Tomorrow Is Today (6 page)

Crouching low, with his arms spread wide, he dove for my legs. Instantly my feet went out from under me, smashing me facedown into the tile floor.

The other man stepped over our tangled bodies as he advanced toward Holly. Holly inched backward with her right hand behind her back.

“Just cooperate, and no one will hurt you,” the advancing man said to Holly.

Before he could complete the sentence, she revealed her right hand. Her clenched fist erupted in a well-aimed stream of pepper spray. “Get out of my room!”

“Fuck!” he shouted, leaning over and rubbing his eyes.

Holly darted around him and ran toward the door.

The tall man and I both scrambled to our feet. While he was distracted by his partner’s screams, I followed Holly to the door.

From behind me, I heard, “Freeze! Don’t move!”

I turned in time to see the tall man’s hand plunge into his half-unzipped jacket. His hand emerged, tightly gripping a semiautomatic pistol. He aimed directly at my head with only one eye, his vision obscured by the flow of blood.

I sucked in a breath, knowing I was in over my head. Defeated. Holly’s hands froze on the knob, her back now pressed against the door.

The short guy held up one hand and kept the other one over his eyes. “No…not yet. Only if he jumps.”

Jumps where?
Now my heart was really thudding. They couldn’t possibly know about…could they?

I took a large step backward, but tripped on the lamp now lying on the floor, and felt something catch around my ankle. Once again, my feet went out from under me.

A booming sound rang in my ears, followed by Holly’s scream. Then everything seemed to stop—my heart, my breath…time.

Julie Cross lives outside Chicago, where she works at the local YMCA.
Tempest
is her first novel.