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“That’s the alley, miss.” Henry collected their discarded plates. “For the garbage and stuff. Not nice.”
She ignored them both and started down the short hallway, obviously wanting to avoid the other customer.
“I’m coming,” Will called. He had no idea what was going on with her, but he didn’t want her to be on her own. He glanced at Henry. “Lock the front door now.”
“Hurry.” She waited for him before rushing out the service door.
He followed her into the small cul-de-sac full of trash cans. “Stick with me,” he said. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“I’m more interested in losing him.” Her face turned grim as she charged ahead. “And I need to get uptown.”
“There a subway station only a few blocks away.”
“If I miss my train…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get home.” One way or the other. He took her hand. “We need to be careful. This alley opens onto the block next to the deli and if the guy is still standing in front he will see us.”
They wove around the garbage cans and dumpsters in the narrow passage as quickly as possible. Shadows cloaked the exit of the alley. To his left, lay the deli—and the lone figure standing outside.
At that moment, Henry turned off the lights, throwing the man and the sidewalk into darkness. Sweat trickled down Will’s back. Now the dude would be harder to track.
They rushed down the block in the opposite direction and rounded the corner before stopping. Gwen clung to his arm, her body shaking. “I think he saw me.”
“Put this on.” He shed his jacket. “It’ll hide your sweater.”
She juggled her tote to push her arms into the sleeves and closed the zipper. “Uh-oh. I hear him coming.”
The edge of panic riding her voice rocked him, and adrenaline poured through him. The sound of footsteps grew louder. They might belong to someone else, but that didn’t matter. They would still take evasive action. “We can lose him.”
Halfway down the next block he ducked into another office building through the door that remained accessible until midnight for patrons of the restaurant and bar on the top floor. Where his colleagues were now getting drunk.
Gwen tugged him to a stop. “Do you know where you’re going?”
“This is a little detour to the subway station,” Will explained. “The most direct route would have taken us past Henry’s deli.”
“Are you sure?” She swiveled to look at the way they’d come, holding her dark hair away from her face.
“Yes. I know this area well.” He took in her doubtful expression and raised his eyebrows, needing her to trust him with this. “Okay?”
“Fine.”
He lifted a hand to the night guard at his desk. “Just passing through.”
They strode down the marble-tiled lobby past the art deco panels rising to a high, gilded ceiling and passed through the elevator bay. He pulled her past the grill closing off a concession and newsstand tucked into a narrow connecting passageway. A short hallway led to exit doors onto a cross street. He caught her elbow and steered her that way.
A sudden premonition had him drawing her into an alcove that once housed pay phones. Outside the glass front doors, he caught movement. The guy with the long locks pushed on the handle and then cupped his eyes to peer inside.
Gwen leaned into his back and whispered. “What’s happening?”
The press of her body threatened to distract him, and Will squelched his body’s automatic reaction. “I saw the guy you’re trying to avoid.”
He waited a beat for her to explain who and what this was all about. When she didn’t, he continued, “He doesn’t know the doors are locked this time of night.”
“So how do we get out?”
“They’re locked from the outside. Like fire doors.” He gave the cold hand resting on his sleeve a quick squeeze. “Wait here. Let me see if he’s gone.”
She clung to his arm. “You’re leaving me here?”