Kit forced herself toward the stairwell door. Slowly she pushed it open. There was no one in sight, either on the steps to the roof or those leading down to the landing. But she could hear the ringtone clearly now. It was coming from below, probably just outside the door to the fourth floor.
Suddenly the sound ended, mid-riff, as if someone had just answered the phone.
“Avery?” Kit called out feebly.
Silence. Something bad was waiting down below. Kit braced herself and made a move for the stairs.
“Stay right here,” she urged Dara without turning around.
She took the stairs haltingly, grasping the handrail for support. As she reached the landing, she held her breath and slowly pivoted, letting her gaze fall to the stairs beyond.
She spotted Avery’s legs first. They were splayed upward from the ground onto the first few steps, with both knees bent. She was facedown, her face mashed into the pale concrete floor and her wheat-colored hair fanned out on each side. The trench coat—the one Avery had borrowed—was bunched up around her torso. For a split second, it seemed to Kit as if she was staring at herself. She moaned in despair. Please, she begged, let her be alive.
She descended a few steps and called out Avery’s name again. No response. No movement. Behind her she could hear Dara scurrying down the stairs.
“Omigod,” Dara yelled as she reached the landing and caught a glimpse of Avery’s body. “Is she dead?”
“I’m not sure,” Kit said, but by now she’d honed in on the blood. Dark as chocolate, it had formed a pool to the left side of Avery’s head. There were smears of it, too, on the package of fabric boards, which lay just above her, the wrapping paper partially torn.
Kit fished her keys from her purse and tossed them to Dara. “Go back and call 911, okay? I’m going to go down there to check.”
“I don’t want to leave you alone.”
“I’m all right, just hurry.”
Kit knew you weren’t supposed to touch anything in a situation like this, but if Avery was still alive, she had to take action. She eased down the steps. At the same time she heard Dara scramble up the stairs and tug open the door.
Kit reached the fourth floor and crouched next to Avery, her heart thumping hard. Now that she was so close, she could see that Avery’s hands were purplish red, and small pools of blood had formed beneath the skin. Not good, she thought, anguished. Holding her breath, she reached out and gently touched the center of Avery’s left hand, the fingers of which were still slightly tangled in the strap of her handbag. It was cool, almost cold, like a shell dug from wet sand at the shoreline.
A sob caught in Kit’s throat. She turned and tore back up the steps. In the corridor she almost collided with Dara, who was just pulling a phone from her ear.
“Help is coming,” she said. “I told them we didn’t know if she was alive or not.”
“She isn’t. It looks like she hit her head pretty badly. We better get back to the office and wait there.”
How had this happened? she wondered, fighting to stay calm. Had Avery slipped, the consequence of trying to juggle the fabric boards as she navigated concrete steps in her high-heeled boots? But why in the world would she have taken the stairs?
Once back inside, Kit urged Dara to sit at the wooden table.
“Should we call Avery’s assistant and let her know?” Dara asked quietly. She seemed eerily subdued to Kit, overwhelmed by what had happened.
“That was my first instinct, but I don’t think we should do anything until we clear it with the police.”
“Okay,” Dara said. She reached up and pressed both hands to her temples.
“Dara, listen to me.” Kit said, “As soon as you’re done talking to the police, I want you to go home and work from there until this is resolved, okay? While we’re waiting for the cops, think about what supplies you might need to take with you.”
“Uh huh. But what about you? I can’t just leave you here.”
“Don’t worry, I’m thinking I can work out of Baby’s place,” she said. “I’m going to run over to my apartment for a minute or so. I’ll call Baby and make sure she doesn’t head down here.”
It was essential for her to talk to Baby in private, but after entering her apartment and placing the call, Kit reached only