and Jade couldn't help smiling.
He leaned back and glanced up at the screen, but he couldn't focus on it, even for a moment. Just images and noises flashing overhead. He wondered if the Atlasias could concentrate at all, sitting back there like living targets.
The door opened and Jade leaned forward. His breathing intensified as he waited to see a silhouette. He counted six seconds until the person appeared. The figure had on a dress and a woman's hat, but Jade didn't relax until he saw her face. He wasn't expecting Allander to walk in without a disguise.
He heard occasional gasps and chuckles from the audience behind him, and the kids on the field trip giggled from time to time. He kept his eyes trained on the entrances instead of the screen.
The movie seemed to drag on for an eternity. It was hot and stuffy in the theater, and Jade was sweating profusely. Finally he was convinced that Allander wasn't going to come. When he thought back to his meeting with Alissa Anvers, he felt foolish for being so confident about his plan. He sighed, leaned back in his chair, and waited for the film to end. A fat man thumped down the stairs on his right to go to the bathroom.
Jade heard some rustling behind him and turned around. Two of the girls from the field trip were headed out into the aisle. Probably just going to get a snack, Jade thought, turning back to face the screen. Whispering loudly to each other, they came down the aisle and sat in the front row, to Jade's left.
Jade wasn't concerned. They were just splitting off the group, wanting their own space. He stood up and started walking over to them to tell them to move.
The doors on both sides of the theater opened at once. The artificial yellow light of the lobby fell in triangles on the fronts of the aisles. Jade whipped his head back and forth, feeling concern take hold inside him. Allander might have waited until someone else entered the theater on the other side, knowing it would create a diversion.
Jade froze, not sure which way to move. The film projection ran over his face and torso, and he had to turn from the glare.
The screen above was almost completely dark. 'Put out the light, and then put out the light,' Orson Welles growled as his hand sneaked into the bottom of the screen and extinguished a candle.
People in the audience started yelling at Jade.
'Down in front!'
'Hey! Do you mind?'
''Scuse me, sir, we can't exactly see through you!'
Jade could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He had about three more seconds until the figures would make it up the stairs and into the theater.
If Allander was waiting for the ideal moment, it was right now. And Jade was not in control of the situation. He decided to throw secrecy out the window, and he started whispering loudly to the two girls to his left.
'You two! Up! Get out of the way!'
They looked at him nervously and half-stood to leave. Jade pivoted back and forth, checking the two doors while waiting for the girls to move. No one yet.
People behind him kept shouting.
'Hey! Shut up pal!'
'Why don't you sit down instead of yelling at those-'
'— can't fucking see-'
Jade turned to check on the Atlasias and was almost blinded by the stream of light from the projector. He caught a quick glimpse of Darby's face and she looked terrified. Thomas had his arm around her and he was pulling her down the row away from the aisle, just as Jade had instructed. In case of emergency.
Jade couldn't move in one direction or the other until he saw the figures entering the theater. Now he was yelling at the girls. 'Get out of the way!'
They stood still, frozen in fear. Behind him, the theater filled with the sounds of angry viewers.
Jade felt as if he was moving in slow motion. The only thing he could hear was the pounding of his heart. It seemed to fill the whole theater, drowning out even the people behind him.
He swung back to his right and saw the person entering the theater. It was the fat man who had left to go to the bathroom. A figure flashed into view to his left and then disappeared behind the two girls. It was a male.
Jade could taste the sourness of his panic along the sides of his tongue. He had to move. Whether he was right or wrong, he had to move now. If that person got past him, it could be too late.
He jumped up onto the ledge that ran in front of the screen and sprinted toward the left side, his dark figure racing across the flickering black and white of the film. Light swirled across his body like tattoos. The two girls remained in their awkward half crouch, their mouths open. A few women in the audience screamed.
The man was moving quickly up the aisle and Jade leaped over the heads of the two girls, targeting the man's back. He hit him at the waist about five feet up the aisle, swinging one arm under his shoulder and across the back of his neck, and locking him instantly with his cheek smashed to the sticky floor. He rolled him over, his fist reared back, ready to slam down. It wasn't him. It wasn't Allander.
The audience was in an uproar, yelling and swearing and running. The lights came up and the film shut off. A manager's recorded voice boomed over the speakers. 'Please exit the theater calmly and slowly. We are experiencing some technical difficulties. Do not push and shove.'
The man looked back at Jade, confused terror glazing his eyes, but not a hint of anger. Jade stood quickly, shoving himself up off the man's back. People ran by them on both sides and Jade started pushing his way back to the Atlasias.
I'm not going to lose them, he thought.
A large man purposely blocked his path. Jade didn't see him at first through the crowd and his face collided with his chest. A large football stretched across the man's shirt with the number 22 underneath it.
Jade looked up at the huge, unshaven, football player. Probably a college lineman. He had a confident smirk on his face and a cowering blonde girlfriend to one side. He was out to look impressive.
Jade punched him once in the stomach, dropping his shoulder so his fist would hit just under his ribs, on the rise. The football player coughed loudly and staggered forward, bent at the waist. Jade brought his elbow down in a full swing, cracking him on the back of his head. He crumpled heavily to the floor.
Shoving the girlfriend out of the way, Jade blazed through the rush of people, up the aisle. He cut down one of the rows and jumped off a seat back. It bucked wildly under his weight, but he managed to stumble into another jump, landing off balance, next to the Atlasias. He pushed them roughly behind his back and turned, shielding them with his body.
The agent disguised as a security guard burst through the entrance, flattening a pair of teenaged boys against the door frame.
Jade waved him off. 'We're covered in here. Concentrate on the front.'
The agent nodded and held up his arm to stop the other agents who were heading toward him. He glanced back at Jade, then disappeared into the stream of people leaving the theater.
Jade had instructed the other agents to clear the area in case of an incident, and he was angry that they had wasted time by checking on him.
Darby's nails pried into his biceps as she held her balance. The three of them waited together, breathing heavily as the theater emptied. After a while, the sound in the lobby died down.
Jade was drenched with sweat. Wiping his arm across his forehead, he cursed himself out loud. He had panicked and ruined the plan.
Darby started to say something, but Thomas shook his head, catching her eye. They stood quietly, holding on to Jade's arms, which were spread behind him protectively like a pair of wings.
Finally, Jade led them out of the row and down the aisle. They walked from the dark theater toward the bright light of the exit.
Chapter 45
They sat in the living room, silently surveying the dark brown carpeting. Darby wore a glazed expression, her
