Licensed to Kill

Chapter 7

I shot up in bed so fast that it made me dizzy. My pistol was drawn and my aim was fixed on the door, waiting for someone to bust in. I could hear voices in the hall and see shadows under the door. I strained to hear what they were saying, but their hushed tones were too quiet. I did, however, catch the word "entfuhren." "Kidnap" in German. Had the villains who supposedly kidnapped Agent Lindsey come for me, too?

I wasn't about to wait around to find out.

Like always, in the event that I needed to make a quick getaway, I'd left my packed bag at the foot of the bed. I'd also stuffed the backpack inside it to make it easier.

Realizing I couldn't get out the door, nor could I break the window – at ten floors up, it wouldn't matter if I could anyway – I improvised. There was another door – a connecting hotel room – but I had no way of knowing if there was a guest in that room until I barged in, and I couldn't afford to give myself away to the enemies if I caused the guest next door to start screaming about an intruder. I had to create a diversion somehow.

Pulling a lighter out of my pocket, I stood up on the bed and held the flame to the fire alarm sensor while I studied the shadows in the hallway coming under the door. They were whispering, likely going over their plan of action. Within seconds, the sprinklers kicked on and the alarms started sounding throughout the building. If there was a guest next door, the fire alarm should have gotten them out of the room. The resulting commotion in the hallways would also make the job harder for my assailants.

As the sharp blare of the alarm screamed in my ears, I retrieved my bag and hurried to turn on the bathroom light and shut the locked door. With any luck, my attackers might be stalled momentarily if they thought I was hiding out in the bathroom.

I opened the door on my side of the joined rooms and tried to open the other. It was locked. Using a short pry bar from my bag, I forced my body weight against it multiple times until the lock finally gave way. Meanwhile, I could hear someone slamming their boot against the main door, trying to get in. I had just a few seconds left, knowing they'd likely put a bullet in the lock and kick the door open.

I opened the door into the other room just a crack, scanning over the room's contents and seeing that there was no one inside. I listened for the slightest sounds of movement or breathing just to make sure, but it was impossible to tell over the noise of the obnoxious fire alarm.

I slipped inside the next room, closing both connecting doors and jamming a chair up under the handle of the second one at the same time as I heard the main door burst open and slam against the wall in the other room. It sounded like they were beating against the bathroom door next, as I'd hoped.

I peeked out the door into the hallway to see my original hotel room door shut and no one waiting in the hall. Good. No one was likely to notice my exit.

Slinging my bag over my shoulder and keeping a firm grip on my sidearm, I darted out the door and bolted down the hallway. The door was slow to shut and didn't make a slamming noise until I'd reached the stairwell around the corner. I knew someone would notice the sound, but I was already a couple steps ahead of them, racing down the stairs.

I didn't want to make it any easier for my potential kidnappers, though; so I made it down to the sixth floor and exited the stairwell just as I heard the tenth floor door open above. I hurried down the hallway to the stairwell on the opposite side of the building and rushed the rest of the way down to the ground floor.

Rather than entering the lobby, I opted to use the emergency exit door in the stairwell. I knew my followers would be reaching the lobby about that same time and I wasn't about to run right into that trap. And with the fire alarms already raging, I wasn't worried about setting off an alarm by opening the door.