Thin Luck

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

New Mexico - Section 30-31-20

Trafficking in Controlled Substances

THE BANGING FROM the metal ventilation system rang through my already achy head. Surely everyone could hear me making my way through the walls. Shouts from the room, and the incessant alarms echoed.

Dust covered the vents in thick sticky sheets. When I sneezed, there was a brief quiet followed by shouting echoing through the vents. The further I went from the room I left behind, the darker it got. Thankfully, the piercing alarm got quieter as well. I could barely see at a fork in the vent. I had to make a choice between an even darker path and one with a bright light at the end. The bright light, I figured, would lead outside, so I took the fork in the vent toward the light.

The metal from the vent continued to buckle and bang no matter what I did to brace myself and keep the noise to a minimum. But the piercing alarm was still going at full force, and getting louder.

At the end of the route the daylight I was crawling toward was really the loading dock. To my horror I looked down from the ceiling and saw the lizard tie tack man. I watched him pulling vases from crates and loading them with another man into a van.

When a guard rushed into the loading dock I held my breath. I wanted to scoot my body away from the vent, but I knew it would create too much clamor.

"There's someone in the vent," the guard said, a bit out of breath.

"Who?" The lizard tie tack man said.

"The thief," the guard said. "Did you see her? Did she come out?"

There was no response. I heard the door shut then shuffled my body backward through the vent. I would take the darker path.

"You idiot," he said.

I held my breath, not knowing if he was talking to me or the other man. I stuck my neck out as far as it could reach. I couldn't see the lizard tie tack man, though, until he popped his face in the vent from below. I screamed.

"Shut up!"

I pursed my lips. The piercing noise from the alarm switched off.

"I knew I recognized you," he said.

I wondered what he meant. It was I who had recognized him in the picture the cops showed me.

"If you don't get out of here, you'll get us both caught. Separate we can take our goods and get out of here. Or maybe one of us will get caught." He winked like we were part of some conspiracy.

I nodded my head.

"Very good. Now get out of here."

I slithered my body backward. The fear and adrenaline began to subside and my rational thought started to take over. What did he mean take our separate goods? What was he doing at the museum? What was in those vases?

I didn't want to get caught. I had no idea what was going on but I needed to take control of the situation. I wriggled my way down another path. I got smarter at making my way more quietly. If I ever needed to do this again I was resolved to practice first. So many things I'd done since I was released from prison would have gone better if only I'd had the chance to practice first.

Just as I got more comfortable with the movement through the vent I heard a snap. The sudden lurch a second later was my last warning sign. I was in free fall and stopped abruptly with a jerk. My face hit something hard. My hands held on to the remnants of the metal pipe with all my strength. I looked down to see I was in a supply room, just three feet in the air. I fell into a pile on the concrete. I stood up, dusted myself off and stepped over the twisted remnants of the metal tubing. A bit of exposed tubing scraped my shin. I stifled a scream of agony.