Once inside, the presumed office revealed the library’s large archive room. Ten narrow walkways divided the floor to ceiling steel shelves that displayed dozens of old books, folders and sealed filing boxes.
“Here,” Alex whispered to Ezra, standing at the bottom of an antique-like spiral staircase located in one of the dark corners at the back of the room. Skipping every second step, they leaped up the hand carved wooden stairs that eventually delivered them inside an even darker, cramped loft office. In the centre of the much smaller room stood an oversized wooden desk encrusted in a thick layer of dust and piles of leather-bound books. It smelled like an attic and appeared to have been out of use for years. Unable to see much, Alex flicked on the small desk lamp and picked up one of the brown leather-wrapped books. She drew in a sharp breath. “These books are signed first editions, some of them dating back a hundred and thirty years. They must be worth a small fortune!”
“Alex, have a look at this one!” Ezra excitedly let out and pointed to one in particular.
Unlike the other books which clearly hadn’t been used or moved in years, he handed her one that was entirely free from dust as if it were left there the day before. The brown leather-bound book was covered with gold embossed rock paintings and a scarlet silk ribbon ran through the middle of the book’s pages.
Alex turned the book over. Her eyes widened at the sight of the digits on the spine which read 927.381. A tingling sensation in her chest engulfed her as she pulled at the ribbon and flipped the book open.
“Is this what I think it is?” Ezra whispered over her shoulder.
“Uh-huh,” was all Alex managed to utter as she flipped through the book’s pages.
“So now what? What are we looking for? Wasn’t there something about a foot in the riddle?”
Alex quoted the rest of the riddle from the museum’s index card.
Between jackets and spines lie the hidden root that reveals to all the submerged foot.
“Yup, that’s the one. Now I hate to be the one to crash this party, Alex but we should really get out of here. Your bird decoy won’t hold them off for much longer,” Ezra added.
Ezra hovered at the top of the spiral stairs. The office below was quiet but Volkov was a smart man. He looked around to see if there was another way out and marked the hatch in the ceiling above his head.
“This might be our only way out Alex. Bring the book. We have to get out of here now!”
Alex nodded in agreement. She shoved the book into her pants’ waistline in the small of her back and covered it with her black combat vest. Ezra was tall enough to lift the hatch off with ease.
“Get on,” holding out his interlocked palms for Alex to step onto. She did and Ezra lifted her up through the hatch into the safety of the roof.
“Hurry,” Alex whispered for Ezra to pull himself up. He did so effortlessly seconds before they heard the office door below open up. Replacing the door to the roof hatch, Alex and Ezra moved quietly from rafter to rafter in the direction of the front of the building. They trod lightly, hoping the narrow roof trusses would remain sound under their weight. Several rats scurried away under their feet as they manoeuvred the tight, dark space in the library building’s roof. A few paces away they noticed a beam of light cutting through the darkness to reveal an illuminated area not far from where they were.
Alex led the way to find an air duct skylight pushing out onto the roof. The duct’s metal hinges were bolted to the roof trusses. Alex reached for her Swiss knife in her pants and flicked the screwdriver attachment into place. With the sun sitting higher by the minute the roof was hot and uncomfortable and it took several minutes to loosen each screw. But eventually the hinges came apart and they lifted the metal rectangular box away from the roof. Alex managed to squeeze her body through easily, but Ezra’s shoulders were too broad; even at a sideways angle. Alex lay on top of the angled roof that was slippery with years of piled on dirt. She dug her combat boots down hard onto the black clay tiles and yanked four roof tiles off from around the duct cavity until the space was big enough for Ezra to climb through.
Positioned halfway up against the side of the pitched roof it was steep and slippery.
“We need to climb up to the ridge. We’ll get a better footing there,” Alex suggested and managed to easily pull herself up to the ridge. Once there they hung their legs over the sides as if on a horse and lifted themselves across the ridge to the nearby valley of the roof. Alex didn’t hesitate and slid her body down along the valley to where she landed feet first on a flat stretch of the roof. Ezra followed. Relieved the roof opened up to a fair strip of leveled surface, they ran across to where it abruptly stopped dead at the back of the building. In front of their feet was a sheer drop to the street below delivering a gaping space between the library and the neighboring building’s roof.
Behind them they heard Volkov’s men ripping up more roof tiles around the air duct. Alex eyeballed the distance to the next building. “Do you think we can jump across?”
