Copyright © 2013 Mary Hughes
All rights reserved
Chapter 14Fourteen
“I
wish we had one of Cliff’s ropes,” Vickie said when they got to[M4] .” On the roof, eyeingVickie eyed
the distance between buildings. “Somehow it looks a lot farther away during the
day.”
John
simply grinned. “I think I can jump it. You two go back down.
I’ll go over and subdue the nativesFahrrad’s goons,
then let you guys in to disconnect the computer.”
“Well
I’m not.”
jumping.”
Tess spoke firmly. “John is in prime condition, and Vickie, he’s made
you into another muscle maniac. But I can’t.”
“Good luck.” Tess
ran back down the fire escape as John contemplatedeyed the distance. Then
he backed up, ran a few steps and flew across the narrow alley, hitting the
roof of the hotel.
Vickie
compressed her fear down into her body, where \the
roiling sensation gavemaking her the extra
strength she needed. legs feel like springs. She didn’t
pause, just ran, hit the edge and jumped.
Her
legs were more powerful than she remembered. She sailed across the open space,
not looking down, not thinking of anything but the man she hadn’t trusted
enough. Then she was landing on the other side and She hit the roof hard, pain jarring her bones and
making her stumble.[M6] John grabbed her
shoulders. “Good going! Let’s find Cliff.”
John grabbed her shoulders. “Good going! Let’s find Cliff.”
Vickie shook
off her pain and followed.
They
found the hatch to the fourth floor, removed it and dropped into the dimly‑lit
corridor. Vickie had seen run terrified down these
corridors over
and over in her worst nightmares, but. But
always at the end, strong arms had plucked her
from them.
No
strong arms but her own this time. She banishedpushed
the thought.
acid sting of fear away[M7] . Time enough for fearthat
later.
John
and Vickie ran, leapfrogging from door to door,
listening. As John
expected, this floor was Empty. Empty. All empty. John had explainedNot unexpected
but not to their advantage. It meant that the whole hotel had probably been
taken over by Fahrrad and his personal guard, which the ambassadors had John estimated
to be a couple dozen strong. In fact,It was
possible this had probably been Fahrrad’s retreat all
along, athe
hotel just
as a cover. Fahrrad would notmust be expecting
anyone to crack his hide‑out, as pretty ballsy to use it again
after Vickie’s escape, but he didmight
not know about Cliff’s previous visit.
John checked
his watch, held up both hands, then nodded toward the stairwell door. Ten minutes to go.
What if it her gut feeling was right? What if she
was doing the wrong thing, ignoring it? They had so little time. Once the
explosion went off Fahrrad would have no reason to keep Cliff alive.
The stairway doorknob rattled. Vickie jumped.
John yanked her under the stairs. The door slammed open, followed by
a. A long, loud string of Arabic curses. accompanied feet tramping up the stairs.
Vickie and John pressed themselves into the shadow of the stairs. shadows.
Then a voice spoke in English, one Vickie
remembered well. “Once the palace is rubble, kill him.”
Vickie froze. It was Fahrrad, confirming her
worst fears.
When
would
she learn to trust her instincts? Now.
Vickie
wheeled
out onto the stairs and started after them,up.
John hissed
and grabbed for her.
But her gut
was screaming at her hand, to stop her.
Irrationally, she evaded him and so loudly it even drowned out
her heart whooshing in her ears. She ignored John and ran lightly
up the stairs. After hundreds of flights on the stair machine, it
was easy.
She
got to the second floor landing and sawas just
the door just
swinging swung shut. Now John called softly after her, but she ran
for all she was worth up the remaining Men tramped down the corridor,
Fahrrad’s big hat prominent among them. The sight goosed her around the turn
and into the next flight. And after hundreds of flights on the stair
machine, she was worth quite a bit.
How
long now? Did
she have time to try every yellowed knob down the ratty corridor?
Did she have a
choice? She turned to the left, her hand pausing over the glass
knob. No.
Her gut
wrenched her away. It had been right before. She followed it
and swung to the right,room he’d occupied before. She grabbed the yellowed doorknob knob, twisted and
slammed the old wood door open. She heard a groan as she caught the guard on
the arm. in one motion.
Vickie rushed into the room and stopped
abruptly.
The last time she had seen him here heCliff
had commanded the room. Now he lay in the corner, blindfolded, gagged and
trussed up tighter than Houdini.
The guard lay on the bed, smoking a cigarette and
reading a magazine. He rolled to his feet the moment he saw her, flinging
magazine and stub away.
Vickie’s horror causedfroze
her to
wait too long. The guard had recovered and was coming atreached for
her. She stared at him, unable to move.
John
ran in
just then, , wound up, and took the guy down
with a quick look, and smiled, shaking hisroundhouse to
the head. “He’s out
cold,” he whispered. He raised and eyebrow at Vickie. “Maybe
you train faster than Cliff.”
“Two minutes, John.”
She
waved her hand no. “I’ve only used a rifle once, a handgun never. Look, there’s
no time to be elegant about this. GoI’ll take care
of Cliff. You go find the console and smash it. Hopefully it will
stop the explosion—but if not, the palace has been evacuated. I’ll look after Cliff.” John nodded and left..”
“Right.” John
nodded and left.
Vickie
walked overskidded
[M10] to the prone man
in the corner. She tried to untie the
blindfold, but her knees next to Cliff. She wrenched her
fingers got
caught inon the blindfold’s knot. This was no good. She searchedtossed a
glance around the room quickly for abut no knife or
scissors,
but found nothing. She even looked in
Cliff’s stood out. She
turned back to Cliff and delicately searched his waistband, blushing. Still nothing. One her blush automatic. Time was
ticking. There couldn’t be more than a minute to go. She wondered how long it would take and Fahrrad’s goons were on the floor below.
Now would be a good time for the Mounties to show up, or whatever Kulinahr’s
reinforcements to arrive.
Once the minute was up, Fahrrad would almost certainly come to see if
Cliff’s sentence had been carried outwere called.
[M1]This
is backwards. Cause (John's plan) should come before effect (parking a block
from the hotel). I also had to change the rest of the paragraph so I cut it.
[M3]Very
apparent in this chapter that I've changed as a writer. I've chopped swathes of
description for short snappy action.
[M5]The
only way this would make sense would be if Vickie were an unreliable narrator,
which she's not. If she says it, she means it.
[M6]Again,
the difference between "telling" what's going on and showing it.
Bonus, it reminded me that a jump that far will have an impact. Much more real.
[M8]I've
been editing this over the better part of a year and frankly, I don't remember
if I set the character up with an inability to trust her instincts. But I like
it :) So I expanded on it here and left myself a note to add it in the
beginning if it doesn't exist (and if it works with the story overall).
[M9]The
impact here is Vickie's reaction to seeing Cliff trussed and helpless. That's
romance. But the rest of the scene has a sort of haze over it. Where's the
guard? Where is Cliff? Not every detail needs to be painted but the important
ones definitely need to be clear.
