but alive... and now we no longer have eyes in the air and won’t have for an hour or more until we make new arrangements. That is definitely not a good thing, and I don’t want to pull the choppers off their routes inside the shore or we will lose the pressure there.”
“Well, we’re okay out here for now
. Do you want to get that other boat to make a circle of the island close-in on the off-chance someone is trying to get at those sacks?”
“Yeah, I’ll call ‘em. Maybe cut back and head upwind like you suggested, trying not to go too far offshore and we’ll hold position for now.” The sergeant told the other constable to settle down in the stern and sweep the shoreline with binoculars, then went and called the Seaswirl.
That wound up being a three-way conversation, because the sergeant had to reach the boat through the command office in The Falls. Anderson could only hear one side of the conversation but understood that the boat was going to make a full-speed revolution of the island. The wind had continued to freshen, but the launch now rode the waves bow-on relatively quietly with only the occasional splash over the bow which didn’t even make it to the wheelhouse window. Anderson set the autopilot long enough to leave the wheel, grab two sticky thing from the donut box and re-fill his coffee before coming back to the wheel and re-taking control as the boat fought with the autohelm and wandered back and forth against the waves. There was no choice – he had to be on the wheel if they were going to hold a steady course into the wind. And he hadn’t been back there long before he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Andy had suddenly put down the binoculars, stood up and run to the gunwale and thrown up over the side of the boat. “John, take the wheel for a moment please?” and he darted down the steps into the forward cabin and returned with a bottle of pills. “Andy, grab two of these and chew on them. Don’t use the binoculars for awhile – just look at the horizon to steady your stomach.” He brought the binoculars back to the sergeant and reclaimed the wheel. “A little sea-sick. He’ll get over it, poor guy. I wonder how Ajay’s doing, head down in the cabin fiddling with the radio.”
“Seems to be happy as a clam. Guess he’s getting a call... and sounds like I’d better hear. Ajay... put it on speaker, it’s quiet enough in here now.”
It was the Seaswirl, direct this time. “We have a boat on the northeast side of this island and are pulling in to take a look. Big old aluminum boat, two big engines. Don’t see anybody around.”
“Seaswirl from MacLeod, Seaswirl from MacLeod: pull back. Do not engage. I repeat, pull back and do not engage.”
“Message received, we are turning away and withdrawing to one kilometer. Should we hold position and observe or continue around the island?”
The sergeant paused and glanced at Anderson momentarily then keyed the microphone: “Hold position and observe. Report any activity at all, immediately. I repeat, observe and report any activity immediately. The subjects are almost certainly armed with heavy rifles.”
“Roger that. We will hold position and observe and report.”
Anderson looked hard at the sergeant: “Now I know why you wanted that airplane up there. We’re just screwed out here ‘cause if we can’t see we can’t help. I’m willing to bet that old boat has enough speed to outrun the Seaswirl, and worse... if those idiots on shore decide to try and run down your police boat, they could do it and are probably better armed. And those guys are dumb enough to try... I hardly think they’re the brain-trust of Juan’s operation.”
“Good point. Think I’ll call the shop and talk with the Supe. I think we should spring a chopper free from the shore-side operation for at least long enough to have a look over here.” The sergeant paused: “Your cell booster work out here?”
“On a good day, maybe. This ain’t a good day, but here, try it with my phone.”
The sergeant took Anderson’s phone, stabbed at the dial pad and got through. He talked with the Superintendent for over a minute, then clicked off. “One of the choppers is on the way. And, the folks in Ottawa just arrested two men – the pilot and one other – as they prepared to get that Robertson Logistics plane onto the runway. Neither one of them is our guy Juan. However, they’re both in for a long morning of questioning and the dogs are now working the plane over for drugs.”
Two minutes later they could see a helicopter flying low off the shoreline and headed in their direction. Within a couple of minutes the EC135 overflew the launch, and the rapid thud of the blades seemed to fill the air. It did not pause: it veered to the southwest and aimed for the island, flying fast and steady at less than 500 feet above the water. The Gravol had apparently worked on Constable Andy, since he was now leaning against the wheelhouse with the binoculars and was following the chopper. Anderson was still holding the launch’s bow into the waves and was doing his best to hold a position midway from Robertson Mines and the island.
Big Island was little more than a flat rocky outcrop overgrown with scrub brush. It was just over a mile long and perhaps a quarter-mile wide. The chopper approached the island from downwind end and flew slowly west along its length. Even without binoculars, Anderson could see the chopper turn, circle around and approach the island again about a third of the way along.
