"Yes, please," said Arlene. There was movement in the cab of the pest control van. The Burned Man was shifting positions, perhaps getting ready to step out.
Gail sighed, said she'd just be a minute, and set her phone down.
Arlene looked at her options here. They were awkward. She wanted the Burned Man out of the way so that she could pick up this Aysha person in she looked at her watch twenty-one minutes. Even if the Burned Man wasn't also waiting for the Yemeni girlalthough Arlene's instincts told her that he wasit would be better if there were no witnesses. The girl was illegal in more ways than one. What if she didn't want to get into the car with Arlene? Well, to be truthful, that was one reason Arlene had brought the.44 Magnum.
So how to get this guy out of the way? And what to do if he suddenly drove toward her Buick or began walking her way? Arlene had no idea why this scarred man in the bug truck might want to grab Aysha, but she felt that this was precisely what he was going to do in nineteen minutes unless Arlene intervened.
How ? She had the Niagara police on speed dial, but even if she got through to someone who actually called a patrol cruiser who actually got here in time, they'd almost certainly still be here when the Canadians dropped Aysha off at the mall door. And if the people-smugglers from the north caught one glimpse of red and blue lights flashing or police cars here in the parking lot, they'd keep going and drop Aysha somewhere else, far from here.
Maybe I could fallow their car and
Arlene shook her head. After getting even a glimpse of the police, the already paranoid smugglers would probably be more paranoid. The streets were empty in this wet, botched caricature of a city, and there was little to no chance that Arlene would be able to tail the smugglers without them seeing her. And if she spooked them enough, they might even kill the girl and just dump her out somewhere. Arlene just didn't know the stakes herefor Aysha, for the people smuggling her in, for the Burned Man in that bug truck straight ahead, or even for Joe.
I could just go home . That was certainly the option that made the most sense. In the morning, Joe would probably say, "Oh, that's all rightI just wanted to chat with the girl if possible. No biggee."
Uh-huh , thought Arlene.
"All right, I'm back with the phone," came Gail's voice in her ear. "What next?"
"Ahhjust hold onto it for a second," said Arlene, knowing how foolish she sounded. It was like those old practical jokes in high school where some boy would call up pretending to be a telephone repairman and get you to take the cover off the phoneback when phones looked alike and had coversand then made you do one thing after the other to help «fix» it, until you were swinging a bag of parts over your head and clucking like a chicken.
Joe had talked Arlene into purchasing a cell phone for Rachel a few months earlier. He was always worried that the girl might be in danger, that someone might go after her the way her late stepfather had, and he liked the idea of Rachel carrying around a phone with Arlene's numbers set to speed dial.
Gail had been a little nonplussed at the gift"If Rachel wanted a phone, I'd buy one for her," she'd said logically enoughbut Arlene had convinced her that this was Joe's awkward way of establishing some contact with the girl, of watching over her from afar. "He can establish contact just by coming to dinner and seeing her more frequently," Gail had said sternly. Arlene couldn't argue with that.
She'd thought of the phone right now
because although its bills were paid by WeddingBells-dot-com, if someone tried to use reverse-911 on it, the records would show just the WeddingBells PO box number.
Fourteen minutes before midnight . It was quite possible the smugglers could get here a few minutes early with Ayshaany secondand Arlene didn't have a clue what to do. If the Burned Man nabbed Aysha, she could try following the bug truck so at least she could tell Joe where the girl was taken, but the same empty, wet streets in the same empty, wet town here made that no more feasible than following the smugglers themselves.
Arlene didn't like to use obscenities, but she had to admit that her goose was well and truly cooked here.
"Arlene? Are you all right ?"
"I'm fine. Is the phone charged?"
"Yes."
"Good. Dial nine-one-one."
"What? Is there an emergency?"
"Not yet. But dial nine-one-one. But don't hit the 'call' button yet."
"All right. What do I tell them the emergency is?"
"Tell them that there's a man having a heart attackin cardiac arrestjust outside the Rainbow Centre Mall."
"Rainbow Centre? That place up in Niagara Falls?"
"Yes."
"Are you there? Is there someone in cardiac arrest? I can talk you through the CPR until the paramedics get there."
"This is just private-eye stuff, Gail. Just tell them that a man's having a heart attack outside the Rainbow Centre Mall And tell them he's in a van near the south main mall doors and the van has Total Pest Control written on the side."