the buzzer once more.
“It’s just the UPS man,” Faith said, letting out a relieved breath.
Lee didn’t take his eyes off the screen. “Is that right?” He hit a
button on the screen that obviously moved the camera, as Faith found
herself now staring at the street in front of the building. Something
that should have been there wasn’t.
“Where’s his truck?” she said, her fear abruptly returning.
“Excellent question. And the fact is I know the UPS guy on this route
real well, and that’s not him.”
“Maybe he’s on vacation.”
“Actually, he just got back from a week in the islands with his new
bride. And he never comes at this time of the morning. Which means
we’ve got a big problem.”
“Maybe we can get out through the back.”
“Yeah, I’m sure they forgot to cover the rear.”
“There’s only the one man.”
“No, he’s the only one we can see. He’s got the front. They probably
want to flush us out the back right into their arms.”
“So were trapped,” she managed to whisper.
The buzzer rang again and Lee reached out his finger to hit the
intercom button.
Faith grabbed his hand. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m going to see what he wants. He’ll say UPS and I’m going to let
him in.”
“You’re going to let him in,” Faith repeated dully. She glanced at his
pistol. “What, and have a shoot-out in your apartment building?”
Lee’s face hardened. “When I tell you to move, you move your ass like
a T-Rex is breathing down your neck.”
“Move? Move where?”
“Just follow me. And no more questions.”
Lee hit the intercom button, the man identified himself and Lee touched
the door release. As soon as he did, he activated the apartment’s
alarm system, whipped open the front door, grabbed Faith by the arm and
pulled her out into the hallway. There was a door across from Lee’s
apartment. It had no apartment number on it. As Faith listened to the
UPS man’s footsteps echoing in the building down below, Lee already had
unlocked the door. They were through it in an instant and he quietly
closed and locked the door behind them. The place was very dark, but
Lee obviously knew his way around here. He led her to the back,
through another door that opened up into what looked like a back
bedroom, from the little Faith could see.
Lee opened another door in the room and motioned Faith in. She stepped
through and almost immediately felt a wall against her. When Lee
joined her, it was a very tight fit, like a telephone booth. He closed
the door and the darkness became blacker than anything Faith had ever
experienced before.
He startled her when he spoke, his breath tickling her ear. “Right in
front of you there’s a ladder. Here are the rungs.” He gripped her
hand and guided it until her fingers touched the rungs. Lee continued
whispering. “Give me your bag and start climbing. Take it slow. I’ll
sacrifice speed for silence right now. I’ll be right behind you. When
you get to the top, just stop. I’ll take it from there.”
As she began to climb, Faith started feeling severely claustrophobic.
And, because she had lost her bearings, she was becoming queasy. Now
would be such a perfect time to lose the contents of her stomach,
little though it was.
She moved her hands and feet slowly as she went up. Then, gaining
confidence, she started to pick up her pace. That was a mistake
because her foot missed a rung, she slipped and her chin painfully
clipped one of the rungs. But then Lee’s strong arm was round her in
an instant, holding her up. She took a moment to steady herself, tried
to ignore the pain in her chin and kept climbing until she felt the
ceiling above her head and then stopped.
Lee was still on the rung right below her. Then he suddenly moved up
on the same rung she was on, his legs on either side of hers so that
her legs were pinched between his. He leaned against her with
increasing force, and she wasn’t sure what he was trying to do. It was