“Absolutely.”
I glanced at my watch again.
“How much time do we have?” Jason asked.
“We?”
He nodded and dug into his pocket for another set of keys. “I’ll drive.”
“You’ve been drinking,” Betty said, her expression soft but as hard as marble. There would be no arguments brooked on her watch.
“I can drive you.”
We all turned to see Halle standing there. She held up a twenty. “I forgot to pay so I came back.” Her gaze flitted to me then darted away just as quickly. “I haven’t had anything to drink. We can take my truck.”
It looked like I had little choice. “Will it get me there in forty-two minutes?”
The smug countenance that spread across her face almost doubled me over. She stole a line from one of my favorite movies and said, “Which floor?”
Chapter Three
It’s never as funny to the police as it is to us.
—Meme
Dominic Toretto had nothing on Halle Nordstrom. She weaved in and out of traffic like a street racer on speed. Unfortunately, we’d hit rush hour, so there was a lot of weaving.
The first few minutes of the drive were utterly silent. I didn’t want to distract her, which was a great excuse to keep my mouth shut. I had no idea what to say anyway. But once she made it to the main highway, she relaxed and instigated the conversation herself.
“So, this kid. He’s going to die soon?”
I checked my watch yet again and tried to keep my adrenaline from spiraling out of control. “Yes. Very.”
She nodded in thought, then asked, “Do you know how?”
“Yes, and no. I don’t know if he’s going to jump or fall. It could be an accident. He had a lot to drink.”
The quick look she cast my way was full of fear. “Should we call the cops?”
I winced. The police and I didn’t always see eye to eye. They tended to complicate things. Asked questions like, “Where did you get this information?” and “How did you know she was going to be murdered with a hacksaw before it happened?” I learned early on not to rely on them.
“They could beat us there,” she argued. “They could stop him if we don’t make it.”
She was right, of course. I nodded. “We should try to get ahold of his dad, too.” I took out my phone to text Jason for the contact info while Halle talked to the cops.
“I don’t know,” she said to dispatch, feigning hysterics. At least, I hoped she was feigning. “I just saw a kid on the roof like he was going to jump! Please hurry!” She hung up before they could ask her anything else.
“You’ve had acting experience?”
She smirked. “Haven’t we all?”
Right again. “Think they’ll send someone?”
“I hope so.”
I studied her profile for a minute, like the alabaster statue of a wood sprite. My phone dinged, and I tore my gaze off her. “Jason’s been trying to get ahold of the dad. He’s not picking up.” I checked my watch. “How much longer?”
“Ten minutes,” she said, swerving onto the shoulder to maneuver around a truck.
My stomach clenched tighter with every second that passed.
Once we were back on the actual highway, she tossed me an apologetic grin. “Make that nine.”
“And you were a stunt driver in a past life?”
“Sorry. I won’t do that unless I absolutely have to. It’s too risky. If we get pulled over now… Let me know if you see a cop.”
“Will do,” I said, my voice suddenly hoarse. “I thought you didn’t believe me.”
“I don’t, but I also don’t want to be responsible for someone’s death if I could’ve done something about it and didn’t.”
“Welcome to my world,” I said with a breathy scoff. I’d never asked for any of this shit. Fucking demon.
We exited the freeway and hit downtown Spokane at the height of rush hour. Bumper-to-bumper traffic brought us to a standstill, and my lungs fought for air.
“I forgot about the hour.” She glanced around, looking for a quicker route before pulling half onto a sidewalk, throwing her truck into park, and pointing out the windshield. “That’s the building. It’s only a couple more blocks.” She turned the full force of an imploring gaze on me. “We have to run for it.”
The fact that she wore a sundress and sandals did not escape me.
Apparently, it didn’t escape her either. She opened her truck door, then looked back. “Don’t wait for me.”
“You sure?” I asked over the hood once I got out.
She nodded and gathered the folds of her skirt. “Go.”
I took off and didn’t look back, wending through pedestrians and vehicles alike until I came to the exact spot I’d seen in Zachary’s last moment. I peered up. Seven stories never looked so high.
“Here!” Halle said, rushing past me and into the building as the first drops of rain began to fall.
“How the hell—?”
“There’s an elevator!” She pointed and ran toward it.
As though a gift from the gods, the doors were already open. We tumbled inside, both of us struggling to fill our lungs, and then I remembered. “That’s right. It was raining in his final moment.”
She cast me a startled expression and pushed the button for the top floor. Our breaths synced, creating a rhythm in the quiet elevator.
“You’re fast,” I said between gasps.
She put a hand to her racing heart. “You’re faster. I could hardly keep up.”
“But you did. I’m impressed.”
“Those four years of track must’ve paid off.”
Apparently.
We bolted out of the elevator the second the doors opened and rushed up a set of stairs to the roof access. The steel door wasn’t locked, and I thanked the powers that be for small favors. When we burst through the door with guns blazing—metaphorically—we almost took out a uniformed cop.
“Officer,” Halle said, stopping short in surprise.
I checked my watch and ran past him. Three minutes.
“Did you make the call?” he asked Halle.
I didn’t hear her reply. I sprinted to the middle of the rooftop and did a three-sixty, but the only other person on the roof was a burly maintenance man, his gray shirt spotted with fresh raindrops.
“Are you Eric?” he asked as he walked toward me. Clearly, Jason had gotten ahold of Zachary’s dad.
“I am.”
“I’m Bobby.” He took my hand. “I don’t know what’s going on, but Zachary isn’t here.”
Fuck. Did he jump already? No way. He couldn’t have. The time thing was never wrong unless… Unless he jumped but didn’t die when he landed. If it took him a few minutes to pass, for his heart to stop beating, I wouldn’t see the actual jump. I would only see when his soul left his body.
I turned back to Bobby. “Which side is the front of the building?”
He pointed to my right. I rushed to the edge and looked over. A ledge capped the sixth level of the historic brick building with just enough depth for a person to walk on. No Zachary. And no body on the ground. I spun around, confused, then looked at my watch. Two minutes. What the hell?