Rogue Asset (Book 3 of the Wade Hanna Series) (16 page)

Maneuvering behind the line of large pallets Wade made his way to the staircase. The heavy dead silence felt to Wade like he was in the belly of a massive beast. As dawn broke the silent night the beast would soon be awakening.

Wade quickly scaled the metal stairs and settled behind wooden stacks of equipment parts on the second floor. The equipment cases provided good cover. With bent knees, he worked his way past the office and observed a thick layer of dust covering all the office furniture. He thought to himself,
This office hasn’t been used for at least a year.
It was highly unlikely that anyone would be occupying it in the next few days.

He made his way past the dusty office to the large industrial window. Using his rag, he rubbed the thick dirt and looked through the pebbled glass. The glass was clean enough to confirm his selection of a window position west of the office would provide his best view. His position not only gave him the best observation point but would also provide the flexibility of moving up and down a narrow corridor to change his position as well. The multiple positions offered by the corridor were a far better choice than he originally thought. All he had to do now was move some of the heavy crates loaded with engine parts to have an unobstructed access along the entire window ledge.

The few boxes on the floor stood in the way of a clear narrow corridor had to be moved quietly. They were not easy to move. He improvised, taking the time to unload some of the crates of heavier parts. Wade tested how the parts crates would move. Bracing his back against the wall he wedged himself between the wall and the crate. It was like doing a knee press at the gym. Wade soon got the hang of it. He was able to estimate how many parts had to come out of each create so the crate would slide without make noise.

One layer of boxes was moved, enough to clear half the aisle. He just had to remain patient. Only 15 stacks of crates to go and he would have his hidden aisle.

Two-dozen leg presses later the boxes were far enough away from the outer wall to allow the access he needed.

The large industrial windows were filthy. He wondered,
Should I clean a section of the window so I can see better or would a cleaning draw unwanted attention?
He quickly decided to leave the windows alone and have a cleaning rag with him in case blurred vision became a problem.

Sitting on the floor Wade was below the frame line of the window and couldn’t be seen from outside. If he was above the frame line, he was visible. He used one of the crates to adjust his position where he could bob his head up and below the line of sight.

What he liked about his newfound position was that he could easily see all activity on the ship and dock and was still at a high enough angle where no one from the dock could see him. He had to remember to watch out for anyone who might be looking out from the ship’s bridge. They were at his same level and could see him as well as he could see them. Observation from the bridge worked in both directions. So would an angle of a bullet.

Wade couldn’t contain his excitement over the newfound hide. He had to let Leo know. After confirming the building was still locked solid and silent, he connected his receiver to his earpiece. Using pre-agreed frequencies and code names Wade spoke in a whisper.

“Sky to Base, Over.” Wade checked the frequency. “Sky to Base, Over.”

“Base Copy. Where are you?”

“I’m on the upper floor of Warehouse 2 in the new hide space. I have good vision to unloading operations and the dock, Over.”

“Did you have any problems getting in?”

“Negative, rear exit now open for further ingress and evacuate.”

“Good, is the building still locked?”

“Affirmative. I’ve got another half hour or so before they open.”

“I wouldn’t wait. Exit now.”

“I will but just want to check some of my distance calculations before I go.”

“Okay, but don’t wait until the last moment. We have some time. The ship is probably two days out.”

“I know. I just want to have everything ready.”

“By the way, kid. Those two guys that saw you yesterday I tracked them. They and the driver are Sikes men. Let me know if you see them again.”

“I sure will.”

Wade had already measured distances for the two possible ship positions based on the gantry. He labeled the positions 1 and 2 and noted distances from key points along the dock to his hide position.

The section of window span he selected had excellent visibility to Position 1 and fair visibility to Position 2. He was able to improve his oversight of Position 2 by moving further down the aisle.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his receiver again to test reception. He moved along the aisle and heard strong static crackling through the receiver each time he turned it on. His position near the major steel columns had the worst static. He found a much clearer zone 15 feet on either side of the columns and scratched a mark on the floor to indicate his best transmission points.

Checking his watch it was now 6:15 a.m. Glancing out the window Wade saw an increasing number of dockworkers accumulating in front of the large door below him. He waited too long. The ideal time for him making it out of the window had passed. He quickly considered options. The big steel doors would soon be opening.

Making a break down the stairs at this point was too risky. Wade just settled back observing the rhythms and sounds of the dock coming alive. The missing watchman finally appeared strolling past the window below him headed toward the large doors. He was carrying a coffee cup, perhaps filled with booze.

A few seconds had passed before Wade heard the key insert into the large door. He had no choice but to remain hidden. A loud screech came from the door mechanism that echoed throughout the steel building. Steel rollers positioned high above the ground resting on I-beam rails struggled as they turned to move the two large doors in opposite directions. The old doors clamored in pain not wanting to leave their resting place.

Sunlight slowly penetrated the darkened interior space painting murky shadows of warehouse shapes with spots of red and yellow as daylight spread across the rows of equipment and engine parts still at rest.

Echoes of heavy metal sounds bounced off walls of the ugly gray corrugated metal skin of the building. Lower floor pallets stacked high with equipment and packaged goods seem to come alive when painted in daylight. The belly of the beast had now awakened from its restful sleep wondering where its parts would be arranged before the next night’s rest.

Twenty or more dockworkers flooded in; forklift engines started to rev. The floors as quiet as a church mouse were now alive with dancing pallets, lift trucks and blue coverall workman. Quiet heavily weighted pallets had now taken flight.

