[Quinn 04] - The Silenced

Nate pulled the key out of the lock, then swept up her purse and handed it to her.

“Hold this,” he said.

Out of reflex, she did. He then lifted her over his shoulder in more or less a fireman’s hold.

“Put me down,” she said.

“If you keep talking, they’ll kill us,” he said.

Just then the door to apartment 25, two down from Liz’s place, opened. An old woman stuck her head out.

“Qu’est-ce que vous faites?” she asked.

“Rien. Tout va bien. Rentrez a l’interieur,” Nate said, reassuring her there was nothing going on she needed to be concerned about.

“You speak French, too?” Liz said.

“A little.”

The woman looked at them for a moment longer, then closed her door.

Nate, with Liz still over his shoulder, began moving toward the stairs.

“What else did you lie to me about?” Liz asked.

“Not as much as you might think,” Nate said between breaths.

He could hear the elevator moving. Up or down, he didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. The next time the door opened on this floor, Julien’s pseudo colleagues would be behind it.

He turned for the stairs, but he couldn’t carry her down, so he lowered her to her feet.

“You have to do everything I tell you or this won’t go well. Understand?” He was using his best no-bullshit voice.

She nodded. He could see in her eyes that maybe she was finally getting it.

“We go down. Quickly but quietly.”

But before they had even gone one step, Nate heard someone on the stairs several floors below heading up.

“Dammit,” he said. “Back down the hall.”

She followed him without question this time. Behind them, he could hear the elevator stop for several seconds, then start up again. Then he noticed the doorway at the far end of the hall.

“What’s that?” Nate asked. He was pointing at the door.

“Emergency stairway. An alarm sounds when you open it.”

The alarm was a problem, but not as much of a problem as getting shot in the hallway.

The door to apartment 25 opened again, and the old woman stepped into the hallway.

“Si vous n’arretez pas, je vais appeler la police!”

Nate veered toward her and pushed Liz through the open door.

“Vous ne pouvez pas rentrer ici!” the woman protested, trying to block the way.

“Je suis desole,” Nate apologized. “S’il vous plait, rentrez a l’interieur.”

The woman didn’t move.

Liz reached out and pulled the woman by the shoulder back inside the apartment. “Madame Gerard, s’il vous plait.”

Nate looked at Liz. “Shut the door, and don’t answer it unless you know it’s me.”

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“To distract them.”

“But you’ll be back?”

He flashed a quick smile. “As soon as I can. Promise me you’ll stay here.”

“I’ll stay,” she said.

He turned and headed straight for the emergency stairway. He could hear the elevator behind him start to slow down. It would only be a few seconds before the doors opened and the others spilled out.

Nate checked to make sure Liz and Madame Gerard were safely inside, then he threw open the door. An alarm began to wail as he raced down the stairwell.

Come on, he thought. Come on.

He banged against the wall on the second floor landing and kept heading down. When he reached the first floor, he finally heard footsteps on the stairs above him.

With a sense of relief, he raced to the ground floor, then burst out the exit onto the sidewalk.

Forty-five seconds later Julien and two other men ran out the door. By then Nate was across the street, leaning against the opposite building like he’d been there all day.