Free Cat 'N Mouse by Yvonne Harriott Page B

could have been her but she wasn’t sure.
    Sam came around the corner with Hanes, a tall husky man. He raised his thick eyebrows in horror when he saw Alexandria.
    “What the hell happened?” Hanes reached out to touch her and she backed away. “Are you okay?”
    Guests exited their meeting rooms rushing out into the hallway. People rushed around her screaming, all talking at once. They were even talking to her but she couldn’t speak. It was as though she was trapped inside her body looking at the world reacting around her.
    “Where are you hurt?” Sam started touching her as if trying to find the source of the blood.
    She wanted to tell him it wasn’t her blood, but when she saw her reflection in the mirrored glass wall the words were caught in her throat.
    Blood was everywhere. Dripping from her clothes and her hair. She had left a trail of blood behind from washroom to the hall.
    Sam shook her. “Alexandria, are you hurt?” He cupped her face wiping off the blood with a handkerchief someone handed him.
    “It’s not my blood,” she managed to squeal out. “The lights went out in the washroom and someone threw it on me.” Her mind was trying to process the information. Someone threw blood on her, but it wouldn’t sink in.
    “Call the police,” Sam shouted at Hanes. “Clear the hallway and get everyone back in the rooms. No one leaves this floor!”
    “You can’t be serious?”
    One look from Sam told him that he was. Hanes started ushering the people back into the meeting rooms.
    Sam cursed and raked his hand through his hair throwing the handkerchief aside. “I told you not to go to the washroom without notifying me.”
    “You weren’t there when I came out. You said you were going to be there.”
    “I got a phone call. Damn it! You should’ve waited.”
    “Sam?” It was Hanes. “Everyone is in the room. The police are on their way.”
    She had to bite her lips to keep them from trembling. This was a dream. It had to be. Why would someone throw blood on her? An alarm went off and she jumped. Noise filled the empty hallway.
    “Where is that alarm coming from?” Sam asked looking down the hallway where the noise seemed to originate from.
    “Someone opened an emergency door,” Hanes said into the radio. “Jim, Tony, meet me by the south east doors.”
    “No. I’ll go. Stay with her,” Sam said. “See if you can help her get cleaned up.”
    “Sam?” She didn’t want him to go.
    He touched her, stroking her face with his thumb. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, I promise. Hanes is going to find you some clothes. Okay?”
    She stood there staring at him and knew he wouldn’t leave unless she answered him. But she didn’t want him to leave. What if he didn’t come back? She looked down at the blood on her hands, fighting back the tears.
    “I won’t be long, okay?” His eyes were gentle.
    “Okay.”
    Sam pulled his gun and took off down the hall in a dead run. She watched him, leaving her all alone. Hanes touched her shoulder and she jumped.
    “Are you okay? Sorry…stupid question. Follow me.”
    Hanes led her to a private elevator. It stopped on the sixth floor. They proceeded to a private suite. He opened the door and let her in.
    “I’ll be outside the door if you need me.”
    She didn’t want him. She wanted Sam.
    •  •  •
    Warm breeze and the sounds of birds chirping in the palm trees greeted Sam when he shoved opened the emergency door. He didn’t see Tony or Jim and didn’t wait for them.
    Sprinting along the cobble-stoned path led Sam to a gazebo where he ran into a young couple locked in each other’s embrace. This would have been the only path to take to get away undetected if they exited from the south doors. Would he even find anything?
    Pushing the gun back in his shoulder hostler, he doubled back down the path. When Sam got to the clearing, he stood for a moment scanning the grounds. The waterfall running into the pool with the golf course in the