One Last Time

16

Chimney

Chimney stood in the dark hallway, groping around for the wall. His wrist awkwardly jammed into the bricks and a loud sigh of relief echoed through the hallways. He'd sworn he saw Bobby and Athena head downstairs. However, they hadn't come up and his gut was telling him, something was wrong.

    He shuffled through the tight hallway, squinting his eyes to peer into the blackness. A thought about calling out for them crossed his mind, yet that would be a giveaway if there were a killer downstairs.

    After all, this killer murdered Stephanie and William Hanson, Chimney later learned that was the name of the old man, the second victim. There were no obvious connections between the two victims. Nothing made sense, no motivation, nothing. Yet, his years as a firefighter and paramedic proved that a person never truly knows what's happening in a person's mind.

    "And you didn't think to tell us?" a familiar voice rumbled in the distance.

    Athena.

    Suddenly heedless, Chimney raced down the hallway, sprinting towards her voice. He whipped into the doorway, catching himself with the doorframe.

    Darrius stood in the middle of the room, his posture perfectly straight. Chimney could feel hairs on the back of his chest rising. Bobby and Athena stood confronting him, both shorter, their arms crossed.

    Darrius sweated nervously, "For Christ's sake, close the door! You don't need to let the world know."

    Chimney realized the comment was directed at him. Athena and Bobby craned their necks over their shoulders, looking at him. Chimney shut the door tightly until it clicked.

    "What's going on?" Chimney asked ominously.

    "It appears that Darrius was going to explain why he has a working generator and a radio," Athena barked.

    Chimney tilted his head, "Well did you call emergency services?"

    Darrius exhaled, "Listen, I just got it working this morning. I only used it to call emergency but the bridge is still down and they told us to sit tight. I mentioned the crazy psycho but there's no way for them to get us an entire team here. "

    Bobby nodded slowly, "But who were you talking to? Just now?"

    Chimney raised an eyebrow as Darrius' face turned redder.

    "It was– my wife," Darrius admitted. "I just missed her, I had to tell her not to worry."

    The mutual understanding Darrius strived for wasn't a complete success as Chimney noticed Bobby and Athena exchanging glances. Perhaps they were just grateful that they were both here together.

    "Listen," Athena demanded. "If you can call your wife, I'm making one call to run a background check on Malik."

    "You got it," Darrius replied, his tone laced with self-abasement.

    Athena quickly jumped into a spinning office chair, scooting close to the radio. Darrius handed her a pair of headphones. He helped her push some buttons and turn a dial. Chimney watched intently. If there were a creepy man with an axe, he'd better know how to call for help on this thing.

    "Hello?" Athena spoke firmly into the handheld radio. "Yes, this is Athena Grant, from the Los Angeles Police Department.... Mhm... Yeah... I need a background check, can you dispatch me?"

    There was silence, Chimney anxiously fidgeted with his ring on his hand. He closed his eyes, dreaming of his daughter, who he missed more than he could've imagined. At least she was safe. Not starving like the vast majority of people here. Not cold without the furnace working. Not scared of a murderer running around.