by Brad Cooper
“Julie?” Kara asked.
Clark continued to look at the mirror. “No, she should already be here. I’m talking about our other friend, the pig that likes to follow us around. One of them, anyway.”
“Which one is it?” Adam asked from the back seat. His back was getting tight. The backseat of a sports car did not accommodate his body type.
“The big, stupid one,” Ryan said.
“They’re all big and stupid,” Kara muttered, adjusting her sunglasses.
“The one with the classic Mustang, Amick or whatever. Our friend who paid us the midnight visit.”
“Gun or knife?” Kara asked.
Clark took a deep breath and said, “Gun.” He checked his watch again. It read 2 PM. He closed his eyes and breathed. “Alright, it’s time. She should be in there.” He knew Amick was watching. Ryan could feel the deputy’s eyes glaring at the car and had to avoid giving away the fact that Adam was hidden, so he did not turn around when speaking. “You know what to do, right?”
“I got it. You two just get in there and get back out. You don’t need to be in there with that guy for very long,” said Adam.
“He’s not going to do anything in public like that. He just wants to watch and make sure we don’t try anything too daring, like tell the wrong people. Little does he know that we’re doing just that and doing it right under his nose,” Kara said.
“Be careful, you two,” Adam said. He rolled onto his side. His back could use the change of position.
Ryan and Kara opened their doors and got out simultaneously before quickly closing the doors again. Clark paid close attention to his reflection in the glass doors as he drew closer to the entrance. When he reached for the handle, he saw the image that he desired.
Frank Amick was walking twenty feet behind them.
All fifty-plus vendors in the Monroeville Mall were located on a single level. The usual music and clothing stores drew the most traffic while small shops featuring local arts and crafts catered to a barely existent audience of senior citizens, remaining virtually ignored by those of middle age and younger. Three restaurants were housed at the eastern end of the building, not coincidentally located beside the most frequently used parking area.
Ryan and Kara walked into the entrance in the center of the building, closest to the store that they would be using for the exchange. The music stores were spacious but allowed far too much visibility. He needed precisely the right type of business and environment for everything to work without drawing attention or allowing their shadow to see each minute detail without an obstructed view.
Clark led her into a clothing store which sold exclusively women’s clothing. He leaned toward her and said, softly, “Act like you’re looking at a few things. We’ll walk around the perimeter of the store and back out. I want to see if he’s keeping an eye on us the whole time.”
Kara feigned interest in a sleek, black camisole, examining it before placing it back on the rack.
Smiling, Clark said, “You’d look amazing in that, you know. I wouldn’t mind seeing you in it either.”
“You always say that,” a bashful Kara said.
“I’m always right.”
Walking around the outer edge of the store, Kara stopped at another rack and shuffled through the items. Ryan craned his neck as if looking at something in the mall’s main corridor but quickly located the now familiar faced officer, who had been watching their every move. Clark tapped Kara on her shoulder, pointed to an area of the walkway opposite of where Amick stood and said, “He’s been watching the whole time. I’m just pointing over there so he’ll think we haven’t seen him.”
Kara walked with him to the other side of the rack, as if to get a better view, and said, “Is Julie here yet?”
“She should be. It’s ten after. I told her to give us a few minutes leeway.” Clark stood beside her as she flipped through the clothes on another rack. “Every time we’re here you whimper when we walk past Victoria’s Secret. Adam will be fine outside for a while so let’s go.”
“Let’s?”
“You’re always telling me how much you value my opinion on things.”
Kara smiled and said, “You’re unbelievable.”
“I’ve heard that before but it never gets old.”
Lying in the backseat, Adam checked his watch. Ten after two. He’d been lying in the same cramped space for more than half an hour and was feeling the effects. Now he was afforded the time to stretch. Slowly rising from his horizontal position, he looked out the back glass and did not see a single familiar face. He checked in each direction, as much as he could, and pushed the passenger seat forward.
After opening the door he reached back inside and retrieved the envelope stuffed between the driver’s side door and the center console. Just to be completely certain, he opened the envelope and checked the contents one last time. Three copies of the three-page signed statement, three DVDs in slim jewel cases, and sixty dollars, more than enough to cover the cost of overnight shipping to the appropriate offices in Washington D.C. The State Police’s copy would be delivered by hand. He breathed a sigh of relief, resealed the envelope, and closed the door, careful to activate the alarm immediately afterward.
Clark walked a couple of steps behind Kara, his eyes meticulously scanning the area for any familiar but hostile faces. He saw none but that did not guarantee their absence. He had a protocol to follow and did not want to deviate from the plan in any way. The Waldenbooks store occupied one of the larger vendor areas in the building. Bestsellers were placed at the front on shelves, just in front of the magazines. Further back, past the front counter, special sections of every variety sat on rows lining the center of the floor. Around the perimeter of the store, general fiction paperbacks were arranged seven levels high with bestselling hardbacks stuffed in every available space.
