Page 31 of Choosing Stella

She hadn’t slowed first.

I turned.

The color had drained from her face.

“Stella?”

Her eyes weren’t on me.

They were fixed somewhere past my shoulder.

One hand went to her temple.

“Don’t take the elevator.”

“What did you see?”

She swallowed hard.

“The doors. Someone waiting. A needle.”

Her other hand caught the wall.

I moved toward her but stopped before touching her.

“Are you going to faint?”

“No.”

Her answer came thin.

She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again.

“Don’t take me that way.”

I didn’t believe in visions.

I believed in information.

And changing routes cost us nothing.

“We’re taking the service stair.”

Stella nodded.

I shifted her bag to my left hand and kept my right free.

“Stay beside me.”

We moved fast.

The service door stood at the far end of the hall.

Five yards away, it opened.

A man came through wearing a dark jacket and a baseball cap pulled low.

He saw me.