‘Level one is the only way out.’ Deshawn was still at the map. ‘If we take out the parking garage, there are twelve street entrances. Three each at Belk, Saks and Nordstrom. Then we’ve got two more entrances off Monarch Court and one more entrance off the Avenue of the South. Either one can take you to Peachtree or the interstate. I’d go this exit at the valet parking station.’
‘Makes sense,’ Amanda said. ‘Reuben’s car is parked in front of Saks. He takes a right, he’s in the car, then onto the interstate.’
‘Or home,’ Will said, but Amanda’s look told him that she didn’t think it was likely.
Her radio clicked. She walked to the other side of the room, checking in with the team. Twelve uniformed cops from the APD’s Buckhead precinct were scattered around the mall. SWAT was on the roof and staked out across the buildings on the corner. Mall security was keeping to its regular rounds so as not to raise suspicion. Three of the GBI agents from the chase cars outside Reuben’s house were spread out near the escalators. The fourth was trailing Laslo, who had been casing the mall for the last hour and a half.
Angie was right about Reuben Figaroa. He had come early to give himself a tactical advantage. Which was good, because it had given Amanda time to set up her people too.
Will’s biggest concern was, had Virginia Souza done the same?
All they had to identify the woman by was her last booking photo, which had been taken four years ago. Her long, stringy brown hair and smeared make-up made her look like central casting’s idea of an old whore. If Souza was as smart as Angie said, she’d know that she couldn’t walk into Phipps Plaza looking like herself. The mall was too high-end for her to go unnoticed.
Deshawn said, ‘We can call in maintenance, maybe put up a barrier on that escalator, make it look like it’s broken down.’
Will said, ‘I’m worried that might tip him off.’
‘He doesn’t look jumpy.’
‘No,’ Will said, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. A composed man was a man who had made up his mind.
They could detain Reuben. You didn’t need cause to do that. But then Souza might have a spotter who warned her off, and the next time they saw Anthony he would be in a gutter or on the internet.
Will looked at the bank of high-definition monitors on the wall. The displays were in full color. There was no need to toggle through the different security cameras. There were sixteen screens. The largest monitor, the one in the center of the wall, showed Reuben Figaroa.
He was sitting at the back of the food court, one level up from where Will stood. The open atrium was at his shoulder. There was no way he could escape over the side. Even a basketball star couldn’t survive a three-story fall. Fortunately, the tables immediately around him were vacant. The other shoppers were keeping a wide berth. The mothers seemed especially suspicious of a man sitting alone in the place where they had brought their children.
Reuben had come incognito, a Falcons hat tight on his bald head. A laptop was on the table in front of him. He was slumped in the chair in an attempt to conceal his height. His mustache and goatee had grown into a full beard, because he was one of those guys who needed to shave every four hours. He was wearing a black T-shirt and black jeans, not exactly combat gear, but close enough. A large duffel bag was at his feet. Because of the T-shirt, they knew he wasn’t wearing a gun, but the duffel bag was easily large enough to accommodate a rifle or an automatic machine gun or a handgun, or all three.
Amanda was off the radio. She told Will, ‘Laslo just left the mall. He moved the car to the Ritz-Carlton. He’s parked in the valet lane. This is about to happen.’
Deshawn said, ‘He’ll leave out the Nordstrom side to get to the Ritz.’
‘I’ll let SWAT know.’ Amanda gave Will the radio, then headed toward the door. ‘Faith is on her way up. I’ll take my place. Will, be ready to move wherever you’re needed. Belt and suspenders.’
Deshawn picked up a desk phone. He told Will, ‘I’ll tell Nordstrom security we think they’re going to see some action.’
Will watched the monitors. The security office was right outside a single escalator that led to the top floor. Amanda held on to the handrail as she climbed. Like Reuben, she was in disguise, dressed in a pastel-blue tracksuit and white T-shirt that she had picked up at one of the stores. Her big purse was empty except for her revolver and three speedloaders. She was wearing glasses. A floppy white old-lady hat was on her head. Like everyone else on the team, she wore an earbud that worked as a two-way radio, picking up her speech through a vibration in her jaw.
Instead of walking toward Reuben, she sat down at one of the tables outside Belk, about sixty feet away. She kept her back to him. Phil Brauer, one of the agents from the chase cars, was already at the table with two cups of coffee. They blended in well, passing for an old retired couple with time on their hands.
Amanda said, ‘We’re in place.’
Deshawn asked Will, ‘You sure we don’t just clean this place out?’
‘It’ll tip her off.’
‘That’s a big risk.’
‘We’ve got someone inside the Legoland, another at the theater. We’ll lock down everything the moment there’s any sign of trouble.’
‘What about the pedestrians?’ He pointed to the monitor showing the food court. ‘There’s at least a dozen people there.’
Will had counted nine, including a table of four young mothers with babies in strollers. Amanda had placed herself between the women and Reuben Figaroa. ‘If we don’t get this kid today, then the woman who has him will trick him out to the nearest pedophile.’
‘Jesus.’ Deshawn let that sink in. ‘What’s your plan if she tries to run off with the kid, takes him hostage or something?’
Will tapped the rifle on his shoulder.
‘Jesus.’
Faith entered the room. She was wearing the black suit she kept in the trunk of her car instead of her usual GBI blue shirt and khakis. Her gun was on her hip. She nodded at Deshawn, asking Will, ‘What’ve we got?’
‘Amanda is here with Brauer. She put herself between Reuben and this table.’ He pointed to the four young mothers. They were laughing. One of them was feeding her baby. Another was on her phone.
Faith said, ‘They can take cover inside the Belk if they need to.’
Will said, ‘We’ve got one of our guys inside Legoland. Store security knows to bring down the gate if there’s trouble. They’ve been keeping the kids to the back where there’s a birthday party. The gift store is at the front so there aren’t a lot of potential problems there. Same with the movie theater. The cartoon lets out at noon, but we’ve got APD inside, behind the concession stand and at the mall exit, ready to lock them in place.’ He showed her the map on the wall. ‘We’ve got the escalators covered here, here, here and here.’ He pointed to the corresponding areas. ‘Laslo is parked across the street from here. SWAT is outside.’
‘They’re good. I didn’t see them.’
‘We gave all the store managers Souza’s booking photo. They’ve been told not to approach her. We didn’t want to pass the photo to the clerks and start a lot of chatter.’