Christmas at Timberwoods - Fern Michaels [71]
“Quit your goddamn obsessing, Summers. You’ve already gone beyond the call of duty. What more do you want? Do you have any idea how many employees you tied up today? Some of them were needed outside. In case you aren’t aware of it, there’s a full-scale blizzard raging. And the police you called in are needed out on the roads.” He paused to glare at the detective, who glared back. “We’ve done what we can. Our own security will patrol the mall all night and tomorrow when the doors open. Now for God’s sake, get off this cockamamie kick about that Steinhart kid!”
“There are those that are ignorant beyond insult,” Harold said sarcastically.
“All right, all right, tell your story to the police, but when they laugh at you, don’t say I didn’t warn you. They aren’t going to close the mall and neither am I,” Richards said smoothly, forgetting for once to beam his movie-star smile.
There was a sharp rap at the door. “Come in,” Richards called briskly.
The chief of police walked into the room, accompanied by a few officers. Eric got up and held out his hand. “You know Baumgarten and Lassiter,” he said. “This is Heather Andrews, head of mall security. And CEO Dolph Richards, of course.”
Harold sat back in his chair and relaxed. The detective could do the honors. This was a time for action, and Summers was damn good at action. He listened intently as Eric told the police chief more about the plane crash and filled him in on Angela Steinhart’s harrowing vision, including their clandestine visit to the child’s hospital room and the confirming detail of the tiny earring.
“You can check this out if you want to,” he finished. “The question is, what do we do now?”
The police chief nodded to one of his men to see to yet another security sweep and for Summers to continue.
“I know there are people who don’t believe in this sort of thing,” Eric went on. “I didn’t myself. But that doesn’t change what I saw with my own eyes. If there’s any chance at all that this could be true, then the mall should be shuttered. Do you have any idea how many people will be here at any given moment this week? Well over one hundred thousand! If this center blows, they go with it. Do you want that on your conscience? I don’t want it on mine. We have to close! That’s it.”
“No, that isn’t it,” Richards interrupted harshly. “If Angela Steinhart was some sort of psychic, don’t you think the people of this town would know about her? She’s just doing this for attention. You can’t close the mall just because a hollow-eyed college kid thinks something is going to happen. If you think I’m kidding, take a poll of the merchants who have shops here. They’ll be down on your backs in an instant. They need this week to carry them through the first half of next year. I wouldn’t be surprised if Angela Steinhart was the one who sent the bomb threat in the first place, just to get her kicks out of watching the police bust their chops. That happens and you know it!”
“Summers? Any comment?” asked the police chief. “There are explanations for everything, and that includes the plane crash. But not the little girl you mentioned—is she still alive, by the way?”
Eric felt a painful tightness around his heart. With his own baby about to be born, his brief glimpse of the child in the hospital bed haunted him. He took a breath and answered simply, “I don’t know.”
The chief nodded to his captain, who left the room to make a phone call.
“Angela wasn’t sure about her. But the fact that the plane crashed wasn’t just a freak occurrence. How many times do I have to say it?” Eric said, pounding his fist in his palm.
“Look, stop and think for a moment,” the police chief soothed. “Some things don’t add up. For one, do you know how much explosive that would require? If there was any, we would have found some trace of it. Right now, every floor checks out clean. I can’t close Timber woods just on suspicion.”
“I don’t believe this,” Lex said, jumping up and slamming both hands down in front of Dolph Richards. “Don’t you care? Can’t you see that what we’ve been telling you could actually