Wrong Place

It's Raining Trouble

"Everyone down!" Don yelled and all of us hit the floor.

"This is the problem I was coming to tell you about." The third guy, who I assumed to be Miles, told him. "They must have found out about the operation somehow. The guys in the van were all dead when I got down there."

"Damn it!" Don cursed. A bullet whizzed by my head and imbedded its self in the wall behind me. A few seconds later a burning sensation erupted in my right shin and I looked down to see blood streaming from a three-inch-long gash in my jeans where a bullet had grazed me.

Suddenly the rain of bullets stopped and the room settled into a tense silence. After a few minutes the others got cautiously to their feet and looked around at the destruction. I followed suit after a moment and inhaled sharply as my eyes swept the room. Everything was riddled with holes and the floor was covered with stuffing form the mattresses and pillows. The chair Mira had been sitting in before was lying on its side with two of the four legs missing, probably shot into splinters.

The only thing that had escaped unscathed was, ironically, the glass vase sitting on the night stand between the two beds. It seemed oddly out of place amid the wreckage with its pristine yellows blooms and polished glass surface. As I stared at it I became aware of the fact that the other three people in the room were all speaking into their cell phones and generally paying no attention to me. Realizing this might be my only chance to escape, I inched my way towards the door the pain in my leg reigniting with the first step. I had just placed my hand on the handle when a voice spoke up behind me.

"Where do you think you're going?" Don asked. Somehow, he seemed a lot less threatening now that he was no longer pointing a gun at me.

I took a deep breath to steady myself then said in an only slightly shaky voice "As far away from you people as I can get."

"You're not going anywhere until I've determined whether you had a hand in this or not." Don told me. I could tell by his expression that he was deadly serious, but then so was I. There was no way I was going to stick around to be shot again or arrested... again.

"Stop me." I retorted, then yanked the door open and ran down the hall. Maybe not the best plan considering that he had a gun but I have a problem with authority

Heavy footsteps thudded behind me and I knew that Don was following. Elevators were out of the question so I ran right by them without a second glance. Hoping to god my instincts were right I looked ahead and nearly stopped in relief when I saw the sign for stairs. Pouring on the speed I rammed through the door to the stairwell and practically jumped the entire first flight. Barley managing to land on my feet, I took off down the second flight in a more traditional manor. I could hear Don about ten feet behind me talking to someone on his cell phone, telling them to seal off all entrances to the hotel. Great. Even if I managed to give him the slip there was no guarantee I would make it out of the building. Half running, half falling down the last set of stairs I burst through to door onto the ground floor and sprinted to the right without hesitation. Something on the wall in front of me caught my eye, something red and square. Not stopping to think, I pulled the small bar on the fire alarm down then resumed running. Instantly alarms started to blare and people started streaming out into the hallway.

Slowing slightly, I managed to wedge myself into the center of the crowd and let them coral me along towards the nearest exit. I shrugged off my messenger bag and let it dangle from one arm then pulled my long blond hair back to weave it into a quick braid. I spotted a suit case lying abandoned on the floor and bent down to scoop it up as I passed. Shoving my jacket into the front pocket, I saw the exit up ahead and let out a sigh of relief. As I let the suit case drop to the ground so I could drag it behind me I felt an overwhelming urge to look back. Knowing that it would only give Don the opportunity to spot me again I resisted and managed to keep my eyes fixed forward.