Ajay called from the radio that the chopper was reporting people working at something in the middle of the island and was turning for a closer look. Anderson looked across at the sergeant: “Let’s hope they’re not dumb enough to try and shoot down your whirlybird.” It was exactly 2.5 seconds before Ajay yelled, “Shots fired, shots fired. They’re shooting at the chopper!” They could see the helicopter turn abruptly toward them and appear to lose altitude. “Pilot’s hit... still in control. Gonna ditch... calling mayday, he’s gonna ditch!”
Instinctively Anderson slammed the throttle forward and swung the bow southwest toward the place where he had last seen the helicopter as it began one lazy spiral then disappeared. The sergeant yelled at his radioman: “Ajay... tell the Seaswirl to come around the east end of the island as fast as they can to pick up the chopper crew... we’re going to be at least twenty minutes getting there.” He went to one of the duffel bags they had brought onboard and fished out a bulletproof vest which he handed to Anderson. “Better put this on, Frank. And is your sidearm handy?”
Anderson pointed down at the Pelican case and nodded. “Yup, and loaded. Don’t think I could hit the broad side of a barn in this chop, though. It’s kind of bouncy out here! I think we should prepare to bring the chopper crew onboard here... your little boat will be there first to pick them up but we have more room. We can get out of the waves under the lee of the island to do the transfer.” The launch was travelling about thirty degrees off the wind and was taking spray over the starboard bow, along with the occasional burst of solid water which sluiced across the foredeck and ran off over the side ahead of the wheelhouse.
The sergeant told Ajay and Andy to break out their carbines, load them, and put extra ammo clips in their Tac vests. Anderson pointed out the lockers on the afterdeck and suggested they get out a couple of lengths of rope. As usual, all three officers had put on police-issued lifejackets when they boarded, but he suggested they get out two or three more and put them out of the wind in the wheelhouse, in case they need to use them during the transfer.
***
There would be no transfer. Twelve minutes later they were still over a mile away from where the chopper had hit the water, and they could see the Seaswirl had cut close – too close apparently – around the end of the island and was heading to the chopper when Ajay yelled from his station at the radio “Shots fired, shot’s fired... it’s our boat.” There was a pause, then: “The shots are coming from the island and they were returning fire... now they are trying to get further away from the shooters... one officer may be down.”
A couple of minutes later, Constable Andy called from outside the wheelhouse where he stood trying to steady his binoculars: “The boat seems to have stopped moving.”
The marine radio beside Anderson suddenly crackled to life: “Mayday, Mayday Mayday police vessel 1042 at Awan Lake is on fire and crew of two is abandoning ship. I repeat, we are getting off the boat...” and went silent. Anderson keyed the microphone and replied they were about a mile off to the northeast and would be there soon – but there was no further response.
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“Yeah, they’re sure as hell on fire now!” yelled Andy. “Can’t tell if they got off. Still too far away and too rough to see clearly.”
“Sarge, the guys at command are wondering what the hell’s going on out here. You’d maybe better talk to them,” said Ajay as he got up and handed over the headset.
“MacLeod here. We have one Seaswirl burning after receiving gunfire, and I think the crew got off okay. The chopper is still visible upside down in the water a half-mile from the Seaswirl. We’re going as fast as possible but we’re working against pretty big waves and are still a few minutes from the boat... nope, we’ll call you if we need the other chopper for rescue but for now get him out here to keep track of the suspects. They are either on the island or in their boat by now. And tell him to stay ‘way the hell up in the sky ‘cause these guys may be stupid but they shoot big guns and they shoot ‘em often. And, I do expect injuries so get a medevac underway ASAP. I’ll call it off if we don’t need it... okay, thanks. I’ll put Corporal Ajay back on.”
Anderson was having his own private little conversation – a debate – with himself: Upwind, downwind. Which way do I pick up? With an inexperienced boat crew, maybe I’d better go to leeward of the folks we’re picking out of the water in case someone slips up... don’t want to roll them under the boat. “John, there is a steel boarding ladder hinged at the front of the afterdeck, starboard side. When we get ready to pick up, swing it over – gravity will keep it there. And in the stern locker, starboard side there is an orange horseshoe rescue sling like they use for ice rescue... maybe get it out and ready just in case someone can’t do the ladder. I’ll come up on them on the down-wind side, starboard so get a rope to them quickly. Are either of your crew good at water rescue so they can go overboard and help?”
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