Erased by Jordan Marshall Read Free Book Online

and his hand instinctively went to the handle of his revolver. He was a heavyset man in his early thirties. Sara made a quick calculation and decided there was no way to get around him. Even if she managed to do it, there was no guarantee the guy wouldn’t shoot her in the crowd.
    As a lawyer, Sara knew better than to trust someone based on the uniform he wore or the training he’d had. People did stupid things all the time, even when they clearly should have known better. When it came down to it, people were just people. They all made mistakes. Uniforms didn’t account for much. 
    If she made a run for it, Sara knew the cop might very well shoot her in the back. It had happened before. She stood there, staring wildly, wondering if she should put her hands in the air. Her heart was pounding so hard it seemed that the cop must have heard it.
    He gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t panic, ma’am,” he said. “I’m going to have to ask you to take the stairs. The elevators aren’t safe in a fire.”
    Sara managed a weak smile. She nodded and stepped past the cop, heart choking in her throat, guts feeling like she’d just fallen out of a moving roller coaster. Her right hand squeezed the price tag at her side. Sara forced herself not to break into a run as she joined the others in line. She smiled nonchalantly as the office workers looked at her.
    Sara ripped the price tag off her sleeve and stuffed it into her pocket the instant she could do so without drawing attention to herself. She edged forward into the crowd. She was careful not to offend anyone by pushing. Instead, she watched for openings. Every time someone hesitated, distracted by a noise or a conversation, she jumped into the opening. With so many people in there, and so many of them familiar with each other, they were all distracted.
    Sara found herself passing through a dozen different conversations as she passed into the stairwell and made her descent into the heart of the building. She heard conversations about everything from the football game to rumors of so-and-so cheating on his wife, or “those two” who had supposedly been screwing in the copy room. She nodded and smiled as if she knew the people, or grimaced as if she was just as bored and irritated as the rest of employees.
    The only people who even gave her a second glance were the sleazy guys checking her out. One of them asked for her number. When Sara showed him her wedding ring, he smiled slyly and said:
    “Hey, what he don’t know won’t hurt.”
    “No, but pepper spray might,” she shot right back. “Tell me, does hitting on married women give you a thrill or is it just a way to compensate for your tiny little prick?”
    Several people around them started laughing. He put his head down and disappeared into the crowd behind her.
    When Sara got down to the fifth floor, cops were everywhere. They stood at each of the doorways, ushering people into the stairwell. She could see that they were monitoring the crowd, probably looking for her. She hoped they were still looking for a woman in a suit. So far, the disguise seemed to have worked. Their eyes scanned the crowd, but never even rested on Sara.
    She wound her way down the last few flights and at last reached the first floor. Sara stepped into a cacophony of chattering employees and squawking police radios. A dozen cops were standing around the lobby talking to employees, watching the crowd, guarding the exits like rabid dogs. Most of them had scanners on their belts and portable mics attached to their shoulders.
    Sara paid close attention every time one of those radios went off. Judging by the sound of things, the cops were sweeping the building. They were definitely looking for her.
    Sara knew she’d reached the point of no return. The cops were closing in. They had swarmed the place. There was no way to get past them without being seen. Her only option was to chance it and approach the doors. Waiting would only accomplish one