At seven o’clock Jesse, wearing a navy pea jacket over his
Kevlar vest, walked down the mall with his hands in the pockets and stood in front of the elevator, opposite the entrance to the food court.
“It’s seven o’clock,”
Molly said.
On the phone Suit said, “Jesse there?”
“Un-huh.”
“Anything happening?”
“No, honey, not yet.”
“I kind of like the honey
thing. Will you call me honey
around the station, after this is over?”
“No.”
Behind Jesse the elevator door opened and a man and woman stood
in the door. They were wearing hats and scarves that partly hid their faces.
“Jesse,” the man said.
As Jesse turned toward them they each raised a long-barreled pistol and shot Jesse in the chest. The pistols made only a flat pop that was lost in the hubbub of the mall. Jesse stepped a half step back.
“It’s happening,” Molly said
into the phone and dropped it and
turned with her gun out. DeAngelo was on his feet as well, his handgun leveled.
The elevator door closed and the elevator went back up, taking the man and woman with it. People in the food court area were beginning to react. The result was confusion.
“There’s an escalator at each
end,” Jesse said, pointing.
“Molly, cover that one. Anthony, stay here.”
Then he turned and ran down the mall, forcing his way through the crowd, his gun held down against his thigh. When he reached the escalator, he slowed and opened his coat so that, as he went up the moving stairs, he could speak into the microphone clipped to his vest.
“Suit?”
“You okay, Jesse?”
“I am. It went down. We’ve got them
somewhere on the second
level now.”
“Shall we come in.”
“No. We’ll try to chase them to
you.”
“We’ll be here.”
“When we saw them they were wearing black watch caps pulled down
over their foreheads, and black or navy scarves wrapped up over their chins, like they were cold. She had on a fur coat. He was wearing a trench coat.”
“We’ll be looking.”
“Make sure everybody gets the message,”
Jesse said. “And they
could change, so don’t lock in on the coats and scarves.”
“Roger, Jesse.”
At the top of the escalator Jesse paused with the gun at his side, looking around. Most people didn’t notice the gun. The ones
that did looked quickly and moved swiftly away. Jesse made sure his badge, clipped to his vest, was visible. Don’t want somebody
calling 911, and end up shooting it out with the local SWAT
team. He looked down to the far end of the mall and saw Molly
standing at the top of her escalator.
On the first level, Anthony stood facing the elevator. His gun was in his hand, held down against his right thigh. The elevator came back down and the doors opened and several men and women got out. One of them was a good-looking woman wearing a paisley yellow silk scarf over her head, and an ankle-length yellow wool coat. She
