phone.
She could call for help.
She edged toward her desk once more.
The police would arrive in mere minutes.
Relief flooded her.
A scrape of boot heel on concrete echoed just outside the door.
She froze.
He would hear her.
No matter how fast the police arrived it would be too late.
She’d already be dead.
She had to hide.
Leaving her shoes behind to aid in her stealth and moving as quickly as she dared for fear of making even the slightest sound, Kelly headed toward the lounge. She knew the floor plan by heart, which prevented her from bumping into anything since Ray was a stickler for everything being in its place.
Inside the bathroom she drew the door closed behind her. It was as dark as pitch but she didn’t dare turn on a light. She had to think. Had to hide.
They would likely look in the vanity cabinet which was the only place in the room she could conceal herself. There really was no safe place. Not Ray’s office, not the lobby or the lounge including the bathroom, definitely not in the small conference room. Not a single room in the entire suite offered any hope whatsoever.
She was dead.
Another whimper burgeoned in her throat.
Her fingers clenched more tightly around the disk.
No.
She had to get through this.
Had to do it for Ray and Ann.
Whoever had done this, she would see that they paid. If this disk contained evidence, she couldn’t let them find it. It had to be about the disk. He’d told the caller he had it, but apparently suspected there could be a copy. She stood on shaky legs and tucked the disk into the pocket of her slacks. Think, Kelly, she ordered. There had to be a way to do this.
There was a toilet, a small supply cabinet and the vanity in this room.
She looked upward. Though she couldn’t see a thing, she remembered the acoustic tiles that made up the ceiling. There would be room above them but she couldn’t be sure the slim framework would hold her weight. She couldn’t take the risk. If she broke anything or knocked something down he would know someone had been here.
Where could she hide?
Dammit! There had to be a place.
The ventilation return.
She stood stock still as she considered the possibility. It was in the corridor. The opening was twenty by thirty inches, she knew. She’d bought the filters often enough, even changed them on occasions. Her heart started to beat faster once more, this time with anticipation. That would work. Though she couldn’t escape that way since the duct would lead directly into the heating and cooling unit, she could hide.
Holding her breath, she exited the bathroom and moved noiselessly through the lounge. She listened intently for ten seconds before slipping back into the corridor. She prayed the killer was still outside.
He was supposed to be hanging around out front. He’d said he would wait. She chewed her lower lip and forced herself to think. She could sneak into Ray’s office and call for help. There wasn’t a phone in the lounge. But there was one in Ray’s office and in the conference room.
Why hadn’t she thought of that?
Stupid! Stupid!
She pressed against the wall and moved cautiously toward the conference room. Dark or not, she had no desire to go into Ray’s office with…with him in there dead.
“It’s about time.”
The words echoed from just outside the front entrance.
The sound paralyzed her.
More voices.
It was dark outside and she couldn’t see a damned thing, but she could hear.
She didn’t have time to make a call.
She had to hide.
Only two small latches held the grill closed over the return duct. She turned them one at a time, then drew the grill open. Her fingers trembling she moved the filter out of the way, setting it to one side in the duct. Sliding in feet first, she settled into the duct and then pulled the grill closed. The latches were a bit harder to turn from the inside, but she managed. Just as she angled the filter back into place footsteps echoed in the lobby.
They were inside.
She’d barely made it.
The seeking glow of flashlights moved about. Low voices murmured but she couldn’t make out the words. She eased as far into the long metal tunnel as she dared, putting as much distance between her and the opening as possible.
The heating unit kicked on and air from the corridor rushed over her, the roar of the unit drowning out all other sound. She made herself as small as possible and waited for the temperature in the office to reach the necessary point so that the thermostat would turn off the flow of air.
The irritating roar came three more times before the endless waiting was over. Between the blasts of climate-controlling activity, she heard the intruders rummaging through every filing cabinet, desk and supply cabinet in the entire suite that made up the financial consulting and investment firm of Raymond Jarvis. Tears stung her eyes. Ray was dead. She pushed the horror away and focused on figuring out what these awful people could be looking for. It didn’t make sense. They didn’t keep money here. No negotiable stocks or bonds. She simply had no idea. The whole thing was crazy. Unless…it simply was the disk in her pocket.
Had Ray done business with the wrong kind of people? She couldn’t believe that. She had access to his accounts and files. If there was anything under-handed going on it was definitely well hidden. She might not have any prior experience but she knew the signs to look for. Ray was clean, she was certain of it.
She thought of the disk he’d given her and his insistence that she take it home with her.
Had he suspected something like this might happen?
The grill on the return duct suddenly opened.
Kelly’s heart stuttered to a stop. Her breath evaporated in her lungs.
The filter poked inward and a pair of gloved hands felt along the surrounding walls. She pressed her face against her arms and held her breath.
“There’s nothing here.”
She didn’t dare lift her head until she heard footsteps retreating in the corridor. The grill door stood open, the filter bent and sticking haphazardly to one side, affording her scarcely any protection from view. But the inside of the duct was dark and so were her clothes. It wasn’t likely anyone