He’d instructed Julie where to wait for him. Standing just inside the store and looking around, he nearly panicked when he failed to see her immediately. He started forward, stepping to his right to see past the counter when he saw her just where he’d asked her to be.
Ryan had only visited her in person a single time, and then for less than an hour, but their friendship had grown over the years nonetheless. He frequently expressed his amazement at how close they’d become thanks to message boxes appearing on a computer screen, yet she’d been among the most important people in the world to him. Clark didn’t ask for favors from anyone unless absolutely necessary but in this case he had no choice. He knew who was reliable in his life, those who occupied the inner circle.
Julie Parker stood in front of the social sciences section flipping through the pages of a presidential biography and smiling at part of the content. She was thin and of medium height, no more than five-foot-seven, with straight dark brown hair that extended down to her chin. She wore short jean shorts and a white shirt with a small design on the chest that Clark could not read, not that it was crucial information. He was careful not to make direct eye contact, as not to give away the secret of their previous acquaintance for the time being. She acknowledged his presence subtly. Their eyes met briefly, she smiled, and looked back down at the book she was holding. Everything was in place.
Adam knew the make, model, and color of the car he was supposed to find, but that didn’t make the task any easier when looking for the needle in the haystack that was the parking lot.
There must be four hundred cars here, he thought to himself.
At the back of the parking lot, the dark green Dodge Avenger caught his eye. Clutching the envelope just a bit tighter, he jogged past twenty or so spaces and stopped across from Julie’s pride and joy.
He scoured the area once more, checking for following eyes or suspicious people or, more importantly, out-of-town police cruisers but saw only other mall patrons carrying bags full of slightly overpriced merchandise which they hoped would bring them joy for a season. He opened the envelope and looked inside one last time, as if the contents ha
d changed on his walk between the two vehicles.
He walked around Julie’s Avenger and saw that she had done just as Ryan requested. The darkly tinted passenger side window was rolled down three inches, just as it was supposed to be. He took a final look around and dropped the envelope through the window and onto the seat. His part was complete. Now, he was forced to wait for Ryan and Kara to make their way back and battle the anxiety in the process. To do so without being seen by Amick, he had to return to the backseat of the car. He frowned at the thought, thinking back to when time spent in the backseat of a car was considerably more enjoyable.
Kara stood in front of the magazines, searching for one that would hold her interest for a few minutes. She perused the rack until she found a nearly month-old issue of Cosmopolitan that would have to do. Clark walked toward the back of the store, looking at the signs at the top of the shelves and searching for the mystery section. Halfway toward the rear of the building, he found the proper section and searched for the right book. One of his favorite authors had recently released a new book, another volume in his bestselling series featuring an aging Cajun detective, which meant the store would certainly have a hardcover copy in stock. A single copy sat on the shelf surrounded by paperback titles from the same author.
Clark took the book from the shelf and aimlessly flipped through the opening pages before starting to read the synopsis on the front inside leaf of the dust jacket. He looked out of the corner of his eye hoping to catch a glimpse of Amick looking into the bookstore. The weekday afternoon crowd was sparse compared to that of a weekend, meaning the ideal combination of good visibility and adequate shielding. Their eyes never met but Clark saw all he needed to see.
He saw Amick look in Kara’s direction and took the opportunity to drop the note. He casually reached into his pocket and unfolded the small piece of paper he’d prepared in advance. Turning past the first blank page, he laid the note inside, just in front of the title page, and placed the book back on the shelf.
Clark walked over to the bargain section where former bestsellers were now stacked, remainder marked, and priced at fractions of the original cost. It was no wonder that it was one of the most popular sections of the store. He tried several of the titles and none were to his liking. A single copy of a three-year-old Tom Clancy novel was stuck in the back. He retrieved it and walked to where Kara was waiting. She dropped the Cosmo back onto the rack and they walked to the counter.
“Boy, this is pure excitement,” Amick said aloud to himself. How did his career go so far south that part of his duty was watching people half his age walking around the mall? His mind was full of questions, not all of them directly related to the task at hand. Why even bother following these kids to the mall? He chuckled at his own thought, noting that these kids were in their twenties and not kids at all. It was his advancing age that brought about that perception. Who exactly were they going to talk to here? The rent-a-cops? A Monroeville cop that stopped in for a couple of Krispy Kremes during his patrol?
Absolutely pointless, he thought.
He moved to his left and looked to see where Clark had gone. He was reading a book. The brunette was reading some trivial magazine. Useless. He watched as Clark moved toward another shelf of books but Amick’s mind was elsewhere. He moved back and sat on the wooden bench in the middle of the walkway.
“This is what my career has become?” he whispered to no one but himself. He closed his eyes and laid his head back, grateful for a fleeting moment of comfort.
Clark stood with Kara, saying nothing of even the slightest importance, but watching as Julie walked to the other side of the store. She stopped at the section set aside for mysteries and looked through each row. The title she desired was on the far left of the third shelf. She took it out and opened it to the title page where a single piece of white lined paper from a small notepad was tucked into the binding.
