Morning came early for Vito and Marcus. It had been much quieter than the night before with less traffic and less odd sounds in the distance. Some of that Vito assumed was just "nature," which made some degree of sense as they were in the mountains surrounded by woods and that sort of thing. It'd be something that would lead to more "natural" sounds than what he was used to. Traffic wasn't too bad, assuming there wasn't a lot of blaring horns, and that was what Vito was used to. The natural surroundings, however, were something that unnerved Vito a bit. Some of it related to the oddities he felt about Moon Lake, but just couldn't shake, but a lot of that was more due to his being used to city life, which made the previous night a bit better than the first night. However, his cellphone rang early and Vito groggily answered it.
"Hello?" Vito said slowly, not even bothering to check the number that was calling.
"Where are you two?" came his father's voice from the other end of the phone's signal.
That got Vito up and alert quickly. He wasn't fully awake, but even through some slight static in his phone's signal he could recognize the Gamboni family head's displeasure, and that was something to pay attention to.
"We're in Moon Lake, sir," Vito answered, "the drive took a bit longer than expected... particularly as we had to go through a fair number of mountain roads with limited speeds and few passing lanes, if any."
"I don't want excuses," Don Gamboni answered, "the ship that you and Marcus are to take to Mexico was supposed to leave YESTERDAY! And I can't delay them forever."
"I'm sure... but we didn't arrive in Moon Lake until well after one AM," Vito answered, "going straight in would have potentially left us in a car chase at high speeds over mountain roads at night with officers who know them in pursuit. I don't think it would have been good for you or us if we went off a cliff trying to escape police."
There was a brief silence for a moment before Vito did get an answer, "Granted... Do you have the girl?"
"Not yet," Vito answered, semi-nervously, "there have been some things that seem odd about this time. Like seventy percent of the population seems to be in their twenties or thirties... with men looking top tier athletes and women voluptuous to no end... And in numbers that one wouldn't see in a normal population."
"Have any of them threatened you or Marcus?" Don Gamboni asked.
"No," Vito answered, "but I've just been looking things over... make sure the plan is smart."
"And the plan is?" Don Gamboni asked, "remember, I can't keep the boat in Seattle forever."
Vito sighed at that. Some of this was expected, as the escape from American jurisdiction would be a tight one, and he could well understand the limitations that his father had, especially so far away from their normal power base where they understood the laws better. There were things that he was suspicious over, but there was a timetable hovering over them that he couldn't get out of.
"We can get to the house easily enough," Vito said slowly, "I figure it best to head in at evening... just as the sun starts to go down or just after its gone down. That way most of the traffic related to people going to and from work will be down and the drive to and from the house will be easier. From there, it'd be a quick smash and grab. We go in. Moe and his wife catch bullets to the face and Karen is taken immediately. We'd then head out for Seattle. That way with fewer people on the streets, they can't ambush us on the way to the house or on our way out of town. Once we get out of town we can then make our way to Seattle... which according to Google Maps should be about an hour away, at least. Traffic might make us late, but that might also hamper any chase the local police might give as well."
Some of the plan was a bit simpler than Vito personally would have preferred, but given the overall situation, speed was the real key. If they just knocked on the door and waited for Moe to answer, they'd give the people in the area time to notice Vito and Marcus, and if Moe expected them, a knock on the door might only send them running into the woods behind the Charleston home. All of this would be too risky and they would have to make sure that they caught the Charlestons at home.
"You don't plan to go in the day?" Don Gamboni asked.
"We might be easily seen and there could be the chance that Karen's been enrolled in their school, which is just across the street from their house," Vito answered, "the last thing we need is to hold a whole school full of teens hostage to find one girl... and neither Marcus nor I have enough ammunition to have a real gun battle at the moment... And given the athleticism of the men... and some of the women... in this town, if we're recognized and they get involved, we might not be able to escape. Best to wait until evening when security measures will be more lax."
"Okay then," Don Gamboni spoke calmly, "be careful and get to Pier 9A and Dock 17B when you get to Seattle. Leave the car. The guys running the ship have supporters on the dock's staff that will take care of it."
Vito nodded, and knew that would mean checking another thing with Google Maps, but that would be something he could handle while waiting for the sun to go down. Things were tense, and he was still a bit uneasy with what he had seen of Moon Lake's population, but then he knew he hadn't seen enough to definitively prove anything and with a schedule that they'd have to meet regarding getting out of the US, he wouldn't have time to prove it. The best he could do was hope that things would ultimately go well when he Marcus made their move that evening.
As the call ended and Vito set his phone back down on the small wooden table between the beds, he noted that Marcus was up and had been listening in, at least to what Vito had said to their father.
"So we go tonight?" Marcus asked eagerly.
"Once the sun is down we move," Vito answered, "but with NO display of anything when we leave the hotel. You go out to the car and WAIT quietly. I'll handle our tab here and then we drive up as though we're going to meet old friends. Things don't change until we're right at the Charleston's door. Got that?"
"Right," Marcus nodded.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Meanwhile at the Moon Lake Police Station the officer assigned to dispatch duty at that time and one of the FBI agents now assigned to the rotation of monitoring duty with the bug that had been planted in the room that Marcus and Vito were in sat quietly, having listened in on both the phone call and Vito's following instructions to Marcus. Neither knew for sure who had called, as they couldn't hear clearly who was speaking through the phone and their thought they heard Vito say a name, but that really wasn't the thing really take note on. That was on that the plan was said aloud with some expected time as to when the plan would be followed.
"Five-thirty AM, Vito announces plan to move at or just after sunset," the FBI agent said aloud and began to write the same thing down for notes to report to Agent Baoman when he came in.
"So... that'll trigger the sting," the Moon Lake dispatch officer said with some confidence.
"Indeed," the FBI agent nodded with a confident smile, "I'm sure Agent Baoman and your Chief of Police will both be pleased to hear that when they come in."
"Do you know who he was talking to on the phone?" the dispatch officer asked.
"I couldn't hear close enough to tell... though my best guess would be the Gamboni family's Don," the FBI agent answered, "he'd be about the only guy that Vito would defer to as he seemed to during the phone call... Of course, without the phone, we can't confirm that."
"That can be taken once we arrest them in the sting," the dispatch officer pointed it out.
"Assuming Vito doesn't delate his call history," the FBI agent replied.