Page 42

AMITY

I give the handle an experimental pull, and the door opens smoothly. I poke my head into the stairwell, listening. There’s no sound, so I slip through the door and look up, my eyes taking in the stairs leading up another floor and beyond.

Then I hear a soft click behind me. It’s not what I was expecting to hear. I turn around and check—the door is locked!

Shoot. I don’t want to rattle it too much but I tug a couple times and it stays resolutely shut. Now I see the card slider to the right of the door.

I check for security cameras, but there are none. I’m not exactly practiced at covert missions. I look longingly down the stairs. Every instinct is telling me to go down, search for a way out of here. What’s Vale going to do if I don’t come back?

But here I am, and I can see the landing for the fourth floor above me.

I climb the stairs quietly and turn to where the stairs keep going up.

This must be the roof access we were looking for!

Maybe I can get the laptop now. But where would I put it?

All I have is my little purse. I continue climbing up.

The stairs are narrow above the fourth-floor landing, the railing a rough metal rather than the smooth wooden balustrade from below.

A small landing greets me at the top, the floor dingy.

There’s an old metal door with a push bar to open.

I stop to listen but hear nothing, so I push the bar in and press into the door.

It moves half an inch and then stops, held by a deadbolt. Now I see it, a keyhole and the thin sliver of the metal bolt holding the door in place.

Frustrated, I push the door a couple more times and then begin searching the walls around the door. Maybe the key is stored around here somewhere?

The walls are rough brick, and there’s nothing. No sign of a key, no instructions, nothing posted anywhere. I search my purse for something that might help but I don’t have anything like a hairpin, not that I would know how to unlock a door with that anyway. I think it only happens in books.

Frustrated, I rattle the door one more time and start back down the stairs. Maybe Vale will have a better idea of how we can get through.

At the fourth floor I carefully try the door, but it’s locked with a card swipe, same as the third floor. I try each door until I get to the first floor, which is also locked.

What am I going to do now? There are a few stairs to my left that lead down to a door to the outside, I assume. It’s a double door made of metal, for deliveries maybe? That wouldn’t be unlocked, right? I twist the knob, push, then sigh with relief when the door slides open.

Noise greets me. I enter directly into the parking lot where I sat with Vale earlier.

I quickly push the door shut behind me.

“Where did you come from?” someone asks me immediately.

“Bathroom,” I lie and he seems to accept it. He’s not wearing black like the Brotherhood guards.

“Oh.” He stares at the doors.

I flit away. It’s gotten rowdier out here, and I don’t like being by myself. They’ve set up a ring in the parking lot, like for boxing, with sets of ropes ringing a raised platform.

Inside the ropes, two men with gloves circle each other. Around the ring there’s throngs of people shouting and pushing to get to a place where they can see. I aim for the door to go back in. I think my best bet is to meet Vale when the band comes back down from upstairs.

I push through the crowded room, back to the dance floor. Music still plays through speakers; the band is not back yet. I get over to the side of the stage where the elevators are. There are a couple of Brotherhood guards standing around the elevator and the exits over here.

While I’m trying to figure out if I should go back upstairs to Vale, the elevator door opens.

The band exits, with two other people coming behind: Vale, with his hands bound behind his back, and a Brotherhood guard.

I hesitate, not sure what to do, then decide to play dumb .

“Vale, there you are, I couldn’t find you,” I wail, coming up to him. “What’s going on?” I ask the guard.

They all look at me.

“Ami, where did you go?” Vale asks, his voice raised.

“I—I got confused.” I try to appear confused. “I went to the bathroom, then I thought we were meeting down here, but I couldn’t find you.” I turn big eyes on the guard, who is rolling his eyes at the band.

“Dude, your girlfriend’s dumb.”

Vale stiffens. But I give him an awkward hug. His wrists are in a zip tie behind his back.

“I’m so glad I found you, I want to dance.” I pout a little. Vale glares at the guard, who narrows his eyes.

“She was down here, man, I was just trying to find her,” Vale says with quiet authority.

“Yeah, she did go to the bathroom,” the band chimes in, supporting Vale.

The guard brings a knife from his belt and cuts the zip tie and Vale pulls me close. The guard doesn’t apologize.

