“Harv, you’re on. Locate all the trash cans at the islands. Fill the gas tank and check out the restaurant and convenience store. You know the drill, make a mental picture of everything.” Nathan opened the door and stepped out.

“Ten minutes,” Harvey said.

Nathan watched his partner execute a U-turn and head east under the freeway overpass. He climbed into the backseat with Henning and looked at his watch. As he’d predicted, the dome light in the Crown Vic was disabled.

Harv was back in just over eight minutes and pulled in behind the Crown Vic. Making room for Harv, Nathan slid into the middle of the backseat. Harv climbed in and asked for a notepad  and pen. Grangeland passed a legal pad from her briefcase. Ferris held a small penlight to illuminate the pad as Harv drew a quick sketch of the site, circling areas of potential threats. There were five: The transient truck parking area. The roof of the main building. The customer parking area. The truck-washing bays. And a warehouse building across the street to the north. Harv told them he believed the greatest threat came from the truck parking area because it was dimly lit and noisy. It would be easy to hide between the rigs, especially if their occupants were sleeping.

“We have a difficult assignment,” Nathan said. “We have to cover each other without looking like it. If Ernie’s already here, he’s looking for plainclothes undercover agents. Grangeland and Ferris will act like a couple and take up a position inside the restaurant. You guys will watch Amber’s every move and report anything she does except her normal restaurant duties. Henning will drive the SUV in case Ernie’s already seen Harv come and go. Harv will be in the front seat, I’ll be ducked down in the back. Henning will pull up to a fuel island, pretend to fill the tank, and then park in the customer parking area and go in for a cup of coffee and return a few minutes later. We’ll disable the dome light in the SUV to keep the interior dark when the doors open. We’re at a distinct disadvantage here, we don’t know when or where Ernie will show, if he shows at all. If nothing’s happened by zero-thirty hours, I’ll make an appearance to draw him out.”

“He might a have NV weapon scope,” Harvey said.

“It’s a chance I’ll have to take. I’ll be relying on you guys to cover my back.”

“Nathan, we can’t watch every square foot of this place. It’s spread out over ten acres. It’s impossible.”