The Sanctuary

Chapter 22

Hugging the partition wall, Mia lifted herself and shifted her weight so that she was now sitting on the railing, with neither leg touching the floor.

Corben held her hand as she inched her way across the smooth metal railing, actually managing not to look down.

“That’s it, keep going,” Corben egged her on, moving with her as she slid farther across, slowly and carefully, her knuckles white as they gripped the railing underneath her.

A sudden, loud crash from the kitchen unsettled her — the chair snapping out of its tight hold. Mia lost her grip and slid backwards. She screamed as she let go of the railing and tried to grab the wall she was straddling, but the glass blocks were too smooth to hang on to.

Corben lunged outwards and caught her. He pulled her upright and gave her a final push, sending her onto the neighboring balcony, where she landed with a thud and out of breath.

He stole one last glance into the kitchen before climbing over the railing and clambering across. The balcony door facing him was mercifully open. As he joined Mia, they heard the fridge scraping its way furiously across the kitchen floor under the bull-like shoves of the two killers. Corben hurried Mia inside, and they raced through the small apartment. There was no sign of the woman they’d met, which was just as well. She must have been cowering in a bathroom or under a bed, which is where Corben hoped she’d stay until they were all well out of the building.

He released the dead bolt on the front door and flung it open. The landing was quiet — the killers were still deep inside Evelyn’s apartment. He motioned to Mia and they rushed down the stairs. They had almost reached the first floor when they heard shouts and loud footfalls chasing down after them. Punctuating the renewed threat, several muffled rounds rocketed down the stairwell, sparking against the railing and hammering the limestone steps under their feet.

Corben and Mia flew down the stairs and rocketed out of the lobby and onto the sidewalk. Up the street was Corben’s Jeep and the hotel. Beyond the hotel was the killers’ parked Mercedes. Corben didn’t think he and Mia would have time to climb into the car and drive off before the killers hit the street, but he had a good chance of reaching his weapons cache, which would make a serious difference. With Mia at his side, he started to rush towards the Jeep, then spotted a man with the same hard expression striding towards them. The man’s hand was already reaching for the bulge under his jacket. The killers had left a fourth man guarding their car.

Mia had noticed him too. “Jim,” she cautioned.

Corben darted a glance down the street, mapping out their options. “This way.” He took her hand and they headed in the opposite direction, down the street, away from the hotel and the Jeep and its locked weapons cabinet.

They hurtled down the narrow sidewalk, jostling through startled pedestrians who called out angrily after them. Mia saw Corben peering over his shoulder and followed his gaze. She caught a glimpse of the android and another killer as they emerged from Evelyn’s building and joined one other man. All three were now rushing down the street after them. Her eyes rocketed wide as she spotted the android looking right at her. His fierce glare hit her like a punch to the gut.

He recognized her from last night. She was sure of it.

She felt a wobble in her legs at the realization, but mustered whatever willpower she had left and kept moving.

Corben was reasonably familiar with the area, and he knew their options were limited. The street was lined with stores and apartment-building entrances, neither of which would provide any cover. He knew the three killers wouldn’t back off, nor would they have any problem with gunning him down and grabbing Mia in plain sight. He also knew he had two or three rounds left in the handgun, which wouldn’t go a long way against stopping them. His eyes scanned the gaps and doorways for a miracle, and he spotted a dip in the sidewalk that announced an entrance ramp. A car emerged from the cavernous mouth of the underground garage, turned, and drove up the street, past them.

“In there,” he shouted to Mia as he took her hand and led her in.

They hastened down the curving ramp, their shoes slapping hard against the bare concrete surface and echoing like thunderclaps against the smooth walls around them.

They reached the main parking area, which was dotted with a forest of columns. Cars were tucked into the narrow bays between them. There was no sign of any attendant around, no stash of keys to raid. Corben scowled. They were boxed in.

The neon lights clicked off, plunging the underground garage into darkness. Corben turned to Mia, pointing at the other end of the space. “Go down to that far corner and hide under a car. Don’t make any noise, no matter what you hear.”

She caught her breath. “What are you going to do?”

“I’ll hold them off here. They’ll be exposed coming down the ramp, and if I can get one of them, I think the others will back off. Now go.”

He watched her scamper off into the dark recesses of the garage, then slipped between the cars and positioned himself behind a big sedan that was directly facing the ramp. He pulled out the automatic and cradled it in both hands and aimed it at the entrance, which was backlit from the street above. He silently hoped he hadn’t made a mistake in his mental count of spent rounds, and if he had, he hoped it was in his favor. His heart was still trying to pound its way out of his chest. He took in several deep breaths through his nose, blocking out the stench of oil and grease around him, calming himself, preparing himself for the shot.

He heard a clatter of footsteps hurtling onto the echoey ramp and suddenly dying out. The garage was bathed in silence. He knew the killers were now stealing down towards them. He flexed his fingers, then clamped them back onto the gun’s handle as he lowered himself into position.

A long, narrow shadow scuttled down the wall of the ramp, followed by two other dark, ghostly forms that merged into it. From the angle of the shadows on the wall, Corben knew the killers were crouched low. His entire body went rigid as he adjusted his aim and brought his finger back from the trigger guard and prepared to fire. Every shot had to count, and even then, the odds were stacked against him.

His pulse throbbing in his ears, he watched as the distorted shadow glided down the ramp wall and suddenly stopped. He ratcheted down his grip on the gun by a touch then retightened it, keeping the feel in his fingers on edge. He tried to edit out the sounds drifting down from the street and focus on any noise that would clue him into the killers’ progress, but there wasn’t any. He imagined what they would do, which depended on how desperate they were. Rushing in would probably lead to their overwhelming him, but they’d take a hit or two. Unless the gun he’d appropriated wasn’t fully loaded to begin with, which wasn’t even worth contemplating. He pushed the doubts away and concentrated on the shadow.

It didn’t move. It just stayed there, ominous, stalking him, taunting him.

Then he heard a sudden rush of footsteps and tensed up, his eyes scanning the wide opening like radars, his gun darting left and right across the narrow kill zone — a split second of adrenaline overload before he saw the shadow racing up, not down, the wall. The killers were retreating, and they were doing it in a rush. He kept his position, on high alert in case they were trying to draw him out, then he heard the distant wail of a siren getting closer.

The backup. They’d made it.

He bolted out from behind the car and charged up the ramp. He made it to the street in time to see the killers’ Merc pulling out of its parking space and tearing off into the distance. From behind him, two Fuhud cars came racing down and pulled up outside the Commodore. Cops armed with M16s poured out of the vehicles and secured the street while three officers charged up the steps and disappeared into the hotel.

Corben exhaled deeply, tucked away his gun, and headed back down the ramp to inform Mia that they were safe.

For now.