He hoped Coco wouldn’t hear about this until she got home this evening. If she could see he was alright, that would be much less scary for her.
“Got it. Try not to get shot,” he told the detective.
“We have a sharpshooter maintaining a direct connection to the subject. He will take Frank out before he can pull the trigger. Come with me.”
That fact repeated in his brain. Roman didn’t look up to reveal the marksman’s position. In the open area of the mall, he could be in several places. He kept his gaze focused on the officer in front of him. The detective led him through a mass of people concealed behind various walls, supports, and furniture. The number of people there to keep everyone safe reassured Roman.
From a distance, he spotted a short man with brown hair and a mustache, standing in a wide-open spot. Frank Wilson held a teenage girl in a fast-food uniform at gunpoint. Roman hated him immediately. “I don’t know that guy,” he whispered to the detective.
When they got close enough to communicate, Detective Parks stopped behind a half wall. “Call to him. See if he will talk to you.”
Roman cleared his throat. “Frank Wilson. I’m Roman Amato. You wanted to talk to me?”
CHAPTER 11
“Coco!” Isabella hissed when she came back to test some ear swabs for a cat with a probable infection.
“Hey, Isabella. Did you do okay with Ralphy?” The ancient bulldog definitely had a target on Isabella in previous visits.
“I don’t know how to tell you this.”
“What? You’re scaring me, Isabella.” An icy chill zinged down her spine. The look on her friend’s face scared her.
“Come watch.” Isabella held out her phone. “I just got an alert from the police that they’ve closed down the mall. There’s a hostage situation there.”
At the word mall, Coco closed the distance to stare at the news coverage outside her Daddy’s mall. As she watched, the reporter announced the owner had arrived fifteen minutes before. They showed a clip of Roman Amato walking into the east entrance with a police escort. The delicious lunch she’d eaten churned inside her stomach.
“I have to get there,” she whispered.
“They’ve closed the mall and aren’t allowing anyone in the parking lot,” Isabella said before plucking the swabs from Coco’shand. “You watch. I’ll test these. Come, stand next to me at the microscope. You shouldn’t be alone.”
Coco nodded automatically, letting Isabella make all the decisions. Her brain didn’t function. All she could think about was her Daddy walking into a possibly dangerous situation. “For fuck’s sake, go invert… inside, and find out something new,” she said to the reporter who simply repeated the same information over and over.
“What’s going on?” Sofia asked after leaving an exam room.
Isabella quickly filled her in.
Sofia joined Coco and watched the coverage. “You saw your Daddy go in there?”
“The polite… police walked him in. What do you think is happening? He didn’t do anything wonky… wrong,” Coco said confidently. Roman was a good man. She hadn’t seen a whiff of any bad intentions or habits.
“Of course he hasn’t. They probably need him to look at cameras or floor plans. He knows all about the building and the structure.”
Coco was vaguely aware of Isabella leaving the room. Sofia stayed close, watching with her. Then a few minutes later, Isabella was back and Sofia disappeared. Soon, the office manager, Elizabeth, was at Coco’s side. Something registered in her brain, reminding her that Elizabeth wasn’t usually in the back.
“Tell me what’s going on,” Elizabeth asked.
“I don’t know. They just keep saying the same thing over and over,” Coco said, hearing the stress in her own voice. She rolled her shoulders and tried to relax.
“How scary. Have you tried calling Roman?” Elizabeth asked.
“I don’t want to disintegrate… distract him. What if the phone ringing causes some problem?” Coco asked.
“Smart. That would be bad.”
“I can’t go there. There’s no one I can call. I don’t know what to do.” Coco shook her head, trying to fight off the tears that had threatened repeatedly since this all began.
Elizabeth put her arms around Coco and hugged her. “Roman is very smart, and he’s there with the police, right?”