Wade waited silently as the noise level increased, carefully observing the rhythm of warehouse activity. The attention seemed to be focused on a certain area of the first floor as workers concentrated on assigned pallets marked and ready for the two-pronged beast to lift and bring to new destinations on the outer dock.

The once sleepy warehouse was now a beehive of blue-clad overall bodies with some in yellow safety vests. Wade’s dirty blue and gray coveralls seem to be just right blended into the attire below. He couldn’t have coordinated his wardrobe any better using a fashion designer.

Wade thought about calling Leo but what would that accomplish? Leo’s warning to get out right away was not heeded. Wade had created this problem. He told himself he had to solve it.

The different choreographed patterns of worker and forklift activity between certain sections of the warehouse did not go unnoticed by Wade. He studied each. The pattern on one side of the floor seemed to be controlled by a different purpose and timetable. Patterns on the other side of the floor were taking staged pallets to the outside dock area ready to be loaded on board the docked vessel.

Wade timed the movement of each side and noticed there were shifts in the exposure of the bottom of the stairs where he would have to exit.

If he timed his movement correctly, he could get down the stairs and behind the pallet stacks without being seen. He watched the flow happen, and the gaps emerged several times. Wade waited for the choreographed movement from the east workers. When their movement shifted to the east side of the warehouse, he made his way down the stairs to the first floor. He only had four seconds before their return. When he stepped off the last step, he moved to his right behind a pallet and bent over to pretend he was tying his shoe. Looking up from behind the pallet Wade took a breath. His movements had gone unnoticed.

Now he had to move from his position to either the rear window where he gained access or walk out the front door just like he belonged to the worker’s crew. He waited behind a large pallet until he saw the west side crew of four workers move across the floor. They were looking for pallet markings near the door. One was pointing in the direction of the entrance door as they were walking.

He waited for their approach and slipped in behind the four-member group. The group was all speaking an Arabic language. Wade didn’t know a single word they were speaking. They all walked across the main floor with Wade taking up the tail and seemingly ignored by the others. He looked down as two men peeled off in search of some missing pallet. Wade followed the remaining two until they got closer to the main door then peeled off and wandered outside seemingly also looking for some pallet.

As Wade passed the watchman, he was prepared to nod. The watchman didn’t turn to catch Wade’s glaze. His eyes were closed preparing for a morning doze. Leaning hard against the opened door the watchman seemed to be helping the large metal door remain upright.

Wade called Leo to describe the day’s events. Leo was all about the details. His voice conveyed a heightened sense of urgency and frustration that some events he was trying to control were not falling into place.

“How did you gain access to the warehouse?”

“A window at the rear of the building. I found the glass cracked and removed the lower pane. I accessed the latch above the broken pane to open it. It wasn’t a problem. The second-floor site has good visibility to see the dock and ships in either docking position.”

“Do you have your layout distances recorded?”

“Yes, and I checked my notes. It looks to me like the ship has one of two possible docking positions to take advantage of the gantry. The west side I refer to as Position 1, the east side as Position 2.”

“What are the distances from the center of each position to the end of the gantry rail?”

Wade checked his notes and gave Leo distance calculations for each position.

Leo continued his question wanting more distance calculations. “What is the distance from the stairs going under the pier to the center of docking Position 1?”

“Approximately thirty-three feet.”

“Which of the two docking positions do you prefer for observation?”

“I can see better if the ship is docked in Position 1, but either one is okay.”

“I’ll see if we can make Position 1 happen through our customs contact. The
Hariba
is due to anchor just outside the breakwater this afternoon. The captain has radioed the port requesting a docking assignment. The port told him there are three bulk carriers in line ahead of him.”

“Is it pretty automatic the ship will be getting a docking position soon?”

Leo paused before continuing to fill in Wade. “Nothing is ever easy in this port. There was a lively discussion between the port and Mustafa about custom’s paperwork. It seems Captain Mustafa is required to have some health certification paperwork from Egypt that the grain is approved for human consumption signed by the Department of Agriculture in Egypt. Apparently Mustafa doesn’t have that paperwork. Mustafa has to produce that signed paperwork before Morocco will allow him to discharge the grain. Otherwise, the grain will be placed under quarantine and can only be sold as animal feed at a much-reduced price. Mustafa is screaming at the port guys.”

“I’m glad we won’t be eating any of that grain.”

“Let’s hope not.”

Leo shared some of his frustration and urgency with Wade. “There’s always something that goes wrong at the wrong time. To play it safe I want you at your dock observation position before the building opens tomorrow.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Bring food and water. There may be a long wait until all this gets sorted out, but I can’t take the chance of not having eyes on the position.”

“Not a problem. I’m used to long sniper holds.”

“For tomorrow your communication handle will be Dock 1 and I will be Base.”

Wade felt some of Leo’s frustration in dealing with so many variables he couldn’t control and felt it might be a good time to offer his help. “How are the other moving parts going?”

“Everything is unsettled right now. Mabuto’s men are already here and very frustrated by all the delays. They won’t approve any of the money drop sites Sikes has suggested. Mabuto won’t do the exchange in a public place, so the restaurant location they previously identified is out.”

“How are they going to agree on a place?”

“Sikes is out looking for an industrial site he can rent to satisfy Mabuto. My men are on him, but he hasn’t secured a site yet.”