the building, and found a technician to set the scenario in motion.
CHAPTER 37
Federal Agent Andy Simons parked his car outside police lines, pulled on his bulletproof vest with the FBI initials displayed prominently at front and back, jerked his cap down over his forehead and went to find Captain jack Tremmins, officer in charge. According to protocol, Andy offered any assistance that might be required.
Teresa had forgotten how hot a Texas summer afternoon could be: a sticky, spreading heat, which made everything seem to burn around you, whether in shade or not. The concrete of the parking lot scorched through the soles of Andy's shoes, and the almost vertical sunlight battered down on the crown of his head through the thin plastic of his cap. There was a smell of ragweed, stinging his sinuses.
Andy had always suffered pollen allergies.
Teresa stared through Andy's eyes around the immense parking lot, trying to orient herself She had been in Britain long enough to forget the scale on which Texan shopping malls were built. Most of Bulverton's Old Town would fit into this lot and she knew there would be further acres of parking spaces on the other sides of the massive mall. The great dome of the Texan sky stretched overhead, its vastness emphasized by the flat horizons in all directions.
Only buildings stood up against the sky to lend a sense of scale.
Texas was a place of extremes, a place without limits.
Away beyond police lines the normal business of the North Cross shopping mall continued: the gunman had been cornered in the service bay in the rear of the building, and after hurried consultations with the mall administrator, the police had allowed the stores inside the building to resume trading normally. The only restraint on movement was in this area, around the loading and unloading bays. Although the gunman had already killed several people, he was thought to present no further danger to the public.
Andy found Captain Tremmins, who quickly and efficiently briefed him on all this. He took him over to meet Lieutenant Frank Hanson, in charge of the SWAT team. Andy said to Hanson he would like to go through and talk with the mall administration, but if he was required to render any assistance ...
Andy had to walk round the long way, past the service bays, to get inside the huge building.
As he stepped under the police tape, sweating in the terrible heat, Teresa said, 'Andy?'
There was no response.
'Andy, can you hear me? It's me, Tess.'
He kept striding on, looking from side to side watchfully. He rounded a corner and came to a huge entrance vestibule built of steel and glass: overhead there was a sign intended to be read from a mile away. lt said:
'Andy? Can you give me a sign you know I'm here?'
He walked on without responding. There was a doughnut counter, a book store, a furniture shop, a leathergoods store; they came into a broad atrium with mature trees, a series of rolling waterfalls, a fountain playing under coloured lights ...
Teresa remembered how she had learned to shift position when she was in Grove's mind: while she stayed at the back of his mind she could not communicate with him, but she influenced his decisions and movements; when she moved forward she felt as if he had taken control of himself again but she was exposed to all his thoughts and instincts. She tried to shift position in Andy's mind, but either the scenario was written differently or Andy was of sterner mentality. She could make no impact on his thoughts or movements.
'Andy! Listen to me! This is Tess, your wife. Don't go on with this, g et back to your car. Wait until Danny Schneider joins up with you, consult with him, don't do this alone, you're going to be killed if you go on.'
She stopped, thinking how English she sounded, how polite and reasonable. In the old days Andy had sometimes teased her when a Liverpool phrase or a bit of slang from childhood crept into her speech. She'd always been able to imitate Ringo Starr better than anyone else around them; Andy had liked that.
'I don't think you should be doing this, Andrew,' she said, trying to capture Ringo's nasal tones.
But Andy went on, disregarding everything she said. Three more uniformed police directed him to the admin block, and one of them travelled up in the elevator with him. Andy made polite smalltalk with the cop: he had a family, lived in Abilene, his wife was expecting another baby. He had a rolling Texas accent, most words given an extra syllable, and he called Andy
'sir' with every reply.
What it was to hear Andy's voice again! Slightly gruff, with a trick in some of the sounds, like he needed to clear his throat, but it was always there, just the noise he made when he spoke.
'I love you, Andy!' she cried desperately. 'Stop this! please ... leave with me! You're not needed here! Let's wait in the car until the cops have caught the man!'
There followed a short interview between Andy and the mall administrator, a woman called Betty Nolanski. Mrs
Nolanski's main concern was the fact that the mall had only been fully open for three months. Last year two of the major chains had cancelled their leases at the eleventh hour, and she thought this incident might scare away more. She told Andy there were still fourteen major units standing empty. She wanted the gunman removed immediately, and with no more publicity.
Andy and Mrs Nolanski walked down together to the main floor while this was being said.
Teresa said, 'Tell her she's in a boom town, Andy. She wants to see a place with economic problems, she should go to Bulverton.'
A t ground level the news was that Aronwitz had still not been apprehended. Andy asked Mrs Nolanski if there were any utility ducts or tunnels by which the service bay could be reached, and at once a buildings manager was instructed to show him where the entrances were. Andy had to explain that his role here was advisory only, and
