15
Dale’s stomach plunged.
Hellman immediately fell silent, jaw hanging open.
The door to the chemical stores swung less than an inch, but it might as well have swung wide and exposed a portal into deep space or Dinosaur Land.
Adrenaline thrummed in Dale’s veins. The stink of floor wax clotted in his nose. His heavy backpack dragged his shoulder like an anchor.
“Christ!” Hellman said. “What the hell?” He reached for the doorknob.
“Don’t!” Dale said.
Hellman froze.
“Fingerprints,” Dale said. The scurry up the stairs had warmed his muscles, but he shivered anyway. Heat blossomed between his spine and his heavy laptop backpack.
Hellman looked at Dale incredulously, then nodded. “Right. So…” He waved his hand back and forth over the door.
The vacant hall suddenly seemed to loom aroun
