The Bitter Truth

37

"Jessica!" Richard straightened his body and looked at the item in his hands. "If this is really what I am thinking it

is, then-"

They suddenly heard a muffled noise coming from the

outside of the evidence room. Jessica craned her neck towards the door and listened intensively. She saw the door knob moving under the fluorescent light.

"Hey Richard!" Jessica looked at Richard. "I think there is someone trying to open the door."

Richard approached her and they both heard a voice that sounded like someone yelling. "I think they are in here!!"

The voice was followed by more door knob movements.

"Come with me!"

Richard grabbed her by the hand and pulled her towards the inside of the isle.

But that is our only exit! Jessica thought.

They turned right at the end of the isle and jogged a few more steps. Richard stopped and Jessica started panting. Richard looked at her skeptically, wondering if she was going to be able to handle what they were about to do.

"I will be ok." Jessica said, almost responding to his thoughts. "I already had my exercise of the day. I jogged six miles today, now you are expecting me to run more? Plus, we are trapped. There is no way out! Except through there." She pointed towards the door.

Richard walked one more isle to their right and found what he had been looking for. A latter with wheels. It was mostly used in case they needed a box in the higher shelves that they weren't able to reach. He jogged towards the latter, used the banisters to pull himself up as he ascended using the steps. Once he was at the top of the latter landing, he stared down at Jessica and she opened her arms wide open.

"What a great move! Like they are not going to see us up there."

Richard glanced up at the dropped ceiling with LED lamps.

"Who said that they are?"

He raised his arms.

"These are interlocked grid tiles that can be easily pushed up and slid out of the grid."

Jessica stared at him with an awe in her face.

He pushed one of the ceiling tiles over his head and created a black hole in the ceiling. "Above this ceiling, there is an interstitial space."

Jessica moved out of the way as debris came down from the ceiling tile that Richard was moving. "What is an interstitial space?"

Richard studied the darkened space beyond the ceiling tiles and chuckled at Jessica.

"It's an intermediate space located between regular use floors. The height of these spaces are generally six to eight feet and this space exists to help increase the lifetime of a building in terms of architecture."

He climbed into the dark space in the ceiling and crouched to help Jessica join him.

"Give me your hand."

Just as Richard was asking her to give him her hands, she glanced back at the door. Someone was banging something heavy at the door, as they were trying to break it open.

"Come on!"

Jessica returned her attention to Richard, gripped both of his arms and he grunted his teeth as he was trying to pull her up. She was heavier than what he had anticipated. Once Jessica joined him, a strong smell of dust and wood assaulted her nostrils.