Shadow's Turning- Part 11

 “What should we do?” I asked, my head spinning at the implications.

Had Mindy reported me after all?  Or maybe the noise had alerted the neighbors.  But the nearby buildings had looked like businesses.  I doubted anyone had stayed past dark.

Birch went to the window and opened the shutters, looking down at the street below.

“They’re already here.”

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the door.  I snagged my bag on the way, wishing I’d put more in it.

From the looks of things, who knew when I’d be able to come back.

Shoving that thought to the back of my mind, I hurried behind Birch as we got to the elevator and he punched the up button.

“Up?”

“Only way left,” he said tightly, stepping in as the doors opened.

“Maybe…maybe we should just turn ourselves in,” I said nervously, the tug on my stomach as we began moving up not helping the queasiness that had settled in there.

He turned me toward him, his hands firm on my shoulders as he leaned his face in close to mine.

“They don’t care about you.  Do you think they’re going to put you in a nice cell where you’re going to wait for a court date and a jury of your peers to review evidence?”  He shook me roughly.  “Wake up, Sara.  Run.  Run or stay and wish you had.”

He turned away from me as the doors opened on the top floor.

This time he grabbed my hand, his dry palm meeting my sweaty one.

We pounded up the stairs to the door that led to the roof.  Removing the bars, he chucked them onto the landing and opened the heavy door.

The roof was flat under our feet, the breeze a stiff wind this high up.

I was still squinting at the bright sunlight as he led me over to the side of the building opposite the street.

He released the fire escape ladder and I watched as it opened, sliding down to the alley below.

Sliding way down.

I closed my eyes and leaned back as vertigo took a hold of me.

“I’ll go first.  Just don’t look down, ok?”

I nodded, wishing I hadn’t already done so.

He swung over the side easily and quickly disappeared as he went down a few rungs.

“Alright, your turn.”

Right.

I kept my eyes on my hands as I straddled the edge and reached down with a foot.

Hands guided it to the first rung.

I could do this.

Swinging my other foot over to join the first, I went down the next rung.

I held my breath as I slowly descended, trying not to think about how high up I was or how far down the fall would be.

All that mattered was the next rung.

A couple of times I had had to pause for a second and Birch called out whispered encouragement.

I kept going for what felt like forever, the edge of fear sharp the whole way.

“Got you.”

I started as large hands wrapped around my waist, tugging me away from the ladder.

I sagged a little against him as relief at having both feet firmly on the ground washed over me.  He stiffened in surprise and I straightened quickly, embarrassed.

I didn’t have time to dwell on it as he grabbed my hand again and pulled me along to a door that had been propped open in the building on the other side of the alley.

An anemic-looking young man stood next to it, puffing away at a cigarette as he watched us with disinterested eyes.  We hurried through into a narrow, winding hallway.

It opened up into a smallish entryway with a pair of solid double doors.

We were almost to them when they burst open to reveal a group of uniformed officers.