Addiction part 1

Liu and John got out of the elevator on the wrong floor. Liu wasn’t sure why she had done that. After all the preparation that had gone into getting him here, why was she letting John escape? Hand in hand they walked down the richly carpeted halls past oriental vases seated upon hardwood tables and door after numbered door. She kept them walking until another elevator opened in front of them. Out stepped a short, red faced man in a uniform to match.

                “Sir, Mam, You are on the wrong floor.”

John’s forehead crinkled, “How do you know…” His voice cut off as Liu swung her the heavy purple bag into the hotel employee’s face. Cartilage crackled and blood ran down his nose as he stood there dazed, until his legs collapsed underneath him.

                Liu tried to pull John down the hallway but her ankle twisted and one of her heels snapped off. She cursed the man who invented high heels and kicked them off her feet and towed the still stunned John down the hallway. There was window at the end of the hall, open to allow the hot July air to escape, it was the only way Liu knew how to leave the building without alerting more of Thayer’s minions. John pulled her to a halt before they reached it.

                “Liu, why did you hit that guy?!” John pulled his hand from hers and balled them into fists.

                “John, honey, we need to get out of here.” Liu pulled at him trying to get him to follow her to the window. The down arrow above the elevator lit up and the doors closed. His eyes met hers, she hoped that those brilliant green orbs could see her desperation. As always he came through for her.

                “Okay.” He grabbed her hand and they ran to the window. They pushed a table with a vase on it out of the way.

                “Careful, those look expensive.”

Liu glared back at him.

                “Okay, okay not the time.”

She looked out the window, rising skyscrapers blocked the setting sun and a hoard of yellow taxi’s crowded the street. They were five stories up, much too high to jump when all there was to catch you was hard concrete. She scanned the ledge to the left and the right, on the corner of the building was a fire escape leading to an alley. That would work perfectly.

                She lifted the skirt to her dress and threw one leg out the window, John grabbed her before she got the rest of the way out.

                “Why can’t we take the stairs?”

                “There are more of them in the lobby.” Liu pulled out of his grasp and out the rest of the way onto the ledge. Only two feet wide, it would be difficult for John. She stood up and carefully picked her way towards the fire escape.

                “Curse it Liu! You are going to get yourself killed.” She looked back to see John’s heading poking out the window looking at her.

                She called back, “I’m fine, you need to hurry up.

                John pulled his head back into the building. Liu heard him say something.

                “Whoa, officers I’m unarmed.” A gun shot sounded followed quickly by a crash and a several more shots. John scrambled out onto the ledge behind her.

                “Nice to see you John.”

                His eyes were wide, “They shot the vase.”

                She turned back forward and smiled.

                They reached the fire escape at the same time as two police officers stuck their heads out of the window. Luckily the ladder itself was around the corner so they couldn’t be shot at anymore. They began to descend the ladder.

                “So, why did those cops shoot at me?” John seemed to have calmed down a bit.

                “They were probably working for Thayer.” Liu chewed on her cheek, she didn’t like where this was going to lead.

                “Who is Thayer?”

                “The guy trying to kill you, and me now I would guess.” Liu knew what he was going to say next.

                “Why?”

                “John this really isn’t the place.” She reached the bottom of the ladder.

                He climbed of after her. “Then where is?” He looked at her tapping his foot on the ground.

                “I don’t know.” The she got an idea. “Wait, Mogol’s we’ll be safe there, for a while at least.”

                “Who is Mogol?!”

                “He lives only a few blocks away, let’s go.” Liu ran down the alley. A few minutes she heard John fall in behind her, she kept her pace quick enough that he wouldn’t be able to talk.

They heard a crack from above.  She looked up to see that a wall had been torn from the side of a building, right where the room she was supposed to take John was. Where Thayer was. A shill screeched pierced through the air, followed by the rest of the wall breaking off the building and falling out onto the ground.

                Thayer was furious. Her betrayal must have set him off and now he was destroying everything in sight. Liu looked at John, his jaw hung open and he was trembling. Why had she saved him? Why had she betrayed a partnership that had lasted for over a decade?