Ezra looked back and then across to the next building’s flat roof. “Not sure. We’d need a longer runway to leap this far.”
“Is there another way?” Alex asked stretching her head over the side of the roof in search of a fire escape. There was none.
The announcement of Volkov’s men on the roof’s ridge behind them sent shockwaves down her spine.
“I guess we have no choice now, do we?” Alex alerted Ezra. The pair hastily walked backwards until they were satisfied the runway’s distance would be sufficient to propel them over the gaping space between the two buildings.
A last reassuring visual exchange triggered Alex and Ezra into a full sprint across the flat roof. Adrenaline surged through their veins, forcing every bit of oxygen from their lungs as they both leaped through the air. Deafened by the sound of their thudding heartbeats, a brief moment of weightlessness possessed their bodies; ensued by the undeniable piercing sound of open gunfire. Alex was aware of Ezra’s feet successfully hitting the roof in front of her as her body thrashed into the edge of the building. Piercing pain stung her hands as she gripped the sharp edges of the brick with her fingers. The blow against her ribs knocked her wind out and she gulped for air. A bullet hit the brick next to her, missing her head by mere inches before she felt Ezra’s strong hands around her wrists.
“Use your feet, Alex!” He shouted with a strained voice.
Alex was numb with fear as she clung for dear life off the side of the building. She clutched onto the sleeves of Ezra’s jacket and fixed her eyes firmly on his. Another bullet narrowly missed her arm.
“Push Alex!” Ezra yelled.
Alex dug the front of her shoes into the wall and pushed hard while Ezra pulled her onto the flat roof next to him. Several more bullets hissed over their heads as the pair stumbled to their feet. Volkov’s men had gained on them and opened full fire from the library roof behind them. Still attempting to get up to run, Alex felt a stabbing pain in her knee that forced her flat on her face again. Adrenaline pushed through Ezra’s battle seasoned body when he leaned back for her. His hands seized her arm and he managed to pull her petite body into an upright position. Finally back on her feet, fighting the pain from her injured knee, Alex ran toward a nearby external ventilation shaft as fast as her legs could carry her. Engulfed by dread she felt the weight of the leather book lift away from the small of her back and drop onto the roof floor behind her.
A bullet narrowly missed her foot in the split second she paused. Ahead of her Ezra had safely reached an external ventilation shaft and ducked in behind it. Now sheltered by the metal walls of the vent Ezra fired off several shots at Volkov’s men; affording Alex a brief moment to go back for the book.
Chancing it, she reached back only to have to side-dodge a new bombardment of bullets. The quick reflex movement forced her body on its side, grazing her cheek across the coarse roofing. Vulnerable and exposed she instantly got back onto her feet and scooped the book up. Ezra fired off several more shots. Using every technique she had acquired during her recent military training, Alex tucked into a combat roll and safely took up cover next to Ezra. With the book firmly stuffed down the front of her shirt and snug behind her combat vest, Alex took a desperate deep breath while she looked for a way. She searched the fringes of the building as much as her obscured vision allowed while Ezra continued shooting at the men. They didn’t have much time before they’d be ambushed so escaping through the building was no longer a viable plan.
“Cover me!” She yelled as she bolted across to the other end of the roof and ducked behind an octagonal cupola. The tightness in her chest lifted when she spotted the fire escape down the side of the building.
“Ezra over here! I’ll cover you!”
He responded the moment Alex took over and started shooting at Volkov’s men awarding Ezra exactly enough time to run safely from his position to where she sat crouched behind the cupola. With their bodies just about fully shielded by the eight protruding corners of the dome-like roof structure, they were now at a safe angle and out of the opposing line of fire. Running the risk of being surprised by their attackers via the building’s roof exit, and with no time to waste, Alex pulled Ezra by the arm and yelled, “Let’s go!”
Already heading over the edge of the building and down the narrow steel ladder that sat mounted to the side of the building, Alex descended followed closely by Ezra.
When their feet safely touched down on the asphalt street at the bottom of the ladder, their fear slowly subsided in the knowledge that their car was parked just around the next corner and that they had managed to once again, escape Volkov.
Now, out of danger from the fierce onslaught of Volkov’s men and with their fleeing position still undetected, the pair bolted down the quiet street toward their car.