DUALITY /#Wattys 2021

Chapter 13

She couldn't stay on the ground floor. Was down better than up? Thinking of janitorial closets and utilities and other good places to hide, Ridley supposed so. Ultratall skyscrapers like this one always had a deep subbasement. She'd have to find another exit later.

She found the door, slipped through, and started down. Her heart drummed against her ribs. When she'd descended two levels, she heard a buzz and a loud click that reverberated up and down the stairwell. All the doors had unlocked at once. That meant guards would be pouring into the stairwell; they knew she was in here.

She heard feet and voices above her. She looked up. A group of guards leaned over the railing. One raised his communicator, and, "Stairwell E, heading down," echoed off the walls.

She looked down and saw a group of guards rushing up from two floors below. Ridley pushed through the door of the level she was on.

No one stood in the hallway, but running feet approached from around a corner ahead of her. An elevator hummed on her left, and as she stood there in indecision, a bell pinged and a woman got off, resplendent in Guild business dress, peacock colors, hair piled high, a graceful fishtail dropping down the back of her peplum blouse over a bright midilength skirt. Floral perfume assailed Ridley's nose as she bustled past.

Ridley dove into the elevator and punched the button for four floors up; two floors above ground level. The doors closed; the elevator lurched. A minute later the elevator stopped, the doors opened again, and three other people got on. They hit their buttons—ground level. The building was emptying out as people left to go home.

Guards already swarmed that floor, and probably still in the stairwell, following her down to the floor she had just left. Her heart pounded in panic and she felt the sweat running down her sides. This mammoth of an office building certainly seemed big enough to hide herself somewhere, but were there hidden cameras? Probably.

The doors opened. Ridley inched to the threshold and listened so long the elevator pinged and she drew irritated sighs from the three businesspeople in the lift. "Come on, on or off?" snapped one middle-aged man, looking as if he wanted to hit her with his briefcase.

Ridley stepped out. There must be a stairwell at the other end of the building, too, she realized. It was worth a try. She headed down the hall at a mid-paced stroll, trying not to attract attention from anyone monitoring a camera she didn't happen to see, straining to hear footsteps behind or ahead of her. The hall was empty—she had thought right to try to escape in the late afternoon.

The corridor kinked left and right a few times, but Ridley kept going in the same general direction, knowing she'd hit the other end of the building sooner or later. And she did, but far down the hall in the dim light, she saw two guards in front of the door to the stairwell. Fear gripped her, sending a tightness through her chest and arms and a wave of pain through her head. She tried to flatten herself against the wall, but too late—one pointed at her. She heard, "We have a visual," and she bolted again.

They would catch up to her. All these guards were men, taller, with longer legs, and Ridley's head hurt and she was getting tired. Around the bend—was there a place to hide? She remembered an alcove with a chair, a table, a couch, and a vending machine in a recess in the wall. She put on a burst of speed, trying to get there in enough time. Sunlight lit a patch on the floor—she was close; she remembered passing a window there.

She stopped in front of the chair, sliding on a rug that wasn't taped to the polished floor. She looked up. The vending machine almost reached the ceiling, but it didn't matter. The wall was deeply recessed in front of it, and she could climb up there from the back of the couch.