I had no idea who they were, but I couldn’t outrun them on foot. I charged through a gas station parking lot and darted down an alley, into a residential neighborhood as another squeal of tires and the gunning of an engine sounded. I swore up and down, praying I could outrun them and also wondering who the hell they were. Obviously, they’d been looking for me, checking with store owners.
Maybe they’d been the people who’d broken into my car. Had they been to my old apartment? All I knew was, they were chasing me now, and at least one of them was armed. I ran down the sidewalk, hearing another squeal of tires as the car—I had to assume it was theirs—turned the corner, right behind me.
I desperately looked for somewhere to hide and debated running up to someone’s door and pounding on it, begging to be let in, but there were families all over the place. The last thing I wanted to do was put a child in danger. My heart was pounding and my breath came in gasps as I tore down the sidewalk. They were right behind me as I approached another corner.
A three-story office building stood on the corner. I recognized it as a neighborhood urgent care center.
I ran toward it, knowing the car was closing the distance. I shot across the street and when someone hit the brakes, coming to a squealing stop, I waited for the sickening crunch of metal or the thud of a body. But no crash sounds came and I didn’t stop to see where they were. Gasping for breath, I raced through the building’s lobby doors as they swished open.
A security guard looked up as I ran up to the desk. “Can I—”
“Call the police! I’m being chased by an armed man!” I screamed, heading for a door. Using both hands, I punched the bar inward, and crashed into the stairwell, running for the stairs. I took them two at a time, knowing it was probably the stupidest thing I could’ve done since there was no way out but blind fear was pushing me on. They’d seen me and would be following in moments.
I ran anyway, climbing the first set of stairs to a landing, and then a second set. I yanked my phone out and hit speed dial. Thank God I’d programmed in Patsy’s number last night. I hitthe third-floor landing and slammed into another door just as the call connected.
“Hello there, Wes. How yer goin’?”
“Patsy! Those men are chasing me!” I screamed into the phone as I barreled down the hallway. Several office doors were off the hallway but the very idea of running into one of them, endangering everyone inside, was out of the question.
“What men?” The sexy sweetness in his voice was replaced by an urgency that frightened me.
I tried to gulp in air, feeling my heart beating wildly in my chest. “The two guys who beat up Father Gilmartin and the guy from the sketch. He has a gun, Patsy!” I yelled as I spotted a sign for a second stairwell at the end of the long hall. I ran at full speed even though my lungs were burning from lack of air.
“Where are ya?” he yelled, cursing. He said something to someone and paused. “No, it’s not a smartphone so we can’t track him, dammit!”
“Don’t…have…address,” I gasped as I ran. “Medical office building… two blocks southeast of Rami and Raj’s store. Saw them there!” At the end of the hall, I hit the bar for the door and tumbled into the stairwell. Two sets of stairs, one to the roof, the other downstairs.Make a decision, make a decision,I chanted in my head, the panic rising.
But I ran for the roof, climbing the stairs two at a time. Patsy sounded breathless too, barking orders to someone, but I only caught a few words. Running and holding the phone to my ear was hard work.
“Hang on, Wes! We’re on the way!” Patsy yelled just as I reached the landing. I hit the security bar and spilled out onto the gravel roof.
“I’m on the roof!”
Patsy screamed something about diverting a bird in the air.
I looked around frantically, seeing nothing on the flat roof but a couple of large electrical and air conditioning unit boxes. I ran for one of them and ducked behind it, praying they wouldn’t think to look for me up here. If they did and decided to inspect the unit—I was dead.
They’d clearly been searching for me.
I felt sick to my stomach, even as I bent over, trying to catch my breath. I felt like I was going to throw up as I sucked in huge lungfuls of air. Leaning against my metal hiding place, I slowly slid down to the gravel as my legs gave out on me, listening for someone to open the door.
“Wes! Wes, are ya still there?” Patsy yelled into the phone over a cacophony of noise. I didn’t know where he was, but it sounded chaotic.
“I’m here, Patsy. On the roof of the medical building. There’s an urgent care on the ground floor, with two stories above it.” I heard an oddwhirringsound. It took me a few seconds to realize it was a helicopter.
“We’ve got yer location, three minutes out.”
Three minutes?I felt like throwing up. That was way too long. I didn’t want to scare him, but I was terrified myself. “Hurry, Patsy.”
“I’m comin’. Uniforms also respondin’. Stay on the phone with me.”
I nodded, more for my own benefit than his.
I shifted, looking around the AC unit at the door. There was no lock and nothing on the roof to block it. I slid back down,terrified as I shut my eyes, willing myself to calm the fuck down. Panicking would do me no good at all. I only had to hang on for two and a half minutes more. I shut my eyes and sent up a silent prayer that Patsy hadn’t been exaggerating.
“Wes?”
I startled at Patsy’s voice, forgetting for a moment that he was still with me. “I’m here.”
