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Another thunderous explosion shook the building.
“That one’s even closer,” Jude pointed out. “We have to go.”
Nikki raced toward the stairwell, yelling at people to not use the elevator. They didn’t listen—or didn’t understand English.
Kate reiterated her words in Spanish. No one budged, desperate for the lift to take them to the lobby.
Kate grabbed a woman’s arm and hastily explained she didn’t want to get trapped inside the elevator.
Terrified of that prospect, the woman followed Kate—as did others.
Kate, Jude and Nikki held back as everyone on the floor scurried down the stairwell.
“I need to do this on each level,” Kate asserted, knowing this was the exact scene she’d find on all fifteen floors of the hotel.
Jude’s jaw clenched. “I want you out of here.”
“Agreed,” she concurred. “But… Jude.”
His eyes squeezed shut briefly. Then he speared her with an intent look and insisted, “You warn them. They either come with us or not, Kate. That’s it. That’s all.”
She glared at him.
He scowled in return—because he knew that she knew he’d never abandon anyone.
“Let’s get a move on,” Nikki said. She wouldn’t leave anyone behind, either.
They rapped on doors and yelled for anyone lingering to vacate immediately.
They cleared out the top floor. Then the one below it. And the one below that.
They were in the stairwell when another boom shook the foundation of their hotel.
“Fuck!” Jude bellowed.
This was precisely how the building halfway down the block had progressed—one rumble, one larger explosion and then—the whole thing had lit up in an inferno.
“We have to go, Kate,” he repeated in a terse tone.
The stairs below them were filled with people making a hurried exit. She had to believe everyone was smart enough to escape.
Yet… She couldn’t will her feet to move.
“Kate.” He clasped her shoulders. “No one benefits if you die here tonight.”
“But—”
“Kate.” This from Nikki. “Jude’s right. We have to get the hell out.”
Kate tore her body from Jude’s clutches. She raced down a flight and jerked open the door, screaming down the hallway for everyone to evacuate—and finding extreme relief in seeing an empty corridor.
They took another flight and she repeated the process. Then another. They were five floors away from the main landing when the next explosion hit.
Nikki cried out as she was slammed against the brick wall.
Kate’s body crashed into the railing—and went sailing over it, her hand slipping on the smooth metal, but miraculously hanging on.
“Jude!” she screamed as her fingers curled tighter while she dangled in the empty space between the stairs, her low heels slipping from her feet and making the treacherous descent to the ground floor.
