October 21, 1977

 

 

 

The United Airlines flight from Jacksonville to Dulles International Airport touched down smoothly on the long runway and the shuttle bus moved them to main terminal. Peter went to pick up the Ford wagon rental, leaving Bernadette and Terry with the luggage.

Traffic was surprisingly light and they made good time to the Washington Hotel near Tysons Corner. Bernadette was elated to be back in the same suite. Terry said, “This is good. I like your style. If you two young and uninjured people don’t mind, the old man is going to rest a bit. Something tells me the next few days are going to be long and hard. So carry on. Wake me if you need me.”

“I understand old men need their rest. Bernadette and I will be doing some shopping in the mall. We may wake you for dinner.”

Walking through Bloomingdale’s, Peter took Bernadette’s arm and said, “You are beautiful and deserve to have some matching clothes for Boston. It will be cold and damp. And we will be moving in some so-called elegant circles and you should have clothes to fit the occasion. Pick some that change your appearance, so if we run into any IRA veterans they won’t recognize you. I noticed that I have to listen hard to hear your accent. Your cover story is that you are studying political and cultural history of the Sub-Continent and are planning a field trip to Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. That will make most people’s eyes blink.”

“Lover, you have impressed me again. I had no idea you even knew anything about ancient civilizations in India and Pakistan.”

“So let’s dress you up as a snooty intellectual with an artsy flair.”

“I like that. I’m ready to get all tarted up.”

Two hours later, Bernadette finished shopping and met Peter at the store’s main entrance. His call to Frank hadn’t taken long, and the equipment he wanted was in a self-storage facility in Vienna, just a few miles west of McLean. The storage facility was locked with a combination lock, making two-way exchanges easy. Also the site had few cameras, none aimed at entrance to unit 273. Frank also put some information he dug up in with the weapons and other equipment.

Peter decided there wasn’t much to move from the storage unit into the Ford wagon. Bernadette and I can handle it and let Terry rest. He is not back to his fighting level of strength and energy. Those two bullet wounds took a lot out of him. Peter also suspected that Terry was deeply concerned about his tentative handling of the woman who shot him.

The situation in Boston may be very violent. O’Hara, the IRA fund-raiser, will have a couple of hard core shooters handy, and my KGB nemesis Yuri Kolenko, using the name Harris, must be the Russian in touch with O’Hara. I want to have another chance at Yuri.

Bernadette and Peter picked up the supplies and weapons from the storage site and headed back to the hotel. Not only had Frank delivered everything they asked for, he had it all wrapped in various sizes of cardboard boxes. Peter pulled a tarp over the cargo and had no worries about parking the wagon in the hotel parking building.

Back in their suite, Peter studied the file Frank included with the weapons while Bernadette went to check on Terry.

The attached unsigned memo read like it was written with the carefree but intense style of Frank’s boss. He must be one of those people who write like they speak. The memo said the mission in Boston was to find evidence linking the IRA fund-raiser and terrorist to anyone in Congress. The Russian, Harris, was also a high priority. No violence was required but no one would miss O’Hara or any of his people if things got rough. Peter was asked to call in any leads they uncovered to anyone in Congress that was or is in contact with O’Hara in any way. The attached brown envelope contained photos of O’Hara, regular patrons, and O’Keefe’s Pub, where O’Hara had set up his headquarters. Photos of the building were from the street and inside, including shots of both sides of the street for a block. There was also a blueprint of the entire three-story building and a detailed street map of the area around O’Keefe’s. An internal envelope contained two sets of cop credentials that identified the carriers as Federal Investigators.

Just as Peter finished going through file, Bernadette and Terry came in. He handed her the file. She spread it out on the dining table so Terry could see it. A quick examination and she said, “You have some powerful and competent friends. This is an excellent casing file. I couldn’t do any better myself. Will there be any on-the-ground support?”

“No. As far as I know, we are it. They do stress that the mission is collection, but if it turns violent we defend and withdraw. They don’t want any of us to get hurt.”

“Everybody get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow just after a 0800 breakfast, we start off for Boston. We’ll stay in a downtown hotel with good security and look at O’Keefe’s tomorrow night. To get the evidence we need, I see no alternative to breaking into O’Hara’s office very early in the morning. So we’ll be checking out door locks, alarm systems, cameras and guards, including dogs.”