Option to Kill (Nathan McBride 3) (6 page)

Nathan spotted the new threat immediately. At the far end of the walkway, another security guard crested the mall’s central escalator and began sprinting toward them. It was a woman.

“Follow my lead.” He crouched down at a store window and covered the outline of his SIG with his right hand. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Ignore her, Lauren. We’re just window shopping.”

There was no mistaking the hard-soled footfalls as the female guard approached. Nathan used the glass to study the shoppers behind him. In the reflection, he saw people on both sides of the elevated walkways freeze and watch the guard race toward Nordstrom. Time seemed to slow as the guard passed directly behind them. Nathan straightened up and watched with the rest of the people until the guard disappeared into Nordstrom. Tattoo Man would tell the newly arriving guard what had happened. He estimated they had less than half a minute to clear the area, unless the new guard took a few seconds to check on her downed comrade. Even that wouldn’t give them much added time.

“Let’s go.”

Nathan and Lauren hurried along the walkway toward the central escalator. Along the way, Nathan overheard people talking about what they’d just seen. At every opportunity, he used the glass facades to check for the female guard’s reappearance. So far, so good.

They hadn’t walked more than halfway to the central escalator when a high-pitched voice echoed down the gauntlet of retail shops.

“Everyone freeze. Nobody moves!”

Nathan looked back toward Nordstrom and saw Tattoo Man standing next to the female guard. He stepped away from the glass, made eye contact with Lauren, and nodded toward the right. His message was clear: we’re leaving in that direction. He looked over his shoulder and saw Tattoo Man point at them. Nathan couldn’t hear what was said, but the guard immediately focused on them.

“You two! Don’t move. You’re both under arrest.”

Episode Two

Chapter 7

They sprinted toward the central escalator.

“Stop! You’re under arrest!”

Lauren couldn’t run as fast as he could, so they’d never lose the second guard, even with all the people present. He formulated another plan.

At the top of the escalator, he said, “Stay behind me.”

He bounded down the steps, pushing past a father holding his son’s hand. He heard Lauren’s footfalls as she followed. At the bottom, he made a U-turn to the right. Staying out of sight from above, he hugged the support wall and listened for the female guard’s arrival.

When she stomped down the escalator, Nathan advanced to the landing and caught her by surprise. He could almost read the guard’s thoughts, her expression registering shock at seeing a six foot five, 240-pound man with menacing scars appear out of nowhere. Within seconds, Nathan had her facedown on the concrete with her hands pinned behind her back.

He started another mental stopwatch, this one for sixty seconds. The guard tried to roll free, so Nathan forced the woman’s arms up, straining her shoulders.

“Stop resisting. I’m not dangerous, and I’m not going to hurt anyone.”

“You’re in a world of trouble, buddy.”

“Tell me about it. I’m going to cuff you. Please don’t resist, or I’ll use stronger force. I have no desire to tear your rotator cuffs. Order everyone to back away and not interfere.”

“What?”

Nathan forced the guard’s hands up a little and received a grunt of pain.

“Okay!” The guard raised her voice. “Everyone back off and don’t interfere.”

“Bekka, grab the handcuffs from her utility belt.” He didn’t want to use her real name.

“Where? I don’t see them.”

“That rounded pouch on her right hip. Unsnap the cover.”

Lauren pried the holster open and pulled the handcuffs free.

Twenty seconds.

Nathan scanned the main walkway. No other guards appeared, but several dozen people had taken notice of the action. Hopefully there weren’t any off-duty cops or service members among them. The sooner Lauren and he got out of here, the better.

Nathan was skilled in the proper use of handcuffs. In a quick motion, he slapped the sawtoothed side of one bracelet onto the guard’s right wrist. He secured the handcuff snugly but made sure not to overtighten it. He kept a knee on the guard’s back and repeated the procedure on her opposite wrist.

He kept his voice low to avoid embarrassing the woman. “We’re leaving. If you try to pursue us, I’ll take you down. Without the use of your arms, you’ll go down ugly and lose some teeth, or worse. Do we have an agreement here?”

The guard nodded tightly.

Thirty seconds.

“Order everyone to stay where they are and not to follow us.”

She took a deep breath and yelled, “Everyone stay where you are! Don’t follow them!”

Nathan rolled the guard over and unbuckled her utility belt. The belt didn’t have a gun, but it held other nonlethal weapons, plus a radio. It might come in handy, so he took the belt and put it on. Flipping his shirt over it, he heard a disturbance on the second-level walkway. The first guard might’ve recovered enough to reenter the fray. Another giant retail store stood just across the courtyard. Macy’s. Holding Lauren’s hand again, he ran for its entrance.

Just inside, they almost collided with an elderly woman who must’ve witnessed the takedown. Her face reflected fear.

Nathan made eye contact and said, “Evening, ma’am.”

The woman backed up a step as they strode past. As far as he could tell, she was the only person in here who’d seen his restraint of the guard. Nathan knew she’d remain motionless in indecision for a few seconds, possibly longer. Her next move would be to exit the store.

Nathan spoke quietly to Lauren. “We’re going to walk quickly. Follow my pace.” He detoured to the right through a maze of clothes racks, glass counters, and featureless mannequins. The place looked a lot like Nordstrom, and he hoped its escalator would be in a similar location. Nathan knew it was best to use all three dimensions when evading capture. He looked over his shoulder and didn’t see the elderly woman. A quick scan of his surroundings confirmed no one had focused on them.

Lauren spoke just above a whisper. “You moved super fast. How do you know all that stuff?”

He didn’t want to ignore her question, but now wasn’t the time. “We need to find the escalator.” He hadn’t been in here before, but knew the opposite side of the store connected to several multistory parking garages.

“It’s probably in the middle of the store,” she said.

“I agree. Good job with the guard back there.”

