The Letter Of The Law

CHAPTER 26

"Hey!"

Casey heard the shout from the corner of her dark elevator. There were footsteps running across the concrete, another shout and more footsteps, and the deafening roar of gunfire. The sound of the shots reverberated through the concrete containment. Casey bolted from the back corner of the car to the narrow wall adjacent to the open door. She pressed herself against the elevator's dead panel of buttons, hoping it gave her more protection.

Silence: A dim ghost of fluorescent light spilled into the car. Casey felt her heart thumping at a breakneck pace. Then more footsteps clacking along on concrete, moving more slowly this time, but deliberate and coming her way. Her mind spun. Should she scramble from her hiding place? Whoever had cut the power must know she was there. But there had been a distraction, someone running, someone being shot at. Was it the security guard or Tony? Either way, it might have given her time to flee from her small, dark prison. The steps continued to echo toward her.

She would wait, wait until he came to her, then spring on him with all the fight she had. Casey crouched, trembling, acutely aware of her overwhelming sensation of having to use the bathroom. The footsteps were twenty feet away… now ten. They stopped, and Casey thought she would scream. The faint sound of a man's heavy breathing froze her soul. She thought of all the things she had done and all the things she still wanted to do. She was too young to die. She had to wait. If she sprang now, she'd lose her only chance, the only opportunity at surprise, no matter how slight.

"Casey?"

The man's voice was low and rough, but quiet.

"Casey, I know you're there."

Trembling, ready to explode, Casey crouched even lower to the floor.

"Casey it's me Don Sales," came the voice "He's gone. Lipton's gone. He ran. You're safe. Come out, Casey"

Casey felt her limbs go limp. She slumped down to the elevator floor, shaking.

"Casey?"

"I'm here," she said softly.

Donald Sales knelt beside her, pulling her head to his chest. She felt his hand, big and strong, moving in slow, comforting circles on her back.

"It's all right," he told her. "He's gone."

After a minute, Casey regained her composure and rose to her feet, gently separating herself from him. She sniffed and brushed the hair back from her face.

"I'm fine," she said, somewhat embarrassed.

"You have to stay with me," he told her. "He'll get you if you don't. You've got to help me, Casey. I can stop him, but you've got to tell me everything you know."

"I will," she said. She could see that now, too. As crazy as it might sound, as crazy as it might be, she needed him. Things were out of control, and he seemed to be the only thing solid right now that she could grab on to. "How did you know I was here?"

Sales shrugged. "I followed you. After I left my uncle's, I went right to West Lake Hills to watch the entrance to your development. I knew he would come for you. He's obsessed… Shit, I can't believe he got away." Sales slapped the leg of his jeans.

"How did he do that to the elevator?" Casey asked. They were outside the elevator now, and despite Sales's presence, the garage was still eerie.

"Over here," he said, pointing to a utility room whose gray steel door was ajar.

Casey turned to him and asked desperately, "Why do you say he'll come back?"

"Because he will," Sales said unequivocally.

"So what do we do?" Casey asked, trying without success to smooth the anxious edge in her voice.

"Help me find him," Sales urged. "He's got to have a place he's hiding that's nearby. You've got to tell me where."

"I can't," she told him desperately. "I don't know where he is! I have no idea!"

"He was your client!" Sales argued.

"I've got his disk," she said, touching her pocket. "I'll let you see the whole thing, but just get me out of here."