into the marble foyer, Caroline placed her tour bag on the metal detector’s conveyor belt. Then she waited for the marshal to wave her through. The seconds ticked by in a slow trickle, in danger courted by immobility. Until she passed the security checkpoint, her progress could be stopped by the cool muzzle of a gun pressed up against her back.
At the front of the security line, a woman fumbled with the zipper of her purse, stalling the progress of everyone behind her.
Caroline resisted the urge to push forward. Her heart slammed in her chest, propelling blood past her ears in a thunderous whoosh that drowned out all sounds, turning the ambient conversations in the line to murmurs.
A crack behind her made her freeze. Every shred of her awareness bent back, seeking danger. The skin on her shoulders itched, stretching out for contact, seeking awareness of what was behind her.
Unable to resist, she glanced over her shoulder.
A lawyer wrestled a heavy document case from the white plastic table to the metal rollers in front of the conveyor belt. Behind him, bored faces looked back at her, each borne by another soul waiting to enter the courthouse.
Still, Caroline didn’t relax.
In her pocket, she gripped her worry beads. She forced her attention to their cool roundness, the tactile sensation providing her with sensory input beyond the flood of cortisol that kept her brain locked in a spiral of terror.
Finally, the marshal waved a weary hand, and Caroline stepped under the archway, saying a silent prayer that nothing she wore would trigger the metal detector’s sensors.
The light on the archway stayed green.
The marshal stepped aside so she could pass.
As soon as the conveyor belt coughed up her bag, Caroline yanked out her suit jacket. The navy blazer was wrinkled and smelled of cooking grease, but it would do. She shoved the tour bag into a trash can and stepped aside to make room for those behind her to pass.
Without fanfare or delay, Annie followed through the metal detector.
Watching the scientist pass the security checkpoint, Caroline allowed herself a moment of celebration. They’d made it past the doors. They were inside.
Now they had just one final leg of their long journey: the short trip to the courtroom.
With Annie behind her, Caroline hurried into the lobby to put as much space between the doors and herself as she could. The green marble rotunda echoed with voices. Wan light filtered down from the high windows, dingy and unwashed. Straight ahead, the down escalator carried people to ground level, allowing those whose business was done to exit the courthouse.
Malachite-toned pillars rose on both sides of the escalator, holding a stone arch upon which someone had chiseled, “He who seeks equity must do equity.”
Caroline looked forward to traveling the down escalator after the hearing, but right now, she needed to go up.
“The SuperSoy courtroom is on the second floor,” Caroline called over her shoulder, ducking down the corridor she knew would take them to the up escalator quickly.
“Where are we going?” Annie asked, speaking up to be heard over the cacophony of footfalls and voices.
“The up escalator’s on the other side of the building.” Caroline maneuvered down the hallway she knew led from one side of the courthouse to the other. Unlike the bustling main lobby, the hallway was uncrowded, so they could travel faster.
Caroline increased her pace until she was jogging.
She heard Annie matching her pace behind her.
Suddenly, she spotted two men running toward them from the far end of the hallway.
For half a second, she believed they had nothing to do with her. Until she recognized the taller of the two. The pale man from the airport shuttle.
Her breath caught, and her fingers tingled with a rush of adrenaline.
They’d been found.
She cast around for a marshal, but there was no one around.
She grabbed Annie’s hand and spun around 180 degrees, back toward the direction they’d come.
Sprinting down the hall, her footfalls sounded frantic in her ears. Above the sound, reverberating all around her, was the louder sound of the two men tearing toward them at full speed.
She needed to do something. Anything.
Ahead, she saw the light of the green marble rotunda. If they could reach it, they could call for help.
With a stab of desperation, she realized they’d never make it. Though she couldn’t see her pursuers, she could feel them bearing down, fast. They’d be upon her in seconds.
Suddenly, an image from a cartoon flashed through her mind. Lord knew if it would work, but