Page 50 of Atlas
“Here.” I shoved it at her. “Get dressed; we have to go.”
Leaving her to put the clothes on, I ran to my bedroom and unlocked my safe, getting out my passport and some valuable things.
Jolene was hopping down the hallway on one foot trying to put shoes on while moving.
I grabbed my shoes on my way out and showed her the way to the staircase. Panicked voices sounded from further down as we ran down the stairs.
“Do you smell any smoke?” Jolene asked me.
“No, but I hear the sirens.” People were moving slower than us, which gave me time to put on my shoes.
When we got caught behind a slow-moving mom with three children, I had to do something.
“Here, let me take one.” I picked up a toddler who couldn’t be more than two or three but was clinging to her mom’s leg. The mom was already carrying a large bag and a baby. She had no free arms to pick up her daughter.”
“Jolene, you take her.” I handed her the toddler and picked up an older girl, around five. The five-year-old was fighting me, but I didn’t let go of her.
With Jolene and me carrying her two older children, the mom was able to move faster. The sirens got louder for every story we raced down, and all around us, people were communicating in different languages and with varying levels of panic.
When we finally made it to the street, we were out of breath and high on relief.
“Thank you!” the mother told us as we placed her kids next to her and she was able to kneel down and embrace all three of them.
“Happy to help. Do you have somewhere you can stay until they allow us back in again? It’s too cold for the little ones to wait out here while the firemen go through the building.”
The woman looked up. “I don’t see any smoke or flames.”
“No, thank God. It might be a false alarm, but it’s almost midnight, and it’s freezing. You don’t want the kids to get sick.”
“I could wait at the McDonalds. It’s close.”
“All right. Give me your phone number, and I’ll call you when we’re allowed back in.”
“Thank you.” We exchanged numbers before she led her children away.
“Are you okay?” I turned to Jolene, but she wasn’t there.
“Jo?” I called out and began walking around to find her. A chill feeling in the pit of my stomach told me that she wouldn’t wander off by herself. What if Niklavs had activated the fire alarm to get her out of the apartment? He knew what she looked like. In this chaos, all he needed was a hoodie to sneak up on her.
My walking became running as I scouted around for Jolene. But the sidewalks were full of people, and even though I was taller than most, I couldn’t see her.
Stopping, I pivoted around, feeling my heart in my throat, and then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a car leaving. Running in that direction, I managed to see the driver, and from the distinct boxer nose, I instantly knew it had to be Niklavs.
I ran like a mad man in that direction, and when I saw a car with a lit Uber sign in the window, I ran over and stopped him.
“I’ll pay you triple if you chase that car. My friend just got abducted by a man who threatened to kill her.” I didn’t wait for him to accept but got into his car.
“If what you say is true, you should report it to the police instead of chasing her yourself!”
“I am. Just fucking step on it.”
The driver looked my age, and to his credit, he accelerated and kept within range of Niklavs’ Buick while I called 911.
“He stopped.” The Uber driver slowed down before pulling to the curb. “I don’t want to get any closer in case he has a gun.”
“Then, you stay here.” I opened the door, but he grabbed onto my arm.
“You promised me that you’d pay triple.”