“Stay down here.” He looks from Vale to me. “No more going upstairs.” He glares at the band.

“Sorry, of course. We didn’t know.” The leader of the band is conciliatory.

“Come on.” Vale leads me away onto the dance floor, which is less crowded without live music, and pulls me close.

“I found the indoor roof access, I think,” I tell him. “Above the fourth floor, a landing and a door, but it was locked. We need a key. I’m so sorry I couldn’t get back, the stairwell was locked and I couldn’t get through without a card. ”

Vale visibly relaxes. “What did you do?”

“I came out the delivery entrance.”

He grins. “Okay. Well, here we are, but I think they’re watching us now.”

I let my eyes dart around the room and I see he’s right, the Brotherhood guards have their eyes on us.

“What are we going to do?” I muse. “How can we find the key and get up there?”

“We’ll have to use the outside access,” Vale says. “Come on, let’s take a look.”

We weave through the crowd and make our way outside, in time for a big, ragged cheer from the people crushed around the boxing ring. Vale and I slip over to the bench we sat on earlier and huddle together.

“There’s so many people,” I say, unsure.

“They can be distracted,” he tells me, glancing around, taking it in. “I think…” He trails off, then asks. “Do you think you could get up there by yourself? Climb to the roof and look for the laptop?”

“Of course.” I nod.

“Okay. I can distract them.” As he talks he slips the backpack off his shoulders.

I had expected us to work together: finding the rooftop office, breaking in, locating the correct device. But it looks like I’ll be doing it by myself. Maybe it’s better this way , I think. Maybe there’s a way I can leave directly once I have it.

I see my pants, my other clothes, in the backpack and resolve to change as soon as I can, especially if I’m climbing a ladder that leads up to the top of the building .

“What are you going to do?” I ask, feeling anxious. He’s not exactly a popular guy around here tonight.

“I’m going to get my workout in,” he says, grinning, and walks off, leaving me with the backpack. I wait a minute, watching him push through the crowd and talk to one of the guys standing near the corner of the ring.

He’s going to do something with the fight. As I’m looking over I hear the wet smack of a fist against a face and a big guy goes down in the ring, hitting the floor hard.

It jolts me, and I don’t wait a second longer.

I hurry inside and escape into the first women’s bathroom I can find, changing into pants and pulling the dark leather jacket over my red shirt.

I scrunch the skirt up and shove it into the backpack.

I don’t ever want to wear that again, but Vale did bring it for me and I shouldn’t throw it away.

I stuff my purse into the backpack, but I slip the paper from Ren into my pocket for safekeeping.

Now I work my way back outside, keeping my head down.

There’s no one in the ring, but the crowd is growing, quieter than before.

I’m glad it’s twilight now. I definitely feel safer in these jeans with the dark coat.

I am about to turn the corner to the back part of the building when two new guys duck under the ropes and into the ring and one of them is Vale.

Now I understand the growing crowd, every set of eyes on the ring. Vale’s got boxing gloves on and a big guard from the Brotherhood is pulling on his own gloves, grinning. They’ve stripped off their shirts and the other guy is as wide as a brick wall.

Vale is tall and trim, his arms and shoulders wrapped in muscle. I falter, unable to leave without knowing what happens. Does Vale know how to box? What is he going to do, let that guy beat him up?

The announcer is introducing the new fight and playing up the rival militias, talking about Vale and the Forge. With all eyes on the ring, I tear myself away and scoot around the corner. I tighten the backpack’s straps, and prepare myself.

I’ll have to jump and grab onto the first rung to pull myself onto the ladder. I glance around rapidly, but there’s no one back here by the dumpsters. I bend my knees, launching myself in the air. Thank goodness for all my swimming and training back home.

My fingers brush the metal of the first rung, but I fall back before I can get a firm grasp on it.

I crouch, readying myself, and spring again, preparing to grab as soon as I can grasp it.

My fingers seize the rung and immediately I’m pulling, reaching for the rung above and tucking my body up.

In a second I’m on the ladder, and I see that it truly is empty back here.

There’s a roar from around the corner. I can’t let myself be distracted. I look up, seeing the network of ladders that go up, up, above the fourth floor to the roof of the old factory building. I climb.