Free Back Track by Jason Dean

right now. Or his history with Laurette Chounan. It would take far too long.
    Jenna shook her head in obvious aggravation. ‘See what I mean? As talkative as ever. Well, let me tell you, I’ve had a lot of time to think about us over the last few months, and I’ve come to realize I might have made a big mistake. I know our relationship was all based around some pretty strange circumstances, but enough time’s passed that that’s no longer an excuse. Everything’s been kind of been one-way for a while now, and that’s not good enough. I don’t expect the earth, but a little honest commitment from you would sure go a long way.’
    ‘You’re right, Jenna,’ he said. ‘But I told you right from the start I’m not used to long-term relationships. Maybe I’m just not cut for them. I don’t know.’
    ‘Yeah, I remember. I didn’t really want to believe you then, but I’m starting to now. Look, James, I don’t wanna fall out with you, but this is really frustrating. We rarely talk these days, and even when we do nothing gets said. I’m thinking maybe we should just draw a line under this while we’re still on friendly terms.’ She gave a long sigh and said, ‘I don’t expect a decision from you right this second, but you need to decide what it is you really want and give me an answer. And soon. Because I won’t wait around forever.’
    ‘I understand,’ he said. ‘We’ll talk, I promise.’
    After a short silence, Jenna nodded and kissed him on the lips. To Bishop, it felt chaste. Like she’d already made her decision. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. He pulled away and said, ‘I better go.’
    ‘Bet you say that to all the women,’ Jenna said with a half-smile.
    Then she turned and joined the rest of the pedestrians on Franklin without looking back. In less than a second, she was part of the crowd. Then she was gone.

FIFTEEN
    For a brief moment, Bishop toyed with the idea of going after her. But the impulse passed quickly. He had work to do. Instead, he turned and continued deeper into the alley.
    The narrow cul-de-sac went on for about three hundred yards or so. He passed several vans parked on either side. On his left, a fat delivery guy was carrying large boxes from the rear of his van and handing them to another guy in a doorway. Neither man gave Bishop a glance. On the right was an unmarked trade entrance to Equinox Tower, but he wasn’t planning to gain entrance that way.
    Bishop kept walking and stopped at the fire exit door further down. It was solid steel and set flush against the wall. Almost. He also knew it was equipped with an AC powered alarm, set to go off any time the locking bar was pushed open from the other side.
    Jenna’s comment about ‘strange circumstances’ had been a reference to his prison escape last year and the ensuing fallout. But the time he’d spent inside for another man’s crime hadn’t been entirely wasted. His cellmate, for instance, had always been eager to show him different ways to get into buildings. And Bishop had always been a good listener.
    Earlier, while Jenna kept Vaughn distracted, Bishop had run down eight flights until he reached this door. He’d taken his tools from his jacket pocket and gone to work on the control panel located close by. After disconnecting it from the mains, he’d had to work fast before security noticed something was up. He quickly located the contact switch in the doorframe. Then he removed the two wires in the device, twisted them together and left them disconnected. After reassembling the device, he’d reconnected the control panel to the mains and pushed open the fire door. There had been no alarm. He knew the control system still received the same voltage whether the contact switch was open or closed. As far as it was concerned, everything was functioning correctly.
    He’d then inserted a small rubber wedge to keep the door from fully closing and sprinted back up the stairs. Out of breath, he’d