Chapter Thirteen
1014 Words
Present
Ada had mere seconds to get herself hidden before the soldiers that burst through the door walk around the corner where she’s out in the open.
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP
Holding her breath, Ada waited to see if the men could hear her heart pounding.
After a few moments, Ada slowly crawled the length of the counter to the end.
Here were shelves on the inner side. On one shelf was a stack of clothes. She grabbed the clothes and quietly put them in a pile on the floor underneath the lowest shelf. She hunkered down some more and crammed herself underneath the lowest shelf. She oriented the pile of clothes at her head, with her head and clothes towards the open end of the counter with her back to the wall. She tucked her feet in underneath her and also against the wall. Mere seconds ticked by before a beam of light flashed on the floor in front of her. She held her breath as the light swept the corner then went away. She couldn’t see if the person in possession of that flashlight was still there, since the pile clothes she strategically placed obscured her line of sight.
She concentrated on her rate of breathing so that it wouldn’t whoosh in and out and reveal her position. She couldn’t hear a damn thing over her heartbeat.
But she knew she wasn’t alone as she saw the beams of light flit across the walls. Either her pursuers were moving that stealthy, or stress was getting the best of her at the worst time and she lost her hearing. Her eyes tracked the lights' movement to see if she could predict their pattern through the store.
She jerked when she heard the screeching of metal on metal.
Yup, guess they were moving that quietly.
And they were checking the clothes racks.
She’ll have to give it to him.
He trained his soldiers well. She knew he was thorough about everything he did and how he ran his country, but this was just another reminder of how hopeless her situation is. How in the world was one simple woman like her going to outsmart, out move someone like him and those he trained?
As hopelessness washed over her, she felt tears fall off her face and drip off her temples as she laid there on her side. She dared not sniffle and instead, she just let the snot run.
She wasn’t sure how long she laid there, watching the light move, trying not to jump every time she heard the metals hangars screech on the metal racks.
She did jump out of her skin when she heard low murmurs above her.
Right above her.
“Did you find her?”
“No. I’ve checked the northwest corner.”
“I checked this counter, and that corner.”
“Let the others finish their sweep, then we’ll see what else needs covered.
“Wonder what she did to piss him off this much.”
“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of him pursuing anyone like this.”
“Maybe she’s a thief and stolen something.”
“Possibly, she may be a professional considering how we had to pursue across rooftops.”
“Right?! Geezus, if it wasn’t for the pilots spotting her we would have missed her and it’d be our asses on the line, instead.”
“Well if it wasn’t for the infrared system failing, we wouldn’t have had to chase her this far.”
“You’re right. He’s not going to overlook that colossal mistake.”
“All I know is I don’t want to be in her shoes when he finally gets ahold of her.”
“We have to find her first.”
“We will. We’ve never failed a mission before. We won’t now over a measly woman.”
Ada’s tears continued to fall as she processed what she heard. Even his own soldiers knew there was a reason she should be running. He was dead set on killing her and was not going to let her get out.
Ada wasn’t sure how much more time passed. But she was noticing her shoulder had gone numb from the way she was laying on the hard floor. Its loss of feeling was making it hard for her to maintain her precarious position without falling forward. She was petrified of being spotted or heard, so she put all her energy into not moving so her position wouldn’t slip.
A radio static crackle split through the quiet.
She heard his voice through the radio.
thump thump thump
“Alpha team, status?”
She heard one of the soldiers above her answer.
“Finishing the sweep of the shop she ran through. So far, we’ve not found the subject.”
“I’m confident she hid there. Sweep one more time, then exit through all points of entry and exit. I have men posted at the rooftop, emergency exits, and main entrance. The surrounding area is also being swept through.”
“Yes, Sir.”
She heard the same man bark orders to the rest of the team.
She pulled herself tense and pressed herself further against the back of the counter in preparation for another sweep of her hiding area.
As she heard the scraping of metal of the hangars being moved, begin again, she saw the beam of the flashlight sweep the floor in front of her. The edge of the beam was mere centimeters from touching on her knees. She mentally prayed a thank you for the stack of clothes she had that had cast a shadow and barrier for her.
Shortly after, she heard the fall of footsteps go out the front entrance and the same back door she came in. When she heard both doors shut. She let her body fall forward onto the floor. With half her body numb, she shimmied painfully from her cramped spot. When she could stretch out completely, she laid there letting the blood return to her extremities. She quietly suffered through the pins and needles as she listened for any possible movement of someone staying behind.
When all sensation of her body returned to normal, she got up on her hands and knees and inched to the end of the counter.
- Writer