“I’m glad you didn’t hurt her.”

He stole another look behind. All calm. He doubted this window of escape would remain open more than two or three minutes. If SDPD units were closing, they’d surround Macy’s with as many officers as possible, which meant he and Lauren needed to get through here quickly. Everyone in the courtyard had seen them come in here. This isn’t over, he told himself, not by a long shot. Stay focused.

He spotted the escalator. “There’s our ride.”

“I see it.”

He thought about the questions he planned to ask Lauren. Too many things didn’t add up. The three goons he’d shot at Ulric weren’t federal law enforcement officers — unless they were dirty. No respectable deputy US Marshal would attempt a drive-by shooting. Come to think of it, Nathan didn’t believe
any
deputy US Marshals were dirty. How could the WSP function otherwise?

So where did that leave things? If they weren’t feds, who were they? And why did they want Lauren alive? But that no longer tracked. If they wanted Lauren alive, why try to gun her down? Maybe losing possession of her had made her worthless, a loose end in need of elimination. Whatever the case, escaping their immediate situation was only the beginning. This would be over only when Nathan decided it was over. Anyone who tried to murder a young girl was the worst kind of pond scum imaginable, and Nathan planned to sanitize that scum with prejudice.

They were halfway up the escalator when a loud, high-pitched voice roared through the ground floor. “Everyone freeze! Don’t move!”

Nathan couldn’t see her, but he recognized the unmistakable voice of the female guard he’d just cuffed. So much for their agreement.

A few steps above, a pair of college-age women turned, their expressions confused. They both looked at him.

“Sounds like a robbery,” Nathan said. “Let’s get outta here.”

The two women hurried up the escalator and ran toward the south exit. He saw other people stare at the running women, but, like so many others tonight, they remained frozen, uncertain what to do. Nathan kept a normal pace, following the building’s exit signs.

He heard yelling from the ground floor but couldn’t distinguish any intelligible words. The guard was probably asking customers if they’d seen anyone fitting his and Lauren’s descriptions. Since no one had taken any notice of them, he doubted the guard would get any useful info. Still, it wouldn’t be long before the SDPD dispatcher had every available unit converging on this location. They needed to leave this building in a hurry, but not just this building — the entire area.

Ten seconds later, they were outside the store and mall, crossing a pedestrian bridge toward the parking garage. From every direction, Nathan heard multiple sirens. He couldn’t distinguish the difference between fire, medical, and police, but he knew they would arrive within minutes, maybe seconds.

Just ahead, a second bridge would take them in the direction of the trolley station, Nathan’s original destination. They hadn’t gone ten steps when he heard the female guard’s voice directly below them.

“Did anyone see a man and a girl come out here?”

Nathan lowered his voice to a whisper. “Lie down. She won’t be able to see us.”

In the middle of the bridge, they both assumed a facedown position.

A loud crackling startled him. The radio! He hadn’t turned down its volume. He reached down to the utility belt and twisted the volume knob until it clicked off. He knew his saving grace was that the guard’s radio had also crackled at the same time, masking the sound.

The guard repeated her question, not as forcefully. “Did anyone see anything?”

No one responded. The guard cursed, and Nathan heard her footsteps move laterally below them. Supporting the wrought-iron handrail, the bridge’s curb didn’t measure more than twelve inches, but the guard wouldn’t be able to see their prone forms. Until the guard left, they couldn’t traverse the bridge over to the parking structure without risking being seen from below. He didn’t think the guard would hang around long. She’d likely return to Macy’s to search the ground floor. With a little luck, they’d be clear of the parking structure before any SDPD units arrived.

A few seconds later, the guard’s steps receded back to Macy’s entrance. He stood and helped Lauren to her feet.

“Come on,” he said. “We’re going to walk fast.”

Waiting for a trolley was now out of the question. Perhaps if he hadn’t
introduced
himself to the security guards, the trolley might’ve worked, but the police were going to focus on Macy’s, and the close proximity of the station meant they couldn’t linger there. There might be a taxi nearby, but this wasn’t the Vegas strip. Taxis were a rarity outside the downtown area of San Diego, especially at this hour.

The connecting bridge led them onto the second level of a brightly lit, three-story parking structure. There weren’t many cars present, maybe a couple dozen or so. The outer reaches were completely void of vehicles, and therefore void of cover as well. There was no sign of the college women. They must’ve gone down or up a level.

Since he and Lauren had entered Macy’s on the ground level, Nathan decided to stay on the second level. Most fugitives wouldn’t climb higher in buildings while being pursued, so staying on this level made tactical sense.

Fugitives? Was that what they were? In the eyes of the law, that was
exactly
what they were. They weren’t only fugitives, they were
armed and dangerous
fugitives.

Every arriving police officer would be informed a handgun was involved. Nathan shook his head, thinking he should be at home, finishing his movie. He added the assault of two security guards to his cocktail. What was next, armed robbery? Fortunately, he didn’t need money — he carried close to two grand in his wallet at any given time — and tonight he just might need it. He reflected back on his decision to enter Nordstrom for a change of clothes. Anyone who’d witnessed the drive-by shooting on Friars Road would describe them as a tall man dressed in khaki-colored pants with a dark long-sleeved shirt, and a young girl in jeans and a light purple T-shirt. Nathan wasn’t just tall, he towered over Lauren by at least eighteen inches. They’d be hard to miss. A change of clothes had been tactically sound, and since he believed no one on the street had tracked their movements into Nordstrom, they should’ve been in and out of there in under five minutes. Encountering the security guard had been bad luck, nothing more. For now, he needed to stay focused on getting out of here without drawing any more attention. He also needed to extract information from Lauren without stressing her. Aside from her mother’s role in all of this, he needed to know how she had ended up in the custody of her kidnappers.