Victoria broke the police tape crisscrossing Cale’s apartment door and forced the lock. The apartment was dark as she pawed the hall wall until the turn into the living room. She felt for a chair and walked around it, dining table to her left. Street lamp light gave a hint of dimension as Victoria crossed the living room to the far wall and Cale’s camera. The camera was surprisingly light. On the bottom of the camera, Victoria pushed the battery lever and the bottom popped open and the battery sprung part way out. She felt around with her finger for the chip release and the chip slid out into her hand and into her pocket. She closed the bottom of the camera and reached up to put the camera back.
The lights turned on.
Startled, Victoria flinched and turned.
A man walked towards her briskly with a gun pointed at her, “I’ll take that.”
“What’s on it?”
“Nothing that concerns you.” The man grabbed the camera with his free hand and backed up still pointing the gun at Victoria. “You stay right there.” The man backed out of the room and fled.
Victoria could hear him tap dancing down the stairs. Victoria ran for the door and in the opposite direction down the hall. At the far end, in red lit letters in a musty gold painted metal box read, EXIT. Victoria took off her shoes and ran for the door. As she pushed it open a bullet struck the metal door in front of her face. She ran down the stairs as fast as her feet would carry her while her mind began to cramp in fear. Once outside, Victoria ran into a dark alley behind the apartment building and crossed North Point Street and Baker Street crossing city traffic and the night, ducking behind parked cars, never stopping, changing directions, finally reaching the outskirts of the Exploratorium grounds and ran into the shadows.
The assailant skidded around the corner to an empty street and the pink pillars of the Palace of Fine Arts aglow framed in black. He quietly crept closer.
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