Chapter 10: A Race Against Time For Answers

The crew hopped into Meredith’s car­—Mistle behind the wheel and Ivey beside him. Meredith jumped into the backseat gripping her cell phone.

Meredith was still in disbelief over the text message just forwarded to her from Congressman Frankenmuth. He knew she was fluent in German. What he didn't know was the grave nature of the text:

Am Fall of America, träumt von Weihnachten wünscht, werden viele Ihrer Leute bald mit den Fischen schwimmen.

Meredith relayed the message to Ivey and Mistle in clear, articulate speech, “At the Fall of America, dreaming of Christmas wishes, many of your people will soon swim with the fishes.”

No one spoke for a moment as they digested the message.

“What does that even mean?” Mistle finally responded. In one fierce motion, he signaled left and whipped the steering wheel—and the car—around a corner.

“I know we’re headed to the right place, but I’m not sure what we should do when we get there,” Ivey said.

“Swimming with the fishes?” Meredith wondered aloud. “Is there a pool at the mall? Or a waterpark?”

Mistle had a sudden thought. He and Holly had taken Kayla to the aquarium a few years back. Back when we were happy, he thought regretfully. And now, he’d left his wife and daughter sleeping at Ivey’s filthy apartment. He knew Holly would be irate when they woke up. For the time being, he put his personal thoughts back behind the emotional shield he carried.

Swim with the fishes. The aquarium, Mistle thought with a smirk. Oh, they are a clever bunch—they think they're gangsters.

Mistle pulled into a parking spot in the East ramp of the Megamall. Ivey looked down at the stump that used to be one of his hands.

“Between us, we have three good hands to stop that bomb,” he told his fellow Marine and bomb-disposal technician. Ivey grabbed a small tool box with wire cutters, needlenose pliers and a flashlight and hopped out of the sedan.

For all his talk, there was one thing he didn't tell Mistle or his niece: He was scared out of his mind.

***

In the West parking ramp of the mall, Jorgen pulled open the sliding side door of the Maytag van and let his comrades Traudel and Gunter out.

“It’s time!” Traudel exclaimed. Gunter could barely contain his excitement, humming a few bars of O Tannenbaum.

We are actually pulling this off, Traudel thought. Those stupid Americans won’t even know what hit them.

In addition to commandeering the appliance repair van, she had managed to borrow three authentic baby blue jumpsuits. Not only were they dressed for the part of a delivery crew, but Traudel thought they had never looked so stylish.

Jorgen opened the back of the van and grabbed the three-wheeled dolly. Carefully, the crew unloaded the cardboard refrigerator box and the combustible payload inside it. Not heavy, Jorgen thought, but hopefully heavy-duty enough to do maximum damage. He was pleased with his work, having spent weeks of practice on smaller, trial versions of this device. Übung macht den Meister! Practice makes perfect!

Gunter pushed the dolly towards the elevator. “Remember, if anyone asks, we have a delivery, and we need directions to the aquarium,” Traudel reminded them.

With the biggest challenges over as far as she was concerned, she patted the boys’ backs with affection. She was beginning to feel some holiday spirit, after all.

***

Holly felt a small hand rock her shoulder. “Mom! Mom! Wake up,” Kayla urged her mother.

Back at Ivey’s sad example of an apartment in Richfield, Holly popped up off the couch.

“Mom, they left!” Kayla announced, referring to her father, Ivey and Meredith.

“What?!" Holly sat up with a start. "Where did they go? What did they say?”

The fury again rushed up inside her—her slippery husband had managed to escape from her grasp yet again.

“Umm, something about a mall,” Kayla’s eyebrows furrowed as she tried to recall the hushed conversation that had just taken place.

Mall of America? Holly thought. She was puzzled. Why the mall?

“Kayla, grab your coat and run to the car,” Holly said. “We’re going to find your dad.”

Holly quickly sent Mistle a text: “I know where you are. We’re on our way.” Then in her haste, she set her phone back down on the couch to pull on her Uggs. Out the door they went, without the cell phone or any response from Mistle.

Only when she rolled into West parking lot did Holly realize she had forgotten her phone. Darn it! Now she would have to hunt, level by level, row by row, for the sedan. But it was still early—about 9:50 in the morning—and there weren't many cars in the lot. She decided her best bet was to drive around the mall's two parking ramps—first West, then she would try the East, if necessary, in search of Meredith’s car.

She cranked the Bug quickly around a row of cars, her head swiveling left to right in hopes of catching a glimpse of the car. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement just a few feet in front of the car, and she abruptly slammed on the brakes. The car screeched to a halt.

Holly caught her breath and felt her heart pounding. She'd nearly hit what looked like a delivery crew wheeling a large box on a dolly.

One of the delivery men caught Holly's eye and glared at her as the trio wheeled the box past the front of Holly's Bug.

Stupid American, Jorgen thought. Such terrible drivers here.