“He’s not going to tell you anything,” said Ted. “You might as well have another sandwich.”

“Did you secure the load?” said Patton, taking off her headphones.

“Found the perfect thing,” said Nemo.

“If we’re going to start in an hour, we should get into position,” said Patton. “Bob and I scouted out a spot for the sniper, so we’ll go there.”

“Franklin’s a better shot than I am,” said Bob. “He should go with you. I know German so I’ll go with Alex to the service station.”

“I thought you wanted to guard me at all times,” said Patton.

“I trust you,” said Bob. “Besides, what the hell does Alex know about truck repair?”

“I’ve restored six Panzer tanks not to mention motorcycles, trucks, armored vehicles—”

“OK,” said Bob, “we get the point. Let’s go before the damn place closes. What time will Jean make the call?”

“Nine thirty,” said Patton. “They should leave no more than an hour later. Nemo, are you good to drive the truck alone?”

“Before I met you I did everything alone,” said Nemo. “I think I can handle driving a truck for a few hours.”

9:00 p.m.

Patton and Franklin had parked the rental van on the outskirts of Oberammergau just past where the gravel track that led into the forest toward the Fox’s Den met the main road out of town to the north. In the deepening dusk, she led him up to the crest of a hill that provided both cover, in the form of a cluster of trees, and a view of the spot where any vehicle turning onto the road would pass through a pool of light cast by a street lamp.

“You’ll have a clear shot from here,” said Patton, “but you’ll only get one shot.”

“Not a problem,” said Franklin.

“It has to be low.”

“Trust me,” said Franklin.

Bob and Alex arrived at the service station five miles to the north just as the manager was about to flip the sign to Closed.

“You can have a fill-up,” he said in German, “but if you need anything else it will have to wait until morning.”

“You speak English?” said Alex.

“English? Yes,” said the man. “With all the tourists here, of course I speak English.”

“How would you like to make ten thousand euros in the next two hours?” said Bob.

“Ten thousand euros?” said the man, his eyes lighting up as Bob pulled out a stack of cash from the black bag he carried. He had no idea why Nemo carried around that kind of cash, but it certainly had the desired effect on the manager.

“What do you want for your ten thousand euros?” said the man.

“We want to rent your service station for a couple of hours and buy one large tank of diesel.”

“And borrow a couple of pairs of coveralls if you have them,” added Alex.