Christmas at Timberwoods - Fern Michaels [82]
“Daddy, I don’t have a list. I know some kids from college who work here. There are a lot of freaks and a lot of straights. I know a few of the mall personnel, some of the security people, the Santa Claus and a few of his elves. There’s no way I could pick out anyone and say that he or she is the one.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Murray said. “You come back to my motel with me, and we’ll spend the evening making a list, one by one, together. Maybe we’ll come up with something. How’s that sound?”
“Good,” Angela said.
Maria Andretti woke from her nap, her face more flushed than usual. Feebly she tried to kick off the covers. She wanted a drink. She felt too hot, like in the summertime when she lay on the beach and there was no shade. “Mommy,” she cried weakly.
“I’m right here, honey. I’ll get you some juice and then you rest.”
“Will you open the drapes? I want to look out. Is it nice today?”
“Very nice, but very cold.”
“Mommy, you promised to . . .”
“I know, honey, and I talked to Dr. Tucker. We’re watching the temperature very closely. As soon as it’s warmer, we’re going to take you over to the mall. But first we have to make this pesky fever of yours go away. I’m going to rub you down with a cool washcloth as soon as you’ve drunk this juice. That’ll make you feel better.”
Maria gazed out of the window across the highway to the mall. She couldn’t see very well. Yesterday she had been able to see right to the roof of the shopping center. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. She still couldn’t see across the highway. Maybe it was the fever. After Mommy helped her cool off, she might be able to see better. When was she going to get well? When would the doctor let her get out of bed so she could play with her brothers and sisters? When was she going to be able to go back to school? She missed all her friends and the teacher.
“I just have to get better, I have to!” Maria cried, burying her face in her pillow.
Charlie Roman walked nervously up and down the mall. From time to time he handed out a candy cane and a coloring book. Every so often he uttered a hoarse “Ho! Ho! Ho!”
He couldn’t remember ever being so furious in his whole life. Did she have to come to the mall? Why did she have to pour salt into his open wound? Wasn’t her blatant rejection of him enough? Was this the way she got her kicks? And to think he’d ever thought she was a special person. She wasn’t like the rest of them, she was worse. She had used him and then betrayed him. It struck him as almost funny that she’d warned him about the mall blowing up. What would she think if she knew he was the one who was going to make it blow? He’d show her. He’d show them all.
He had to get back up on the roof. He had to! The maintenance men had been up there since early this morning, clearing away the snow. Tomorrow the weatherman predicted that the temperature would be going up, and Miguel, one of the maintenance crew, had told Charlie they were going to continue patching the roof if he could find the missing propane tank.
The tank was an integral component of his device. That, plus jury-rigged machinery, a timer, and the mall’s own HVAC system were what it would take.
Perspiration beaded Charlie’s forehead when he thought of what could happen if someone put two and two together. Miguel had complained to Dolph Richards about the missing propane tank, but the manager had ignored him. Now, with the predicted rise in temperature, the roof would start leaking again and it would be all systems go. Someone was sure to mention the missing tank then. Charlie had heard Miguel say that the crew was waiting for the deliveryman to come around to check how many tanks he had delivered. Because of the cold, the demand for bottled gas had increased, and the supplier was two days behind schedule. Many houses in the outlying areas needed propane for their stoves, and the deliveryman had stated that his residential customers came first. Besides, he was insisting that he had delivered four tanks, not the three that remained. According to Miguel, he refused to consider there might have