Julie,
Adam should have dropped the stuff into your window by now. Wait five minutes, check out, and get everything back home as soon as you can. You know what to do from there. Don’t forget to burn this note. I can’t tell you how much I owe you. Be careful. Love you.
RC
She removed the paper, crumpled it in her hand, and pushed it into the pocket of her jean shorts. She left that particular section and walked to the furthest section to the back. Clark didn’t even know what was back there. He was sure it was nothing he’d be interested in.
“She’s got it. Let’s go,” he said to Kara.
They approached the counter and Clark sat the book down for the cashier to scan. He looked outside again and saw the deputy assigned to their every move sitting on the bench but not looking at them. In fact, he was looking at the back of his eyelids. He nudged Kara and pointed his head in Amick’s direction. “Sleeping on the job, eh?”
“It’s what he does best,” Kara said. “You think Adam’s done yet?”
Clark checked the time. Two twenty-five. “He was supposed to do it a few minutes ago so he should be done by now. We’ll pay for this stuff and get out of here. You know what to do next.”
She nodded and he took his change from the cashier. Clark turned to see where Julie was one last time. She stood at the back of the building, her back turned toward him, staring upward at the top row. He smiled.
Thank you, he thought.
With the bag in his hand, he walked with Kara toward the exit. “You go on. I’ll wait here. Let’s see if he bites, figuratively speaking of course.”
She walked away from the exit and toward the bank of pay phones in the center of the concourse. Ryan watched Amick come to life when he saw Kara moving toward the phones. Clark looked away just as Amick turned in his direction, seeing where he was. As Kara reached the phone, Amick stood and walked toward her. “Perfect,” said Ryan. “Who does he think she’s calling? He’s more gullible than I expected.”
Kara dropped the coins into the phone and dialed the number. After waiting a few seconds she began conversing with whoever was on the other end of the call. There were six phones clustered together, three on each side facing in opposite directions. Hers was the only one in use. Amick walked to the other side of the booths and leaned against the side with his shoulder.
Ryan looked behind him and saw Julie approaching. He took a step back, allowing him to see Amick’s every move and keep an eye on Kara but shielding Amick’s view of Julie. She stood beside him looking into her bag. He pretended to watch passersby. “You got it?” he asked, looking away from her.
“Yes, I got it. I’ll take care of everything as soon as I get back.” She glanced up at him and said, “You look tired, Ryan.”
He looked at her for the first time. “I am unbelievably tired. That’s another reason this is so important. I can’t thank you enough, Jules. I hate to have to involve you but this needs to stop and it had to be someone I can trust.” He looked away to check on Kara, and then back to Julie. “You better get out of here. If he sees us talking like this, a bell is liable to go off in his head.”
She hugged him quickly and kissed him on the cheek, which he reciprocated. “Be careful. Please. I know you know what you’re doing but, still, be careful. You have to come up and visit, you know. Bring Kara with you.”
“I will, and I will. I promise. I wish I got to see you under better circumstances but it’ll be that way next time though. He’ll be back soon. You’d better go. Be careful.”
Julie hurried out the exit and into the music store next door. Ryan watched her walk into the store and out of his sight. “It’s all up to you now,” he whispered.
Amick was getting more frustrated with each sentence, or sentence fragment, that he heard. None of the pieces of speech that he could make out made any sense. He’d tried three different positions, all to no avail. He circled around to the other side, five feet away from the girl he’d been trying to eavesdrop and investigate. She was on the phone on the right end of the row. He left the middle phone unoccupied and picked up
the receiver in front of him. He dropped in a quarter, not enough to make an actual call, and dialed seven random numbers. He looked up from the phone just in time to hear her speak clearly for the first and last time.
“Okay, thanks. I’ll see you then,” the girl said. She replaced the receiver and started back to the bookstore when Clark was waiting for her just outside the entrance.
Amick waited five seconds and started back in her direction. He stopped when he saw them walking toward him. He turned away, as if they did not know who he was, and waited for them to pass. When they opened the doors to the exit, he started back after them.
“Another wasted day,” he said. “Following them around to watch them do nothing.” And for free, he thought.
He pushed the door open and held it for the cute brunette that was right behind him. He smiled at her as she walked through and outside to the parking lot. Amick noticed that she had two bags, one from the music store and one from the bookstore, but didn’t give her a second thought.
Ryan and Kara walked briskly through the parking lot but did not run or even jog. Drawing attention this late in the game was unacceptable. He fumbled for his keys while Kara put on her sunglasses and adjusted her hair accordingly.
“I don’t see him standing around,” Ryan said, looking around the parking lot. “I’d say he’s back in the car already.” He flashed an evil grin, a light moment in a serious day. “We should at least let him know we’re back.”
Clark pressed the panic button on his keyless entry remote. The headlights flashed and the horn blasted on and off in single second intervals. In the backseat, Adam choked on the water he’d been drinking while lying down.
“That is horrible,” said Kara through a laugh.