Chapter 97

 

 

“Going somewhere, pretty face?” Calla said as she set a foot in the closing elevator door of the hotel’s first floor. A red-haired, sophisticatedly dressed woman she believed was Archimedes, or Alex Sisley as Nash had called her, startled backward. This had to be her.

Alex’s eyes widened like a cat’s.

“Where did you come from?” Alex said, pressing the silver case against her chest. She edged against the elevator.

“Who do you work for?” Calla said. “I must admit you’re not who I expected to find in a hacker.”

Calla stepped into the elevator and the doors closed behind her. The elevator started a descent. Calla had never seen Alex’s face before and a heightened sense kicked in. Alex was hiding a well of information she could not read easily. “Give me the case,” Calla said. “Your hacks have created enough havoc for weeks, starting with the interruption of British government functioning.”

Alex flung the case into Calla’s face. “You want me. Make your first move. Calla Cress, is it?”

Calla slowed the movement in her mind and caught the case before it smashed into her. She apprehended Alex’s next move, a fist with venomous fury behind it. Calla dodged the attempt, only to stomach Alex’s stiletto that kneed her in the gut.

Throbbing trembled through her and she reeled under the blow. The pain was short lived. Calla shot upward, reached for Alex’s hair and drew her to her knees.

Alex’s hand crawled to her shoulder and she cut at Calla’s grip.

Calla released her as pain spiraled through her palms. Alex retrieved the fallen case and jabbed at a button on the side. The elevator shuddered to a halt and her action parted the floor beneath them. Calla nearly toppled and had seconds to witness Alex toss the briefcase onto her back and spike out gecko feet from her gloved hands and boots. What mad technology had Alex tapped into? She leaped onto the side of the elevator with her gecko grip and rammed her foot into Calla.

Calla held on to Alex’s shoulder for a brief second, tore a rip in her dress in the process, before accepting the inevitable.

Head first, the decent down the shaft was swift.

Bathed in the darkness Calla could only guess at the height she was falling. For a split second she locked eyes with Alex who engineered the elevator floor shut.

Dimness took over and the thinning glowing lights at the edges of the box structure drew dim with distance as the elevator began to ascend.

Darkness forbade her to gauge her environment as gravity crashed her onto the concrete floor. A wave of dread washed over her and the shock of the fall sent her swooning. Pain gnawed within every muscle of her body.

Unsure how long she lay on the concrete, Calla pulled herself up slightly and tore at the vintage dress creating a slit in her evening wear. She pulled at the corset that ripped under her force and her lungs sucked in air.

“Calla?” came a distorted voice.

“Jack?”

“Calla, where are you?”

His voice was barely audible in her earpiece that buzzed with distortion. “In the elevator shaft. Can you see me on your phone grid?”

The signal was weak and incoming communication poured in in staccato. She squinted upward trying to pierce the darkness.

Her heart leaped in her throat when she looked up.

The zipping speed of dropping metal caught her ears as the elevator screamed down toward her.