they were doing up there, I don’t think it happened. I’m going up there to make sure. The other guy you sent with me is following them out from up here.”
Stone clicked off and pushed aside the bodies until he saw it.
The remote.
He gingerly picked it up. It was battery-operated. He slipped the back off and took the batteries out.
Then Stone was on the move. He couldn’t leave through the bank entrance. He didn’t have the key and it was booby-trapped with C-4. So he left the same way Harry and Reuben had entered and the hostages had escaped—through the hole in the wall to the adjoining men’s room.
* * *
As soon as Alex Ford had gotten Annabelle’s text he had launched into full-scale protection mode. Alerting the other agents to the threat, they lifted the vice president off his feet and literally carried him out of the apartment, leaving the other guests stunned.
Annabelle said, “Everyone, please exit the apartment. Don’t run, don’t panic, just leave now.”
But of course everyone did panic. And everyone did run. Annabelle noted that her escort, Bob, trampled over two older women on his way out.
Annabelle helped the ladies to the door and ushered them out. She made sure the place was empty and then closed the door behind her.
* * *
The canister duct-taped to the back of the wall outlet remained silent, the remote meant to engage it safely neutralized. Two minutes later Harry Finn reached it. When he saw the label on the side, his eyes went wide. They had been lucky. Very lucky.
CHAPTER 13
Stone raced up the stairs to the fourth floor. When he reached it he slowed down and started watching. The people he was after had seen him back at the bank. He had not seen them. Well, actually he now knew he had seen one of them.
The bank manager had not been in the bank when the other hostages had been led out. That meant he had gone up the shaft with the other three gunmen, leaving the last man on the team down below.
That meant the bank manager was in on it, of course.
That’s why he had been taken out of the room. Not as a hostage, but as part of the assassination attempt.
Stone dropped back a bit when he saw Robie emerge from down one hallway. Robie looked quickly around, seemed to spot something, and darted off to the right.
Stone kept his gaze moving until it settled on some people nearing an exit door. The two men were dressed in suits. One was slightly larger than the other. They passed a woman pushing a stroller, startling her a bit in their haste.
Stone headed in that direction. His hand was on the butt of the pistol in his pocket. The two men were past the woman and nearly at the exit door. Stone picked up his speed.
The men were through the door.
Stone raced up behind the woman and said, “Please keep your hands in view. If you don’t I will shoot you.”
He pushed the muzzle of the gun into her back. “Do you understand?”
She nodded.
He stepped forward and looked down into the stroller. He drew the blanket back. Revealed inside it were climbing equipment, the clothes she had been wearing, and a machine pistol. The collapsible stroller must have been in the laundry cart they had pushed into the bank, along with the rest of their equipment.
Stone looked up at her and then glanced at her neck. “In your line of work, it’s not advisable to have such a distinctive tattoo. It sort of gives you away.”
* * *
Robie had come out on the fourth floor through a hole cut into a storage closet.
Despite what he had said to Stone earlier, Robie was very familiar with the mall. He had been reconnoitering the location for nearly a week. He couldn’t be sure his target wasn’t lying at the bottom of the shaft back at the bank. But now he had to make sure.
He slowed when he finally spotted the man hurrying down one of the mall walkways, no doubt seeking the nearest exit. He reached for the gun in his pocket.
Suddenly, the man looked back and saw Robie.
And then he started to run.
It
Stone clicked off and pushed aside the bodies until he saw it.
The remote.
He gingerly picked it up. It was battery-operated. He slipped the back off and took the batteries out.
Then Stone was on the move. He couldn’t leave through the bank entrance. He didn’t have the key and it was booby-trapped with C-4. So he left the same way Harry and Reuben had entered and the hostages had escaped—through the hole in the wall to the adjoining men’s room.
* * *
As soon as Alex Ford had gotten Annabelle’s text he had launched into full-scale protection mode. Alerting the other agents to the threat, they lifted the vice president off his feet and literally carried him out of the apartment, leaving the other guests stunned.
Annabelle said, “Everyone, please exit the apartment. Don’t run, don’t panic, just leave now.”
But of course everyone did panic. And everyone did run. Annabelle noted that her escort, Bob, trampled over two older women on his way out.
Annabelle helped the ladies to the door and ushered them out. She made sure the place was empty and then closed the door behind her.
* * *
The canister duct-taped to the back of the wall outlet remained silent, the remote meant to engage it safely neutralized. Two minutes later Harry Finn reached it. When he saw the label on the side, his eyes went wide. They had been lucky. Very lucky.
CHAPTER 13
Stone raced up the stairs to the fourth floor. When he reached it he slowed down and started watching. The people he was after had seen him back at the bank. He had not seen them. Well, actually he now knew he had seen one of them.
The bank manager had not been in the bank when the other hostages had been led out. That meant he had gone up the shaft with the other three gunmen, leaving the last man on the team down below.
That meant the bank manager was in on it, of course.
That’s why he had been taken out of the room. Not as a hostage, but as part of the assassination attempt.
Stone dropped back a bit when he saw Robie emerge from down one hallway. Robie looked quickly around, seemed to spot something, and darted off to the right.
Stone kept his gaze moving until it settled on some people nearing an exit door. The two men were dressed in suits. One was slightly larger than the other. They passed a woman pushing a stroller, startling her a bit in their haste.
Stone headed in that direction. His hand was on the butt of the pistol in his pocket. The two men were past the woman and nearly at the exit door. Stone picked up his speed.
The men were through the door.
Stone raced up behind the woman and said, “Please keep your hands in view. If you don’t I will shoot you.”
He pushed the muzzle of the gun into her back. “Do you understand?”
She nodded.
He stepped forward and looked down into the stroller. He drew the blanket back. Revealed inside it were climbing equipment, the clothes she had been wearing, and a machine pistol. The collapsible stroller must have been in the laundry cart they had pushed into the bank, along with the rest of their equipment.
Stone looked up at her and then glanced at her neck. “In your line of work, it’s not advisable to have such a distinctive tattoo. It sort of gives you away.”
* * *
Robie had come out on the fourth floor through a hole cut into a storage closet.
Despite what he had said to Stone earlier, Robie was very familiar with the mall. He had been reconnoitering the location for nearly a week. He couldn’t be sure his target wasn’t lying at the bottom of the shaft back at the bank. But now he had to make sure.
He slowed when he finally spotted the man hurrying down one of the mall walkways, no doubt seeking the nearest exit. He reached for the gun in his pocket.
Suddenly, the man looked back and saw Robie.
And then he started to run.
It
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