As they had planned, Carter parked in the Riverside parking lot, whilst Stone circled around to the much smaller Holly Brook parking lot, on the east side of the shopping center. Stone fitted his radio earpiece, and attached the microphone inside his right sleeve. By placing his right hand by his face, he could whisper into the microphone relatively undetected. Although he had used the system before, he still thought it was all very ‘Secret Service’. He took a moment to check the radio again — first calling Ed and then making sure that Linda’s set was working as well.
“Stay here and stay safe — please.”
He leaned forward to kiss her on the lips, but had to settle for a proffered cheek. He offered a final olive branch.
“I love you.”
“Likewise,” she mumbled without any real enthusiasm.
There was a crackle from the radio.
“You two do know this radio’s on?” Ed said.
They ignored the jibe.
“Disguises on people — I’m on my way in.”
Stone donned a baseball cap that he had purchased earlier from the freeway service area. Linda put on her floppy sun hat and then she slid low into her seat, until she was barely visible. He gave Linda a small wave and then jogged briskly across the parking lot towards the rear of the mall.
Using the back entrance, he quickly climbed the staircase to the third floor. As he had planned, he went directly into a bedding store, and bought two pillows, which the sales clerk fitted into an extra-large plastic shopping bag. Stone figured that anyone watching for them would be less likely to take notice of a shopper carrying such bulky purchases.
With his lightweight, but obvious shopping in hand, he casually walked back into the shopping area. By following the polished marble walkways and using the central escalators, he worked his way down through each floor. When he reached the first floor, he turned around and made his way back to the third floor again. He window-shopped as he walked, randomly crossing the walkways and occasionally pretending to look at something that may have taken his interest. All the while, he kept a watchful eye out for anyone else who was doing the same thing.
After forty-five minutes of searching, Carter’s voice crackled in his earpiece.
“I’m just crossing the bridge onto the river walk. I can see the coffee shop, there’s no sign of the woman yet.”
“Ok, Ed. I’m still checking. I haven’t seen anything yet.”
“And I’m sitting here doing some knitting,” Linda’s voice softly whispered into his ear.
Despite the jibe, Stone found himself smiling. He risked a reply.
“Oh, good! There are some socks in my bag that need darning.”
Linda blew a long raspberry in response.
Feeling happier, Stone found that there was a little more spring in his step. He was suddenly jolted back to reality as he walked by a mall security guard. Something in the man’s face was familiar and Stone realized that he had seen him somewhere recently, but in a very different setting. Although he couldn’t remember where, he was positive it was in a context inconsistent with being a trusted security guard. Alarm bells started to ring in Stone’s head and, making a huge effort to remain calm, he casually walked into the first store on his left. It was a kitchen supply store.
Once inside the store, Stone used a display stand for cover, so he could look out of the window unobserved. The security guard was on the opposite side of the 20-metre wide walkway, far to Stone’s right, but still in clear view. He was leaning against the wall at the entrance to a service passage, and looking hard and long at the face of each man that passed. The man was wearing an ill-fitting security uniform, and a clip-on lapel badge showing his photograph and name. The logo on the badge suggested a well-known security company, but to Stone something seemed amiss. Without the badge, the man was just wearing a blue jacket and pants, the sort of generic uniform that an actor might wear in a low budget film. If you changed the hat and badge, the uniform could suit a police officer, or suggest a military function — or a pretend security guard.
Stone didn’t take much interest in retail and fashion, but he was confident that a prestigious mall like The Oracle, would insist that their security guards dressed correctly. He guessed that they probably supplied their staff with smartly polished black leather shoes, with soft sticky soles, similar to those worn by most police forces. Such shoes would be sturdy and comfortable, suitable for a full day of walking, but light enough for chasing down a suspect. He was confident that The Oracle would never permit a security guard to wear brown canvas shoes, like those worn by the man he was looking at now.
He brought his right hand to his ear and whispered into his microphone.
“Do you see any security guards in an ill-fitting blue uniform?”
“Yes,” Carter answered. “I can see one leaning over the railings on the second floor. He hasn’t seen me yet.”
“There’s nobody here at the knitting club.”
Stone smiled again at Linda’s joke, but this time he didn’t comment. It was time to focus on the job in hand.
“There’s a guard up here on two, but he doesn’t fit. In a minute, I’m going to have a conversation with him. I’ll ask if he knows were his boss lives.”
“Take care,” Carter whispered.
“Will do.”
Stone carefully backed away from the window, then he turned and walked into the store in search of a suitable weapon. With a little help from an enthusiastic sales assistant, he quickly found exactly what he was looking for. He selected two items and paid with cash, politely refusing the offer of a bag or receipt. Moving back to the window, where he could keep a watchful eye on his target, Stone carefully prepared for his attack.
The security guard was getting bored. He had done several gigs for Peter White in the last year. Usually they involved following some married guy, and taking photos of him wrestling naked with his girlfriend. Twice, he had been allowed to get physical with someone, usually to get them to do what was wanted. He liked the physical stuff. He got a big thrill out of seeing some guy squirm and cry, and piss on himself, while his arm got twisted. This gig was already boring, and standing around looking for some old guys in a crowd wasn’t helping to ease his hangover. He didn’t like the stupid outfit that they made him wear, either. The collar itched, and the pants were too tight. It was a rushed job as well, and that was never a good thing. He’d got the call just a few hours ago, and if it weren’t for the money, he would have stayed in bed. As it was, he was hungry, tired, and his head hurt.
The security guard looked to his right, towards the kitchen supply store. He was supposed to be looking at faces, searching for the men in the photos. Yet, he still took a moment to check out the women — particularly the hot ones. There wasn’t much to see at this time of the day. There were just a few young mums pushing their prams. He spotted a cute redhead, wearing some very tight jeans. She paused for a short time outside the kitchen store, to make room for an older guy who was carrying a huge shopping bag. She did have a nice bum, he thought.
He casually looked to the left, but there was nothing of interest to see. He slowly swiveled his head back to the right, to watch the redhead again, but now the old guy was in the way. The security guard was surprised. He thought that the old guy must have moved unusually quickly, because suddenly he was a couple of yards away and walking quickly. The guy smiled reassuringly, and said ‘Excuse me’, and then his right hand shot forward with incredible speed.